Useful FFmpeg commands

FFmpeg is a powerful command-line tool for video and audio processing. I find myself reusing these commands frequently.

Extract LPCM Audio Track

Extracts an audio track from a fully muxed input file.

ffmpeg -i stream_file.m2ts -map 0:a:0 audio.wav

• -i specifies the input file
• -map 0:a:0 selects the first audio stream
• Output format determined by file extension

Extract a Video Track

Extracts a video track from a muxed input file without re-encoding.

ffmpeg -i stream_file.m2ts -c copy -an vid_only.mp4

• -c copy copies the stream without re-encoding
• -an removes audio streams

Convert Video Format

Convert between video formats while maintaining quality.

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

• -c:v libx264 uses H.264 video codec
• -crf 23 sets quality (lower = better, 18-28 is typical)
• -c:a aac uses AAC audio codec

Resize Video

Resize video to specific dimensions.

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf scale=1280:720 output.mp4

• -vf scale=1280:720 sets width and height
• Use -1 for auto: scale=1280:-1 maintains aspect ratio

Extract Frames as Images

Extract video frames as individual images.

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

• fps=1 extracts 1 frame per second
• %04d creates numbered sequence (0001, 0002, etc.)

Combine Audio and Video

Merge separate audio and video files.

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

• First -i is video source
• Second -i is audio source
• -c:v copy keeps original video encoding

Learn More

Full documentation available at ffmpeg.org.