Some useful FFmpeg commands

FFmpeg intro
FFprobe file info
- Show/get stream metadata
FFplay video viewing
FFmpeg video editing
Libavfilter virtual input device (lavfi filtergraph)

Important

The order of (some) parameters/flags matters - before or after a given input or output (FFmpeg supports multiple input files and creating multiple output streams with one command).

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official documentation

Full FFmpeg documentation @ https://ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg-all.html (archive)
Full FFplay documentation @ https://ffmpeg.org/ffplay-all.html (archive)
Full FFprobe documentation @ https://ffmpeg.org/ffprobe-all.html (archive)

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download FFmpeg

Get FFmpeg from https://ffmpeg.org/download.html

I currently use the FFmpeg builds from https://www.gyan.dev/ffmpeg/builds/ (for Windows 7+) under the release builds section the file ffmpeg-release-full.7z or directly https://www.gyan.dev/ffmpeg/builds/ffmpeg-release-full.7z (don't forget 7-Zip for unpacking the .7z file)

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check configuration

help/licence/version
available/supported features
restrict logging level

see Generic options

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help/licence/version

ffmpeg -h       # CLI help
ffmpeg -L       # FFmpeg licence
ffmpeg -version # FFmpeg build version

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available/supported features

ffmpeg -buildconf    # FFmpeg build configuration
ffmpeg -formats      # files (and devices) de-/muxing support
ffmpeg -pix_fmts     # pixel formats (in/out/hardware acceleration/palette/bitstream)
ffmpeg -protocols    # protocols (in/out) like: file, https, sftp
ffmpeg -codecs       # video/audio/subtitle/data en-/decoders (also shows if lossy or lossless)
ffmpeg -filters      # video/audio (libavfilter) filters like: avgblur V->V (video in; video out)
ffmpeg -bsfs         # bitstream filters like: null, h264_metadata, hevc_metadata
ffmpeg -dispositions # how a stream is added to an output file; for example attached_pic is the file thumbnail/cover art for video files like MP4 (visible in file explorer)
ffmpeg -colors       # color names with their hex value; for example: Lime #00ff00

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restrict logging level

ffmpeg -hide_banner     # does not log version/copyright/buildconfig
ffmpeg -v level+warning # only log warnings and worse and shows level: "[warning] ..."
                        # debug > verbose > info (default) > warning > error > fatal > quiet (nothing)
                        # banner is info so -hide_banner is not needed with warning or less
ffmpeg -stats           # allways show stats (en-/decoding progress), even when log level is less than info

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CLI controls

CLI keyboard hotkeys mid-process:

key	function
`?`	show this table
`+`	increase verbosity (logging level)
`-`	decrease verbosity (logging level)
`q`	quit
`c`	Send command to first matching filter supporting it
`C`	Send/Queue command to all matching filters
`D`	cycle through available debug modes
`h`	dump packets/hex press to cycle through the 3 states
`s`	Show QP histogram

I didn't find an official documentation for these...

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FFprobe file info

Show/get stream metadata

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Show/get stream metadata

Output of the following commands is going to stdout (standard output), if no -o OUTPUT.log is specified

# list all audio streams and their language-tag (if set) in compact format (seperator ":", no field-names, and ommit section name)
ffprobe -v level+warning -i INPUT.mp4 -show_entries stream=index:stream_tags=language -select_streams a -of compact=s=\::nk=1:p=0
# [stream_index]:[tag_language]
# 1:eng

Note

FFprobe uses 3 letter ISO 639-2 language codes

# list all streams with index, codec_name, codec_type, and language-tag (if set) in compact format (seperator ":", no field-names, and ommit section name)
ffprobe -v level+warning -i INPUT.mp4 -show_entries stream=index,codec_type,codec_name:stream_tags=language -of compact=s=\::nk=1:p=0
# [stream_index]:[codec_name]:[codec_type]:[tag_language]
# 0:h264:video:und  (undetermined)
# 1:aac:audio:eng
# 2:png:video       (DISPOSITION:attached_pic ie the file thumbnail)

see how to Add thumbnail

# show all chapters (if any) of this file with id, start_time, end_time, and title (time in seconds) in compact format (seperator ":", no field-names, and ommit section name)
ffprobe -v level+warning -i INPUT.mp4 -show_entries chapter=id,start_time,end_time:chapter_tags=title -of compact=s=\::nk=1:p=0
# [chapter_id]:[start_time]:[end_time]:[chapter_title]
# 0:0.000000:10.000000:First 10 seconds
# 1:60.000000:120.000000:Second minute

see how to Edit metadata (add chapters)

# most relevant metadata in JSON format (secify output file instead of stdout)
ffprobe -v level+warning -i INPUT.mp4 -o OUTPUT.json -show_entries stream=index,codec_type,codec_name,width,height,display_aspect_ratio,avg_frame_rate,start_time,duration,bit_rate,sample_rate,channels,channel_layout:stream_tags=language,title:stream_disposition:chapter=id,start_time,end_time:chapter_tags=title:format=filename,duration,size,bit_rate:format_tags=title,artist,date,comment -of json
# see JSON structure with type info and some extra notes below

