FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

NAME
ffmpeg − ffmpeg media converter
SYNOPSIS
ffmpeg [global_options] {[input_file_options] −i input_url} ... {[output_file_options] output_url} ...
DESCRIPTION
ffmpeg is a universal media converter. It can read a wide variety of inputs − including live
grabbing/recording devices − filter, and transcode them into a plethora of output formats.
ffmpeg reads from an arbitrary number of input "files" (which can be regular files, pipes, network streams,
grabbing devices, etc.), specified by the −i option, and writes to an arbitrary number of output "files",
which are specified by a plain output url. Anything found on the command line which cannot be interpreted
as an option is considered to be an output url.
Each input or output url can, in principle, contain any number of streams of different types
(video/audio/subtitle/attachment/data). The allowed number and/or types of streams may be limited by the
container format. Selecting which streams from which inputs will go into which output is either done
automatically or with the −map option (see the Stream selection chapter).
To refer to input files in options, you must use their indices (0−based). E.g. the first input file is 0, the
second is 1, etc. Similarly, streams within a file are referred to by their indices. E.g. 2:3 refers to the fourth
stream in the third input file. Also see the Stream specifiers chapter.
As a general rule, options are applied to the next specified file. Therefore, order is important, and you can
have the same option on the command line multiple times. Each occurrence is then applied to the next input
or output file. Exceptions from this rule are the global options (e.g. verbosity level), which should be
specified first.
Do not mix input and output files −− first specify all input files, then all output files. Also do not mix
options which belong to different files. All options apply ONLY to the next input or output file and are reset
between files.
Some simple examples follow.
• Convert an input media file to a different format, by re-encoding media streams:
ffmpeg −i input.avi output.mp4
• Set the video bitrate of the output file to 64 kbit/s:
ffmpeg −i input.avi −b:v 64k −bufsize 64k output.mp4
• Force the frame rate of the output file to 24 fps:
ffmpeg −i input.avi −r 24 output.mp4
• Force the frame rate of the input file (valid for raw formats only) to 1 fps and the frame rate of the
output file to 24 fps:
ffmpeg −r 1 −i input.m2v −r 24 output.mp4
The format option may be needed for raw input files.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The transcoding process in ffmpeg for each output can be described by the following diagram:

1
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

_______ ______________
| | | |
| input | demuxer | encoded data | decoder
| file | −−−−−−−−−> | packets | −−−−−+
|_ _ _ _ _ _ _| |_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _| |
v
_________
| |
| decoded |
| frames |
|_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _|
________ ______________ |
| | | | |
| output | <−−−−−−−− | encoded data | <−−−−+
| file | muxer | packets | encoder
|_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _| |_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _|
ffmpeg calls the libavformat library (containing demuxers) to read input files and get packets containing
encoded data from them. When there are multiple input files, ffmpeg tries to keep them synchronized by
tracking lowest timestamp on any active input stream.
Encoded packets are then passed to the decoder (unless streamcopy is selected for the stream, see further
for a description). The decoder produces uncompressed frames (raw video/PCM audio/...) which can be
processed further by filtering (see next section). After filtering, the frames are passed to the encoder, which
encodes them and outputs encoded packets. Finally those are passed to the muxer, which writes the
encoded packets to the output file.
Filtering
Before encoding, ffmpeg can process raw audio and video frames using filters from the libavfilter library.
Several chained filters form a filter graph. ffmpeg distinguishes between two types of filtergraphs: simple
and complex.
Simple filtergraphs
Simple filtergraphs are those that have exactly one input and output, both of the same type. In the above
diagram they can be represented by simply inserting an additional step between decoding and encoding:
_________ ______________
| | | |
| decoded | | encoded data |
| frames |\ _ | packets |
|_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _| \ /||_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _|
\ __________ /
simple _\|| | / encoder
filtergraph | filtered |/
| frames |
|_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _|
Simple filtergraphs are configured with the per-stream −filter option (with −vf and −af aliases for video and
audio respectively). A simple filtergraph for video can look for example like this:
_______ _____________ _______ ________
| | | | | | | |
| input | −−−> | deinterlace | −−−> | scale | −−−> | output |
|_ _ _ _ _ _ _| |_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _| |_ _ _ _ _ _ _| |_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _|
Note that some filters change frame properties but not frame contents. E.g. the fps filter in the example
above changes number of frames, but does not touch the frame contents. Another example is the setpts
filter, which only sets timestamps and otherwise passes the frames unchanged.

2
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

Complex filtergraphs
Complex filtergraphs are those which cannot be described as simply a linear processing chain applied to
one stream. This is the case, for example, when the graph has more than one input and/or output, or when
output stream type is different from input. They can be represented with the following diagram:
_________
| |
| input 0 |\ __________
|_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _| \ | |
\ _________ /| output 0 |
\ | | / |_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _|
_________ \| complex | /
| | | |/
| input 1 |−−−−>| filter |\
|_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _| | | \ __________
/| graph | \ | |
/ | | \| output 1 |
_________ / |_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _| |_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _|
| | /
| input 2 |/
|_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _|
Complex filtergraphs are configured with the −filter_complex option. Note that this option is global, since
a complex filtergraph, by its nature, cannot be unambiguously associated with a single stream or file.
The −lavfi option is equivalent to −filter_complex.
A trivial example of a complex filtergraph is the overlay filter, which has two video inputs and one video
output, containing one video overlaid on top of the other. Its audio counterpart is the amix filter.
Stream copy
Stream copy is a mode selected by supplying the copy parameter to the −codec option. It makes ffmpeg
omit the decoding and encoding step for the specified stream, so it does only demuxing and muxing. It is
useful for changing the container format or modifying container-level metadata. The diagram above will, in
this case, simplify to this:
_______ ______________ ________
| | | | | |
| input | demuxer | encoded data | muxer | output |
| file | −−−−−−−−−> | packets | −−−−−−−> | file |
|_ _ _ _ _ _ _| |_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _| |_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _|
Since there is no decoding or encoding, it is very fast and there is no quality loss. However, it might not
work in some cases because of many factors. Applying filters is obviously also impossible, since filters
work on uncompressed data.
STREAM SELECTION
ffmpeg provides the −map option for manual control of stream selection in each output file. Users can skip
−map and let ffmpeg perform automatic stream selection as described below. The −vn / −an / −sn /
−dn options can be used to skip inclusion of video, audio, subtitle and data streams respectively, whether
manually mapped or automatically selected, except for those streams which are outputs of complex
filtergraphs.
Description
The sub-sections that follow describe the various rules that are involved in stream selection. The examples
that follow next show how these rules are applied in practice.
While every effort is made to accurately reflect the behavior of the program, FFmpeg is under continuous
development and the code may have changed since the time of this writing.
Automatic stream selection

3
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

In the absence of any map options for a particular output file, ffmpeg inspects the output format to check
which type of streams can be included in it, viz. video, audio and/or subtitles. For each acceptable stream
type, ffmpeg will pick one stream, when available, from among all the inputs.
It will select that stream based upon the following criteria:
• for video, it is the stream with the highest resolution,
• for audio, it is the stream with the most channels,
• for subtitles, it is the first subtitle stream found but there’s a caveat. The output format’s default
subtitle encoder can be either text-based or image-based, and only a subtitle stream of the same type
will be chosen.
In the case where several streams of the same type rate equally, the stream with the lowest index is chosen.
Data or attachment streams are not automatically selected and can only be included using −map.
Manual stream selection
When −map is used, only user-mapped streams are included in that output file, with one possible exception
for filtergraph outputs described below.
Complex filtergraphs
If there are any complex filtergraph output streams with unlabeled pads, they will be added to the first
output file. This will lead to a fatal error if the stream type is not supported by the output format. In the
absence of the map option, the inclusion of these streams leads to the automatic stream selection of their
types being skipped. If map options are present, these filtergraph streams are included in addition to the
mapped streams.
Complex filtergraph output streams with labeled pads must be mapped once and exactly once.
Stream handling
Stream handling is independent of stream selection, with an exception for subtitles described below. Stream
handling is set via the −codec option addressed to streams within a specific output file. In particular,
codec options are applied by ffmpeg after the stream selection process and thus do not influence the latter.
If no −codec option is specified for a stream type, ffmpeg will select the default encoder registered by the
output file muxer.
An exception exists for subtitles. If a subtitle encoder is specified for an output file, the first subtitle stream
found of any type, text or image, will be included. ffmpeg does not validate if the specified encoder can
convert the selected stream or if the converted stream is acceptable within the output format. This applies
generally as well: when the user sets an encoder manually, the stream selection process cannot check if the
encoded stream can be muxed into the output file. If it cannot, ffmpeg will abort and all output files will
fail to be processed.
Examples
The following examples illustrate the behavior, quirks and limitations of ffmpeg’s stream selection
methods.
They assume the following three input files.
input file 'A.avi'
stream 0: video 640x360
stream 1: audio 2 channels

input file 'B.mp4'

stream 0: video 1920x1080
stream 1: audio 2 channels
stream 2: subtitles (text)
stream 3: audio 5.1 channels
stream 4: subtitles (text)

4
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

input file 'C.mkv'

stream 0: video 1280x720
stream 1: audio 2 channels
stream 2: subtitles (image)
Example: automatic stream selection
ffmpeg −i A.avi −i B.mp4 out1.mkv out2.wav −map 1:a −c:a copy out3.mov
There are three output files specified, and for the first two, no −map options are set, so ffmpeg will select
streams for these two files automatically.
out1.mkv is a Matroska container file and accepts video, audio and subtitle streams, so ffmpeg will try to
select one of each type.For video, it will select stream 0 from B.mp4, which has the highest resolution
among all the input video streams.For audio, it will select stream 3 from B.mp4, since it has the greatest
number of channels.For subtitles, it will select stream 2 from B.mp4, which is the first subtitle stream
from among A.avi and B.mp4.
out2.wav accepts only audio streams, so only stream 3 from B.mp4 is selected.
For out3.mov, since a −map option is set, no automatic stream selection will occur. The −map 1:a option
will select all audio streams from the second input B.mp4. No other streams will be included in this output
file.
For the first two outputs, all included streams will be transcoded. The encoders chosen will be the default
ones registered by each output format, which may not match the codec of the selected input streams.
For the third output, codec option for audio streams has been set to copy, so no decoding-filtering-
encoding operations will occur, or can occur. Packets of selected streams shall be conveyed from the input
file and muxed within the output file.
Example: automatic subtitles selection
ffmpeg −i C.mkv out1.mkv −c:s dvdsub −an out2.mkv
Although out1.mkv is a Matroska container file which accepts subtitle streams, only a video and audio
stream shall be selected. The subtitle stream of C.mkv is image-based and the default subtitle encoder of the
Matroska muxer is text-based, so a transcode operation for the subtitles is expected to fail and hence the
stream isn’t selected. However, in out2.mkv, a subtitle encoder is specified in the command and so, the
subtitle stream is selected, in addition to the video stream. The presence of −an disables audio stream
selection for out2.mkv.
Example: unlabeled filtergraph outputs
ffmpeg −i A.avi −i C.mkv −i B.mp4 −filter_complex "overlay" out1.mp4 out2.
A filtergraph is setup here using the −filter_complex option and consists of a single video filter. The
overlay filter requires exactly two video inputs, but none are specified, so the first two available video
streams are used, those of A.avi and C.mkv. The output pad of the filter has no label and so is sent to the
first output file out1.mp4. Due to this, automatic selection of the video stream is skipped, which would have
selected the stream in B.mp4. The audio stream with most channels viz. stream 3 in B.mp4, is chosen
automatically. No subtitle stream is chosen however, since the MP4 format has no default subtitle encoder
registered, and the user hasn’t specified a subtitle encoder.
The 2nd output file, out2.srt, only accepts text-based subtitle streams. So, even though the first subtitle
stream available belongs to C.mkv, it is image-based and hence skipped. The selected stream, stream 2
in B.mp4, is the first text-based subtitle stream.
Example: labeled filtergraph outputs
ffmpeg −i A.avi −i B.mp4 −i C.mkv −filter_complex "[1:v]hue=s=0[outv];over
−map '[outv]' −an out1.mp4 \
out2.mkv \
−map '[outv]' −map 1:a:0 out3.mkv

