-h, -?, -help, --help
Show help.
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-version
Show version.
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-formats
Show available formats.
The fields preceding the format names have the following meanings:
D Decoding available
E Encoding available
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-codecs
Show available codecs.
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-bsfs
Show available bitstream filters.
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-protocols
Show available protocols.
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-filters
Show available libavfilter filters.
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-pix_fmts
Show available pixel formats.
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-sample_fmts
Show available sample formats.
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-loglevel loglevel | -v loglevel
Set the logging level used by the library. loglevel is a number or a string containing one of the
following values:
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-i filename
input file name
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-y Overwrite output files.
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-t duration
Restrict the transcoded/captured video sequence to the duration specified in seconds.
"hh:mm:ss[.xxx]" syntax is also supported.
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-fs limit_size
Set the file size limit.
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-ss position
Seek to given time position in seconds. "hh:mm:ss[.xxx]" syntax is also supported.
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-itsoffset offset
Set the input time offset in seconds. "[-]hh:mm:ss[.xxx]" syntax is also supported. This option
affects all the input files that follow it. The offset is added to the timestamps of the input
files. Specifying a positive offset means that the corresponding streams are delayed by 'offset'
seconds.
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-timestamp time
Set the recording timestamp in the container. The syntax for time is:
now|([(YYYY-MM-DD|YYYYMMDD)[T|t| ]]((HH[:MM[:SS[.m...]]])|(HH[MM[SS[.m...]]]))[Z|z])
If the value is "now" it takes the current time. Time is local time unless 'Z' or 'z' is appended,
in which case it is interpreted as UTC. If the year-month-day part is not specified it takes the
current year-month-day.
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-metadata key=value
Set a metadata key/value pair.
For example, for setting the title in the output file:
ffmpeg -i in.avi -metadata title="my title" out.flv
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-v number
Set the logging verbosity level.
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-target type
Specify target file type ("vcd", "svcd", "dvd", "dv", "dv50", "pal-vcd", "ntsc-svcd", ... ). All the
format options (bitrate, codecs, buffer sizes) are then set automatically. You can just type:
ffmpeg -i myfile.avi -target vcd /tmp/vcd.mpg
Nevertheless you can specify additional options as long as you know they do not conflict with the
standard, as in:
ffmpeg -i myfile.avi -target vcd -bf 2 /tmp/vcd.mpg
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-dframes number
Set the number of data frames to record.
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-scodec codec
Force subtitle codec ('copy' to copy stream).
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-newsubtitle
Add a new subtitle stream to the current output stream.
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-slang code
Set the ISO 639 language code (3 letters) of the current subtitle stream.
Video Options
-vframes number
Set the number of video frames to record.
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-r fps
Set frame rate (Hz value, fraction or abbreviation), (default = 25).
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-s size
Set frame size. The format is wxh (avserver default = 160x128, ffmpeg default = same as source). The
following abbreviations are recognized:
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-aspect aspect
Set the video display aspect ratio specified by aspect.
aspect can be a floating point number string, or a string of the form num:den, where num and den are
the numerator and denominator of the aspect ratio. For example "4:3", "16:9", "1.3333", and "1.7777"
are valid argument values.
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-croptop size
-cropbottom size
-cropleft size
-cropright size
All the crop options have been removed. Use -vf crop=width:height:x:y instead.
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-padtop size
-padbottom size
-padleft size
-padright size
-padcolor hex_color
All the pad options have been removed. Use -vf pad=width:height:x:y:color instead.
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-vn Disable video recording.
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-bt tolerance
Set video bitrate tolerance (in bits, default 4000k). Has a minimum value of:
(target_bitrate/target_framerate). In 1-pass mode, bitrate tolerance specifies how far ratecontrol
is willing to deviate from the target average bitrate value. This is not related to min/max bitrate.
Lowering tolerance too much has an adverse effect on quality.
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-maxrate bitrate
Set max video bitrate (in bit/s). Requires -bufsize to be set.