Click to show -show_entries value with added whitespace for readability

stream        = index, codec_type, codec_name, width, height, display_aspect_ratio, avg_frame_rate,
                start_time, duration, bit_rate, sample_rate, channels, channel_layout:
stream_tags   = language , title:
stream_disposition:
chapter       = id, start_time, end_time:
chapter_tags  = title:
format        = filename,duration, size, bit_rate:
format_tags   = title, artist, date, comment

Click to show JSON format/type info (only for above command)

Not a general list of keys, just those that are output by the above command

type FFprobeJSON = {
  programs: never[];              // (all via -show_programs)
  stream_groups: never[];         // (all via -show_stream_groups)
  streams: {                      // (all via -show_streams)
    index: number;
    codec_name: string;           // "h264"/"png"/"aac"/...
    codec_type: string;           // "video"/"audio"/...
    width: number;
    height: number;
    display_aspect_ratio: string; // usually "16:9"
    avg_frame_rate: string;
    start_time: string;           // time in seconds
    duration: string;             // time in seconds
    bit_rate: string;
    disposition: {                // only one should be 1 (if any)
      default: 0|1;
      dub: 0|1;
      original: 0|1;
      comment: 0|1;
      lyrics: 0|1;
      karaoke: 0|1;
      forced: 0|1;
      hearing_impaired: 0|1;
      visual_impaired: 0|1;
      clean_effects: 0|1;
      attached_pic: 0|1;          // for cover-images/file-thubnails
      timed_thumbnails: 0|1;
      non_diegetic: 0|1;
      captions: 0|1;
      descriptions: 0|1;
      metadata: 0|1;
      dependent: 0|1;
      still_image: 0|1;
      multilayer: 0|1;
    };
    tags: {
      language: string;           // 3 letter (ISO 639-2) language tag
      title: string;
    };
    sample_rate: string;
    channels: number;             // usually 2 for audio streams (left right)
    channel_layout: string;       // usually stereo for audio streams
  }[];
  chapters: {                     // (all via -show_chapters)
    id: number;
    start_time: string;           // time in seconds
    end_time: string;             // time in seconds
    tags: {
      title: string;              // name of chapter
    };
  }[];
  format: {                       // (all via -show_format)
    filename: string;             // exact path/URL given to FFprobe
    duration: string;             // entire file duration in seconds
    size: string;                 // file size in bytes
    bit_rate: string;
    tags: {
      title: string;
      artist: string;
      date: string;
      comment: string;
    };
  };
};

Also, custom metadata added via -metadata field=value can be read with -show_entries format_tags=field (then {}.format.tags.field (string) in JSON) or within -show_format as TAG:field=value (if no output format was specified; value may span multiple lines)

Keep in mind that whitespace will not be ignored, so -metadata "field = data" has key "field " and value " data"

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FFplay video viewing

Watch a video (looping)
Simulate Conway's game of life
FFplay video controls

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Watch a video (looping)

ffplay -v level+warning -stats -loop -1 INPUT.mp4

A window will show the video looping infinitly (see FFplay video controls)

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Simulate Conway's game of life

# random simulation, window size 1280*960 (4 times 320*240, which is the default size)
ffplay -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi life=mold=25:life_color=\#00ff00:death_color=\#aa0000,scale=4*iw:-1:flags=neighbor

A window will show the simulation infinitly (see FFplay video controls)

Note

seeking is not available, only pause/resume or frame-by-frame playback

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FFplay video controls

https://ffmpeg.org/ffplay-all.html#While-playing

Key	Action
`Q` / `ESC`	Quit
`F` or `left mouse double-click`	Toggle full screen
`P` / `SPACE`	Pause/Resume
`S`	Step to next frame (and pause) `frame-by-frame`
`←` / `→`	Seek back-/forward 10 seconds
`↓` / `↑`	Seek back-/forward 1 minute
`PAGE DOWN` / `PAGE UP`	Seek to the previous/next chapter (or 10 minutes)
`right mouse click`	Seek to percentage by click position (of window width)
`9` / `0` or `/` / `*`	De-/increase volume
`M`	Toggle mute
`A`	Cycle audio channel (current program)
`T`	Cycle subtitle channel (current program)
`C`	Cycle program
`V`	Cycle video channel
`W`	Cycle video filter/show modes

FFmpeg video editing

Convert MKV to MP4
Convert MP4 to M4A (audio only mp4)
Edit metadata (add chapters)
Add thumbnail
Add subtitles
Extract frames
Create video from frames
crop video
scale video
compress video
cut video
loop video
Reverse video and/or Audio
Concatenate multiple videos into one
- concat sections of videos
Create/download video with m3u8 playlist
find silence parts in video

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Convert MKV to MP4

the mkv video file format is suggested when streaming or recording (via OBS) since it can be easily recovert

# Audio codec already is AAC, so it can be copied to save some time
# Also use some compression to shrink the file size a bit
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -i INPUT.mkv -c:a copy -c:v libx264 -crf 12 OUTPUT.mp4

