Convert to HLS for streaming

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -codec: copy -start_number 0
-hls_time 10 -hls_list_size 0 -f hls output.m3u8


### Extract Audio

```bash
# Extract audio to MP3
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vn -acodec mp3 -ab 192k audio.mp3

# Extract audio to WAV (uncompressed)
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vn -acodec pcm_s16le audio.wav

# Extract audio from specific time range
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -ss 00:01:00 -t 00:00:30 -vn audio.mp3

Trim and Cut

# Cut from timestamp to duration
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 00:01:30 -t 00:02:00 -c copy output.mp4

# Cut from start to end timestamp
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 00:01:30 -to 00:03:30 -c copy output.mp4

# Fast seek (put -ss before -i for large files)
ffmpeg -ss 00:10:00 -i large_video.mp4 -t 00:05:00 -c copy clip.mp4

Video Filters

Resize and Scale

# Scale to specific dimensions
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "scale=1920:1080" output.mp4

# Scale preserving aspect ratio (fit within)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "scale=1920:1080:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease" output.mp4

# Scale with padding (letterbox/pillarbox)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "scale=1920:1080:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=1920:1080:(ow-iw)/2:(oh-ih)/2" output.mp4

# Scale to 50%
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "scale=iw/2:ih/2" output.mp4

Speed Adjustment

# Speed up video 2x (with audio pitch correction)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -filter_complex "[0:v]setpts=0.5*PTS[v];[0:a]atempo=2.0[a]" \
       -map "[v]" -map "[a]" output.mp4

# Slow down video 0.5x
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -filter_complex "[0:v]setpts=2.0*PTS[v];[0:a]atempo=0.5[a]" \
       -map "[v]" -map "[a]" output.mp4

# Extreme slow motion (0.25x) - chain atempo filters
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -filter_complex "[0:v]setpts=4.0*PTS[v];[0:a]atempo=0.5,atempo=0.5[a]" \
       -map "[v]" -map "[a]" output.mp4

Crop and Overlay

# Crop video (width:height:x:y)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "crop=640:480:100:50" output.mp4

# Crop center to 16:9
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "crop=ih*16/9:ih" output.mp4

# Add watermark
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -i watermark.png \
       -filter_complex "overlay=W-w-10:H-h-10" output.mp4

# Add text overlay
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "drawtext=text='Hello World':fontsize=24:fontcolor=white:x=10:y=10" output.mp4

Color and Effects

# Adjust brightness, contrast, saturation
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "eq=brightness=0.1:contrast=1.2:saturation=1.3" output.mp4

# Convert to grayscale
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "colorchannelmixer=.3:.4:.3:0:.3:.4:.3:0:.3:.4:.3" output.mp4

# Add fade in/out
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "fade=t=in:st=0:d=2,fade=t=out:st=8:d=2" output.mp4

# Blur video
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "boxblur=5:1" output.mp4

Audio Processing

Volume and Normalization

# Adjust volume
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -af "volume=1.5" output.mp4

# Normalize audio (loudnorm)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -af "loudnorm=I=-16:TP=-1.5:LRA=11" output.mp4

# Detect silence
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -af "silencedetect=noise=-30dB:d=0.5" -f null -

Audio Filters

# Remove background noise
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -af "afftdn=nf=-25" output.mp4

# Add echo
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -af "aecho=0.8:0.88:60:0.4" output.mp4

# High-pass filter (remove low frequencies)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -af "highpass=f=200" output.mp4

# Low-pass filter (remove high frequencies)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -af "lowpass=f=3000" output.mp4

Combining Media

Concatenate Videos

# Create file list
cat > files.txt << EOF
file 'video1.mp4'
file 'video2.mp4'
file 'video3.mp4'
EOF

# Concatenate (same codec)
ffmpeg -f concat -safe 0 -i files.txt -c copy output.mp4

