FFmpeg

Video Commands

Cut, crop, resize, and transform video with FFmpeg. Learn to trim clips, add watermarks, change resolution, adjust framerate, and apply filters — all without a GUI.

12 commands

Pro Tips

Trim without re-encoding: 'ffmpeg -ss 00:01:00 -to 00:02:00 -i input.mp4 -c copy output.mp4' — put -ss before -i for fast seeking.

Create a GIF: 'ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "fps=10,scale=320:-1" output.gif' — adjust fps and scale for size.

Use '-vf scale=1920:1080:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease' to resize while keeping aspect ratio.

Common Mistakes

Cutting with '-c copy' may have inaccurate start times because it can only cut on keyframes. Re-encode for frame-accurate cuts.

Processing large video files uses significant disk space for temp files. Ensure you have enough free space.

Commands

Compress video

$ ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vcodec libx264 -crf 28 output.mp4

Compress video (higher CRF = smaller file)

Concatenate videos

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

Join multiple videos (needs list.txt)

Crop video

$ ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "crop=640:480:100:50" output.mp4

Crop video (width:height:x:y)

Change frame rate

$ ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -r 30 output.mp4

Change video frame rate

Resize video

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

Resize video to specific dimensions

Resize keeping aspect ratio

$ ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf scale=1280:-1 output.mp4

Resize video keeping aspect ratio

Rotate video 90°

$ ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "transpose=1" output.mp4

Rotate video 90° clockwise

Change speed

$ ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "setpts=0.5*PTS" -af "atempo=2.0" output.mp4

Speed up video 2x (with audio)

Extract thumbnail

$ ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 00:00:01 -vframes 1 thumbnail.jpg

Extract single frame as thumbnail

Trim video

$ ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 00:00:30 -to 00:01:30 -c copy output.mp4

Cut video from start to end time

Trim by duration

$ ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 00:00:30 -t 60 -c copy output.mp4

Cut video from start time for duration

Add watermark

$ ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -i watermark.png -filter_complex "overlay=10:10" output.mp4

Add image watermark to video