ffmpeg Toolkit

ffmpeg 6.1.1 is pre-installed with a full-featured build. Also available: ffprobe (media analysis) and ffplay (playback, limited use in container).

Before writing custom Python for media tasks, check whether ffmpeg handles it in a single command.

To interpret video content (summarize, describe, find scenes) rather than transform it, use the parsing-video skill — it samples frames into timestamped contact sheets that can be read as images.

Task Reference

Probe & Inspect Media

ffprobe — always start here to understand what you're working with.

ffprobe -v quiet -print_format json -show_format -show_streams input.mp4
ffprobe -v quiet -show_entries format=duration,bit_rate -of csv=p=0 input.mp4
ffprobe -v quiet -select_streams v:0 -show_entries stream=width,height,r_frame_rate,codec_name -of csv=p=0 input.mp4

Video Format Conversion

ffmpeg -i input.avi output.mp4                             # container swap (re-encode)
ffmpeg -i input.avi -c copy output.mp4                     # container swap (no re-encode, fast)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx265 -crf 28 output.mp4       # H.265
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libvpx-vp9 -crf 30 -b:v 0 out.webm  # VP9 WebM
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libsvtav1 -crf 35 output.mp4     # AV1 (SVT, fastest AV1 encoder)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libjxl output.jxl                # JPEG XL (single frame)

Encoder selection guide:

Goal	Encoder	Typical flags
Compatibility	libx264	-crf 23 -preset medium
Better compression	libx265	-crf 28 -preset medium
Web delivery	libvpx-vp9	-crf 30 -b:v 0
Best compression	libsvtav1	-crf 35 -preset 6
Lossless archival	libx264	-crf 0 -preset veryslow

Lower CRF = higher quality. x264 default 23, x265 default 28, SVT-AV1 default 35 are visually similar.

Audio Format Conversion

ffmpeg -i input.wav -c:a libmp3lame -q:a 2 output.mp3     # MP3 VBR ~190kbps
ffmpeg -i input.wav -c:a libopus -b:a 128k output.opus    # Opus (best quality/size)
ffmpeg -i input.wav -c:a aac -b:a 192k output.m4a         # AAC
ffmpeg -i input.wav -c:a flac output.flac                  # FLAC lossless
ffmpeg -i input.mp3 -ar 44100 -ac 2 output.wav            # to WAV, set sample rate/channels

Extract Audio from Video

ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vn -c:a copy audio.aac               # extract without re-encoding
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vn -c:a libmp3lame -q:a 2 audio.mp3  # extract as MP3
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vn -c:a libopus -b:a 128k audio.opus

Trim & Cut

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 00:01:30 -to 00:03:00 -c copy clip.mp4        # fast, keyframe-aligned
ffmpeg -ss 00:01:30 -i input.mp4 -to 00:01:30 -c copy clip.mp4        # -ss before -i = faster seek
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 00:01:30 -to 00:03:00 -c:v libx264 -c:a aac clip.mp4  # frame-accurate (re-encode)

-ss before -i seeks by keyframe (fast, may be imprecise). After -i decodes from start (slow, precise). For frame-accurate cuts, re-encode.

Concatenate / Merge

Demuxer method (same codec, no re-encode):

# Create file list
printf "file '%s'\n" clip1.mp4 clip2.mp4 clip3.mp4 > list.txt
ffmpeg -f concat -safe 0 -i list.txt -c copy merged.mp4

Filter method (different formats, re-encodes):

ffmpeg -i clip1.mp4 -i clip2.mp4 -filter_complex "[0:v][0:a][1:v][1:a]concat=n=2:v=1:a=1[v][a]" -map "[v]" -map "[a]" merged.mp4

Resize & Scale

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "scale=1280:720" output.mp4                   # exact size
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "scale=1280:-1" output.mp4                    # width 1280, auto height
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "scale=-1:720:flags=lanczos" output.mp4       # height 720, Lanczos
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "scale=iw/2:ih/2" output.mp4                  # half size
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "pad=1920:1080:(ow-iw)/2:(oh-ih)/2" output.mp4  # letterbox to 1080p

Framerate

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -r 30 output.mp4                       # simple (drops/dupes frames)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "fps=24" output.mp4                # filter-based
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "minterpolate=fps=60" output.mp4   # motion interpolation (slow)

Animated GIF from Video

Use the two-pass palette method for quality:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "fps=10,scale=480:-1:flags=lanczos,palettegen" palette.png
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -i palette.png -lavfi "fps=10,scale=480:-1:flags=lanczos[x];[x][1:v]paletteuse" output.gif