-v documentation
-stats documentation
-c documentation
- Stream specifiers documentation
-crf documentation (the best description is under libaom-AV1 but it's also in other encoders like MPEG-4)
also see this guide for CRF with libx264

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Convert MP4 to M4A (audio only mp4)

only include audio and subtitles (if present)

ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -i INPUT.mp4 -c copy -map 0:a -map 0:s? OUTPUT.m4a

or only exclude video

ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -i INPUT.mp4 -c copy -map 0 -map -0:v OUTPUT.m4a

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Edit metadata (add chapters)

export all metadata to a file

ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -i INPUT.mp4 -f ffmetadata FFMETADATAFILE.txt

it looks something like this

;FFMETADATA1

# empty lines or lines starting with ; or # will be ignored
# whitespace will not be ignored so "title = A" would be interpreted as key "title " and value " A"

title=Video Title
artist=Artist Name

# newlines and other special characters like = ; # \ must be escaped with a \
description=Text\
Line two\
\
\
Line five\
Line with Û̕͝͡n̊̑̓̊i͚͚ͬ́c̗͕̈́̀o̵̯ͣ͊ḑ̴̱̐ḛ̯̓̒

# then adding chapters is very simple | order does not matter (no intersection ofc), so easiest is to append them to the end of file

[CHAPTER]
# fractions of a second so 1/1000 says the following START and END are in milliseconds
TIMEBASE=1/1000
# start and end might change a bit when reinserting (snaps to nearest frame when video stream is copied and not encoded)
START=0
END=10000
title=0 to 10sec of the video

[CHAPTER]
TIMEBASE=1/1000
START=10000
END=20000
title=10sec to 20sec of the video

then to reinsert the edited metadata file

ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -i INPUT.mp4 -i FFMETADATAFILE.txt -map_metadata 1 -c copy OUTPUT.mp4

-v documentation
-stats documentation
full metadata documentation
You might also want to look at the -metadata documentation

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Add thumbnail

ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -i INPUT.mp4 -i IMAGE.png -map 0 -map 1 -c copy -c:v:1 png -disposition:v:1 attached_pic OUTPUT.mp4

-v documentation
-stats documentation
-c documentation
- Stream specifiers documentation
-map documentation
-disposition documentation
How To add an embedded cover/thumbnail (within the -disposition documentation)

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Add subtitles

Adding subtitles as an extra stream so they can be turned on and off.

Needs a video player that supports this feature like VLC.

# for mkv output
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -i INPUT.mp4 -i SUB.srt -c copy OUTPUT.mkv

# for mp4 output
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -i INPUT.mp4 -i SUB.srt -c copy -c:s mov_text OUTPUT.mp4

# ... with multiple subtitle files
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -i INPUT.mp4 -i SUB_ENG.srt -i SUB_GER.srt -map 0:0 -map 1:0 -map 2:0 -c copy -c:s mov_text OUTPUT.mp4

# ... with language codes
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -i INPUT.mp4 -i SUB_ENG.srt -i SUB_GER.srt -map 0:0 -map 1:0 -map 2:0 -c copy -c:s mov_text -metadata:s:s:0 language=eng -metadata:s:s:1 language=ger OUTPUT.mp4

A subtitle file (.srt) may look like this:

1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,000
hello there

2
00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:08,000
general kenobi

3
00:00:10,000 --> 00:01:00,000
multi
line
subtitles

displayed like in file → new line in SRT = new line in video

Unicode can be used → tested with z̵̢͎̟͛ͥ̄͑̐͐a̡͈̳̟ͧ̑̓͆̔ͬl̗̠̭͖͓͚ͭ̐͊͊ģ͖͈̍̓ͭͩ̚͝͞ơ̢̞̫̜̞̓͗͊ͪ text and it "pushed" the subtitles of screen (big line height)

Note

Not all subtitle files are supported by FFmpeg.

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Extract frames

# dump ALL frames
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -i INPUT.mp4 ./_dump/frame%03d.png

# dump frames with custom frame rate (here 1fps)
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -i INPUT.mp4 -r 1 ./_dump/frame%03d.png

# dump custom number of frames
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -i INPUT.mp4 -frames:v 3 ./_dump/frame%03d.png

# dump all frames in a timeframe (here from 0:00:02 to 0:00:05)
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -ss 2 -i INPUT.mp4 -t 3 ./_dump/frame%03d.png
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -ss 2 -i INPUT.mp4 -to 5 ./_dump/frame%03d.png

Important

The directory path must exist, ie, folders must be created beforehand.

png is a good middle ground (lossless compression, but supports less colors)
jpeg is slower but has good compression (lossy compression)
bmp is faster but has large file size (uncompressed)

The format frame%03d.png means files will be named: frame001.png, frame002.png, ..., frame050.png, ..., frame1000.png, and so on

Tip

use -start_number 0 (before output) to start at frame000.png

-ss, -t, and -to expect a specific time format in short [-][HH:]MM:SS[.m...] or [-]S+[.m...][s|ms|us]

