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ffmpeg command reference

Note:
I haven't personally tested all the commands or options listed below. They are collected here solely for my own reference when needed.

1. Basic info & inspection

Command Purpose
ffmpeg -version Displays the FFmpeg version, along with the libraries it was compiled with. Useful for verifying the installed version and checking codec support.
ffmpeg -buildconf Shows the configuration options used to build FFmpeg (e.g., enabled/disabled features and libraries). Helpful for debugging or verifying build options.

2. Probe a media file

Command Purpose
ffprobe <filename> Displays general media information (format, duration, bitrate, etc.) of the input file.
ffprobe -show_streams <filename> Shows detailed information about each media stream (audio, video, subtitle) in the file.
ffprobe -show_format <filename>. ffprobe -show_format input.mp4
ffprobe -show_streams input.mp4 Displays all streams in the media file, including video, audio, and subtitles. Look for codec_type=video and codec_type=audio in the output.
ffprobe -select_streams v -show_streams input.mp4 Shows only the video stream(s) from the input file.
ffprobe -select_streams a -show_streams input.mp4 Shows only the audio stream(s) from the input file.

To see details of a video stream only:
ffprobe -v error -select_streams v:0 -show_entries stream=index,codec_name,codec_type,width,height,bit_rate -of default=noprint_wrappers=1 input.mp4

To see details of a audio stream only:
ffprobe -v error -select_streams a:0 -show_entries stream=index,codec_name,codec_type,channels,sample_rate,bit_rate -of default=noprint_wrappers=1 input.mp4

2.1 Find supported formats

ffmpeg -formats

File formats:
 D. = Demuxing supported
 .E = Muxing supported
 --
 DE mov             QuickTime / MOV
 D  matroska        Matroska
  E mp4             MP4 (MPEG-4 Part 14)

D: Can read (demux) this format (i.e., as input).
E: Can write (mux) this format (i.e., as output).
DE: Can both read and write the format.

To check a specific format:
ffmpeg -formats | grep mp4

3. Play/Preview (file/camera)

Command Purpose
ffplay input.mp4 Plays the media file with both audio and video.
ffplay -an input.mp4 Plays the file without audio (-an = audio none).
ffplay -vn input.mp4 Plays the file without video (-vn = video none).
ffplay -loop 0 input.mp4 Plays in a loop (0: for infinite times)
ffplay -loop 3 input.mp4 Plays in a loop 3 times
ffplay -loop 2 -autoexit input.mp4 Autoexit at the end of loop count
ffplay -ss [start_time] -to [end_time] input.mp4 play from t1 to t2
ffplay -ss [start_time] -t [duration] input.mp4 play from t1 upto duration
ffplay rtsp://ip/stream play from a rtsp server
ffplay /dev/video0 play from a camera (linux only)

4. Re-encoding (Transcoding)

Change video codec:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -crf 23 -preset fast -c:a aac output.mp4

Change audio codec:

ffmpeg -i input.mkv -c:v copy -c:a libopus output.webm

4.1 Stream selection

ffmpeg -i input.mkv -map 0:v:0 -map 0:a:1 -c copy output.mkv

5. Cutting & trimming

a) cut->save
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 00:01:00 -t 00:00:10 -c copy output.mp4

b) cut->rencode->save
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 60 -t 90 -c:v libx264 -c:a aac output.mp4

-i  input.mp4   Specifies the input video file
-ss Start time
-t  Duration
-to end time

6. Scaling & Filters

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf scale=1280:720 output.mp4
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "scale=640:360,fps=25" -c:v libx264 out.mp4
Applies a video filter (-vf) to resize the video to 1280x720 resolution (HD).
(1280 pixels wide, 720 pixels tall)

7. Audio Operations

Command Purpose Explanation
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vn -acodec copy audio.aac Extract audio Extracts the audio stream from a video file (input.mp4) without re-encoding and saves it as audio.aac. The -vn option disables video.
ffmpeg -i input.wav -c:a libmp3lame output.mp3 Convert audio format Converts a WAV audio file to MP3 using the libmp3lame codec. Good for compressing large audio files.
ffmpeg -i input.mp3 -filter:a "volume=1.5" louder.mp3 Adjust audio volume Increases the volume of the input MP3 file by 1.5x and writes the result to louder.mp3. Uses an audio filter.

