FFmpeg Cheatsheet

A comprehensive reference for common FFmpeg commands

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Command	Description	Category
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 output.avi	Convert MP4 to AVI	Conversion
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 output.mkv	Convert MP4 to MKV container	Conversion
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c copy output.mkv	Copy streams without re-encoding (fast)	Streams
ffmpeg -i input.avi -c:v libx264 -crf 23 output.mp4	Convert to MP4 with H.264 codec and decent quality	Conversion
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -preset slow -crf 18 -c:a copy output.mp4	High quality H.264 encode (smaller CRF = higher quality)	Video
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx265 -crf 28 -c:a aac -b:a 128k output.mp4	Convert to H.265/HEVC (better compression)	Video
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libvpx-vp9 -b:v 0 -crf 30 -c:a libopus output.webm	Convert to WebM with VP9 codec	Conversion
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vn -ar 44100 -ac 2 -ab 192k output.mp3	Extract audio to MP3	Audio
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vn -c:a aac -b:a 192k output.aac	Extract audio to AAC	Audio
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vn -c:a copy output.m4a	Extract audio without re-encoding	Audio
ffmpeg -i input.mp3 -af "volume=2" output.mp3	Increase audio volume (2x)	Audio
ffmpeg -i input.mp3 -af "equalizer=f=1000:width_type=o:width=2:g=6" output.mp3	Apply EQ to boost 1kHz by 6dB	Audio
ffmpeg -ss 00:00:30 -i input.mp4 -t 10 -c copy clip.mp4	Trim a 10s segment starting at 30s	Trimming
ffmpeg -ss 00:01:00 -to 00:02:00 -i input.mp4 -c copy clip.mp4	Extract clip from 1min to 2min	Trimming
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 00:00:10 -t 15 -an -c:v copy clip_no_audio.mp4	Extract video only (no audio) from 10s for 15s	Trimming
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "fps=1" frames_%04d.jpg	Extract 1 frame per second	Frames
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "select=eq(n\,100)" -frames:v 1 frame_100.jpg	Extract exactly the 100th frame	Frames
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf thumbnail=100 -frames:v 1 thumbnail.jpg	Generate a thumbnail	Frames
ffmpeg -f image2 -i frame_%04d.jpg output.mp4	Create video from image sequence	Frames
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "scale=1280:720" output_720p.mp4	Scale video to 720p	Video
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "scale=1280:-1" output.mp4	Scale width to 1280px, height auto	Video
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "scale=iw/2:ih/2" output_half.mp4	Scale to half size	Video
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "rotate=45*PI/180" output.mp4	Rotate video by 45 degrees	Filters
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "crop=640:480:0:0" output.mp4	Crop video to 640x480 from top left	Filters
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "hflip" output.mp4	Flip video horizontally	Filters
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "unsharp=5:5:1.0:5:5:0.0" output.mp4	Apply unsharp mask (sharpen)	Filters
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "colorbalance=rs=0.1:gs=0.1:bs=0.1" output.mp4	Adjust color balance	Filters
ffmpeg -i input1.mp4 -i input2.mp4 -filter_complex "[0:v][1:v]concat=n=2:v=1:a=0[outv]" -map "[outv]" -c:v libx264 out.mp4	Concatenate two videos	Advanced
ffmpeg -f concat -safe 0 -i list.txt -c copy output.mp4	Concatenate using a file list (list.txt contains: file 'input1.mp4', file 'input2.mp4')	Advanced
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "fps=10,scale=320:-1" -t 5 output.gif	Generate a 5s GIF at 10 fps, width 320	Conversion
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "fps=10,scale=320:-1:flags=lanczos,split[s0][s1];[s0]palettegen[p];[s1][p]paletteuse" output.gif	Generate a high-quality GIF with better colors	Conversion
ffmpeg -f x11grab -r 25 -s 1366x768 -i :0.0 screen.mkv	Record screen on Linux	Capture
ffmpeg -f gdigrab -framerate 30 -i desktop output.mp4	Record screen on Windows	Capture
ffmpeg -f avfoundation -i "1" -r 30 output.mp4	Record screen on macOS	Capture
ffmpeg -re -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -preset fast -crf 22 -f flv rtmp://server/app/stream	Stream to RTMP server	Streaming
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -preset fast -c:a aac -f dash output.mpd	Create DASH stream	Streaming
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -preset fast -c:a aac -f hls -hls_time 4 -hls_playlist_type vod playlist.m3u8	Create HLS stream	Streaming
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf subtitles=subs.srt out.mkv	Burn in subtitles	Subtitles
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -i subtitles.srt -c copy -c:s mov_text output.mp4	Add subtitles without re-encoding	Subtitles
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -map 0 -c copy -c:s srt output.mkv	Extract subtitles to SRT	Subtitles
ffmpeg -hwaccel cuda -i input.mp4 -c:v h264_nvenc -preset slow output.mp4	Hardware accelerated encode (NVIDIA)	Advanced
ffmpeg -hwaccel qsv -i input.mp4 -c:v h264_qsv output.mp4	Hardware accelerated encode (Intel QuickSync)	Advanced
ffmpeg -hwaccel videotoolbox -i input.mp4 -c:v h264_videotoolbox output.mp4	Hardware accelerated encode (macOS VideoToolbox)	Advanced
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -filter_complex "drawtext=text='Copyright':fontcolor=white:fontsize=24: box=1:boxcolor=black@0.5:boxborderw=5:x=(w-text_w)/2:y=(h-text_h)/2" output.mp4	Add text watermark	Advanced
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -i logo.png -filter_complex "overlay=10:10" output.mp4	Add image overlay (logo in top left)	Advanced
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -filter_complex "split [a][b]; [a] palettegen [p]; [b][p] paletteuse" output.gif	Create optimized GIF using palette	Advanced
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -filter_complex "showwavespic=s=640x120" -frames:v 1 waveform.png	Generate audio waveform image	Audio
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -i audio.mp3 -c:v copy -map 0:v:0 -map 1:a:0 output.mp4	Replace audio track	Audio
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -filter_complex "boxblur=5:1" output.mp4	Apply blur filter	Filters
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vf "eq=brightness=0.1:contrast=1.5:saturation=1.5" output.mp4	Adjust brightness, contrast and saturation	Filters