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Create video from frames

# uses files INPUT000.png, INPUT001.png, etc to create the mp4 video (with 24fps)
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -framerate 24 -i INPUT%03d.png OUTPUT.mp4

# uses every png file that starts with INPUT (at 24fps)
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -framerate 24 -i INPUT*.png OUTPUT.mp4

# uses every png file (at 24fps)
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -framerate 24 -i *.png OUTPUT.mp4

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crop video

ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -i INPUT.mp4 -vf crop=WIDTH:HEIGHT:POSX:POSY OUTPUT.mp4

WIDTH - the width of the croped window
HEIGHT - the height of the croped window
POSX - the X position of the croped window (can be omitted = auto center)
POSY - the Y position of the croped window (can be omitted = auto center)
all values are in pixels, but there is no "px" after it (or an expression that gets calculated each frame)
-v documentation
-stats documentation
full crop filter documentation

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scale video

# scale to WIDTH*HEIGHT (stretches to new resolution)
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -i INPUT.mp4 -vf "scale=WIDTH:HEIGHT" OUTPUT.mp4

# preserve aspect ratio with letter-/pillarbox (black bars)
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -i INPUT.mp4 -vf "scale=WIDTH:HEIGHT:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=WIDTH:HEIGHT:POSX:POSY,setsar=1" OUTPUT.mp4

WIDTH - the width of the desired output resolution
HEIGHT - the height of the desired output resolution
POSX - the X position of the video in the padding region (-1 to auto center; default is 0)
POSY - the Y position of the video in the padding region (-1 to auto center; default is 0)
all values are in pixels, but there is no "px" after it (or an expression that gets calculated each frame, like (ow-iw)/2 for POSX to center horizontally)
-v documentation
-stats documentation
simple filtergraphs documentation

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compress video

lower values are better (higher bitrate), but also lead to larger file size

# for `h.264` values from 18 to 23 are very good
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -i INPUT.mp4 -c copy -c:v libx264 -crf 20 OUTPUT.mp4

# for `h.265` values from 24 to 30 are very good
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -i INPUT.mp4 -c copy -c:v libx265 -crf 25 OUTPUT.mp4

faster with GPU hardware acceleration / NVIDIA CUDA

# for h.264 → h264_nvenc with NVIDIA CUDA
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -hwaccel cuda -hwaccel_output_format cuda -i INPUT.mp4 -c copy -c:v h264_nvenc -fps_mode passthrough -b_ref_mode disabled -preset medium -tune hq -rc vbr -multipass disabled -qp 20 OUTPUT.mp4

# for h.265 → hevc_nvenc with NVIDIA CUDA
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -hwaccel cuda -hwaccel_output_format cuda -i INPUT.mp4 -c copy -c:v hevc_nvenc -fps_mode passthrough -b_ref_mode disabled -preset medium -tune hq -rc vbr -multipass disabled -qp 25 OUTPUT.mp4

and even better by specifying the (output) bitrate manually

# for h.264 → h264_nvenc with NVIDIA CUDA
# bitrate ~ 4M with limit 500k - 8M and buffer size 8M (should be larger than input video bitrate)
# and QP 4 (high quality/less lossy compression)
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -hwaccel cuda -hwaccel_output_format cuda -i INPUT.mp4 -c copy -c:v h264_nvenc -preset p7 -tune hq -profile:v high -level:v auto -rc vbr -b:v 4M -minrate:v 500k -maxrate:v 8M -bufsize:v 8M -multipass disabled -fps_mode passthrough -b_ref_mode:v disabled -rc-lookahead:v 32 -qp 4 OUTPUT.mp4

Click to show formatted codec arguments from last command above

- c copy

-c:v h264_nvenc
-preset p7
-tune hq
-profile:v high
-level:v auto

-rc vbr

-b:v 4M
-minrate:v 500k
-maxrate:v 8M
-bufsize:v 8M

-multipass disabled
-fps_mode passthrough
-b_ref_mode:v disabled
-rc-lookahead:v 32

-qp 4

Note

also, note that if there is an attached_pic (ie file thumbnail), then the :v stream specifier will also include it and thus tries to encode with NVENC, which will give an error, so instead you'll need to specify further which video stream to encode

by adding -map 0 before the -c copy to copy over every stream (of first input) and disposition (thus also the attached_pic) and then :v:0 to select the first video stream as the one to encode with NVENC

-v documentation
-stats documentation
-map documentation
-c documentation
- Stream specifiers documentation
-crf documentation (the best description is under libaom-AV1 but it's also in other encoders like MPEG-4)
- also see this FFmpeg guide for CRF with libx264
- CUDA ignores -crf (the best description is under libaom-AV1 but it's also in other encoders like MPEG-4) so it's -qp for the hardware acceleration
also "this FFmpeg guide" for hardware acceleration with differend OS/hardware (specifically section CUDA (NVENC/NVDEC))
- and "Using FFmpeg with NVIDIA GPU Hardware Acceleration" on the NVIDIA Documentation Hub

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cut video

# start at 0:00:01 and stop at 0:00:10
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -ss 1 -i INPUT.mp4 -to 10 -c copy OUTPUT.mp4

# start at 0:00:10 and stop at 0:00:20 (0:00:10 duration)
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -ss 10 -i INPUT.mp4 -t 10 -c copy OUTPUT.mp4

# caps output to be 0:00:30 max
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -i INPUT.mp4 -t 30 -c copy OUTPUT.mp4

timing from -ss, -to, and -t shift to the nearest frame and not at the exact timestamp when stream is copied (like here)

if exact time is needed the video needs to be re-encoded (-c:v libx264 after or instead of -c copy) which obviously takes longer

when -ss is after -i it will decode and discard the video until the time is reached, when it's before -i like here it will seek into the video without decoding it first (during the seek) so it will be faster.

