ffmpeg record screen on Mac M1 chip via command line

ffmpeg_mac_m1_record_cmd_line.md

ffmpeg record screen on Mac M1 chip via command line

1. Install ffmpeg.

brew install ffmpeg

2. Figure out which device to use.

ffmpeg -f avfoundation -list_devices true -i ""

Ouput will look like:

ffmpeg version 5.1.2 Copyright (c) 2000-2022 the FFmpeg developers
  built with Apple clang version 14.0.0 (clang-1400.0.29.202)
  configuration: --prefix=/opt/homebrew/Cellar/ffmpeg/5.1.2_3 --enable-shared --enable-pthreads --enable-version3 --cc=clang --host-cflags= --host-ldflags= --enable-ffplay --enable-gnutls --enable-gpl --enable-libaom --enable-libaribb24 --enable-libbluray --enable-libdav1d --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopus --enable-librav1e --enable-librist --enable-librubberband --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsrt --enable-libsvtav1 --enable-libtesseract --enable-libtheora --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvmaf --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwebp --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libxml2 --enable-libxvid --enable-lzma --enable-libfontconfig --enable-libfreetype --enable-frei0r --enable-libass --enable-libopencore-amrnb --enable-libopencore-amrwb --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libspeex --enable-libsoxr --enable-libzmq --enable-libzimg --disable-libjack --disable-indev=jack --enable-videotoolbox --enable-neon
  libavutil      57. 28.100 / 57. 28.100
  libavcodec     59. 37.100 / 59. 37.100
  libavformat    59. 27.100 / 59. 27.100
  libavdevice    59.  7.100 / 59.  7.100
  libavfilter     8. 44.100 /  8. 44.100
  libswscale      6.  7.100 /  6.  7.100
  libswresample   4.  7.100 /  4.  7.100
  libpostproc    56.  6.100 / 56.  6.100
[AVFoundation indev @ 0x11f004420] AVFoundation video devices:
[AVFoundation indev @ 0x11f004420] [0] FaceTime HD Camera
[AVFoundation indev @ 0x11f004420] [1] Capture screen 0
[AVFoundation indev @ 0x11f004420] AVFoundation audio devices:
[AVFoundation indev @ 0x11f004420] [0] MacBook Air Microphone
: Input/output error

3. I want to capture my screen, so I'll use index 1 (IE: [1] Capture Screen 0). Below command will record a video of your screen.

ffmpeg -f avfoundation -i "1:0" output.mkv

4. Convert the video to a format that can be played by QuickTime player (probably don't need this step if you have a video player capable of playing .mkv but I didn't)

ffmpeg -i output.mkv -c:v prores_ks -profile:v 3 -c:a pcm_s24le output.mov

Notes

• https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/Capture/Desktop for guidance
• If you get errors running the above commands, on your system settings, check the following:
  • Privacy and Security | Screen Record - ensure your terminal application is allowed to record screen
  • Privacy and Security | Microphone - ensure your terminal application is allowed to capture mic input (I guess this is optional if you don't care about sound)

Thanks!

I have a problem. It produce some noise especially when I'm talking :)