5
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

The above command will fail, as the output pad labelled [outv] has been mapped twice. None of the
output files shall be processed.
ffmpeg −i A.avi −i B.mp4 −i C.mkv −filter_complex "[1:v]hue=s=0[outv];over
−an out1.mp4 \
out2.mkv \
−map 1:a:0 out3.mkv
This command above will also fail as the hue filter output has a label, [outv], and hasn’t been mapped
anywhere.
The command should be modified as follows,
ffmpeg −i A.avi −i B.mp4 −i C.mkv −filter_complex "[1:v]hue=s=0,split=2[ou
−map '[outv1]' −an out1.mp4 \
out2.mkv \
−map '[outv2]' −map 1:a:0 out3.mkv
The video stream from B.mp4 is sent to the hue filter, whose output is cloned once using the split filter, and
both outputs labelled. Then a copy each is mapped to the first and third output files.
The overlay filter, requiring two video inputs, uses the first two unused video streams. Those are the
streams from A.avi and C.mkv. The overlay output isn’t labelled, so it is sent to the first output file
out1.mp4, regardless of the presence of the −map option.
The aresample filter is sent the first unused audio stream, that of A.avi. Since this filter output is also
unlabelled, it too is mapped to the first output file. The presence of −an only suppresses automatic or
manual stream selection of audio streams, not outputs sent from filtergraphs. Both these mapped streams
shall be ordered before the mapped stream in out1.mp4.
The video, audio and subtitle streams mapped to out2.mkv are entirely determined by automatic stream
selection.
out3.mkv consists of the cloned video output from the hue filter and the first audio stream from B.mp4.
OPTIONS
All the numerical options, if not specified otherwise, accept a string representing a number as input, which
may be followed by one of the SI unit prefixes, for example: ’K’, ’M’, or ’G’.
If ’i’ is appended to the SI unit prefix, the complete prefix will be interpreted as a unit prefix for binary
multiples, which are based on powers of 1024 instead of powers of 1000. Appending ’B’ to the SI unit
prefix multiplies the value by 8. This allows using, for example: ’KB’, ’MiB’, ’G’ and ’B’ as number
suffixes.
Options which do not take arguments are boolean options, and set the corresponding value to true. They can
be set to false by prefixing the option name with "no". For example using "−nofoo" will set the boolean
option with name "foo" to false.
Stream specifiers
Some options are applied per-stream, e.g. bitrate or codec. Stream specifiers are used to precisely specify
which stream(s) a given option belongs to.
A stream specifier is a string generally appended to the option name and separated from it by a colon. E.g.
−codec:a:1 ac3 contains the a:1 stream specifier, which matches the second audio stream. Therefore,
it would select the ac3 codec for the second audio stream.
A stream specifier can match several streams, so that the option is applied to all of them. E.g. the stream
specifier in −b:a 128k matches all audio streams.
An empty stream specifier matches all streams. For example, −codec copy or −codec: copy would
copy all the streams without reencoding.
Possible forms of stream specifiers are:

6
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

stream_index
Matches the stream with this index. E.g. −threads:1 4 would set the thread count for the second
stream to 4. If stream_index is used as an additional stream specifier (see below), then it selects stream
number stream_index from the matching streams. Stream numbering is based on the order of the
streams as detected by libavformat except when a program ID is also specified. In this case it is based
on the ordering of the streams in the program.
stream_type[:additional_stream_specifier]
stream_type is one of following: ’v’ or ’V’ for video, ’a’ for audio, ’s’ for subtitle, ’d’ for data, and ’t’
for attachments. ’v’ matches all video streams, ’V’ only matches video streams which are not attached
pictures, video thumbnails or cover arts. If additional_stream_specifier is used, then it matches
streams which both have this type and match the additional_stream_specifier. Otherwise, it matches
all streams of the specified type.
p:program_id[:additional_stream_specifier]
Matches streams which are in the program with the id program_id. If additional_stream_specifier is
used, then it matches streams which both are part of the program and match the
additional_stream_specifier.
#stream_id or i:stream_id
Match the stream by stream id (e.g. PID in MPEG-TS container).
m:key[:value]
Matches streams with the metadata tag key having the specified value. If value is not given, matches
streams that contain the given tag with any value.
u Matches streams with usable configuration, the codec must be defined and the essential information
such as video dimension or audio sample rate must be present.
Note that in ffmpeg, matching by metadata will only work properly for input files.
Generic options
These options are shared amongst the ff* tools.
−L Show license.
−h, −?, −help, −−help [arg]
Show help. An optional parameter may be specified to print help about a specific item. If no argument
is specified, only basic (non advanced) tool options are shown.
Possible values of arg are:
long
Print advanced tool options in addition to the basic tool options.
full Print complete list of options, including shared and private options for encoders, decoders,
demuxers, muxers, filters, etc.
decoder=decoder_name
Print detailed information about the decoder named decoder_name. Use the −decoders option to
get a list of all decoders.
encoder=encoder_name
Print detailed information about the encoder named encoder_name. Use the −encoders option to
get a list of all encoders.
demuxer=demuxer_name
Print detailed information about the demuxer named demuxer_name. Use the −formats option to
get a list of all demuxers and muxers.
muxer=muxer_name
Print detailed information about the muxer named muxer_name. Use the −formats option to get a
list of all muxers and demuxers.

7
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

filter=filter_name
Print detailed information about the filter named filter_name. Use the −filters option to get a list
of all filters.
bsf=bitstream_filter_name
Print detailed information about the bitstream filter named bitstream_filter_name. Use the −bsfs
option to get a list of all bitstream filters.
protocol=protocol_name
Print detailed information about the protocol named protocol_name. Use the −protocols option
to get a list of all protocols.
−version
Show version.
−buildconf
Show the build configuration, one option per line.
−formats
Show available formats (including devices).
−demuxers
Show available demuxers.
−muxers
Show available muxers.
−devices
Show available devices.
−codecs
Show all codecs known to libavcodec.
Note that the term ’codec’ is used throughout this documentation as a shortcut for what is more
correctly called a media bitstream format.
−decoders
Show available decoders.
−encoders
Show all available encoders.
−bsfs
Show available bitstream filters.
−protocols
Show available protocols.
−filters
Show available libavfilter filters.
−pix_fmts
Show available pixel formats.
−sample_fmts
Show available sample formats.
−layouts
Show channel names and standard channel layouts.
−dispositions
Show stream dispositions.
−colors
Show recognized color names.

8
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

−sources device[,opt1=val1[,opt2=val2]...]
Show autodetected sources of the input device. Some devices may provide system-dependent source
names that cannot be autodetected. The returned list cannot be assumed to be always complete.
ffmpeg −sources pulse,server=192.168.0.4
−sinks device[,opt1=val1[,opt2=val2]...]
Show autodetected sinks of the output device. Some devices may provide system-dependent sink
names that cannot be autodetected. The returned list cannot be assumed to be always complete.
ffmpeg −sinks pulse,server=192.168.0.4
−loglevel [flags+]loglevel | −v [flags+]loglevel
Set logging level and flags used by the library.
The optional flags prefix can consist of the following values:
repeat
Indicates that repeated log output should not be compressed to the first line and the "Last message
repeated n times" line will be omitted.
level
Indicates that log output should add a [level] prefix to each message line. This can be used as
an alternative to log coloring, e.g. when dumping the log to file.
Flags can also be used alone by adding a ’+’/’−’ prefix to set/reset a single flag without affecting other
flags or changing loglevel. When setting both flags and loglevel, a ’+’ separator is expected between
the last flags value and before loglevel.
loglevel is a string or a number containing one of the following values:
quiet, −8
Show nothing at all; be silent.
panic, 0
Only show fatal errors which could lead the process to crash, such as an assertion failure. This is
not currently used for anything.
fatal, 8
Only show fatal errors. These are errors after which the process absolutely cannot continue.
error, 16
Show all errors, including ones which can be recovered from.
warning, 24
Show all warnings and errors. Any message related to possibly incorrect or unexpected events
will be shown.
info, 32
Show informative messages during processing. This is in addition to warnings and errors. This is
the default value.
verbose, 40
Same as info, except more verbose.
debug, 48
Show everything, including debugging information.
trace, 56
For example to enable repeated log output, add the level prefix, and set loglevel to verbose:
ffmpeg −loglevel repeat+level+verbose −i input output
Another example that enables repeated log output without affecting current state of level prefix flag
or loglevel:

9
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

ffmpeg [...] −loglevel +repeat

By default the program logs to stderr. If coloring is supported by the terminal, colors are used to mark
errors and warnings. Log coloring can be disabled setting the environment variable
AV_LOG_FORCE_NOCOLOR, or can be forced setting the environment variable
AV_LOG_FORCE_COLOR.
−report
Dump full command line and log output to a file named program−YYYYMMDD−HHMMSS.log in
the current directory. This file can be useful for bug reports. It also implies −loglevel debug.
Setting the environment variable FFREPORT to any value has the same effect. If the value is a
’:’−separated key=value sequence, these options will affect the report; option values must be escaped
if they contain special characters or the options delimiter ’:’ (see the ‘‘Quoting and escaping’’ section
in the ffmpeg-utils manual).
The following options are recognized:
file set the file name to use for the report; %p is expanded to the name of the program, %t is expanded
to a timestamp, %% is expanded to a plain %
level
set the log verbosity level using a numerical value (see −loglevel).
For example, to output a report to a file named ffreport.log using a log level of 32 (alias for log level
info):
FFREPORT=file=ffreport.log:level=32 ffmpeg −i input output
Errors in parsing the environment variable are not fatal, and will not appear in the report.
−hide_banner
Suppress printing banner.
All FFmpeg tools will normally show a copyright notice, build options and library versions. This
option can be used to suppress printing this information.
−cpuflags flags (global)
Allows setting and clearing cpu flags. This option is intended for testing. Do not use it unless you
know what you’re doing.
ffmpeg −cpuflags −sse+mmx ...
ffmpeg −cpuflags mmx ...
ffmpeg −cpuflags 0 ...
Possible flags for this option are:
x86
mmx
mmxext
sse
sse2
sse2slow
sse3
sse3slow
ssse3
atom
sse4.1
sse4.2
avx
avx2