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loop video

# loop video infinitely but stop after 0:00:30
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -stream_loop -1 -i INPUT.mp4 -t 30 -c copy OUTPUT.mp4

# loop video to length of audio
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -stream_loop -1 -i INPUT.mp4 -i INPUT.mp3 -shortest -map 0:v -map 1:a OUTPUT.mp4

# loop audio to length of video
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -i INPUT.mp4 -stream_loop -1 -i INPUT.mp3 -shortest -map 0:v -map 1:a OUTPUT.mp4

if exact timing is needed, it is better to re-encode the video (-c:v libx264 after or instead of -c copy)

Note

Looping once means two playthroughs.

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Reverse video and/or Audio

Warning: these filters require a lot of memory (buffer of the entire clip) so it's suggested to also use the trim filter as shown

# reverse video only (first 5sec)
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -i INPUT.mp4 -vf trim=end=5,reverse OUTPUT.mp4

# reverse audio only (first 5sec)
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -i INPUT.mp4 -af atrim=end=5,areverse OUTPUT.mp4

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Concatenate multiple videos into one

# using filter complex and the concat filter (if video formats are not the same add `:unsafe` to the `concat` filter)
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -i INPUT_0.mp4 -i INPUT_1.mp4 -filter_complex "[0:v] [0:a] [1:v] [1:a] concat=n=2:v=1:a=1 [v1] [a1]" -map "[v1]" -map "[a1]" OUTPUT.mp4

# using a list file and demuxer
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -safe 0 -f concat -i VIDEO_LIST.txt -c copy OUTPUT.mp4

content of VIDEO_LIST.txt as follows

file 'INPUT_0.mp4'
file 'INPUT_1.mp4'

Note

all videos need to have the same resolution and fps for concat

see scale video to scale all videos to the same resolution and -fps_mode vfr/passthrough to allow for variable frame rate

concat sections of videos

Cut clips and concat them (with re-encoding) as follows (video and audio are cut and combined separately).

# 00:00 to 00:02 video and audio of INPUT_0.mp4
# 00:04 to 00:08 video and audio of INPUT_0.mp4
# 00:01 to 00:05 video and audio of INPUT_1.mp4
# 00:06 to 00:08 video and audio of INPUT_1.mp4
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -i INPUT_0.mp4 -i INPUT_1.mp4 -filter_complex "[0:v]trim=0:2,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS[i0v0];[0:a]atrim=0:2,asetpts=PTS-STARTPTS[i0a0];[0:v]trim=4:8,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS[i0v1];[0:a]atrim=4:8,asetpts=PTS-STARTPTS[i0a1];[1:v]trim=1:5,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS[i1v0];[1:a]atrim=1:5,asetpts=PTS-STARTPTS[i1a0];[1:v]trim=6:8,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS[i1v1];[1:a]atrim=6:8,asetpts=PTS-STARTPTS[i1a1];[i0v0][i0a0][i0v1][i0a1][i1v0][i1a0][i1v1][i1a1]concat=n=4:v=1:a=1[cv][ca]" -map "[cv]" -map "[ca]" OUTPUT.mp4

# scale to WIDTH*HEIGHT with auto letter-/pilarbox and variable fps
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -i INPUT_0.mp4 -i INPUT_1.mp4 -filter_complex "[0:v]trim=0:2,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS,scale=WIDTH:HEIGHT:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=WIDTH:HEIGHT:-1:-1,setsar=1[i0v0];[0:a]atrim=0:2,asetpts=PTS-STARTPTS[i0a0];[0:v]trim=4:8,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS,scale=WIDTH:HEIGHT:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=WIDTH:HEIGHT:-1:-1,setsar=1[i0v1];[0:a]atrim=4:8,asetpts=PTS-STARTPTS[i0a1];[1:v]trim=1:5,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS,scale=WIDTH:HEIGHT:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=WIDTH:HEIGHT:-1:-1,setsar=1[i1v0];[1:a]atrim=1:5,asetpts=PTS-STARTPTS[i1a0];[1:v]trim=6:8,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS,scale=WIDTH:HEIGHT:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=WIDTH:HEIGHT:-1:-1,setsar=1[i1v1];[1:a]atrim=6:8,asetpts=PTS-STARTPTS[i1a1];[i0v0][i0a0][i0v1][i0a1][i1v0][i1a0][i1v1][i1a1]concat=n=4:v=1:a=1[cv][ca]" -map "[cv]" -fps_mode vfr -map "[ca]" OUTPUT.mp4
# for newer versions of ffmpeg, bicubic scaler is used, otherwise add `:flags=bicubic` to the scale filter to explicitly select it
# (if you want to only scale once and reuse the stream `[...]`, then it needs to be duplicated via `[...]split=N[..0][..1][..N]` filter to use in N places)

