mediainfo --Inform="Video;%Codec%" video.mkv
will in my case return:
V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Answer made possible thanks to How to find duration of a video file using mediainfo in seconds or other formats?
ffprobe (ffmpeg) easy way
Assuming your video has one video stream only:
ffprobe -v error -select_streams v:0 -show_entries stream=codec_name \
-of default=noprint_wrappers=1:nokey=1 video.mkv
Will in my case return:
h264
Answer made possible thanks to How to get video duration in seconds?
ffprobe (ffmpeg) dirty way
This method is easier to understand but messy.
To get the codec information without playing back the file, use ffprobe.
$ ffprobe video.mkv
[...]
Input #0, matroska,webm, from 'video.mkv':
Metadata:
ENCODER : Lavf56.25.101
Duration: 00:28:05.15, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 4353 kb/s
Stream #0:0: Video: h264 (High 4:4:4 Predictive), yuv444p, 1280x960, SAR 1:1 DAR 4:3, 29.97 fps, 29.97 tbr, 1k tbn, 59.94 tbc (default)
Metadata:
ENCODER : Lavc56.26.100 libx264
Stream #0:1: Audio: vorbis, 48000 Hz, stereo, fltp (default)
Metadata:
ENCODER : Lavc56.26.100 libvorbis
To extract the video codec information - since ffmpeg sends information to stderr - pipe and grep it:
$ ffprobe video.mkv 2>&1 >/dev/null | grep Stream.*Video
Stream #0:0: Video: h264 (High 4:4:4 Predictive), yuv444p, 1280x960, SAR 1:1 DAR 4:3, 29.97 fps, 29.97 tbr, 1k tbn, 59.94 tbc (default)
To reduce the output even further, introduce sed:
$ ffprobe video.mkv 2>&1 >/dev/null |grep Stream.*Video | sed -e 's/.*Video: //' -e 's/[, ].*//'
h264
If you are looking just for stream copy you can do this quite easily.
You can refer following steps.
//1. Do initialization using
av_register_all();
// 2. Open input file using
avformat_open_input( &m_informat, filename.c_str(), 0, 0));
//3. Find input stream info.
if ((ret = avformat_find_stream_info(m_informat, 0))< 0)
{
av_strerror(ret,errbuf,sizeof(errbuf));
PRINT_VAL("Not Able to find stream info:: ", errbuf)
ret = -1;
return ret;
}
for (unsigned int i = 0; i<m_informat->nb_streams; i++)
{
if(m_informat->streams[i]->codec->codec_type == AVMEDIA_TYPE_VIDEO)
{
PRINT_MSG("Found Video Stream ")
m_in_vid_strm_idx = i;
m_in_vid_strm = m_informat->streams[i];
}
if(m_informat->streams[i]->codec->codec_type == AVMEDIA_TYPE_AUDIO)
{
m_in_aud_strm_idx = i;
m_in_aud_strm = m_informat->streams[i];
}
// 4. Create ouputfile and allocate output format.
AVOutputFormat *outfmt = NULL;
std::string outfile = std::string(filename) + "clip_out.ts";
outfmt = av_guess_format(NULL,outfile.c_str(),NULL);
if(outfmt == NULL)
{
ret = -1;
return ret;
}
else
{
m_outformat = avformat_alloc_context();
if(m_outformat)
{
m_outformat->oformat = outfmt;
_snprintf(m_outformat->filename,
sizeof(m_outformat->filename), "%s", outfile.c_str());
}
else
{
ret = -1;
return ret;
}
}
//5. Add audio and video stream to output format.