10
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

xop
fma3
fma4
3dnow
3dnowext
bmi1
bmi2
cmov
ARM
armv5te
armv6
armv6t2
vfp
vfpv3
neon
setend
AArch64
armv8
vfp
neon
PowerPC
altivec
Specific Processors
pentium2
pentium3
pentium4
k6
k62
athlon
athlonxp
k8
−cpucount count (global)
Override detection of CPU count. This option is intended for testing. Do not use it unless you know
what you’re doing.
ffmpeg −cpucount 2
−max_alloc bytes
Set the maximum size limit for allocating a block on the heap by ffmpeg’s family of malloc functions.
Exercise extreme caution when using this option. Don’t use if you do not understand the full
consequence of doing so. Default is INT_MAX.
AVOptions
These options are provided directly by the libavformat, libavdevice and libavcodec libraries. To see the list
of available AVOptions, use the −help option. They are separated into two categories:
generic
These options can be set for any container, codec or device. Generic options are listed under
AVFormatContext options for containers/devices and under AVCodecContext options for codecs.
private
These options are specific to the given container, device or codec. Private options are listed under their
corresponding containers/devices/codecs.
For example to write an ID3v2.3 header instead of a default ID3v2.4 to an MP3 file, use the id3v2_version
private option of the MP3 muxer:
ffmpeg −i input.flac −id3v2_version 3 out.mp3

11
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

All codec AVOptions are per-stream, and thus a stream specifier should be attached to them:
ffmpeg −i multichannel.mxf −map 0:v:0 −map 0:a:0 −map 0:a:0 −c:a:0 ac3 −b:
In the above example, a multichannel audio stream is mapped twice for output. The first instance is
encoded with codec ac3 and bitrate 640k. The second instance is downmixed to 2 channels and encoded
with codec aac. A bitrate of 128k is specified for it using absolute index of the output stream.
Note: the −nooption syntax cannot be used for boolean AVOptions, use −option 0/−option 1.
Note: the old undocumented way of specifying per-stream AVOptions by prepending v/a/s to the options
name is now obsolete and will be removed soon.
Main options
−f fmt (input/output)
Force input or output file format. The format is normally auto detected for input files and guessed from
the file extension for output files, so this option is not needed in most cases.
−i url (input)
input file url
−y (global)
Overwrite output files without asking.
−n (global)
Do not overwrite output files, and exit immediately if a specified output file already exists.
−stream_loop number (input)
Set number of times input stream shall be looped. Loop 0 means no loop, loop −1 means infinite loop.
−recast_media (global)
Allow forcing a decoder of a different media type than the one detected or designated by the demuxer.
Useful for decoding media data muxed as data streams.
−c[:stream_specifier] codec (input/output,per−stream)
−codec[:stream_specifier] codec (input/output,per−stream)
Select an encoder (when used before an output file) or a decoder (when used before an input file) for
one or more streams. codec is the name of a decoder/encoder or a special value copy (output only) to
indicate that the stream is not to be re-encoded.
For example
ffmpeg −i INPUT −map 0 −c:v libx264 −c:a copy OUTPUT
encodes all video streams with libx264 and copies all audio streams.
For each stream, the last matching c option is applied, so
ffmpeg −i INPUT −map 0 −c copy −c:v:1 libx264 −c:a:137 libvorbis OUTPU
will copy all the streams except the second video, which will be encoded with libx264, and the 138th
audio, which will be encoded with libvorbis.
−t duration (input/output)
When used as an input option (before −i), limit the duration of data read from the input file.
When used as an output option (before an output url), stop writing the output after its duration reaches
duration.
duration must be a time duration specification, see the Time duration section in the ffmpeg−utils (1)
manual.
−to and −t are mutually exclusive and −t has priority.
−to position (input/output)
Stop writing the output or reading the input at position. position must be a time duration specification,
see the Time duration section in the ffmpeg−utils (1) manual.

12
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

−to and −t are mutually exclusive and −t has priority.

−fs limit_size (output)
Set the file size limit, expressed in bytes. No further chunk of bytes is written after the limit is
exceeded. The size of the output file is slightly more than the requested file size.
−ss position (input/output)
When used as an input option (before −i), seeks in this input file to position. Note that in most
formats it is not possible to seek exactly, so ffmpeg will seek to the closest seek point before position.
When transcoding and −accurate_seek is enabled (the default), this extra segment between the seek
point and position will be decoded and discarded. When doing stream copy or when
−noaccurate_seek is used, it will be preserved.
When used as an output option (before an output url), decodes but discards input until the timestamps
reach position.
position must be a time duration specification, see the Time duration section in the ffmpeg−utils (1)
manual.
−sseof position (input)
Like the −ss option but relative to the "end of file". That is negative values are earlier in the file, 0 is
at EOF.
−isync input_index (input)
Assign an input as a sync source.
This will take the difference between the start times of the target and reference inputs and offset the
timestamps of the target file by that difference. The source timestamps of the two inputs should derive
from the same clock source for expected results. If copyts is set then start_at_zero must also
be set. If either of the inputs has no starting timestamp then no sync adjustment is made.
Acceptable values are those that refer to a valid ffmpeg input index. If the sync reference is the target
index itself or −1, then no adjustment is made to target timestamps. A sync reference may not itself be
synced to any other input.
Default value is −1.
−itsoffset offset (input)
Set the input time offset.
offset must be a time duration specification, see the Time duration section in the ffmpeg−utils (1)
manual.
The offset is added to the timestamps of the input files. Specifying a positive offset means that the
corresponding streams are delayed by the time duration specified in offset.
−itsscale scale (input,per−stream)
Rescale input timestamps. scale should be a floating point number.
−timestamp date (output)
Set the recording timestamp in the container.
date must be a date specification, see the Date section in the ffmpeg−utils (1) manual.
−metadata[:metadata_specifier] key=value (output,per−metadata)
Set a metadata key/value pair.
An optional metadata_specifier may be given to set metadata on streams, chapters or programs. See
−map_metadata documentation for details.
This option overrides metadata set with −map_metadata. It is also possible to delete metadata by
using an empty value.
For example, for setting the title in the output file:

13
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

ffmpeg −i in.avi −metadata title="my title" out.flv

To set the language of the first audio stream:
ffmpeg −i INPUT −metadata:s:a:0 language=eng OUTPUT
−disposition[:stream_specifier] value (output,per−stream)
Sets the disposition for a stream.
By default, the disposition is copied from the input stream, unless the output stream this option applies
to is fed by a complex filtergraph − in that case the disposition is unset by default.
value is a sequence of items separated by ’+’ or ’−’. The first item may also be prefixed with ’+’ or
’−’, in which case this option modifies the default value. Otherwise (the first item is not prefixed) this
options overrides the default value. A ’+’ prefix adds the given disposition, ’−’ removes it. It is also
possible to clear the disposition by setting it to 0.
If no −disposition options were specified for an output file, ffmpeg will automatically set the
’default’ disposition on the first stream of each type, when there are multiple streams of this type in the
output file and no stream of that type is already marked as default.
The −dispositions option lists the known dispositions.
For example, to make the second audio stream the default stream:
ffmpeg −i in.mkv −c copy −disposition:a:1 default out.mkv
To make the second subtitle stream the default stream and remove the default disposition from the first
subtitle stream:
ffmpeg −i in.mkv −c copy −disposition:s:0 0 −disposition:s:1 default o
To add an embedded cover/thumbnail:
ffmpeg −i in.mp4 −i IMAGE −map 0 −map 1 −c copy −c:v:1 png −dispositio
Not all muxers support embedded thumbnails, and those who do, only support a few formats, like
JPEG or PNG.
−program [title=title:][program_num=program_num:]st=stream[:st=stream...] (output)
Creates a program with the specified title, program_num and adds the specified stream(s) to it.
−target type (output)
Specify target file type (vcd, svcd, dvd, dv, dv50). type may be prefixed with pal−, ntsc− or
film− to use the corresponding standard. 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
The parameters set for each target are as follows.
VCD
<pal>:
−f vcd −muxrate 1411200 −muxpreload 0.44 −packetsize 2324
−s 352x288 −r 25
−codec:v mpeg1video −g 15 −b:v 1150k −maxrate:v 1150k −minrate:v 1150k
−ar 44100 −ac 2
−codec:a mp2 −b:a 224k

<ntsc>:

14
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

−f vcd −muxrate 1411200 −muxpreload 0.44 −packetsize 2324

−s 352x240 −r 30000/1001
−codec:v mpeg1video −g 18 −b:v 1150k −maxrate:v 1150k −minrate:v 1150k
−ar 44100 −ac 2
−codec:a mp2 −b:a 224k

<film>:
−f vcd −muxrate 1411200 −muxpreload 0.44 −packetsize 2324
−s 352x240 −r 24000/1001
−codec:v mpeg1video −g 18 −b:v 1150k −maxrate:v 1150k −minrate:v 1150k
−ar 44100 −ac 2
−codec:a mp2 −b:a 224k
SVCD
<pal>:
−f svcd −packetsize 2324
−s 480x576 −pix_fmt yuv420p −r 25
−codec:v mpeg2video −g 15 −b:v 2040k −maxrate:v 2516k −minrate:v 0 −bu
−ar 44100
−codec:a mp2 −b:a 224k

<ntsc>:
−f svcd −packetsize 2324
−s 480x480 −pix_fmt yuv420p −r 30000/1001
−codec:v mpeg2video −g 18 −b:v 2040k −maxrate:v 2516k −minrate:v 0 −bu
−ar 44100
−codec:a mp2 −b:a 224k

<film>:
−f svcd −packetsize 2324
−s 480x480 −pix_fmt yuv420p −r 24000/1001
−codec:v mpeg2video −g 18 −b:v 2040k −maxrate:v 2516k −minrate:v 0 −bu
−ar 44100
−codec:a mp2 −b:a 224k
DVD
<pal>:
−f dvd −muxrate 10080k −packetsize 2048
−s 720x576 −pix_fmt yuv420p −r 25
−codec:v mpeg2video −g 15 −b:v 6000k −maxrate:v 9000k −minrate:v 0 −bu
−ar 48000
−codec:a ac3 −b:a 448k