Click to show formatted first command

ffmpeg
  -v level+warning
  -stats
  -i INPUT_0.mp4
  -i INPUT_1.mp4
  -filter_complex "
    [0:v] trim=0:2, setpts=PTS-STARTPTS[i0v0];
    [0:a]atrim=0:2,asetpts=PTS-STARTPTS[i0a0];

    [0:v] trim=4:8, setpts=PTS-STARTPTS[i0v1];
    [0:a]atrim=4:8,asetpts=PTS-STARTPTS[i0a1];

    [1:v] trim=1:5, setpts=PTS-STARTPTS[i1v0];
    [1:a]atrim=1:5,asetpts=PTS-STARTPTS[i1a0];

    [1:v] trim=6:8, setpts=PTS-STARTPTS[i1v1];
    [1:a]atrim=6:8,asetpts=PTS-STARTPTS[i1a1];

    [i0v0][i0a0]
    [i0v1][i0a1]
    [i1v0][i1a0]
    [i1v1][i1a1]
    concat=n=4:v=1:a=1
    [cv][ca]
  "
  -map "[cv]"
  -map "[ca]"
  OUTPUT.mp4

Click to show formatted second command

ffmpeg
  -v level+warning
  -stats
  -i INPUT_0.mp4
  -i INPUT_1.mp4
  -filter_complex "
    [0:v]
      trim=0:2,
      setpts=PTS-STARTPTS,
      scale=WIDTH:HEIGHT:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,
      pad=WIDTH:HEIGHT:-1:-1,
      setsar=1
    [i0v0];
    [0:a]atrim=0:2,asetpts=PTS-STARTPTS[i0a0];

    [0:v] trim=4:8, setpts=PTS-STARTPTS,scale=WIDTH:HEIGHT:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=WIDTH:HEIGHT:-1:-1,setsar=1[i0v1];
    [0:a]atrim=4:8,asetpts=PTS-STARTPTS[i0a1];

    [1:v] trim=1:5, setpts=PTS-STARTPTS,scale=WIDTH:HEIGHT:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=WIDTH:HEIGHT:-1:-1,setsar=1[i1v0];
    [1:a]atrim=1:5,asetpts=PTS-STARTPTS[i1a0];

    [1:v] trim=6:8, setpts=PTS-STARTPTS,scale=WIDTH:HEIGHT:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=WIDTH:HEIGHT:-1:-1,setsar=1[i1v1];
    [1:a]atrim=6:8,asetpts=PTS-STARTPTS[i1a1];

    [i0v0][i0a0]
    [i0v1][i0a1]
    [i1v0][i1a0]
    [i1v1][i1a1]
    concat=n=4:v=1:a=1
    [cv][ca]
  "
  -map "[cv]"
  -fps_mode vfr
  -map "[ca]"
  OUTPUT.mp4

Note

if you want to use hardware acceleration like NVIDIA CUDA the -hwaccel cuda -hwaccel_output_format cuda is required to be in front of every -i INPUT_N.mp4

-v documentation
-stats documentation
-filter_complex documentation
- can also be read from a file via -filter_complex_script with path/to/file.txt, although this is not mentioned in the official documentation.
- trim multimedia filter
- atrim multimedia filter
- setpts/asetpts
- scale filter documentation
  - scaler options
  - also, see the scale video section
- pad filter documentation
- setsar filter documentation
- concat multimedia filter
-map documentation
concat demuxer documentation (concat via text file)
-safe option for concat demuxer
-c documentation
- Stream specifiers documentation
also, see the compress video section (specifically with GPU hardware acceleration / NVIDIA CUDA)

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Create/download video with m3u8 playlist

# this will whitelist urls (`-i`) for files available via file, http/s, tcp, tls, or crypto protocol (for this command, not permanent)
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -protocol_whitelist file,http,https,tcp,tls,crypto -i INPUT.m3u8 -c copy OUTPUT.mp4
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -protocol_whitelist file,http,https,tcp,tls,crypto -i https://example.com/INPUT.m3u8 -c copy OUTPUT.mp4

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find silence parts in video

# finds sections min 240sec long and max -70db loud and writes them to LOG.txt
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -i INPUT.mp4 -af silencedetect=noise=-70dB:d=240 -f null - 2> LOG.txt

look for [silencedetect @ * lines in log file

[silencedetect @ 0000000000******] silence_start: 01:00:02.500
[silencedetect @ 0000000000******] silence_end: 01:10:02.500 | silence_duration: 00:09:59.989
[silencedetect @ 000000000*******] silence_start: 02:00:02.500
[silencedetect @ 000000000*******] silence_end: 02:10:02.500 | silence_duration: 00:09:59.989
[...]