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-minrate bitrate
Set min video bitrate (in bit/s). Most useful in setting up a CBR encode:
ffmpeg -i myfile.avi -b 4000k -minrate 4000k -maxrate 4000k -bufsize 1835k out.m2v
It is of little use elsewise.
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-bufsize size
Set video buffer verifier buffer size (in bits).
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-vcodec codec
Force video codec to codec. Use the "copy" special value to tell that the raw codec data must be
copied as is.
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-sameq
Use same quantizer as source (implies VBR).
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-pass n
Select the pass number (1 or 2). It is used to do two-pass video encoding. The statistics of the
video are recorded in the first pass into a log file (see also the option -passlogfile), and in the
second pass that log file is used to generate the video at the exact requested bitrate. On pass 1,
you may just deactivate audio and set output to null, examples for Windows and Unix:
ffmpeg -i foo.mov -vcodec libxvid -pass 1 -an -f rawvideo -y NUL
ffmpeg -i foo.mov -vcodec libxvid -pass 1 -an -f rawvideo -y /dev/null
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-passlogfile prefix
Set two-pass log file name prefix to prefix, the default file name prefix is ``ffmpeg2pass''. The
complete file name will be PREFIX-N.log, where N is a number specific to the output stream.
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-newvideo
Add a new video stream to the current output stream.
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-vlang code
Set the ISO 639 language code (3 letters) of the current video stream.
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-vf filter_graph
filter_graph is a description of the filter graph to apply to the input video. Use the option
"-filters" to show all the available filters (including also sources and sinks).
Advanced Video Options
-pix_fmt format
Set pixel format. Use 'list' as parameter to show all the supported pixel formats.
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-sws_flags flags
Set SwScaler flags.
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-g gop_size
Set the group of pictures size.
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-intra
Use only intra frames.
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-vdt n
Discard threshold.
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-qscale q
Use fixed video quantizer scale (VBR).
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-qmin q
minimum video quantizer scale (VBR)
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-qmax q
maximum video quantizer scale (VBR)
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-qdiff q
maximum difference between the quantizer scales (VBR)
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-qblur blur
video quantizer scale blur (VBR) (range 0.0 - 1.0)
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-qcomp compression
video quantizer scale compression (VBR) (default 0.5). Constant of ratecontrol equation. Recommended
range for default rc_eq: 0.0-1.0
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-lmin lambda
minimum video lagrange factor (VBR)
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-lmax lambda
max video lagrange factor (VBR)
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-mblmin lambda
minimum macroblock quantizer scale (VBR)
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-mblmax lambda
maximum macroblock quantizer scale (VBR)
These four options (lmin, lmax, mblmin, mblmax) use 'lambda' units, but you may use the QP2LAMBDA
constant to easily convert from 'q' units:
ffmpeg -i src.ext -lmax 21*QP2LAMBDA dst.ext
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-rc_init_cplx complexity
initial complexity for single pass encoding
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-b_qfactor factor
qp factor between P- and B-frames
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-i_qfactor factor
qp factor between P- and I-frames
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-b_qoffset offset
qp offset between P- and B-frames
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-i_qoffset offset
qp offset between P- and I-frames
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-rc_eq equation
Set rate control equation (see section "Expression Evaluation") (default = "tex^qComp").
When computing the rate control equation expression, besides the standard functions defined in the
section "Expression Evaluation", the following functions are available:
bits2qp(bits)
qp2bits(qp)
and the following constants are available:
iTex
pTex
tex
mv
fCode
iCount
mcVar
var
isI
isP
isB
avgQP
qComp
avgIITex
avgPITex
avgPPTex
avgBPTex
avgTex
-rc_override override
rate control override for specific intervals
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-me_method method
Set motion estimation method to method. Available methods are (from lowest to best quality):
zero
Try just the (0, 0) vector.
phods
log
x1
hex
umh
epzs
(default method)
full
exhaustive search (slow and marginally better than epzs)
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-dct_algo algo
Set DCT algorithm to algo. Available values are:
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-idct_algo algo
Set IDCT algorithm to algo. Available values are:
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-er n
Set error resilience to n.