<ntsc>:
−f dvd −muxrate 10080k −packetsize 2048
−s 720x480 −pix_fmt yuv420p −r 30000/1001
−codec:v mpeg2video −g 18 −b:v 6000k −maxrate:v 9000k −minrate:v 0 −bu
−ar 48000
−codec:a ac3 −b:a 448k

<film>:
−f dvd −muxrate 10080k −packetsize 2048
−s 720x480 −pix_fmt yuv420p −r 24000/1001
−codec:v mpeg2video −g 18 −b:v 6000k −maxrate:v 9000k −minrate:v 0 −bu

15
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

−ar 48000
−codec:a ac3 −b:a 448k
DV
<pal>:
−f dv
−s 720x576 −pix_fmt yuv420p −r 25
−ar 48000 −ac 2

<ntsc>:
−f dv
−s 720x480 −pix_fmt yuv411p −r 30000/1001
−ar 48000 −ac 2

<film>:
−f dv
−s 720x480 −pix_fmt yuv411p −r 24000/1001
−ar 48000 −ac 2
The dv50 target is identical to the dv target except that the pixel format set is yuv422p for all three
standards.
Any user-set value for a parameter above will override the target preset value. In that case, the output
may not comply with the target standard.
−dn (input/output)
As an input option, blocks all data streams of a file from being filtered or being automatically selected
or mapped for any output. See −discard option to disable streams individually.
As an output option, disables data recording i.e. automatic selection or mapping of any data stream.
For full manual control see the −map option.
−dframes number (output)
Set the number of data frames to output. This is an obsolete alias for −frames:d, which you should
use instead.
−frames[:stream_specifier] framecount (output,per−stream)
Stop writing to the stream after framecount frames.
−q[:stream_specifier] q (output,per−stream)
−qscale[:stream_specifier] q (output,per−stream)
Use fixed quality scale (VBR). The meaning of q/qscale is codec-dependent. If qscale is used without
a stream_specifier then it applies only to the video stream, this is to maintain compatibility with
previous behavior and as specifying the same codec specific value to 2 different codecs that is audio
and video generally is not what is intended when no stream_specifier is used.
−filter[:stream_specifier] filtergraph (output,per−stream)
Create the filtergraph specified by filtergraph and use it to filter the stream.
filtergraph is a description of the filtergraph to apply to the stream, and must have a single input and a
single output of the same type of the stream. In the filtergraph, the input is associated to the label in,
and the output to the label out. See the ffmpeg-filters manual for more information about the
filtergraph syntax.
See the −filter_complex option if you want to create filtergraphs with multiple inputs and/or outputs.
−filter_script[:stream_specifier] filename (output,per−stream)
This option is similar to −filter, the only difference is that its argument is the name of the file from
which a filtergraph description is to be read.

16
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

−reinit_filter[:stream_specifier] integer (input,per−stream)

This boolean option determines if the filtergraph(s) to which this stream is fed gets reinitialized when
input frame parameters change mid-stream. This option is enabled by default as most video and all
audio filters cannot handle deviation in input frame properties. Upon reinitialization, existing filter
state is lost, like e.g. the frame count n reference available in some filters. Any frames buffered at time
of reinitialization are lost. The properties where a change triggers reinitialization are, for video, frame
resolution or pixel format; for audio, sample format, sample rate, channel count or channel layout.
−filter_threads nb_threads (global)
Defines how many threads are used to process a filter pipeline. Each pipeline will produce a thread
pool with this many threads available for parallel processing. The default is the number of available
CPUs.
−pre[:stream_specifier] preset_name (output,per−stream)
Specify the preset for matching stream(s).
−stats (global)
Print encoding progress/statistics. It is on by default, to explicitly disable it you need to specify
−nostats.
−stats_period time (global)
Set period at which encoding progress/statistics are updated. Default is 0.5 seconds.
−progress url (global)
Send program-friendly progress information to url.
Progress information is written periodically and at the end of the encoding process. It is made of
"key=value" lines. key consists of only alphanumeric characters. The last key of a sequence of progress
information is always "progress".
The update period is set using −stats_period.
−stdin
Enable interaction on standard input. On by default unless standard input is used as an input. To
explicitly disable interaction you need to specify −nostdin.
Disabling interaction on standard input is useful, for example, if ffmpeg is in the background process
group. Roughly the same result can be achieved with ffmpeg ... < /dev/null but it requires a
shell.
−debug_ts (global)
Print timestamp information. It is off by default. This option is mostly useful for testing and debugging
purposes, and the output format may change from one version to another, so it should not be employed
by portable scripts.
See also the option −fdebug ts.
−attach filename (output)
Add an attachment to the output file. This is supported by a few formats like Matroska for e.g. fonts
used in rendering subtitles. Attachments are implemented as a specific type of stream, so this option
will add a new stream to the file. It is then possible to use per-stream options on this stream in the
usual way. Attachment streams created with this option will be created after all the other streams (i.e.
those created with −map or automatic mappings).
Note that for Matroska you also have to set the mimetype metadata tag:
ffmpeg −i INPUT −attach DejaVuSans.ttf −metadata:s:2 mimetype=applicat
(assuming that the attachment stream will be third in the output file).
−dump_attachment[:stream_specifier] filename (input,per−stream)
Extract the matching attachment stream into a file named filename. If filename is empty, then the value
of the filename metadata tag will be used.

17
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

E.g. to extract the first attachment to a file named ’out.ttf’:

ffmpeg −dump_attachment:t:0 out.ttf −i INPUT
To extract all attachments to files determined by the filename tag:
ffmpeg −dump_attachment:t "" −i INPUT
Technical note −− attachments are implemented as codec extradata, so this option can actually be used
to extract extradata from any stream, not just attachments.
Video Options
−vframes number (output)
Set the number of video frames to output. This is an obsolete alias for −frames:v, which you should
use instead.
−r[:stream_specifier] fps (input/output,per−stream)
Set frame rate (Hz value, fraction or abbreviation).
As an input option, ignore any timestamps stored in the file and instead generate timestamps assuming
constant frame rate fps. This is not the same as the −framerate option used for some input formats
like image2 or v4l2 (it used to be the same in older versions of FFmpeg). If in doubt use −framerate
instead of the input option −r.
As an output option:
video encoding
Duplicate or drop frames right before encoding them to achieve constant output frame rate fps.
video streamcopy
Indicate to the muxer that fps is the stream frame rate. No data is dropped or duplicated in this
case. This may produce invalid files if fps does not match the actual stream frame rate as
determined by packet timestamps. See also the setts bitstream filter.
−fpsmax[:stream_specifier] fps (output,per−stream)
Set maximum frame rate (Hz value, fraction or abbreviation).
Clamps output frame rate when output framerate is auto-set and is higher than this value. Useful in
batch processing or when input framerate is wrongly detected as very high. It cannot be set together
with −r. It is ignored during streamcopy.
−s[:stream_specifier] size (input/output,per−stream)
Set frame size.
As an input option, this is a shortcut for the video_size private option, recognized by some demuxers
for which the frame size is either not stored in the file or is configurable −− e.g. raw video or video
grabbers.
As an output option, this inserts the scale video filter to the end of the corresponding filtergraph.
Please use the scale filter directly to insert it at the beginning or some other place.
The format is wxh (default − same as source).
−aspect[:stream_specifier] aspect (output,per−stream)
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.
If used together with −vcodec copy, it will affect the aspect ratio stored at container level, but not the
aspect ratio stored in encoded frames, if it exists.

18
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

−display_rotation[:stream_specifier] rotation (input,per−stream)

Set video rotation metadata.
rotation is a decimal number specifying the amount in degree by which the video should be rotated
counter-clockwise before being displayed.
This option overrides the rotation/display transform metadata stored in the file, if any. When the video
is being transcoded (rather than copied) and −autorotate is enabled, the video will be rotated at
the filtering stage. Otherwise, the metadata will be written into the output file if the muxer supports it.
If the −display_hflip and/or −display_vflip options are given, they are applied after the
rotation specified by this option.
−display_hflip[:stream_specifier] (input,per−stream)
Set whether on display the image should be horizontally flipped.
See the −display_rotation option for more details.
−display_vflip[:stream_specifier] (input,per−stream)
Set whether on display the image should be vertically flipped.
See the −display_rotation option for more details.
−vn (input/output)
As an input option, blocks all video streams of a file from being filtered or being automatically
selected or mapped for any output. See −discard option to disable streams individually.
As an output option, disables video recording i.e. automatic selection or mapping of any video stream.
For full manual control see the −map option.
−vcodec codec (output)
Set the video codec. This is an alias for −codec:v.
−pass[:stream_specifier] n (output,per−stream)
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 −c:v libxvid −pass 1 −an −f rawvideo −y NUL
ffmpeg −i foo.mov −c:v libxvid −pass 1 −an −f rawvideo −y /dev/null
−passlogfile[:stream_specifier] prefix (output,per−stream)
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
−vf filtergraph (output)
Create the filtergraph specified by filtergraph and use it to filter the stream.
This is an alias for −filter:v, see the −filter option.
−autorotate
Automatically rotate the video according to file metadata. Enabled by default, use −noautorotate to
disable it.
−autoscale
Automatically scale the video according to the resolution of first frame. Enabled by default, use
−noautoscale to disable it. When autoscale is disabled, all output frames of filter graph might not be
in the same resolution and may be inadequate for some encoder/muxer. Therefore, it is not
recommended to disable it unless you really know what you are doing. Disable autoscale at your own
risk.

