ffmpeg_trim_video.md

FFMPEG Trim Video

This command is what I use personally to quickly trim a video on my specific hardware:

• AMD Ryzen 5 4600G
• NVIDIA RTX 4070 12 GB

My ffmpeg -version:

ffmpeg version 2025-05-12-git-8ce32a7cbb-full_build-www.gyan.dev Copyright (c) 2000-2025 the FFmpeg developers
built with gcc 15.1.0 (Rev2, Built by MSYS2 project)
configuration: --enable-gpl --enable-version3 --enable-static --disable-w32threads --disable-autodetect --enable-fontconfig --enable-iconv --enable-gnutls --enable-lcms2 --enable-libxml2 --enable-gmp --enable-bzlib --enable-lzma --enable-libsnappy --enable-zlib --enable-librist --enable-libsrt --enable-libssh --enable-libzmq --enable-avisynth --enable-libbluray --enable-libcaca --enable-libdvdnav --enable-libdvdread --enable-sdl2 --enable-libaribb24 --enable-libaribcaption --enable-libdav1d --enable-libdavs2 --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libquirc --enable-libuavs3d --enable-libxevd --enable-libzvbi --enable-libqrencode --enable-librav1e --enable-libsvtav1 --enable-libvvenc --enable-libwebp --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libxavs2 --enable-libxeve --enable-libxvid --enable-libaom --enable-libjxl --enable-libvpx --enable-mediafoundation --enable-libass --enable-frei0r --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libharfbuzz --enable-liblensfun --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvmaf --enable-libzimg --enable-amf --enable-cuda-llvm --enable-cuvid --enable-dxva2 --enable-d3d11va --enable-d3d12va --enable-ffnvcodec --enable-libvpl --enable-nvdec --enable-nvenc --enable-vaapi --enable-libshaderc --enable-vulkan --enable-libplacebo --enable-opencl --enable-libcdio --enable-libgme --enable-libmodplug --enable-libopenmpt --enable-libopencore-amrwb --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libshine --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvo-amrwbenc --enable-libcodec2 --enable-libilbc --enable-libgsm --enable-liblc3 --enable-libopencore-amrnb --enable-libopus --enable-libspeex --enable-libvorbis --enable-ladspa --enable-libbs2b --enable-libflite --enable-libmysofa --enable-librubberband --enable-libsoxr --enable-chromaprint
libavutil      60.  2.100 / 60.  2.100
libavcodec     62.  3.101 / 62.  3.101
libavformat    62.  0.102 / 62.  0.102
libavdevice    62.  0.100 / 62.  0.100
libavfilter    11.  0.100 / 11.  0.100
libswscale      9.  0.100 /  9.  0.100
libswresample   6.  0.100 /  6.  0.100

Check which encoders you have available:

ffmpeg -encoders

Trim Video:

ffmpeg -ss <start_time> -to <end_time> -i <input.mp4> -c:v <encoding> -c:a aac <output.mp4> 

Where:

• <start_time is the start of the trimmed video (eg: 10:00)
• <end_time is the end of the trimmed video (eg: 1:00:00)
• <input.mp4> is the path to the video to trim
• is the encoder to use
• <output.mp4> is the path to the trimmed output video

options:

• libx264 (H264 Encoder, Software): Standard software encoder - slower, indistinguishable from original
• h264_nvenc (H264 Encoder, Nvidia Hardware): Nvidia-specific hardware encoder - faster, very noticable quality loss
• hevc_nvenc (HEVC Encoder, High-Res Max 8192x4320, Nvidia Hardware) Nvidia-specific hardware encoder for high-resolution videos - faster, very noticable quality loss