1 FF_ER_CAREFUL (default)
2 FF_ER_COMPLIANT
3 FF_ER_AGGRESSIVE
4 FF_ER_EXPLODE
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-ec bit_mask
Set error concealment to bit_mask. bit_mask is a bit mask of the following values:
1 FF_EC_GUESS_MVS (default = enabled)
2 FF_EC_DEBLOCK (default = enabled)
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-bf frames
Use 'frames' B-frames (supported for MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4).
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-mbd mode
macroblock decision
0 FF_MB_DECISION_SIMPLE: Use mb_cmp (cannot change it yet in ffmpeg).
1 FF_MB_DECISION_BITS: Choose the one which needs the fewest bits.
2 FF_MB_DECISION_RD: rate distortion
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-4mv
Use four motion vector by macroblock (MPEG-4 only).
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-part
Use data partitioning (MPEG-4 only).
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-bug param
Work around encoder bugs that are not auto-detected.
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-strict strictness
How strictly to follow the standards.
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-aic
Enable Advanced intra coding (h263+).
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-umv
Enable Unlimited Motion Vector (h263+)
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-deinterlace
Deinterlace pictures.
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-ilme
Force interlacing support in encoder (MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 only). Use this option if your input file is
interlaced and you want to keep the interlaced format for minimum losses. The alternative is to
deinterlace the input stream with -deinterlace, but deinterlacing introduces losses.
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-psnr
Calculate PSNR of compressed frames.
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-vstats
Dump video coding statistics to vstats_HHMMSS.log.
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-vstats_file file
Dump video coding statistics to file.
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-top n
top=1/bottom=0/auto=-1 field first
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-dc precision
Intra_dc_precision.
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-vtag fourcc/tag
Force video tag/fourcc.
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-qphist
Show QP histogram.
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-vbsf bitstream_filter
Bitstream filters available are "dump_extra", "remove_extra", "noise", "h264_mp4toannexb", "imxdump",
"mjpegadump", "mjpeg2jpeg".
ffmpeg -i h264.mp4 -vcodec copy -vbsf h264_mp4toannexb -an out.h264
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-force_key_frames time[,time...]
Force key frames at the specified timestamps, more precisely at the first frames after each specified
time. This option can be useful to ensure that a seek point is present at a chapter mark or any
other designated place in the output file. The timestamps must be specified in ascending order.
Audio Options
-aframes number
Set the number of audio frames to record.
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-ar freq
Set the audio sampling frequency. For output streams it is set by default to the frequency of the
corresponding input stream. For input streams this option only makes sense for audio grabbing devices
and raw demuxers and is mapped to the corresponding demuxer options.
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-aq q
Set the audio quality (codec-specific, VBR).
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-ac channels
Set the number of audio channels. For output streams it is set by default to the number of input
audio channels. For input streams this option only makes sense for audio grabbing devices and raw
demuxers and is mapped to the corresponding demuxer options.
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-an Disable audio recording.
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-acodec codec
Force audio codec to codec. Use the "copy" special value to specify that the raw codec data must be
copied as is.
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-newaudio
Add a new audio track to the output file. If you want to specify parameters, do so before "-newaudio"
("-acodec", "-ab", etc..).
Mapping will be done automatically, if the number of output streams is equal to the number of input
streams, else it will pick the first one that matches. You can override the mapping using "-map" as
usual.
Example:
ffmpeg -i file.mpg -vcodec copy -acodec ac3 -ab 384k test.mpg -acodec mp2 -ab 192k -newaudio
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-alang code
Set the ISO 639 language code (3 letters) of the current audio stream.
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-atag fourcc/tag
Force audio tag/fourcc.
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-audio_service_type type
Set the type of service that the audio stream contains.
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-absf bitstream_filter
Bitstream filters available are "dump_extra", "remove_extra", "noise", "mp3comp", "mp3decomp".