19
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

Advanced Video options

−pix_fmt[:stream_specifier] format (input/output,per−stream)
Set pixel format. Use −pix_fmts to show all the supported pixel formats. If the selected pixel
format can not be selected, ffmpeg will print a warning and select the best pixel format supported by
the encoder. If pix_fmt is prefixed by a +, ffmpeg will exit with an error if the requested pixel format
can not be selected, and automatic conversions inside filtergraphs are disabled. If pix_fmt is a single +,
ffmpeg selects the same pixel format as the input (or graph output) and automatic conversions are
disabled.
−sws_flags flags (input/output)
Set default flags for the libswscale library. These flags are used by automatically inserted scale
filters and those within simple filtergraphs, if not overridden within the filtergraph definition.
See the ffmpeg-scaler manual for a list of scaler options.
−rc_override[:stream_specifier] override (output,per−stream)
Rate control override for specific intervals, formatted as "int,int,int" list separated with slashes. Two
first values are the beginning and end frame numbers, last one is quantizer to use if positive, or quality
factor if negative.
−psnr
Calculate PSNR of compressed frames. This option is deprecated, pass the PSNR flag to the encoder
instead, using −flags +psnr.
−vstats
Dump video coding statistics to vstats_HHMMSS.log. See the vstats file format section for the format
description.
−vstats_file file
Dump video coding statistics to file. See the vstats file format section for the format description.
−vstats_version file
Specify which version of the vstats format to use. Default is 2. See the vstats file format section for
the format description.
−vtag fourcc/tag (output)
Force video tag/fourcc. This is an alias for −tag:v.
−vbsf bitstream_filter
Deprecated see −bsf
−force_key_frames[:stream_specifier] time[,time...] (output,per−stream)
−force_key_frames[:stream_specifier] expr:expr (output,per−stream)
−force_key_frames[:stream_specifier] source (output,per−stream)
force_key_frames can take arguments of the following form:
time[,time...]
If the argument consists of timestamps, ffmpeg will round the specified times to the nearest
output timestamp as per the encoder time base and force a keyframe at the first frame having
timestamp equal or greater than the computed timestamp. Note that if the encoder time base is too
coarse, then the keyframes may be forced on frames with timestamps lower than the specified
time. The default encoder time base is the inverse of the output framerate but may be set
otherwise via −enc_time_base.
If one of the times is "chapters[delta]", it is expanded into the time of the beginning of all
chapters in the file, shifted by delta, expressed as a time in seconds. 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.
For example, to insert a key frame at 5 minutes, plus key frames 0.1 second before the beginning
of every chapter:

20
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

−force_key_frames 0:05:00,chapters−0.1
expr:expr
If the argument is prefixed with expr:, the string expr is interpreted like an expression and is
evaluated for each frame. A key frame is forced in case the evaluation is non-zero.
The expression in expr can contain the following constants:
n the number of current processed frame, starting from 0
n_forced
the number of forced frames
prev_forced_n
the number of the previous forced frame, it is NAN when no keyframe was forced yet
prev_forced_t
the time of the previous forced frame, it is NAN when no keyframe was forced yet
t the time of the current processed frame
For example to force a key frame every 5 seconds, you can specify:
−force_key_frames expr:gte(t,n_forced*5)
To force a key frame 5 seconds after the time of the last forced one, starting from second 13:
−force_key_frames expr:if(isnan(prev_forced_t),gte(t,13),gte(t,prev
source
If the argument is source, ffmpeg will force a key frame if the current frame being encoded is
marked as a key frame in its source. In cases where this particular source frame has to be
dropped, enforce the next available frame to become a key frame instead.
Note that forcing too many keyframes is very harmful for the lookahead algorithms of certain
encoders: using fixed-GOP options or similar would be more efficient.
−copyinkf[:stream_specifier] (output,per−stream)
When doing stream copy, copy also non-key frames found at the beginning.
−init_hw_device type[=name][:device[,key=value...]]
Initialise a new hardware device of type type called name, using the given device parameters. If no
name is specified it will receive a default name of the form "type%d".
The meaning of device and the following arguments depends on the device type:
cuda
device is the number of the CUDA device.
The following options are recognized:
primary_ctx
If set to 1, uses the primary device context instead of creating a new one.
Examples:
−init_hw_device cuda:1
Choose the second device on the system.
−init_hw_device cuda:0,primary_ctx=1
Choose the first device and use the primary device context.
dxva2
device is the number of the Direct3D 9 display adapter.
d3d11va
device is the number of the Direct3D 11 display adapter.

21
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

vaapi
device is either an X11 display name, a DRM render node or a DirectX adapter index. If not
specified, it will attempt to open the default X11 display ($DISPLAY) and then the first DRM
render node (/dev/dri/renderD128), or the default DirectX adapter on Windows.
vdpau
device is an X11 display name. If not specified, it will attempt to open the default X11 display
($DISPLAY).
qsv device selects a value in MFX_IMPL_*. Allowed values are:
auto
sw
hw
auto_any
hw_any
hw2
hw3
hw4
If not specified, auto_any is used. (Note that it may be easier to achieve the desired result for
QSV by creating the platform-appropriate subdevice (dxva2 or d3d11va or vaapi) and then
deriving a QSV device from that.)
Alternatively, child_device_type helps to choose platform-appropriate subdevice type. On
Windows d3d11va is used as default subdevice type.
Examples:
−init_hw_device qsv:hw,child_device_type=d3d11va
Choose the GPU subdevice with type d3d11va and create QSV device with
MFX_IMPL_HARDWARE.
−init_hw_device qsv:hw,child_device_type=dxva2
Choose the GPU subdevice with type dxva2 and create QSV device with
MFX_IMPL_HARDWARE.
opencl
device selects the platform and device as platform_index.device_index.
The set of devices can also be filtered using the key-value pairs to find only devices matching
particular platform or device strings.
The strings usable as filters are:
platform_profile
platform_version
platform_name
platform_vendor
platform_extensions
device_name
device_vendor
driver_version
device_version
device_profile
device_extensions
device_type
The indices and filters must together uniquely select a device.
Examples:

22
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

−init_hw_device opencl:0.1
Choose the second device on the first platform.
−init_hw_device opencl:,device_name=Foo9000
Choose the device with a name containing the string Foo9000.
−init_hw_device opencl:1,device_type=gpu,device_extensions=cl_khr_fp16
Choose the GPU device on the second platform supporting the cl_khr_fp16 extension.
vulkan
If device is an integer, it selects the device by its index in a system-dependent list of devices. If
device is any other string, it selects the first device with a name containing that string as a
substring.
The following options are recognized:
debug
If set to 1, enables the validation layer, if installed.
linear_images
If set to 1, images allocated by the hwcontext will be linear and locally mappable.
instance_extensions
A plus separated list of additional instance extensions to enable.
device_extensions
A plus separated list of additional device extensions to enable.
Examples:
−init_hw_device vulkan:1
Choose the second device on the system.
−init_hw_device vulkan:RADV
Choose the first device with a name containing the string RADV.
−init_hw_device
vulkan:0,instance_extensions=VK_KHR_wayland_surface+VK_KHR_xcb_surface
Choose the first device and enable the Wayland and XCB instance extensions.
−init_hw_device type[=name]@source
Initialise a new hardware device of type type called name, deriving it from the existing device with the
name source.
−init_hw_device list
List all hardware device types supported in this build of ffmpeg.
−filter_hw_device name
Pass the hardware device called name to all filters in any filter graph. This can be used to set the
device to upload to with the hwupload filter, or the device to map to with the hwmap filter. Other
filters may also make use of this parameter when they require a hardware device. Note that this is
typically only required when the input is not already in hardware frames − when it is, filters will derive
the device they require from the context of the frames they receive as input.
This is a global setting, so all filters will receive the same device.
−hwaccel[:stream_specifier] hwaccel (input,per−stream)
Use hardware acceleration to decode the matching stream(s). The allowed values of hwaccel are:
none
Do not use any hardware acceleration (the default).
auto
Automatically select the hardware acceleration method.

23
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

vdpau
Use VDPAU (Video Decode and Presentation API for Unix) hardware acceleration.
dxva2
Use DXVA2 (DirectX Video Acceleration) hardware acceleration.
d3d11va
Use D3D11VA (DirectX Video Acceleration) hardware acceleration.
vaapi
Use VAAPI (Video Acceleration API) hardware acceleration.
qsv Use the Intel QuickSync Video acceleration for video transcoding.
Unlike most other values, this option does not enable accelerated decoding (that is used
automatically whenever a qsv decoder is selected), but accelerated transcoding, without copying
the frames into the system memory.
For it to work, both the decoder and the encoder must support QSV acceleration and no filters
must be used.
This option has no effect if the selected hwaccel is not available or not supported by the chosen
decoder.
Note that most acceleration methods are intended for playback and will not be faster than software
decoding on modern CPUs. Additionally, ffmpeg will usually need to copy the decoded frames from
the GPU memory into the system memory, resulting in further performance loss. This option is thus
mainly useful for testing.
−hwaccel_device[:stream_specifier] hwaccel_device (input,per−stream)
Select a device to use for hardware acceleration.
This option only makes sense when the −hwaccel option is also specified. It can either refer to an
existing device created with −init_hw_device by name, or it can create a new device as if
−init_hw_device type:hwaccel_device were called immediately before.
−hwaccels
List all hardware acceleration components enabled in this build of ffmpeg. Actual runtime availability
depends on the hardware and its suitable driver being installed.
−fix_sub_duration_heartbeat[:stream_specifier]
Set a specific output video stream as the heartbeat stream according to which to split and push through
currently in-progress subtitle upon receipt of a random access packet.
This lowers the latency of subtitles for which the end packet or the following subtitle has not yet been
received. As a drawback, this will most likely lead to duplication of subtitle events in order to cover
the full duration, so when dealing with use cases where latency of when the subtitle event is passed on
to output is not relevant this option should not be utilized.
Requires −fix_sub_duration to be set for the relevant input subtitle stream for this to have any effect,
as well as for the input subtitle stream having to be directly mapped to the same output in which the
heartbeat stream resides.
Audio Options
−aframes number (output)
Set the number of audio frames to output. This is an obsolete alias for −frames:a, which you should
use instead.
−ar[:stream_specifier] freq (input/output,per−stream)
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.

24
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

−aq q (output)
Set the audio quality (codec-specific, VBR). This is an alias for −q:a.
−ac[:stream_specifier] channels (input/output,per−stream)
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.
−an (input/output)
As an input option, blocks all audio streams of a file from being filtered or being automatically
selected or mapped for any output. See −discard option to disable streams individually.
As an output option, disables audio recording i.e. automatic selection or mapping of any audio stream.
For full manual control see the −map option.
−acodec codec (input/output)
Set the audio codec. This is an alias for −codec:a.
−sample_fmt[:stream_specifier] sample_fmt (output,per−stream)
Set the audio sample format. Use −sample_fmts to get a list of supported sample formats.
−af filtergraph (output)
Create the filtergraph specified by filtergraph and use it to filter the stream.
This is an alias for −filter:a, see the −filter option.
Advanced Audio options
−atag fourcc/tag (output)
Force audio tag/fourcc. This is an alias for −tag:a.
−absf bitstream_filter
Deprecated, see −bsf
−guess_layout_max channels (input,per−stream)
If some input channel layout is not known, try to guess only if it corresponds to at most the specified
number of channels. For example, 2 tells to ffmpeg to recognize 1 channel as mono and 2 channels as
stereo but not 6 channels as 5.1. The default is to always try to guess. Use 0 to disable all guessing.
Subtitle options
−scodec codec (input/output)
Set the subtitle codec. This is an alias for −codec:s.
−sn (input/output)
As an input option, blocks all subtitle streams of a file from being filtered or being automatically
selected or mapped for any output. See −discard option to disable streams individually.
As an output option, disables subtitle recording i.e. automatic selection or mapping of any subtitle
stream. For full manual control see the −map option.
−sbsf bitstream_filter
Deprecated, see −bsf
Advanced Subtitle options
−fix_sub_duration
Fix subtitles durations. For each subtitle, wait for the next packet in the same stream and adjust the
duration of the first to avoid overlap. This is necessary with some subtitles codecs, especially DVB
subtitles, because the duration in the original packet is only a rough estimate and the end is actually
marked by an empty subtitle frame. Failing to use this option when necessary can result in exaggerated
durations or muxing failures due to non-monotonic timestamps.
Note that this option will delay the output of all data until the next subtitle packet is decoded: it may
increase memory consumption and latency a lot.