Common FFmpeg Options Explained

-i - Input file
-c - Codec to use (same as -codec)
-c copy - Copy streams without re-encoding
-c:v - Video codec (same as -vcodec)
-c:a - Audio codec (same as -acodec)
-an - Disable audio
-vn - Disable video
-preset - Encoding speed/compression ratio preset (ultrafast, superfast, veryfast, faster, fast, medium, slow, slower, veryslow)
-crf - Quality for constant quality mode (lower = higher quality, 18-28 is typical range)
-f - Force format
-r - Frame rate
-s - Frame size (WxH)
-aspect - Set aspect ratio
-ss - Seek to position
-t - Duration to process
-to - Stop at position
-b:v - Video bitrate
-b:a - Audio bitrate
-ab - Audio bitrate (legacy)
-ac - Audio channels
-ar - Audio sample rate
-vf - Video filter(s)
-af - Audio filter(s)
-map - Manual stream selection

Common FFmpeg Workflows

Creating a Web-Ready Video

Optimize a video for web hosting with H.264 encoding and AAC audio:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -preset medium -crf 22 -c:a aac -b:a 128k -movflags +faststart output.mp4

The -movflags +faststart option moves metadata to the beginning of the file allowing playback to start before the whole file is downloaded.

Creating a Timelapse from Images

Convert a sequence of images into a timelapse video:

ffmpeg -framerate 24 -pattern_type glob -i "*.jpg" -c:v libx264 -pix_fmt yuv420p output.mp4

Merging Video and Audio Files

Combine separately recorded video and audio:

ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -i audio.wav -c:v copy -c:a aac -map 0:v:0 -map 1:a:0 output.mp4

Compressing Video for Sharing

Reduce file size while maintaining reasonable quality:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "scale=1280:-1" -c:v libx264 -preset slow -crf 24 -c:a aac -b:a 128k compressed.mp4

Creating a Video Slideshow

Make a slideshow with 3-second transitions between images:

ffmpeg -framerate 1/3 -pattern_type glob -i "*.jpg" -c:v libx264 -r 30 -pix_fmt yuv420p slideshow.mp4