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-scodec codec
Force subtitle codec ('copy' to copy stream).
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-newsubtitle
Add a new subtitle stream to the current output stream.
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-slang code
Set the ISO 639 language code (3 letters) of the current subtitle stream.
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-sn Disable subtitle recording.
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-sbsf bitstream_filter
Bitstream filters available are "mov2textsub", "text2movsub".
ffmpeg -i file.mov -an -vn -sbsf mov2textsub -scodec copy -f rawvideo sub.txt
Audio/Video grab options
-vc channel
Set video grab channel (DV1394 only).
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-tvstd standard
Set television standard (NTSC, PAL (SECAM)).
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-isync
Synchronize read on input.
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-map_meta_data outfile[,metadata]:infile[,metadata]
Deprecated, use -map_metadata instead.
-map_metadata outfile[,metadata]:infile[,metadata]
Set metadata information of outfile from infile. Note that those are file indices (zero-based), not
filenames. Optional metadata parameters specify, which metadata to copy - (g)lobal (i.e. metadata
that applies to the whole file), per-(s)tream, per-(c)hapter or per-(p)rogram. All metadata
specifiers other than global must be followed by the stream/chapter/program number. If metadata
specifier is omitted, it defaults to global.
By default, global metadata is copied from the first input file to all output files, per-stream and
per-chapter metadata is copied along with streams/chapters. These default mappings are disabled by
creating any mapping of the relevant type. A negative file index can be used to create a dummy
mapping that just disables automatic copying.
For example to copy metadata from the first stream of the input file to global metadata of the output
file:
ffmpeg -i in.ogg -map_metadata 0:0,s0 out.mp3
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-map_chapters outfile:infile
Copy chapters from infile to outfile. If no chapter mapping is specified, then chapters are copied
from the first input file with at least one chapter to all output files. Use a negative file index to
disable any chapter copying.
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-debug
Print specific debug info.
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-benchmark
Show benchmarking information at the end of an encode. Shows CPU time used and maximum memory
consumption. Maximum memory consumption is not supported on all systems, it will usually display as
0 if not supported.
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-dump
Dump each input packet.
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-hex
When dumping packets, also dump the payload.
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-bitexact
Only use bit exact algorithms (for codec testing).
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-ps size
Set RTP payload size in bytes.
-re Read input at native frame rate. Mainly used to simulate a grab device.
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-loop_input
Loop over the input stream. Currently it works only for image streams. This option is used for
automatic AVserver testing. This option is deprecated, use -loop.
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-loop_output number_of_times
Repeatedly loop output for formats that support looping such as animated GIF (0 will loop the output
infinitely). This option is deprecated, use -loop.
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-threads count
Thread count.
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-vsync parameter
Video sync method.
0 Each frame is passed with its timestamp from the demuxer to the muxer.
1 Frames will be duplicated and dropped to achieve exactly the requested constant framerate.
2 Frames are passed through with their timestamp or dropped so as to prevent 2 frames from having
the same timestamp.
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-1 Chooses between 1 and 2 depending on muxer capabilities. This is the default method.
With -map you can select from which stream the timestamps should be taken. You can leave either video
or audio unchanged and sync the remaining stream(s) to the unchanged one.
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-async samples_per_second
Audio sync method. "Stretches/squeezes" the audio stream to match the timestamps, the parameter is
the maximum samples per second by which the audio is changed. -async 1 is a special case where only
the start of the audio stream is corrected without any later correction.
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-copyts
Copy timestamps from input to output.
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-copytb
Copy input stream time base from input to output when stream copying.
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-shortest
Finish encoding when the shortest input stream ends.
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-dts_delta_threshold
Timestamp discontinuity delta threshold.
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-muxdelay seconds
Set the maximum demux-decode delay.
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-muxpreload seconds
Set the initial demux-decode delay.
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-streamid output-stream-index:new-value
Assign a new stream-id value to an output stream. This option should be specified prior to the output
filename to which it applies. For the situation where multiple output files exist, a streamid may be
reassigned to a different value.
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