7.1 various ways to use filters (-vf vs -f:a -f:v)

Option Stream Type Use Case Example
-vf Video Apply basic video filter -vf "scale=640:360"
-filter:v Video Preferred for explicit video filters -filter:v "scale=640:360"
-filter:a Audio Apply audio filter -filter:a "volume=0.8"

Example: using audio and video filters in same command

7.2 Use video and audio filters togethar

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -filter:v "scale=1280:720" -filter:a "volume=1.5" output.mp4

7.3 List of filter parameters

Video filter options
Filter Name Brief Description Example Usage
scale Resize video -vf "scale=640:360"
crop Crop video -vf "crop=320:240:100:50"
rotate Rotate video -vf "rotate=PI/4"
hue Adjust hue/saturation -vf "hue=s=0" (desaturate)
transpose Rotate/flip by 90° -vf "transpose=1" (rotate 90° clockwise)
overlay Overlay videos -vf "overlay=10:10"
fade Fade in/out -vf "fade=t=in:st=0:d=5" (fade in 5 seconds)
drawtext Draw text -vf "drawtext=text='Hello':x=10:y=10"
eq Adjust brightness/contrast -vf "eq=brightness=0.06:contrast=1.5"
fps Change framerate -vf "fps=30"
mirror Flip horizontally -vf "hflip"
negate Invert colors -vf "negate"
delogo Remove logo -vf "delogo=x=20:y=20:w=100:h=77"
vflip Flip vertically -vf "vflip"
hflip Flip horizontally -vf "hflip"
boxblur Apply blur -vf "boxblur=5:1"
unsharp Sharpen -vf "unsharp=5:5:1.0:5:5:0.0"
split Split stream -vf "split=2[out1][out2]"
tile Mosaic from frames -vf "tile=3x3"
zoompan Zoom and pan -vf "zoompan=z='zoom+0.001':d=1"
setpts Speed control -vf "setpts=0.5*PTS" (2x speed)
drawbox Draw rectangle -vf "drawbox=x=10:y=20:w=100:h=50:color=red@0.5"
tblend Blend frames (motion blur) -vf "tblend=all_mode=average:all_opacity=0.7"
Audio filter options
Filter Name Brief Description Example Usage
volume Adjust audio volume -af "volume=2.0" (double volume)
aecho Add echo effect -af "aecho=0.8:0.9:1000:0.3"
aresample Resample audio -af "aresample=44100"
pan Remap audio channels -af "pan=stereo|c0=c0|c1=c0" (mono to stereo)
atrim Trim audio -af "atrim=start=5:end=10"
lowpass Low-pass filter -af "lowpass=f=3000"
highpass High-pass filter -af "highpass=f=300"
bass Boost bass frequencies -af "bass=g=10"
treble Boost treble frequencies -af "treble=g=5"
equalizer Apply graphic equalizer -af "equalizer=f=1000:t=q:w=1:g=5"
silenceremove Remove silence -af "silenceremove=1:0:-50dB"
compand Compress dynamic range -af "compand=attacks=0:decays=1000"
pan Channel mixing -af "pan=mono|c0=.5*c0+.5*c1"
aphaser Phaser effect -af "aphaser"
aformat Convert audio format -af "aformat=sample_fmts=s16:channel_layouts=stereo"
silencedetect Detect silence (analysis) -af "silencedetect=n=-50dB:d=1" (analysis only)
showwaves Visualize waveform (video filter) -vf "showwaves=s=640x120" (audio visualizer)
loudnorm Loudness normalization -af "loudnorm"

8. Subtitles

Command Purpose Explanation
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf subtitles=subtitle.srt output.mp4 Burn subtitles into video Adds the subtitles from subtitle.srt directly onto the video frames of input.mp4 and saves the result as output.mp4. Uses a video filter.
ffmpeg -i input.mkv -map 0:s:0 subs.srt Extract subtitle stream 0 refers to the first input file (input.mkv in this case)
s — selects subtitle streams
0 — picks the first subtitle stream
So 0:s:0 = first subtitle stream of first input.

9. Stream/play to/from a network

Purpose Command
Stream to RTMP server ffmpeg -re -i input.mp4 -c copy -f flv rtmp://server/app/stream
Receive from RTSP server ffmpeg -i rtsp://ip/stream -c copy out.mp4
Concatenate (restream) RTSP input to another RTSP output ffmpeg -i rtsp://source-ip/source-stream -c copy -f rtsp rtsp://destination-ip/destination-stream
Play from RTSP server (change IP and port) ffplay rtsp://<ip:8554>/stream

10. Screenshots & Thumbnails

Single frame extraction

ffmpeg -ss 00:00:10 -i input.mp4 -frames:v 1 shot.png

Thumbnail strip

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf fps=1 thumb_%04d.png

  • extact 1 frame every seconds
  • then create multiple files (one file per frame)
  • the output filenames are numbered with zero-padding according to %04d thumb_0001.png thumb_0002.png thumb_0003.png
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "select=not(mod(n\,30)),scale=320:180,tile=5x5" -frames:v 1 thumb_strip.png
  • This extracts frames (e.g., every 30th frame),
  • scales them,
  • arranges them in a 5x5 grid,
  • and saves all thumbnails in one image thumb_strip.png.