# Concatenate (different codecs - re-encode)
ffmpeg -f concat -safe 0 -i files.txt -c:v libx264 -c:a aac output.mp4

Merge Audio and Video

# Replace audio track
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -i audio.mp3 -c:v copy -c:a aac -map 0:v:0 -map 1:a:0 output.mp4

# Mix audio tracks
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -i background.mp3 \
       -filter_complex "[0:a][1:a]amerge=inputs=2[a]" \
       -map 0:v -map "[a]" -c:v copy -ac 2 output.mp4

# Add audio to silent video
ffmpeg -i silent_video.mp4 -i audio.mp3 -c:v copy -c:a aac -shortest output.mp4

Picture-in-Picture

# Overlay smaller video
ffmpeg -i main.mp4 -i overlay.mp4 \
       -filter_complex "[1:v]scale=320:-1[pip];[0:v][pip]overlay=W-w-10:H-h-10" \
       output.mp4

# Side by side
ffmpeg -i left.mp4 -i right.mp4 \
       -filter_complex "[0:v]scale=640:-1[l];[1:v]scale=640:-1[r];[l][r]hstack" \
       output.mp4

Thumbnails and Screenshots

# Single screenshot at timestamp
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -ss 00:00:10 -vframes 1 thumbnail.jpg

# Generate thumbnails every N seconds
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vf "fps=1/10" thumbnails_%03d.jpg

# Generate thumbnail sheet/sprite
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vf "fps=1/5,scale=160:-1,tile=5x5" sprite.jpg

# Best quality thumbnail
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -ss 00:00:10 -vframes 1 -q:v 2 thumbnail.jpg

Streaming Formats

HLS (HTTP Live Streaming)

# Basic HLS
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -c:a aac \
       -hls_time 10 -hls_playlist_type vod \
       -hls_segment_filename "segment_%03d.ts" \
       playlist.m3u8

# Multi-bitrate HLS
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
       -filter_complex "[0:v]split=3[v1][v2][v3]; \
       [v1]scale=1920:1080[v1out]; \
       [v2]scale=1280:720[v2out]; \
       [v3]scale=854:480[v3out]" \
       -map "[v1out]" -map 0:a -c:v libx264 -b:v 5M -c:a aac -b:a 192k \
       -hls_time 10 -hls_playlist_type vod 1080p.m3u8 \
       -map "[v2out]" -map 0:a -c:v libx264 -b:v 2M -c:a aac -b:a 128k \
       -hls_time 10 -hls_playlist_type vod 720p.m3u8 \
       -map "[v3out]" -map 0:a -c:v libx264 -b:v 1M -c:a aac -b:a 96k \
       -hls_time 10 -hls_playlist_type vod 480p.m3u8

DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming)

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -c:a aac \
       -f dash -seg_duration 10 \
       -use_template 1 -use_timeline 1 \
       manifest.mpd

Batch Processing

# Convert all MP4s to WebM
for f in *.mp4; do
    ffmpeg -i "$f" -c:v libvpx-vp9 -crf 30 -c:a libopus "${f%.mp4}.webm"
done

# Resize all images in directory
for f in *.jpg; do
    ffmpeg -i "$f" -vf "scale=1280:-1" "resized_$f"
done

# Extract audio from multiple videos
for f in *.mp4; do
    ffmpeg -i "$f" -vn -c:a mp3 -b:a 192k "${f%.mp4}.mp3"
done

Hardware Acceleration

# NVIDIA NVENC (encoding)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v h264_nvenc -preset fast output.mp4

# NVIDIA NVDEC (decoding) + NVENC
ffmpeg -hwaccel cuda -i input.mp4 -c:v h264_nvenc output.mp4

# macOS VideoToolbox
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v h264_videotoolbox -b:v 5M output.mp4

# Intel QuickSync
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v h264_qsv output.mp4

Useful Probing Commands

# Get video info
ffprobe -v quiet -print_format json -show_format -show_streams video.mp4

# Get duration
ffprobe -v error -show_entries format=duration -of default=noprint_wrappers=1:nokey=1 video.mp4

# Get resolution
ffprobe -v error -select_streams v:0 -show_entries stream=width,height -of csv=p=0 video.mp4

# Get codec
ffprobe -v error -select_streams v:0 -show_entries stream=codec_name -of default=noprint_wrappers=1:nokey=1 video.mp4

Convert to HLS for streaming

Trim and Cut

Video Filters

Resize and Scale

Speed Adjustment

Crop and Overlay

Color and Effects

Audio Processing

Volume and Normalization

Audio Filters

Combining Media

Concatenate Videos

Merge Audio and Video

Picture-in-Picture

Thumbnails and Screenshots

Streaming Formats

HLS (HTTP Live Streaming)

DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming)

Batch Processing

Hardware Acceleration

Useful Probing Commands

References

ffmpeg-patterns

FFmpeg Patterns

Basic Operations

Transcode Video