How to use FFMPEG

Published 2015-12-08
The unsung hero of video encoding - FFMPEG! You've probably used it (hidden behind some user interface), but today, we'll learn how to get to the root of it, and operate FFMPEG itself from the command line!


== CONTENTS ==
0:00 Introduction
1:43 Installation Notes
3:30 Basic Use
3:57 Example 1: Basic Video Conversion
5:11 Quality Controls
7:10 Bitrates & Specifying Streams (Audio or Video)
7:54 Command Summary
8:07 FFMPEG Filters / Common Use Cases
8:40 Filter 1: Volume Control
9:10 Filter 2: Audio Channel Remapping
9:47 Filter 3: Cropping
10:31 Filter 4: Video Scaling
11:02 Filter 5: Rotation
11:28 Conclusion



Download FFMPEG: www.ffmpeg.org/download.html
Download PeaZip: www.peazip.org/
Full FFMPEG Documentation: ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg.html
FFMPEG Filter Documentation: ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg-filters.html
All FFMPEG features: ffmpeg.org/documentation.html

This video consists of three main parts - Installing FFMPEG, some fundamental notes about how it is used, as well as some filters and effects it supports.

Its use can be extremely simple - By just supplying input and output file names and changing up their extensions, you can effortlessly convert from one format to another.

Conversely, if you are looking to do more complex operations such as chroma keying (green screening) and filtering operations, FFMPEG can do it to! To do this, you will need to use Filtergraphs, a feature covered in another episode:    • FFMPEG Advanced Techniques Pt2 - Filt...  


Additional Tip (Credit to Kitsune Ultima for sharing): To open a command line in any folder, simply type "cmd" in the address bar of your explorer window while viewing that folder, and the command prompt will load in the correct folder!


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0612 TV, a sub-project of NERDfirst.net, is an educational YouTube channel. Started in 2008, we have now covered a wide range of topics, from areas such as Programming, Algorithms and Computing Theories, Computer Graphics, Photography, and Specialized Guides for using software such as FFMPEG, Deshaker, GIMP and more!

Enjoy your stay, and don't hesitate to drop me a comment or a personal message to my inbox =) If you like my work, don't forget to subscribe!

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Disclaimer: Please note that any information is provided on this channel in good faith, but I cannot guarantee 100% accuracy / correctness on all content. Contributors to this channel are not to be held responsible for any possible outcomes from your use of the information.

All Comments (21)
  • @Yorkhesan
    This is the first time I've seen a 100% professional tutorial here at Youtube. You sir are going places. Thanks a lot for this!
  • @PkMn05
    I'm amazed at how you were able to explain the concepts, terminologies, etc. in a way that's easy to digest. Kudos, sir. Keep at it!
  • @victormgv
    You sir just crushed it! Blew all the videos I have watched on FFmpeg and pretty much any CLI tutorial out of the water. I love the way for broke those switches down Barney Style, I love it!!!!! Thank you again, subscribed. Keep them coming. There are too few videos that explain these tools with such clarity.
  • @BNLNRD
    Great tutorial! Not only does it deliver all the info I need to get started, but you also seem so enthusiastic about it that it actually got me pumped to dig in. Thanks for that!
  • @LordQueezle
    Awesome tutorial. I went from having never heard about ffmpeg to converting several files. Thank you very much!
  • @J2897Tutorials
    Very clear and simple. Exactly what I need as a first tutorial. The rest should be fairly easy to learn from here. Thanks for showing me the ladder!
  • thank you for the clear introduction, badly needed this. thank you again, more power to your channel
  • @JeromeLove
    This video is the LITERAL only reason I committed to finally setting up FFmpeg! This video is ahead of it's time! HUGE DUBS TO YOU!
  • @dingalong14
    This is incredibly helpful and presented in a clear, professional manner. Thank you!
  • Today was the first I ever heard of the FFMPEG, I just needed to replace audio track in an mp4, and I got the exact info I needed in under 4 minutes. Great Job.
  • @H.O.D.M
    Thank you for all the help. Been needing to transfer old home video files from DVDs to online. It's cool how a community has made such an excellent tool for file transfers. .vob files to .mp4 are not easy to work with, and this did exactly what was needed. Still, 8 years later, and you're still keeping in touch with your community? It's sweet to see. Thanks again
  • @seasesh4073
    honestly I've never been surprised by a tutorial before just woah dude
  • @yenomeerf
    Please make more FFMPEG lessons. This is the most comprehensive howto I have seen in 8 years. Thanks
  • @LiquidTurbo
    I went from completely clueless about ffmpeg to understanding the basics. Thank you so much for the easy to understand video!
  • @reedjim332
    I watched this video about two years ago. This weekend, I was wrestling with our own home-grown video rendering and decided to have another look, and now my life has changed. I wonder what other great, life-changing advice this very smart guy has?
  • @KM-ot6vo
    Whoaaaaaa. This video is a great tutorial, but this guys is so RESPECTABLE. If you scroll down all the way to as far as you can got, he has answered EVERY. SINGLE. COMMENT. He will answer this just you wait.
  • @NERDfirst
    Expand for Important Notes 1. On Download Availability Zeranoe, which was featured in this video, has discontinued providing FFMPEG binaries since 2020. You can download from this github page instead, as linked to by the official FFMPEG downloads page: github.com/BtbN/FFmpeg-Builds/releases. Windows users can go for the "ffmpeg-master-latest-win64-gpl" build, as the GPL version is likely to have the most features. 2. On Debugging and Help Unfortunately due to high IRL workloads, I'm not able to look at your commands and help diagnose problems. You may contact me at hello(at)nerdfirst(dot)net for paid consultation, if you really see the need. 3. PSA If you have a question, please post it as a new comment, not as a reply to one of my earlier comments here. YouTube does not reliably notify me of the latter, which means I may miss your message!
  • @mpackman
    Fabulous tutorial. I feel a lot more confident moving forward with using it for 360-degree camera output, which is my #1 life priority right now. :)
  • Amazing walkthrough. when starting out you search up how to use these command line tools up on forums or reddit and you basically get told to not be dumb or they act all high and mighty and start explaining as to why what you want is wrong. in short they give you everything but a solid answer or what you want