FFmpeg Cheat Sheet: Convert, Compress & Edit Video

# MP4 → MKV (same streams, different container)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c copy output.mkv

# MKV → MP4
ffmpeg -i input.mkv -c copy output.mp4

# MOV → MP4 (iPhone exports)
ffmpeg -i input.mov -c copy output.mp4

# AVI → MP4
ffmpeg -i input.avi -c:v libx264 -c:a aac output.mp4

# MP4 → WebM (re-encode for web)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libvpx-vp9 -crf 33 -b:v 0 -c:a libopus output.webm

# Good quality / reasonable size (CRF 23)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -crf 23 -preset fast -c:a aac -b:a 128k output.mp4

# Smaller file, slight quality drop (CRF 28)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -crf 28 -preset fast -c:a aac -b:a 128k output.mp4

# Maximum quality (CRF 18)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -crf 18 -preset slow -c:a aac -b:a 192k output.mp4

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx265 -crf 28 -preset fast -c:a aac -b:a 128k output.mp4

# Scale to 1280px wide, maintain aspect ratio
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "scale=1280:-1" output.mp4

# Scale to 720p height, maintain aspect ratio
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "scale=-1:720" output.mp4

# Force exact resolution (may stretch)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "scale=1920:1080" output.mp4

# Scale to 1080p but pad to exact 16:9 (letterbox)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "scale=1920:1080:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=1920:1080:(ow-iw)/2:(oh-ih)/2" output.mp4

# Scale with even dimensions (required by some encoders)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "scale=1280:trunc(ow/a/2)*2" output.mp4

# From 30s to 90s (60-second clip)
ffmpeg -ss 00:00:30 -to 00:01:30 -i input.mp4 -c copy output.mp4

# From 30s, for 10 seconds
ffmpeg -ss 00:00:30 -t 10 -i input.mp4 -c copy output.mp4

# From the beginning, first 60 seconds
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -t 60 -c copy output.mp4

# Frame-accurate cut (re-encodes — slower but precise)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 00:00:30 -to 00:01:30 -c:v libx264 -crf 23 output.mp4

# Extract audio as MP3
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vn -c:a libmp3lame -b:a 192k output.mp3

# Extract audio as AAC
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vn -c:a aac -b:a 128k output.aac

# Extract audio losslessly as FLAC
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vn -c:a flac output.flac

# Remove audio from video
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -an -c:v copy output.mp4

# Replace audio in a video
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -i audio.mp3 -c:v copy -c:a aac -map 0:v:0 -map 1:a:0 output.mp4

# Change audio volume
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -af "volume=1.5" output.mp4   # 1.5x louder

# Normalize audio (loudnorm)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -af "loudnorm=I=-16:TP=-1.5:LRA=11" output.mp4

# Fade in audio (2 second fade starting at 0)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -af "afade=t=in:ss=0:d=2" output.mp4

# Add silent audio to a silent video
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -f lavfi -i anullsrc=r=44100:cl=stereo -c:v copy -c:a aac -shortest output.mp4

# Step 1: generate palette
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 5 -t 3 -vf "fps=12,scale=480:-1:flags=lanczos,palettegen" palette.png

# Step 2: create GIF using the palette
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -i palette.png -ss 5 -t 3 \
  -filter_complex "fps=12,scale=480:-1:flags=lanczos[x];[x][1:v]paletteuse" \
  output.gif

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 5 -t 3 -vf "fps=10,scale=320:-1" output.gif

# Single screenshot at 10 seconds
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 00:00:10 -frames:v 1 thumbnail.jpg

# High-quality screenshot
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 00:00:10 -frames:v 1 -q:v 2 thumbnail.jpg

# Screenshot grid (one frame every 60 seconds)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "fps=1/60" frames/thumb_%04d.jpg

# Video preview strip (contact sheet)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "select=not(mod(n\,300)),scale=160:90,tile=10x5" contact_sheet.jpg

# Merge two videos (same codec/resolution — fast)
# Create a list file:
echo "file 'part1.mp4'
file 'part2.mp4'" > filelist.txt

ffmpeg -f concat -safe 0 -i filelist.txt -c copy output.mp4

# Side by side (horizontal)
ffmpeg -i left.mp4 -i right.mp4 \
  -filter_complex "[0:v][1:v]hstack=inputs=2" \
  output.mp4

# Stack vertically
ffmpeg -i top.mp4 -i bottom.mp4 \
  -filter_complex "[0:v][1:v]vstack=inputs=2" \
  output.mp4

# Simple text overlay
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "drawtext=text='My Watermark':fontsize=36:fontcolor=white:x=10:y=10" \
  output.mp4

# Timestamp overlay
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "drawtext=text='%{pts\:hms}':fontsize=24:fontcolor=yellow:x=10:y=10" \
  output.mp4

# Image watermark (logo in bottom-right)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -i logo.png \
  -filter_complex "[1:v]scale=100:-1[logo];[0:v][logo]overlay=W-w-10:H-h-10" \
  output.mp4

# Convert all MP4 files in current directory to WebM
for f in *.mp4; do
    ffmpeg -i "$f" -c:v libvpx-vp9 -crf 33 -b:v 0 -c:a libopus "${f%.mp4}.webm"
done

# Resize all videos to 1280px wide
for f in *.mp4; do
    ffmpeg -i "$f" -vf "scale=1280:-1" -c:a copy "resized_$f"
done

# Extract thumbnails from all videos
for f in *.mp4; do
    ffmpeg -i "$f" -ss 5 -frames:v 1 "${f%.mp4}.jpg"
done

# Get video info (duration, resolution, codec)
ffprobe -v quiet -print_format json -show_streams input.mp4

# Speed up video 2x (with audio pitch correction)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "setpts=0.5*PTS" -af "atempo=2.0" output.mp4

# Slow down video 2x
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "setpts=2.0*PTS" -af "atempo=0.5" output.mp4

# Rotate video 90 degrees clockwise
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "transpose=1" output.mp4

# Flip video horizontally (mirror)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "hflip" output.mp4

# Stabilize shaky video
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "vidstabdetect" -f null -
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "vidstabtransform" output.mp4

# Convert image sequence to video
ffmpeg -framerate 24 -pattern_type glob -i "frames/*.jpg" -c:v libx264 output.mp4

# Create video from a single image with audio
ffmpeg -loop 1 -i image.jpg -i audio.mp3 -c:v libx264 -tune stillimage -c:a aac -shortest output.mp4