Single-pass (simpler, lower quality):

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "fps=10,scale=480:-1" output.gif

Animated WebP from Video

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "fps=15,scale=480:-1" -c:v libwebp -lossless 0 -q:v 75 -loop 0 output.webp

Extract Frames

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "fps=1" frame_%04d.png             # 1 frame/second
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "select='eq(pict_type,I)'" -vsync vfr keyframe_%04d.png  # keyframes only
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "thumbnail=300" -frames:v 1 thumb.png   # best thumbnail from first 300 frames
ffmpeg -ss 00:00:05 -i input.mp4 -frames:v 1 screenshot.png     # single frame at timestamp
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "select='gt(scene,0.3)'" -vsync vfr cut_%04d.png  # first frame of each detected cut

The scene score is a frame-pair difference: it catches hard cuts but misses gradual transitions (dissolves/fades) and within-shot content changes; pans can false-positive. For robust shot detection use PySceneDetect (scenedetect -i input.mp4 list-scenes).

Subtitles

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "subtitles=subs.srt" output.mp4           # burn in SRT
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "ass=subs.ass" output.mp4                 # burn in ASS (styled)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -i subs.srt -c copy -c:s mov_text output.mp4  # soft subs in MP4

Subtitle rendering uses libass (full ASS/SSA styling support).

Text & Watermark Overlays

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "drawtext=text='Hello':fontsize=48:fontcolor=white:x=10:y=10" output.mp4
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -i watermark.png -filter_complex "overlay=W-w-10:H-h-10" output.mp4
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "drawtext=text='%{pts\:hms}':fontsize=24:fontcolor=white:x=10:y=H-30" output.mp4  # timestamp

Audio Processing

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -af "volume=1.5" output.mp4                    # volume boost
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -af "loudnorm=I=-16:TP=-1.5:LRA=11" output.mp4  # EBU R128 normalization
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -af "afade=t=in:d=2,afade=t=out:st=58:d=2" output.mp4  # fade in/out
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -af "highpass=f=200,lowpass=f=3000" output.mp4  # bandpass
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -an output_silent.mp4                           # strip audio
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -i audio.mp3 -c:v copy -map 0:v -map 1:a output.mp4  # replace audio track

Video Stabilization (libvidstab, two-pass)

ffmpeg -i shaky.mp4 -vf "vidstabdetect=shakiness=5:accuracy=15" -f null -
ffmpeg -i shaky.mp4 -vf "vidstabtransform=smoothing=10:input=transforms.trf" stabilized.mp4

Crossfade & Transitions

ffmpeg -i clip1.mp4 -i clip2.mp4 -filter_complex "xfade=transition=fade:duration=1:offset=4" output.mp4

Transition types: fade, wipeleft, wiperight, slideup, slidedown, circlecrop, dissolve, and ~40 more.

Waveform & Spectrum Visualization

ffmpeg -i audio.mp3 -filter_complex "showwavespic=s=1280x240:colors=0x1e90ff" -frames:v 1 waveform.png
ffmpeg -i audio.mp3 -filter_complex "showspectrumpic=s=1280x720" -frames:v 1 spectrum.png

Compress / Reduce File Size

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -crf 28 -preset faster -c:a aac -b:a 128k smaller.mp4
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx265 -crf 32 -preset medium -c:a libopus -b:a 96k smallest.mp4

CRF is the primary quality knob. Preset trades encoding speed for compression efficiency.

Available Codecs & Libraries Summary

Video encoders: libx264, libx265, libvpx (VP8), libvpx-vp9, libsvtav1, librav1e, libaom-av1, libjxl (JPEG XL), gif, png, apng, libwebp Audio encoders: aac, libmp3lame, libopus, libvorbis, flac, ac3, pcm_s16le Subtitle: ASS/SSA (libass), SRT, DVB, DVD, MOV text 426 formats, 562 filters, hardware accel stubs (vaapi, vulkan, opencl — limited use in container)

Key Constraints

• No GPU acceleration — CUDA device count is 0; vaapi/vulkan/opencl listed but no hardware available. All encoding is CPU-only.
• Container is ephemeral — long encodes on large files are feasible but the container resets between tasks. Work in /home/claude/, deliver to /mnt/user-data/outputs/.
• 4 CPU cores, 9 GB RAM — encoding is parallel but constrained. Use -preset faster or -preset veryfast for large files to avoid timeouts.
• ffplay exists but display is unavailable — use for probing only, not playback.
• No GPU-accelerated filters — stick to CPU filter variants.