25
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

−canvas_size size
Set the size of the canvas used to render subtitles.
Advanced options
−map [−]input_file_id[:stream_specifier][?] | [linklabel] (output)
Create one or more streams in the output file. This option has two forms for specifying the data
source(s): the first selects one or more streams from some input file (specified with −i), the second
takes an output from some complex filtergraph (specified with −filter_complex or
−filter_complex_script).
In the first form, an output stream is created for every stream from the input file with the index
input_file_id. If stream_specifier is given, only those streams that match the specifier are used (see the
Stream specifiers section for the stream_specifier syntax).
A − character before the stream identifier creates a "negative" mapping. It disables matching streams
from already created mappings.
A trailing ? after the stream index will allow the map to be optional: if the map matches no streams
the map will be ignored instead of failing. Note the map will still fail if an invalid input file index is
used; such as if the map refers to a non-existent input.
An alternative [linklabel] form will map outputs from complex filter graphs (see the −filter_complex
option) to the output file. linklabel must correspond to a defined output link label in the graph.
This option may be specified multiple times, each adding more streams to the output file. Any given
input stream may also be mapped any number of times as a source for different output streams, e.g. in
order to use different encoding options and/or filters. The streams are created in the output in the same
order in which the −map options are given on the commandline.
Using this option disables the default mappings for this output file.
Examples:
map everything
To map ALL streams from the first input file to output
ffmpeg −i INPUT −map 0 output
select specific stream
If you have two audio streams in the first input file, these streams are identified by 0:0 and 0:1.
You can use −map to select which streams to place in an output file. For example:
ffmpeg −i INPUT −map 0:1 out.wav
will map the second input stream in INPUT to the (single) output stream in out.wav.
create multiple streams
To select the stream with index 2 from input file a.mov (specified by the identifier 0:2), and
stream with index 6 from input b.mov (specified by the identifier 1:6), and copy them to the
output file out.mov:
ffmpeg −i a.mov −i b.mov −c copy −map 0:2 −map 1:6 out.mov
create multiple streams 2
To select all video and the third audio stream from an input file:
ffmpeg −i INPUT −map 0:v −map 0:a:2 OUTPUT
negative map
To map all the streams except the second audio, use negative mappings
ffmpeg −i INPUT −map 0 −map −0:a:1 OUTPUT

26
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

optional map
To map the video and audio streams from the first input, and using the trailing ?, ignore the audio
mapping if no audio streams exist in the first input:
ffmpeg −i INPUT −map 0:v −map 0:a? OUTPUT
map by language
To pick the English audio stream:
ffmpeg −i INPUT −map 0:m:language:eng OUTPUT
−ignore_unknown
Ignore input streams with unknown type instead of failing if copying such streams is attempted.
−copy_unknown
Allow input streams with unknown type to be copied instead of failing if copying such streams is
attempted.
−map_channel [input_file_id.stream_specifier.channel_id|−1][?][:output_file_id.stream_specifier]
This option is deprecated and will be removed. It can be replaced by the pan filter. In some cases it
may be easier to use some combination of the channelsplit, channelmap, or amerge filters.
Map an audio channel from a given input to an output. If output_file_id.stream_specifier is not set, the
audio channel will be mapped on all the audio streams.
Using "−1" instead of input_file_id.stream_specifier.channel_id will map a muted channel.
A trailing ? will allow the map_channel to be optional: if the map_channel matches no channel the
map_channel will be ignored instead of failing.
For example, assuming INPUT is a stereo audio file, you can switch the two audio channels with the
following command:
ffmpeg −i INPUT −map_channel 0.0.1 −map_channel 0.0.0 OUTPUT
If you want to mute the first channel and keep the second:
ffmpeg −i INPUT −map_channel −1 −map_channel 0.0.1 OUTPUT
The order of the "−map_channel" option specifies the order of the channels in the output stream. The
output channel layout is guessed from the number of channels mapped (mono if one "−map_channel",
stereo if two, etc.). Using "−ac" in combination of "−map_channel" makes the channel gain levels to
be updated if input and output channel layouts don’t match (for instance two "−map_channel" options
and "−ac 6").
You can also extract each channel of an input to specific outputs; the following command extracts two
channels of the INPUT audio stream (file 0, stream 0) to the respective OUTPUT_CH0 and
OUTPUT_CH1 outputs:
ffmpeg −i INPUT −map_channel 0.0.0 OUTPUT_CH0 −map_channel 0.0.1 OUTPU
The following example splits the channels of a stereo input into two separate streams, which are put
into the same output file:
ffmpeg −i stereo.wav −map 0:0 −map 0:0 −map_channel 0.0.0:0.0 −map_cha
Note that currently each output stream can only contain channels from a single input stream; you can’t
for example use "−map_channel" to pick multiple input audio channels contained in different streams
(from the same or different files) and merge them into a single output stream. It is therefore not
currently possible, for example, to turn two separate mono streams into a single stereo stream.
However splitting a stereo stream into two single channel mono streams is possible.
If you need this feature, a possible workaround is to use the amerge filter. For example, if you need to
merge a media (here input.mkv) with 2 mono audio streams into one single stereo channel audio
stream (and keep the video stream), you can use the following command:

27
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

ffmpeg −i input.mkv −filter_complex "[0:1] [0:2] amerge" −c:a pcm_s16l

To map the first two audio channels from the first input, and using the trailing ?, ignore the audio
channel mapping if the first input is mono instead of stereo:
ffmpeg −i INPUT −map_channel 0.0.0 −map_channel 0.0.1? OUTPUT
−map_metadata[:metadata_spec_out] infile[:metadata_spec_in] (output,per−metadata)
Set metadata information of the next output file from infile. Note that those are file indices (zero-
based), not filenames. Optional metadata_spec_in/out parameters specify, which metadata to copy. A
metadata specifier can have the following forms:
g global metadata, i.e. metadata that applies to the whole file
s[:stream_spec]
per-stream metadata. stream_spec is a stream specifier as described in the Stream specifiers
chapter. In an input metadata specifier, the first matching stream is copied from. In an output
metadata specifier, all matching streams are copied to.
c:chapter_index
per-chapter metadata. chapter_index is the zero-based chapter index.
p:program_index
per-program metadata. program_index is the zero-based program index.
If metadata specifier is omitted, it defaults to global.
By default, global metadata is copied from the first input file, 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:s:0 out.mp3
To do the reverse, i.e. copy global metadata to all audio streams:
ffmpeg −i in.mkv −map_metadata:s:a 0:g out.mkv
Note that simple 0 would work as well in this example, since global metadata is assumed by default.
−map_chapters input_file_index (output)
Copy chapters from input file with index input_file_index to the next output file. If no chapter mapping
is specified, then chapters are copied from the first input file with at least one chapter. Use a negative
file index to disable any chapter copying.
−benchmark (global)
Show benchmarking information at the end of an encode. Shows real, system and user time used and
maximum memory consumption. Maximum memory consumption is not supported on all systems, it
will usually display as 0 if not supported.
−benchmark_all (global)
Show benchmarking information during the encode. Shows real, system and user time used in various
steps (audio/video encode/decode).
−timelimit duration (global)
Exit after ffmpeg has been running for duration seconds in CPU user time.
−dump (global)
Dump each input packet to stderr.
−hex (global)
When dumping packets, also dump the payload.

28
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

−readrate speed (input)

Limit input read speed.
Its value is a floating-point positive number which represents the maximum duration of media, in
seconds, that should be ingested in one second of wallclock time. Default value is zero and represents
no imposed limitation on speed of ingestion. Value 1 represents real-time speed and is equivalent to
−re.
Mainly used to simulate a capture device or live input stream (e.g. when reading from a file). Should
not be used with a low value when input is an actual capture device or live stream as it may cause
packet loss.
It is useful for when flow speed of output packets is important, such as live streaming.
−re (input)
Read input at native frame rate. This is equivalent to setting −readrate 1.
−readrate_initial_burst seconds
Set an initial read burst time, in seconds, after which −re/−readrate will be enforced.
−vsync parameter (global)
−fps_mode[:stream_specifier] parameter (output,per−stream)
Set video sync method / framerate mode. vsync is applied to all output video streams but can be
overridden for a stream by setting fps_mode. vsync is deprecated and will be removed in the future.
For compatibility reasons some of the values for vsync can be specified as numbers (shown in
parentheses in the following table).
passthrough (0)
Each frame is passed with its timestamp from the demuxer to the muxer.
cfr (1)
Frames will be duplicated and dropped to achieve exactly the requested constant frame rate.
vfr (2)
Frames are passed through with their timestamp or dropped so as to prevent 2 frames from having
the same timestamp.
drop
As passthrough but destroys all timestamps, making the muxer generate fresh timestamps based
on frame-rate.
auto (−1)
Chooses between cfr and vfr depending on muxer capabilities. This is the default method.
Note that the timestamps may be further modified by the muxer, after this. For example, in the case
that the format option avoid_negative_ts is enabled.
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.
−frame_drop_threshold parameter
Frame drop threshold, which specifies how much behind video frames can be before they are dropped.
In frame rate units, so 1.0 is one frame. The default is −1.1. One possible usecase is to avoid
framedrops in case of noisy timestamps or to increase frame drop precision in case of exact
timestamps.
−apad parameters (output,per−stream)
Pad the output audio stream(s). This is the same as applying −af apad. Argument is a string of
filter parameters composed the same as with the apad filter. −shortest must be set for this output
for the option to take effect.

