Goal:

The purpose of this blog is how to encode a video using FFmpeg

Input:

Sample video.

To check its properties like codec formats , bitrate , etc., run the below command

ffprobe <file_location>

For example
ffprobe sample.webm

Process:

To encode video , run the below command

ffmpeg -y -i <input_file_path> -f lavfi -i anullsrc=channel_layout=stereo:sample_rate=44100 -vf "scale=1560:864" -c:v libx264 -crf 2 -preset medium -c:a aac -b:a 128k -shortest <output_file_path>

-y: Overwrites the output file if it already exists.

-i <input_file_path>: Specifies the input video file path.

-f lavfi -i anullsrc=channel_layout=stereo:sample_rate=44100: Adds a silent audio source to the command. This is useful when the input video does not have an audio stream, ensuring the output video has an audio stream.

-vf "scale=1560:864": Sets the video filter to scale the video to a width of 1560 pixels and a height of 864 pixels. You can modify these dimensions as per your requirements.

-c:v libx264 -crf 2 -preset medium: Sets the video codec to libx264 with a Constant Rate Factor (CRF) of 2 and a preset of medium. A lower CRF value results in higher video quality but larger file size, while a higher value reduces the quality but produces smaller file sizes. The preset determines the encoding speed and compression efficiency. You can adjust the CRF value and preset according to your needs.

-c:a aac -b:a 128k: Sets the audio codec to AAC with a bitrate of 128kbps.

-shortest: Ensures that the output video duration is based on the shortest stream, which is useful when the added silent audio stream is shorter than the video stream.

<output_file_path>: Specifies the output file name for the encoded video.

For example

ffmpeg -y -i sample.webm -f lavfi -i anullsrc=channel_layout=stereo:sample_rate=44100 -vf "scale=1560:864" -c:v libx264 -crf 2 -preset medium -c:a aac -b:a 128k -shortest output_encode.mp4

Result:

After running the command encoded video will be generated.

To check the output file properties run ffprobe <output_file> command

How to Encode video using FFmpeg?