A quick guide to using FFmpeg to create cross-device web videos.

ffmpeg-web-video-guide.md

Video conversion with FFmpeg

Install

On mac:

1. Download the latest release.
2. Extract the binary and place it in /usr/local/bin.

Command basics

Most basic conversion using Terminal: ffmpeg -i input.mov output.webm.

Strip audio

Flag: -an.

Scale video

Example flag: -vf scale=1280:-2.

-1 for the width or height will keep it in ratio to the other specified dimension.

-2 will keep it in ratio to the other specified dimension, but, to ensure it is divisible by 2 (a requirement for certain encodings such as yuv420p) the width or height will be adjusted if necessary.

Docs here.

Faster processing

Flag: -threads 0.

Allow your CPU to use an optimal number of threads.

Convert to WebM

Guide here.

Audio example

ffmpeg -i input.mov -c:v libvpx -qmin 0 -qmax 25 -crf 4 -b:v 1M -vf scale=1280:-2 -c:a libvorbis -threads 0 output.webm

Mute example

ffmpeg -i input.mov -c:v libvpx -qmin 0 -qmax 25 -crf 4 -b:v 1M -vf scale=1280:-2 -an -threads 0 output.webm

Convert to MP4

Guide here.

QuickTime compatibility

Flag: -pix_fmt yuv420p.

Note: Requires dimensions to be divisible by 2.

All device compatibility

Flag: -profile:v baseline -level 3.0.

Android in particular doesn't support higher profiles.

Quality

Example flag: -crf 20.

0 is lossless, 23 is default, and 51 is worst possible. 18-28 is a sane range.

Fast start

Flag: -movflags +faststart.

Moves some data to the beginning of the file, allowing the video to be played before it is completely downloaded.

Audio example

ffmpeg -i input.mov -c:v libx264 -pix_fmt yuv420p -profile:v baseline -level 3.0 -crf 22 -preset veryslow -vf scale=1280:-2 -c:a aac -strict experimental -movflags +faststart -threads 0 output.mp4

Mute example

ffmpeg -i input.mov -c:v libx264 -pix_fmt yuv420p -profile:v baseline -level 3.0 -crf 22 -preset veryslow -vf scale=1280:-2 -an -movflags +faststart -threads 0 output.mp4

Bash script

1. In a folder, make sure your master videos are named how you want your exports to be named.
2. Save the bash script below as video4web.sh in the folder.
3. In Terminal, cd to the folder.
4. Run chmod +x video4web.sh.
5. Run the script using the parameters documented. E.g. ./video4web.sh mov 1280.

#!/bin/bash

# Generates a cover image along with mute web-ready WebM and MP4 files for each master video in a folder.
# See: https://gist.github.com/jaydenseric/220c785d6289bcfd7366.

# Parameter 1: Input video format (e.g. "mov").
# Parameter 2: Output width in pixels (e.g. "1280").
# Example use: "./video4web.sh mov 1280".

for i in *.$1
do
  # Generate cover image
  ffmpeg -i $i -vframes 1 -vf scale=$2:-2 -q:v 1 ${i%$1}jpg
  # Generate WebM
  ffmpeg -i $i -c:v libvpx -qmin 0 -qmax 25 -crf 4 -b:v 1M -vf scale=$2:-2 -an -threads 0 ${i%$1}webm
  # Generate MP4
  ffmpeg -i $i -c:v libx264 -pix_fmt yuv420p -profile:v baseline -level 3.0 -crf 22 -preset veryslow -vf scale=$2:-2 -an -movflags +faststart -threads 0 ${i%$1}mp4
done

Please do not use crf for web videos. The constraining factor for web videos is the time they take to download, not the total size of the video. It would suck if the video suddenly froze and paused simply because, due to ffmpeg's assessment of the necessary quality, ffmpeg upped the bit rate at that point in the movie. Instead, use constant bit rates for both the audio and the video.

Vimeo and Crunchyroll and Funimation uses x264 with CRF and a cap max rate. For pure streaming it's better to use HLS and web player that will implement an appropriate buffer size and a thread to make sure it's always filled, instead of relying on browser downloading and real time playback. For smallish videos or crf value that results in moderate rates, in practice VBR is not a problem for regular browser downloading and streaming since you're downloading the whole file at full speed anyways often much faster than the max bitrate of video.

do you know of a way to quickly apply the shorthand -ac codec options to all or multiple tracks? I'm trying to avoid getting into the complex stream mapping options....

Does anyone know .webm encoding for youtube in ffmpeg? The right and specific one. I found this in ffmpeg website and currently using it: ffmpeg -loop 1 -framerate 2 -i input.png -i audio.m4a -c:v libx264 -preset medium -tune stillimage -crf 18 -c:a copy -shortest -pix_fmt yuv420p output.mkv but I need webm encoding/youtube command to ffmpeg. someone please help