29
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

−copyts
Do not process input timestamps, but keep their values without trying to sanitize them. In particular,
do not remove the initial start time offset value.
Note that, depending on the vsync option or on specific muxer processing (e.g. in case the format
option avoid_negative_ts is enabled) the output timestamps may mismatch with the input timestamps
even when this option is selected.
−start_at_zero
When used with copyts, shift input timestamps so they start at zero.
This means that using e.g. −ss 50 will make output timestamps start at 50 seconds, regardless of
what timestamp the input file started at.
−copytb mode
Specify how to set the encoder timebase when stream copying. mode is an integer numeric value, and
can assume one of the following values:
1 Use the demuxer timebase.
The time base is copied to the output encoder from the corresponding input demuxer. This is
sometimes required to avoid non monotonically increasing timestamps when copying video
streams with variable frame rate.
0 Use the decoder timebase.
The time base is copied to the output encoder from the corresponding input decoder.
−1 Try to make the choice automatically, in order to generate a sane output.
Default value is −1.
−enc_time_base[:stream_specifier] timebase (output,per−stream)
Set the encoder timebase. timebase can assume one of the following values:
0 Assign a default value according to the media type.
For video − use 1/framerate, for audio − use 1/samplerate.
demux
Use the timebase from the demuxer.
filter
Use the timebase from the filtergraph.
a positive number
Use the provided number as the timebase.
This field can be provided as a ratio of two integers (e.g. 1:24, 1:48000) or as a decimal number
(e.g. 0.04166, 2.0833e−5)
Default value is 0.
−bitexact (input/output)
Enable bitexact mode for (de)muxer and (de/en)coder
−shortest (output)
Finish encoding when the shortest output stream ends.
Note that this option may require buffering frames, which introduces extra latency. The maximum
amount of this latency may be controlled with the −shortest_buf_duration option.
−shortest_buf_duration duration (output)
The −shortest option may require buffering potentially large amounts of data when at least one of
the streams is "sparse" (i.e. has large gaps between frames – this is typically the case for subtitles).
This option controls the maximum duration of buffered frames in seconds. Larger values may allow

30
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

the −shortest option to produce more accurate results, but increase memory use and latency.
The default value is 10 seconds.
−dts_delta_threshold threshold
Timestamp discontinuity delta threshold, expressed as a decimal number of seconds.
The timestamp discontinuity correction enabled by this option is only applied to input formats
accepting timestamp discontinuity (for which the AV_FMT_DISCONT flag is enabled), e.g. MPEG-TS
and HLS, and is automatically disabled when employing the −copy_ts option (unless wrapping is
detected).
If a timestamp discontinuity is detected whose absolute value is greater than threshold, ffmpeg will
remove the discontinuity by decreasing/increasing the current DTS and PTS by the corresponding
delta value.
The default value is 10.
−dts_error_threshold threshold
Timestamp error delta threshold, expressed as a decimal number of seconds.
The timestamp correction enabled by this option is only applied to input formats not accepting
timestamp discontinuity (for which the AV_FMT_DISCONT flag is not enabled).
If a timestamp discontinuity is detected whose absolute value is greater than threshold, ffmpeg will
drop the PTS/DTS timestamp value.
The default value is 3600*30 (30 hours), which is arbitrarily picked and quite conservative.
−muxdelay seconds (output)
Set the maximum demux-decode delay.
−muxpreload seconds (output)
Set the initial demux-decode delay.
−streamid output-stream-index:new-value (output)
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.
For example, to set the stream 0 PID to 33 and the stream 1 PID to 36 for an output mpegts file:
ffmpeg −i inurl −streamid 0:33 −streamid 1:36 out.ts
−bsf[:stream_specifier] bitstream_filters (output,per−stream)
Set bitstream filters for matching streams. bitstream_filters is a comma-separated list of bitstream
filters. Use the −bsfs option to get the list of bitstream filters.
ffmpeg −i h264.mp4 −c:v copy −bsf:v h264_mp4toannexb −an out.h264

ffmpeg −i file.mov −an −vn −bsf:s mov2textsub −c:s copy −f rawvideo su

−tag[:stream_specifier] codec_tag (input/output,per−stream)
Force a tag/fourcc for matching streams.
−timecode hh:mm:ssSEPff
Specify Timecode for writing. SEP is ’:’ for non drop timecode and ’;’ (or ’.’) for drop.
ffmpeg −i input.mpg −timecode 01:02:03.04 −r 30000/1001 −s ntsc output
−filter_complex filtergraph (global)
Define a complex filtergraph, i.e. one with arbitrary number of inputs and/or outputs. For simple
graphs −− those with one input and one output of the same type −− see the −filter options. filtergraph
is a description of the filtergraph, as described in the ‘‘Filtergraph syntax’’ section of the ffmpeg-filters

31
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

manual.
Input link labels must refer to input streams using the [file_index:stream_specifier]
syntax (i.e. the same as −map uses). If stream_specifier matches multiple streams, the first one will be
used. An unlabeled input will be connected to the first unused input stream of the matching type.
Output link labels are referred to with −map. Unlabeled outputs are added to the first output file.
Note that with this option it is possible to use only lavfi sources without normal input files.
For example, to overlay an image over video
ffmpeg −i video.mkv −i image.png −filter_complex '[0:v][1:v]overlay[ou
'[out]' out.mkv
Here [0:v] refers to the first video stream in the first input file, which is linked to the first (main)
input of the overlay filter. Similarly the first video stream in the second input is linked to the second
(overlay) input of overlay.
Assuming there is only one video stream in each input file, we can omit input labels, so the above is
equivalent to
ffmpeg −i video.mkv −i image.png −filter_complex 'overlay[out]' −map
'[out]' out.mkv
Furthermore we can omit the output label and the single output from the filter graph will be added to
the output file automatically, so we can simply write
ffmpeg −i video.mkv −i image.png −filter_complex 'overlay' out.mkv
As a special exception, you can use a bitmap subtitle stream as input: it will be converted into a video
with the same size as the largest video in the file, or 720x576 if no video is present. Note that this is an
experimental and temporary solution. It will be removed once libavfilter has proper support for
subtitles.
For example, to hardcode subtitles on top of a DVB-T recording stored in MPEG-TS format, delaying
the subtitles by 1 second:
ffmpeg −i input.ts −filter_complex \
'[#0x2ef] setpts=PTS+1/TB [sub] ; [#0x2d0] [sub] overlay' \
−sn −map '#0x2dc' output.mkv
(0x2d0, 0x2dc and 0x2ef are the MPEG-TS PIDs of respectively the video, audio and subtitles
streams; 0:0, 0:3 and 0:7 would have worked too)
To generate 5 seconds of pure red video using lavfi color source:
ffmpeg −filter_complex 'color=c=red' −t 5 out.mkv
−filter_complex_threads nb_threads (global)
Defines how many threads are used to process a filter_complex graph. Similar to filter_threads but
used for −filter_complex graphs only. The default is the number of available CPUs.
−lavfi filtergraph (global)
Define a complex filtergraph, i.e. one with arbitrary number of inputs and/or outputs. Equivalent to
−filter_complex.
−filter_complex_script filename (global)
This option is similar to −filter_complex, the only difference is that its argument is the name of the
file from which a complex filtergraph description is to be read.
−accurate_seek (input)
This option enables or disables accurate seeking in input files with the −ss option. It is enabled by
default, so seeking is accurate when transcoding. Use −noaccurate_seek to disable it, which may be
useful e.g. when copying some streams and transcoding the others.

32
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

−seek_timestamp (input)
This option enables or disables seeking by timestamp in input files with the −ss option. It is disabled
by default. If enabled, the argument to the −ss option is considered an actual timestamp, and is not
offset by the start time of the file. This matters only for files which do not start from timestamp 0, such
as transport streams.
−thread_queue_size size (input/output)
For input, this option sets the maximum number of queued packets when reading from the file or
device. With low latency / high rate live streams, packets may be discarded if they are not read in a
timely manner; setting this value can force ffmpeg to use a separate input thread and read packets as
soon as they arrive. By default ffmpeg only does this if multiple inputs are specified.
For output, this option specified the maximum number of packets that may be queued to each muxing
thread.
−sdp_file file (global)
Print sdp information for an output stream to file. This allows dumping sdp information when at least
one output isn’t an rtp stream. (Requires at least one of the output formats to be rtp).
−discard (input)
Allows discarding specific streams or frames from streams. Any input stream can be fully discarded,
using value all whereas selective discarding of frames from a stream occurs at the demuxer and is
not supported by all demuxers.
none
Discard no frame.
default
Default, which discards no frames.
noref
Discard all non-reference frames.
bidir
Discard all bidirectional frames.
nokey
Discard all frames excepts keyframes.
all Discard all frames.
−abort_on flags (global)
Stop and abort on various conditions. The following flags are available:
empty_output
No packets were passed to the muxer, the output is empty.
empty_output_stream
No packets were passed to the muxer in some of the output streams.
−max_error_rate (global)
Set fraction of decoding frame failures across all inputs which when crossed ffmpeg will return exit
code 69. Crossing this threshold does not terminate processing. Range is a floating-point number
between 0 to 1. Default is 2/3.
−xerror (global)
Stop and exit on error
−max_muxing_queue_size packets (output,per−stream)
When transcoding audio and/or video streams, ffmpeg will not begin writing into the output until it has
one packet for each such stream. While waiting for that to happen, packets for other streams are
buffered. This option sets the size of this buffer, in packets, for the matching output stream.
The default value of this option should be high enough for most uses, so only touch this option if you

33
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

are sure that you need it.

−muxing_queue_data_threshold bytes (output,per−stream)
This is a minimum threshold until which the muxing queue size is not taken into account. Defaults to
50 megabytes per stream, and is based on the overall size of packets passed to the muxer.
−auto_conversion_filters (global)
Enable automatically inserting format conversion filters in all filter graphs, including those defined by
−vf, −af, −filter_complex and −lavfi. If filter format negotiation requires a conversion, the
initialization of the filters will fail. Conversions can still be performed by inserting the relevant
conversion filter (scale, aresample) in the graph. On by default, to explicitly disable it you need to
specify −noauto_conversion_filters.
−bits_per_raw_sample[:stream_specifier] value (output,per−stream)
Declare the number of bits per raw sample in the given output stream to be value. Note that this option
sets the information provided to the encoder/muxer, it does not change the stream to conform to this
value. Setting values that do not match the stream properties may result in encoding failures or invalid
output files.
−stats_enc_pre[:stream_specifier] path (output,per−stream)
−stats_enc_post[:stream_specifier] path (output,per−stream)
−stats_mux_pre[:stream_specifier] path (output,per−stream)
Write per-frame encoding information about the matching streams into the file given by path.
−stats_enc_pre writes information about raw video or audio frames right before they are sent for
encoding, while −stats_enc_post writes information about encoded packets as they are received from
the encoder. −stats_mux_pre writes information about packets just as they are about to be sent to the
muxer. Every frame or packet produces one line in the specified file. The format of this line is
controlled by −stats_enc_pre_fmt / −stats_enc_post_fmt / −stats_mux_pre_fmt.
When stats for multiple streams are written into a single file, the lines corresponding to different
streams will be interleaved. The precise order of this interleaving is not specified and not guaranteed to
remain stable between different invocations of the program, even with the same options.
−stats_enc_pre_fmt[:stream_specifier] format_spec (output,per−stream)
−stats_enc_post_fmt[:stream_specifier] format_spec (output,per−stream)
−stats_mux_pre_fmt[:stream_specifier] format_spec (output,per−stream)
Specify the format for the lines written with −stats_enc_pre / −stats_enc_post / −stats_mux_pre.
format_spec is a string that may contain directives of the form {fmt}. format_spec is backslash-escaped
−−− use \{, \}, and \\ to write a literal {, }, or \, respectively, into the output.
The directives given with fmt may be one of the following:
fidx
Index of the output file.
sidx
Index of the output stream in the file.
n Frame number. Pre-encoding: number of frames sent to the encoder so far. Post-encoding:
number of packets received from the encoder so far. Muxing: number of packets submitted to the
muxer for this stream so far.
ni Input frame number. Index of the input frame (i.e. output by a decoder) that corresponds to this
output frame or packet. −1 if unavailable.
tb Timebase in which this frame/packet’s timestamps are expressed, as a rational number num/den.
Note that encoder and muxer may use different timebases.
tbi Timebase for ptsi, as a rational number num/den. Available when ptsi is available, 0/1 otherwise.