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Libavfilter virtual input device (lavfi filtergraph)

Create new videos via lavfi virtual input device and a video source.

sierpinski (pan)
mandelbrot (zoom)
(elementary) cellular automaton
life (Cellular automaton)
mptestsrc (animated test patterns)
empty (input)
color (input)
smptebars (input)
smptehdbars (input)
testsrc (input)
testsrc2 (input)
rgbtestsrc (input)
yuvtestsrc (input)
colorspectrum (input)
colorchart (input)
allrgb (input)
allyuv (input)

Honorable mention: ddagrab which can be used to capture (Windows) desktop screen (/-cutout).

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sierpinski (pan)

Random pan of sierpinski carpet/triangle fractal.

defaults: s=640x480, r=25 (fps), and type=carpet

ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i sierpinski OUTPUT.mp4
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i sierpinski=type=triangle OUTPUT.mp4

lavfi_sierpinski.mp4

ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i sierpinski -t 60 lavfi_sierpinski.mp4

lavfi_sierpinski_triangle.mp4

ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i sierpinski=type=triangle -t 60 lavfi_sierpinski_triangle.mp4

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mandelbrot (zoom)

Continuous zoom into the Mandelbrot set.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandelbrot_set

# Mandelbrot with the "inside" set to black (how it usually is displayed)
# default: 640*480 25fps and position:
# X = -0.743643887037158704752191506114774 (real axis)
# Y = -0.131825904205311970493132056385139 (imaginary axis, inverted to how it usually is displayed)
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i mandelbrot=inner=black -t 60 OUTPUT.mp4
# limited to 60sec
# ! the frame generation gets slower the further in the zoom

lavfi_mandelbrot_black_blur.mp4

speed up and blured to decrease file size
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i mandelbrot=inner=black:s=300x300:end_pts=75,avgblur=1 -t 43 lavfi_mandelbrot_black_blur.mp4

Also, see the same zoom (position, vertically flipped so it looks the same) in my (interactive) Mandelbrot viewer:

https://maz01001.github.io/AlmondBreadErkunder/#0:7189,null,-1.3,1.99:-0.7436438870371698,-0.7436438870371482,0.13182590420530219,0.13182590420532267

Source code and documentation (controls): https://github.com/MAZ01001/AlmondBreadErkunder

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(elementary) cellular automaton

"Waterfall" of a 1D cellular automaton.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elementary_cellular_automaton

# random seed, no custom pattern, rule 18, start with an empty screen
# fallback/defaults: s=320x508 r=24 rule=110
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i cellauto=full=0 -t 60 OUTPUT.mp4
# limited to 60sec

lavfi_cellauto_3.mp4

ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i cellauto=full=0:seed=3 -t 60 lavfi_cellauto_3.mp4

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life (Cellular automaton)

2D cellular automaton.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_automaton

# Conway's Game of Life
# default: random grid 320*240 25fps rule S23/B3 (stay alive with 2/3 neighbors and born with 3 neighbors)
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i life -t 60 OUTPUT.mp4
# limited to 60sec

# as above but with green color and a red afterglow of dying cells
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i life=mold=25:life_color=\#00ff00:death_color=\#aa0000 -t 60 OUTPUT.mp4
# limited to 60sec

lavfi_life_3_200x200_scaled.mp4

smaller initial size and scaled up 4x (nearest neighbor) to reduce file size
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i life=mold=25:life_color=\#00ff00:death_color=\#aa0000:seed=3:s=200x200,scale=4*iw:-1:flags=neighbor -t 124 lavfi_life_3_200x200_scaled.mp4
scale filter documentation

flags option (scaler options: sws_flags) scaling algorithm

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mptestsrc (animated test patterns)

These patterns are equal to those from the MPlayer test filter.

default: r=25 (fps) t=all (all 10 tests repeating) m=30 (frames per test) d=-1 (infinite duration)

tests: dc_luma, dc_chroma, freq_luma, freq_chroma, amp_luma, amp_chroma, cbp, mv, ring1, and ring2.

# 60sec, all tests (each 3sec)
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i mptestsrc=m=3*25:d=60 OUTPUT.mp4

lavfi_mptestsrc_all_3s.mp4

ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i mptestsrc=m=3*25:d=60 lavfi_mptestsrc_all_3s.mp4

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empty (input)

default: s=320x240, r=25 (fps), and d=-1 (infinite duration)

# 1sec 1920*1080 60fps nothing (green)
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i nullsrc=s=1920x1080:r=60:d=1 OUTPUT.mp4

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color (input)

default: s=320x240, r=25 (fps), and d=-1 (infinite duration)

# 1sec solid color #ff9900
# default: 320*240 25 fps
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i color=c=\#ff9900:d=1 OUTPUT.mp4

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smptebars (input)

default: s=320x240, r=25 (fps), and d=-1 (infinite duration)

# color bars pattern, based on the SMPTE Engineering Guideline EG 1-1990
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i smptebars OUTPUT.mp4

ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i smptebars -frames 1 lavfi_smptebars.png