AVCodec *out_vid_codec,*out_aud_codec;
out_vid_codec = out_aud_codec = NULL;
if(outfmt->video_codec != AV_CODEC_ID_NONE && m_in_vid_strm != NULL)
{
out_vid_codec = avcodec_find_encoder(outfmt->video_codec);
if(NULL == out_vid_codec)
{
PRINT_MSG("Could Not Find Vid Encoder")
ret = -1;
return ret;
}
else
{
PRINT_MSG("Found Out Vid Encoder ")
m_out_vid_strm = avformat_new_stream(m_outformat, out_vid_codec);
if(NULL == m_out_vid_strm)
{
PRINT_MSG("Failed to Allocate Output Vid Strm ")
ret = -1;
return ret;
}
else
{
PRINT_MSG("Allocated Video Stream ")
if(avcodec_copy_context(m_out_vid_strm->codec,
m_informat->streams[m_in_vid_strm_idx]->codec) != 0)
{
PRINT_MSG("Failed to Copy Context ")
ret = -1;
return ret;
}
else
{
m_out_vid_strm->sample_aspect_ratio.den =
m_out_vid_strm->codec->sample_aspect_ratio.den;
m_out_vid_strm->sample_aspect_ratio.num =
m_in_vid_strm->codec->sample_aspect_ratio.num;
PRINT_MSG("Copied Context ")
m_out_vid_strm->codec->codec_id = m_in_vid_strm->codec->codec_id;
m_out_vid_strm->codec->time_base.num = 1;
m_out_vid_strm->codec->time_base.den =
m_fps*(m_in_vid_strm->codec->ticks_per_frame);
m_out_vid_strm->time_base.num = 1;
m_out_vid_strm->time_base.den = 1000;
m_out_vid_strm->r_frame_rate.num = m_fps;
m_out_vid_strm->r_frame_rate.den = 1;
m_out_vid_strm->avg_frame_rate.den = 1;
m_out_vid_strm->avg_frame_rate.num = m_fps;
m_out_vid_strm->duration = (m_out_end_time - m_out_start_time)*1000;
}
}
}
}
if(outfmt->audio_codec != AV_CODEC_ID_NONE && m_in_aud_strm != NULL)
{
out_aud_codec = avcodec_find_encoder(outfmt->audio_codec);
if(NULL == out_aud_codec)
{
PRINT_MSG("Could Not Find Out Aud Encoder ")
ret = -1;
return ret;
}
else
{
PRINT_MSG("Found Out Aud Encoder ")
m_out_aud_strm = avformat_new_stream(m_outformat, out_aud_codec);
if(NULL == m_out_aud_strm)
{
PRINT_MSG("Failed to Allocate Out Vid Strm ")
ret = -1;
return ret;
}
else
{
if(avcodec_copy_context(m_out_aud_strm->codec,
m_informat->streams[m_in_aud_strm_idx]->codec) != 0)
{
PRINT_MSG("Failed to Copy Context ")
ret = -1;
return ret;
}
else
{
PRINT_MSG("Copied Context ")
m_out_aud_strm->codec->codec_id = m_in_aud_strm->codec->codec_id;
m_out_aud_strm->codec->codec_tag = 0;
m_out_aud_strm->pts = m_in_aud_strm->pts;
m_out_aud_strm->duration = m_in_aud_strm->duration;
m_out_aud_strm->time_base.num = m_in_aud_strm->time_base.num;
m_out_aud_strm->time_base.den = m_in_aud_strm->time_base.den;
}
}
}
}
// 6. Finally output header.
if (!(outfmt->flags & AVFMT_NOFILE))
{
if (avio_open2(&m_outformat->pb, outfile.c_str(), AVIO_FLAG_WRITE,NULL, NULL) < 0)
{
PRINT_VAL("Could Not Open File ", outfile)
ret = -1;
return ret;
}
}
/* Write the stream header, if any. */
if (avformat_write_header(m_outformat, NULL) < 0)
{
PRINT_VAL("Error Occurred While Writing Header ", outfile)
ret = -1;
return ret;
}
else
{
PRINT_MSG("Written Output header ")
m_init_done = true;
}
// 7. Now in while loop read frame using av_read_frame and write to output format using
// av_interleaved_write_frame(). You can use following loop
while(av_read_frame(m_informat, &pkt) >= 0 && (m_num_frames-- > 0))
{
if(pkt.stream_index == m_in_vid_strm_idx)
{
PRINT_VAL("ACTUAL VID Pkt PTS ",av_rescale_q(pkt.pts,m_in_vid_strm->time_base, m_in_vid_strm->codec->time_base))
PRINT_VAL("ACTUAL VID Pkt DTS ", av_rescale_q(pkt.dts, m_in_vid_strm->time_base, m_in_vid_strm->codec->time_base ))
av_init_packet(&outpkt);
if(pkt.pts != AV_NOPTS_VALUE)
{
