FFmpeg Cheatsheet

This cheatsheet provides a comprehensive and practical reference for common FFmpeg commands. It covers conversion, transcoding, filters, cutting, merging, screenshots, GIFs, subtitles, streaming, and more. Use it to boost your productivity in video/audio processing and automation.

Use the search bar to quickly find specific FFmpeg commands or browse through categories for a complete reference. Explore the Command Combos section for powerful multi-step workflows.

Basic Info & Help

ffmpeg -version

Show FFmpeg version info

ffmpeg -h

Show help for FFmpeg

ffmpeg -codecs

List all supported codecs

ffmpeg -formats

List all supported formats

ffmpeg -filters

List all available filters

ffmpeg -protocols

List all supported protocols

Convert & Transcode

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 output.avi

Convert MP4 to AVI

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

Convert MOV to MP4 (H.264 + AAC)

ffmpeg -i input.avi -c:v libvpx -c:a libvorbis output.webm

Convert AVI to WebM

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v copy -c:a copy output.mkv

Remux MP4 to MKV without re-encoding

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -an output.mp4

Remove audio from video

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vn output.mp3

Extract audio as MP3

ffmpeg -i input.mp3 output.wav

Convert MP3 to WAV

Video & Audio Filters

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

Resize video to 720p

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf 'crop=640:480:0:0' output.mp4

Crop video to 640x480 from top-left

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf 'transpose=1' output.mp4

Rotate video 90 degrees clockwise

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf 'hue=s=0' output.mp4

Convert video to grayscale

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -af 'volume=2.0' output.mp4

Double audio volume

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -af 'atempo=2.0' output.mp4

Double audio speed

Cut, Trim & Merge

ffmpeg -ss 00:00:10 -to 00:00:20 -i input.mp4 -c copy output.mp4

Cut 10s-20s from video (fast, no re-encode)

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

Extract 30s from 1:00 (fast, no re-encode)

ffmpeg -i input1.mp4 -i input2.mp4 -filter_complex '[0:v][0:a][1:v][1:a]concat=n=2:v=1:a=1[outv][outa]' -map '[outv]' -map '[outa]' output.mp4

Merge two videos (with audio)

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

Merge multiple files using concat demuxer

Screenshots & GIFs

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 00:00:10 -vframes 1 output.png

Extract a frame as PNG at 10s

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf fps=10,scale=320:-1 output.gif

Convert video to GIF (10 fps, 320px wide)

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -t 5 -vf 'fps=15,scale=320:-1:flags=lanczos' output.gif

Create a 5s GIF at 15 fps

Subtitles & Metadata

ffmpeg -i input.mkv -map 0:s:0 subs.srt

Extract subtitles from MKV to SRT

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf subtitles=subs.srt output.mp4

Burn subtitles into video

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -metadata title='My Video' output.mp4

Set video title metadata

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -map_metadata -1 -c copy output.mp4

Remove all metadata

Streaming & Capture

ffmpeg -f v4l2 -i /dev/video0 output.mp4

Capture video from webcam (Linux)

ffmpeg -f avfoundation -i '0' output.mp4

Capture video from webcam (macOS)

ffmpeg -f gdigrab -i desktop output.mp4

Capture desktop screen (Windows)

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -f flv rtmp://server/live/stream

Stream video to RTMP server

Command Combos

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf 'scale=1280:720,fps=30' -c:v libx264 -preset fast -crf 23 output.mp4

Resize, set FPS, encode to H.264 in one step

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf 'crop=640:480,transpose=1' output.mp4

Crop and rotate video in one command

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 00:00:10 -t 5 -vf 'fps=15,scale=320:-1' output.gif

Cut, scale, and convert to GIF in one step

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf 'drawtext=text=Hello:fontcolor=white:fontsize=24:x=10:y=10' output.mp4

Add text overlay to video

Features

Quick search functionality
Organized by categories
Clear command descriptions
Common and advanced use cases covered
Easy to copy commands
Responsive design
Perfect for quick reference