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smptehdbars (input)

default: s=320x240, r=25 (fps), and d=-1 (infinite duration)

# color bars pattern, based on the SMPTE RP 219-2002
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i smptehdbars OUTPUT.mp4

ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i smptehdbars -frames 1 lavfi_smptehdbars.png

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testsrc (input)

default: s=320x240, r=25 (fps), d=-1 (infinite duration), and n=0 ($\displaystyle\textit{timestamp}\cdot10^n$)

n=0 shows timestamp in seconds and n=3 shows timestamp in milliseconds

# test pattern with animated gradient and timecode (seconds)
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i testsrc OUTPUT.mp4

lavfi_testsrc_n3.mp4

ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i testsrc=n=3:d=60 lavfi_testsrc_n3.mp4

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testsrc2 (input)

default: s=320x240, r=25 (fps), d=-1 (infinite duration), and alpha=255 (opacity of background, 0 to 255)

I couldn't see a difference with different alpha values, at least for mp4/webm/webp/png/gif file-formats

# animated test pattern
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i testsrc2 OUTPUT.mp4

lavfi_testsrc2.mp4

ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i testsrc2=d=60 lavfi_testsrc2.mp4

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rgbtestsrc (input)

default: s=320x240, r=25 (fps), and d=-1 (infinite duration)

# RGB test pattern (useful for detecting RGB vs BGR issues)
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i rgbtestsrc OUTPUT.mp4
# there should be red, green, and blue stripes from top to bottom

ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i rgbtestsrc -frames 1 lavfi_rgbtestsrc.png

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yuvtestsrc (input)

default: s=320x240, r=25 (fps), and d=-1 (infinite duration)

# YUV test pattern
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i yuvtestsrc OUTPUT.mp4
# Y (luminance, black/white)
# Cb (blue-difference chroma, yellow/grey/blue)
# Cr (red-difference chroma, turquoise/grey/red)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YCbCr

ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i yuvtestsrc -frames 1 lavfi_yuvtestsrc.png

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colorspectrum (input)

default: s=320x240, r=25 (fps), d=-1 (infinite duration), and type=black (black/white/all)

ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i colorspectrum OUTPUT.mp4

ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i colorspectrum -frames 1 lavfi_colorspectrum_black.png

ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i colorspectrum=type=white -frames 1 lavfi_colorspectrum_white.png

ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i colorspectrum=type=all -frames 1 lavfi_colorspectrum_all.png

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colorchart (input)

default: s=320x240, r=25 (fps), d=-1 (infinite duration), preset=reference (reference/skintones), and patch_size=64x64 (size of each tile)

# colors checker chart (6↔ * 4↕ = 24 tiles)
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i colorchart OUTPUT.mp4

ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i colorchart=patch_size=32x32 -frames 1 lavfi_colorchart_reference_32x32.png

ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i colorchart=preset=skintones:patch_size=32x32 -frames 1 lavfi_colorchart_skintones_32x32.png

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allrgb (input)

default: r=25 (fps), and d=-1 (infinite duration)

Important

fixed size of 4096x4096 (use scale filter to change size)

# all rgb colors (static 4096x4096 frames)
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i allrgb OUTPUT.mp4

scaled down to half size (bicubic) to reduce file size
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i allrgb,scale=iw/2:-1 -frames 1 lavfi_allrgb_halfed.png
scale filter documentation

flags option (scaler options: sws_flags) scaling algorithm

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allyuv (input)

default: r=25 (fps), and d=-1 (infinite duration)

Important

fixed size of 4096x4096 (use scale filter to change size)

# all yuv colors (static 4096x4096 frames)
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i allyuv OUTPUT.mp4

scaled down to half size (bicubic) to reduce file size
ffmpeg -v level+warning -stats -f lavfi -i allyuv,scale=iw/2:-1 -frames 1 lavfi_allyuv_halfed.png
scale filter documentation

flags option (scaler options: sws_flags) scaling algorithm

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Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
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example		example
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md

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Some useful FFmpeg commands

FFmpeg intro

official documentation

download FFmpeg

check configuration

help/licence/version

available/supported features

restrict logging level

CLI controls

FFprobe file info

Show/get stream metadata

FFplay video viewing

Watch a video (looping)

Simulate Conway's game of life

FFplay video controls

FFmpeg video editing

Convert MKV to MP4

Convert MP4 to M4A (audio only mp4)

Edit metadata (add chapters)

Add thumbnail

Add subtitles

Extract frames

Create video from frames

crop video

scale video

compress video

cut video

loop video

Reverse video and/or Audio

Concatenate multiple videos into one

concat sections of videos

Create/download video with m3u8 playlist

find silence parts in video

Libavfilter virtual input device (lavfi filtergraph)

sierpinski (pan)

mandelbrot (zoom)

(elementary) cellular automaton

life (Cellular automaton)

mptestsrc (animated test patterns)

empty (input)

color (input)

smptebars (input)

smptehdbars (input)

testsrc (input)

testsrc2 (input)

rgbtestsrc (input)

yuvtestsrc (input)

colorspectrum (input)

colorchart (input)

allrgb (input)

allyuv (input)

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