if(last_vid_pts == vid_pts)
{
vid_pts++;
last_vid_pts = vid_pts;
}
outpkt.pts = vid_pts;
PRINT_VAL("ReScaled VID Pts ", outpkt.pts)
}
else
{
outpkt.pts = AV_NOPTS_VALUE;
}
if(pkt.dts == AV_NOPTS_VALUE)
{
outpkt.dts = AV_NOPTS_VALUE;
}
else
{
outpkt.dts = vid_pts;
PRINT_VAL("ReScaled VID Dts ", outpkt.dts)
PRINT_MSG("=======================================")
}
outpkt.data = pkt.data;
outpkt.size = pkt.size;
outpkt.stream_index = pkt.stream_index;
outpkt.flags |= AV_PKT_FLAG_KEY;
last_vid_pts = vid_pts;
if(av_interleaved_write_frame(m_outformat, &outpkt) < 0)
{
PRINT_MSG("Failed Video Write ")
}
else
{
m_out_vid_strm->codec->frame_number++;
}
av_free_packet(&outpkt);
av_free_packet(&pkt);
}
else if(pkt.stream_index == m_in_aud_strm_idx)
{
PRINT_VAL("ACTUAL AUD Pkt PTS ", av_rescale_q(pkt.pts, m_in_aud_strm->time_base, m_in_aud_strm->codec->time_base))
PRINT_VAL("ACTUAL AUD Pkt DTS ", av_rescale_q(pkt.dts, m_in_aud_strm->time_base, m_in_aud_strm->codec->time_base))
//num_aud_pkt++;
av_init_packet(&outpkt);
if(pkt.pts != AV_NOPTS_VALUE)
{
outpkt.pts = aud_pts;
PRINT_VAL("ReScaled AUD PTS ", outpkt.pts)
}
else
{
outpkt.pts = AV_NOPTS_VALUE;
}
if(pkt.dts == AV_NOPTS_VALUE)
{
outpkt.dts = AV_NOPTS_VALUE;
}
else
{
outpkt.dts = aud_pts;
PRINT_VAL("ReScaled AUD DTS ", outpkt.dts)
PRINT_MSG("====================================")
if( outpkt.pts >= outpkt.dts)
{
outpkt.dts = outpkt.pts;
}
if(outpkt.dts == aud_dts)
{
outpkt.dts++;
}
if(outpkt.pts < outpkt.dts)
{
outpkt.pts = outpkt.dts;
aud_pts = outpkt.pts;
}
}
outpkt.data = pkt.data;
outpkt.size = pkt.size;
outpkt.stream_index = pkt.stream_index;
outpkt.flags |= AV_PKT_FLAG_KEY;
vid_pts = aud_pts;
aud_pts++;
if(av_interleaved_write_frame(m_outformat, &outpkt) < 0)
{
PRINT_MSG("Faile Audio Write ")
}
else
{
m_out_aud_strm->codec->frame_number++;
}
av_free_packet(&outpkt);
av_free_packet(&pkt);
}
else
{
PRINT_MSG("Got Unknown Pkt ")
//num_unkwn_pkt++;
}
//num_total_pkt++;
}
//8. Finally write trailer and clean up everything
av_write_trailer(m_outformat);
av_free_packet(&outpkt);
av_free_packet(&pkt);
Best Answer
When you
copya video stream, you cannot change any of its paramters, since… well, you're copying it.ffmpegwon't touch it in any way, so it can't change the dimensions, frame rate, et cetera.Also,
ffmpegalways chooses a default video codec if you don't specify one. For AVI files, that'smpeg4.If you want H.264 video, choose
-c:v libx264instead (or-vcodec libx264which is the same). If you need to keep the original profile, use-profile:v baseline.Two things:
When you change the size, you will recode the video. This lowers the quality and might considerably harm the video. To compensate for this, you might need to set a higher quality level. You do this by setting the Constant Rate Factor to anything below the default of 23, e.g. with
-crf 20. Experiment and see how your video looks like. If you have the time, add the-preset slow(orslower,veryslow), which will give you better compression.Not that it matters in your case, since your input uses the Constrained Baseline profile, but note that H.264 in AVI is not properly supported, at least when using B pictures. Baseline doesn't support B pictures though, so you should be fine. It could happen that file can't be played back on some devices or players if you use the Main profile or anything above. I would rather mux it into an MP4 or MKV container, especially if your input file is MP4 anyway.