34
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

pts Presentation timestamp of the frame or packet, as an integer. Should be multiplied by the
timebase to compute presentation time.
ptsi
Presentation timestamp of the input frame (see ni), as an integer. Should be multiplied by tbi to
compute presentation time. Printed as (2ˆ63 − 1 = 9223372036854775807) when not available.
t Presentation time of the frame or packet, as a decimal number. Equal to pts multiplied by tb.
ti Presentation time of the input frame (see ni), as a decimal number. Equal to ptsi multiplied by tbi.
Printed as inf when not available.
dts (packet)
Decoding timestamp of the packet, as an integer. Should be multiplied by the timebase to
compute presentation time.
dt (packet)
Decoding time of the frame or packet, as a decimal number. Equal to dts multiplied by tb.
sn (frame,audio)
Number of audio samples sent to the encoder so far.
samp (frame,audio)
Number of audio samples in the frame.
size (packet)
Size of the encoded packet in bytes.
br (packet)
Current bitrate in bits per second. Post-encoding only.
abr (packet)
Average bitrate for the whole stream so far, in bits per second, −1 if it cannot be determined at
this point. Post-encoding only.
Directives tagged with packet may only be used with −stats_enc_post_fmt and −stats_mux_pre_fmt.
Directives tagged with frame may only be used with −stats_enc_pre_fmt.
Directives tagged with audio may only be used with audio streams.
The default format strings are:
pre-encoding
{fidx} {sidx} {n} {t}
post-encoding
{fidx} {sidx} {n} {t}
In the future, new items may be added to the end of the default formatting strings. Users who depend
on the format staying exactly the same, should prescribe it manually.
Note that stats for different streams written into the same file may have different formats.
Preset files
A preset file contains a sequence of option=value pairs, one for each line, specifying a sequence of options
which would be awkward to specify on the command line. Lines starting with the hash (’#’) character are
ignored and are used to provide comments. Check the presets directory in the FFmpeg source tree for
examples.
There are two types of preset files: ffpreset and avpreset files.
ffpreset files
ffpreset files are specified with the vpre, apre, spre, and fpre options. The fpre option takes the
filename of the preset instead of a preset name as input and can be used for any kind of codec. For the
vpre, apre, and spre options, the options specified in a preset file are applied to the currently selected

35
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

codec of the same type as the preset option.

The argument passed to the vpre, apre, and spre preset options identifies the preset file to use
according to the following rules:
First ffmpeg searches for a file named arg.ffpreset in the directories $FFMPEG_DATADIR (if set), and
$HOME/.ffmpeg, and in the datadir defined at configuration time (usually PREFIX/share/ffmpeg) or in a
ffpresets folder along the executable on win32, in that order. For example, if the argument is
libvpx−1080p, it will search for the file libvpx−1080p.ffpreset.
If no such file is found, then ffmpeg will search for a file named codec_name−arg.ffpreset in the above-
mentioned directories, where codec_name is the name of the codec to which the preset file options will be
applied. For example, if you select the video codec with −vcodec libvpx and use −vpre 1080p,
then it will search for the file libvpx−1080p.ffpreset.
avpreset files
avpreset files are specified with the pre option. They work similar to ffpreset files, but they only allow
encoder− specific options. Therefore, an option=value pair specifying an encoder cannot be used.
When the pre option is specified, ffmpeg will look for files with the suffix .avpreset in the directories
$AVCONV_DATADIR (if set), and $HOME/.avconv, and in the datadir defined at configuration time (usually
PREFIX/share/ffmpeg), in that order.
First ffmpeg searches for a file named codec_name−arg.avpreset in the above-mentioned directories, where
codec_name is the name of the codec to which the preset file options will be applied. For example, if you
select the video codec with −vcodec libvpx and use −pre 1080p, then it will search for the file
libvpx−1080p.avpreset.
If no such file is found, then ffmpeg will search for a file named arg.avpreset in the same directories.
vstats file format
The −vstats and −vstats_file options enable generation of a file containing statistics about the
generated video outputs.
The −vstats_version option controls the format version of the generated file.
With version 1 the format is:
frame= <FRAME> q= <FRAME_QUALITY> PSNR= <PSNR> f_size= <FRAME_SIZE> s_size
With version 2 the format is:
out= <OUT_FILE_INDEX> st= <OUT_FILE_STREAM_INDEX> frame= <FRAME_NUMBER> q=
The value corresponding to each key is described below:
avg_br
average bitrate expressed in Kbits/s
br bitrate expressed in Kbits/s
frame
number of encoded frame
out out file index
PSNR
Peak Signal to Noise Ratio
q quality of the frame
f_size
encoded packet size expressed as number of bytes
s_size
stream size expressed in KiB

36
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

st out file stream index

time
time of the packet
type
picture type
See also the −stats_enc options for an alternative way to show encoding statistics.
EXAMPLES
Video and Audio grabbing
If you specify the input format and device then ffmpeg can grab video and audio directly.
ffmpeg −f oss −i /dev/dsp −f video4linux2 −i /dev/video0 /tmp/out.mpg
Or with an ALSA audio source (mono input, card id 1) instead of OSS:
ffmpeg −f alsa −ac 1 −i hw:1 −f video4linux2 −i /dev/video0 /tmp/out.mpg
Note that you must activate the right video source and channel before launching ffmpeg with any TV
viewer such as <http://linux.bytesex.org/xawtv/> by Gerd Knorr. You also have to set the audio recording
levels correctly with a standard mixer.
X11 grabbing
Grab the X11 display with ffmpeg via
ffmpeg −f x11grab −video_size cif −framerate 25 −i :0.0 /tmp/out.mpg
0.0 is display.screen number of your X11 server, same as the DISPLAY environment variable.
ffmpeg −f x11grab −video_size cif −framerate 25 −i :0.0+10,20 /tmp/out.mpg
0.0 is display.screen number of your X11 server, same as the DISPLAY environment variable. 10 is the
x−offset and 20 the y−offset for the grabbing.
Video and Audio file format conversion
Any supported file format and protocol can serve as input to ffmpeg:
Examples:
• You can use YUV files as input:
ffmpeg −i /tmp/test%d.Y /tmp/out.mpg
It will use the files:
/tmp/test0.Y, /tmp/test0.U, /tmp/test0.V,
/tmp/test1.Y, /tmp/test1.U, /tmp/test1.V, etc...
The Y files use twice the resolution of the U and V files. They are raw files, without header. They can
be generated by all decent video decoders. You must specify the size of the image with the −s option if
ffmpeg cannot guess it.
• You can input from a raw YUV420P file:
ffmpeg −i /tmp/test.yuv /tmp/out.avi
test.yuv is a file containing raw YUV planar data. Each frame is composed of the Y plane followed by
the U and V planes at half vertical and horizontal resolution.
• You can output to a raw YUV420P file:
ffmpeg −i mydivx.avi hugefile.yuv
• You can set several input files and output files:
ffmpeg −i /tmp/a.wav −s 640x480 −i /tmp/a.yuv /tmp/a.mpg
Converts the audio file a.wav and the raw YUV video file a.yuv to MPEG file a.mpg.

37
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

• You can also do audio and video conversions at the same time:
ffmpeg −i /tmp/a.wav −ar 22050 /tmp/a.mp2
Converts a.wav to MPEG audio at 22050 Hz sample rate.
• You can encode to several formats at the same time and define a mapping from input stream to output
streams:
ffmpeg −i /tmp/a.wav −map 0:a −b:a 64k /tmp/a.mp2 −map 0:a −b:a 128k /
Converts a.wav to a.mp2 at 64 kbits and to b.mp2 at 128 kbits. ’−map file:index’ specifies which input
stream is used for each output stream, in the order of the definition of output streams.
• You can transcode decrypted VOBs:
ffmpeg −i snatch_1.vob −f avi −c:v mpeg4 −b:v 800k −g 300 −bf 2 −c:a l
This is a typical DVD ripping example; the input is a VOB file, the output an AVI file with MPEG−4
video and MP3 audio. Note that in this command we use B−frames so the MPEG−4 stream is DivX5
compatible, and GOP size is 300 which means one intra frame every 10 seconds for 29.97fps input
video. Furthermore, the audio stream is MP3−encoded so you need to enable LAME support by
passing −−enable−libmp3lame to configure. The mapping is particularly useful for DVD
transcoding to get the desired audio language.
NOTE: To see the supported input formats, use ffmpeg −demuxers.
• You can extract images from a video, or create a video from many images:
For extracting images from a video:
ffmpeg −i foo.avi −r 1 −s WxH −f image2 foo−%03d.jpeg
This will extract one video frame per second from the video and will output them in files named
foo−001.jpeg, foo−002.jpeg, etc. Images will be rescaled to fit the new WxH values.
If you want to extract just a limited number of frames, you can use the above command in combination
with the −frames:v or −t option, or in combination with −ss to start extracting from a certain point
in time.
For creating a video from many images:
ffmpeg −f image2 −framerate 12 −i foo−%03d.jpeg −s WxH foo.avi
The syntax foo−%03d.jpeg specifies to use a decimal number composed of three digits padded
with zeroes to express the sequence number. It is the same syntax supported by the C printf function,
but only formats accepting a normal integer are suitable.
When importing an image sequence, −i also supports expanding shell-like wildcard patterns
(globbing) internally, by selecting the image2−specific −pattern_type glob option.
For example, for creating a video from filenames matching the glob pattern foo−*.jpeg:
ffmpeg −f image2 −pattern_type glob −framerate 12 −i 'foo−*.jpeg' −s W
• You can put many streams of the same type in the output:
ffmpeg −i test1.avi −i test2.avi −map 1:1 −map 1:0 −map 0:1 −map 0:0 −
The resulting output file test12.nut will contain the first four streams from the input files in reverse
order.
• To force CBR video output:
ffmpeg −i myfile.avi −b 4000k −minrate 4000k −maxrate 4000k −bufsize 1

38
FFMPEG(1) FFMPEG(1)

• The four options lmin, lmax, mblmin and 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
SEE ALSO
ffmpeg−all (1), ffplay (1), ffprobe (1), ffmpeg−utils (1), ffmpeg−scaler (1), ffmpeg−resampler (1),
ffmpeg−codecs (1), ffmpeg−bitstream−filters (1), ffmpeg−formats (1), ffmpeg−devices (1),
ffmpeg−protocols (1), ffmpeg−filters (1)
AUTHORS
The FFmpeg developers.
For details about the authorship, see the Git history of the project (https://git.ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg), e.g. by
typing the command git log in the FFmpeg source directory, or browsing the online repository at
<https://git.ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg>.
Maintainers for the specific components are listed in the file MAINTAINERS in the source code tree.

39