ffmpeg — Command-Line Media Processor

What is ffmpeg?

ffmpeg is the Swiss army knife of audio and video processing: a powerful open-source CLI tool for converting, streaming, encoding, decoding, resizing, and filtering media. It supports virtually every codec and container, making it the go-to utility for automated media workflows and quick terminal transformations.

Why Use ffmpeg?

• 🎬 Universal media support — handles audio, video, and streams
• ⚡ Fast batch processing — script conversions, resizing, and filters
• 🔄 Flexible format conversion — MP4, MKV, WebM, MP3, AAC, and more
• 🎚️ Advanced filters — crop, scale, normalize audio, subtitles, overlays
• 📦 Automation-friendly — ideal for CI pipelines, build processes, and media automation
• 🧩 Broad ecosystem — works with OBS, YouTube, HLS, WebRTC, and other tools

Installation

# macOS (Homebrew)
brew install ffmpeg

# Ubuntu / Debian
sudo apt update
sudo apt install ffmpeg

# Fedora
dnf install ffmpeg

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S ffmpeg

# Windows (Scoop)
scoop install ffmpeg

# Windows (Chocolatey)
choco install ffmpeg

Basic Usage

# Show ffmpeg version and supported formats
ffmpeg -version

# Convert video from MKV to MP4
ffmpeg -i input.mkv -c:v libx264 -c:a aac output.mp4

# Convert WAV audio to MP3
ffmpeg -i input.wav -codec:a libmp3lame -qscale:a 2 output.mp3

# Extract audio only
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vn -acodec copy audio.aac

# Resize video to 1280x720
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "scale=1280:720" output-720p.mp4

💡 Tips & Tricks

Tip 1: Convert Without Re-encoding When Possible

Use stream copy mode (-c copy) to avoid quality loss and save time:

ffmpeg -i input.mkv -c copy output.mp4

Tip 2: Compress Video with Quality Control

Use CRF to balance quality and size:

ffmpeg -i input.mov -c:v libx264 -crf 23 -preset medium -c:a aac -b:a 128k output.mp4

Tip 3: Extract a Clip

Trim video with start/end times using -ss and -to:

ffmpeg -ss 00:01:30 -to 00:02:15 -i input.mp4 -c copy clip.mp4

Tip 4: Add a Text Watermark

Overlay text using the drawtext filter:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "drawtext=text='My Brand':fontcolor=white:fontsize=24:x=10:y=H-th-10" -codec:a copy output-watermark.mp4

Tip 5: Normalize Audio Loudness

Apply loudness normalization with the loudnorm filter:

ffmpeg -i input.mp3 -af loudnorm=I=-16:LRA=11:TP=-1.5 output-normalized.mp3

Tip 6: Convert GIF to Video and Back

ffmpeg -i input.gif -movflags faststart -pix_fmt yuv420p output.mp4
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "fps=15,scale=640:-1:flags=lanczos" output.gif

Tip 7: Create a Video from Images

ffmpeg -framerate 30 -pattern_type glob -i 'frames/*.png' -c:v libx264 -pix_fmt yuv420p timelapse.mp4

Tip 8: Burn Subtitles into a Video

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "subtitles=subs.srt:force_style='FontName=Arial,FontSize=24'" -c:a copy output-subs.mp4

Advanced Applications

Convert Multiple Files in a Folder

mkdir -p converted
for f in *.mov; do
  ffmpeg -i "$f" -c:v libx264 -crf 22 -preset fast -c:a aac -b:a 160k "converted/${f%.*}.mp4"
done

Record Your Screen on macOS

ffmpeg -f avfoundation -framerate 30 -i "1:0" -c:v libx264 -preset ultrafast screen-record.mp4

Stream to YouTube Live

ffmpeg -re -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -preset veryfast -b:v 2500k \
  -maxrate 2500k -bufsize 5000k -c:a aac -b:a 160k \
  -f flv "rtmp://a.rtmp.youtube.com/live2/YOUR_STREAM_KEY"