@chapter Encoders @c man begin ENCODERS Encoders are configured elements in FFmpeg which allow the encoding of multimedia streams. When you configure your FFmpeg build, all the supported native encoders are enabled by default. Encoders requiring an external library must be enabled manually via the corresponding @code{--enable-lib} option. You can list all available encoders using the configure option @code{--list-encoders}. You can disable all the encoders with the configure option @code{--disable-encoders} and selectively enable / disable single encoders with the options @code{--enable-encoder=@var{ENCODER}} / @code{--disable-encoder=@var{ENCODER}}. The option @code{-codecs} of the ff* tools will display the list of enabled encoders. @c man end ENCODERS @chapter Audio Encoders @c man begin AUDIO ENCODERS A description of some of the currently available audio encoders follows. @anchor{aacenc} @section aac Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) encoder. This encoder is an experimental FFmpeg-native AAC encoder. Currently only the low complexity (AAC-LC) profile is supported. To use this encoder, you must set @option{strict} option to @samp{experimental} or lower. As this encoder is experimental, unexpected behavior may exist from time to time. For a more stable AAC encoder, see @ref{libvo-aacenc}. However, be warned that it has a worse quality reported by some users. @c todo @ref{libaacplus} See also @ref{libfdk-aac-enc,,libfdk_aac} and @ref{libfaac}. @subsection Options @table @option @item b Set bit rate in bits/s. Setting this automatically activates constant bit rate (CBR) mode. @item q Set quality for variable bit rate (VBR) mode. This option is valid only using the @command{ffmpeg} command-line tool. For library interface users, use @option{global_quality}. @item stereo_mode Set stereo encoding mode. Possible values: @table @samp @item auto Automatically selected by the encoder. @item ms_off Disable middle/side encoding. This is the default. @item ms_force Force middle/side encoding. @end table @item aac_coder Set AAC encoder coding method. Possible values: @table @samp @item faac FAAC-inspired method. This method is a simplified reimplementation of the method used in FAAC, which sets thresholds proportional to the band energies, and then decreases all the thresholds with quantizer steps to find the appropriate quantization with distortion below threshold band by band. The quality of this method is comparable to the two loop searching method descibed below, but somewhat a little better and slower. @item anmr Average noise to mask ratio (ANMR) trellis-based solution. This has a theoretic best quality out of all the coding methods, but at the cost of the slowest speed. @item twoloop Two loop searching (TLS) method. This method first sets quantizers depending on band thresholds and then tries to find an optimal combination by adding or subtracting a specific value from all quantizers and adjusting some individual quantizer a little. This method produces similar quality with the FAAC method and is the default. @item fast Constant quantizer method. This method sets a constant quantizer for all bands. This is the fastest of all the methods, yet produces the worst quality. @end table @end table @section ac3 and ac3_fixed AC-3 audio encoders. These encoders implement part of ATSC A/52:2010 and ETSI TS 102 366, as well as the undocumented RealAudio 3 (a.k.a. dnet). The @var{ac3} encoder uses floating-point math, while the @var{ac3_fixed} encoder only uses fixed-point integer math. This does not mean that one is always faster, just that one or the other may be better suited to a particular system. The floating-point encoder will generally produce better quality audio for a given bitrate. The @var{ac3_fixed} encoder is not the default codec for any of the output formats, so it must be specified explicitly using the option @code{-acodec ac3_fixed} in order to use it. @subsection AC-3 Metadata The AC-3 metadata options are used to set parameters that describe the audio, but in most cases do not affect the audio encoding itself. Some of the options do directly affect or influence the decoding and playback of the resulting bitstream, while others are just for informational purposes. A few of the options will add bits to the output stream that could otherwise be used for audio data, and will thus affect the quality of the output. Those will be indicated accordingly with a note in the option list below. These parameters are described in detail in several publicly-available documents. @itemize @item @uref{http://www.atsc.org/cms/standards/a_52-2010.pdf,A/52:2010 - Digital Audio Compression (AC-3) (E-AC-3) Standard} @item @uref{http://www.atsc.org/cms/standards/a_54a_with_corr_1.pdf,A/54 - Guide to the Use of the ATSC Digital Television Standard} @item @uref{http://www.dolby.com/uploadedFiles/zz-_Shared_Assets/English_PDFs/Professional/18_Metadata.Guide.pdf,Dolby Metadata Guide} @item @uref{http://www.dolby.com/uploadedFiles/zz-_Shared_Assets/English_PDFs/Professional/46_DDEncodingGuidelines.pdf,Dolby Digital Professional Encoding Guidelines} @end itemize @subsubsection Metadata Control Options @table @option @item -per_frame_metadata @var{boolean} Allow Per-Frame Metadata. Specifies if the encoder should check for changing metadata for each frame. @table @option @item 0 The metadata values set at initialization will be used for every frame in the stream. (default) @item 1 Metadata values can be changed before encoding each frame. @end table @end table @subsubsection Downmix Levels @table @option @item -center_mixlev @var{level} Center Mix Level. The amount of gain the decoder should apply to the center channel when downmixing to stereo. This field will only be written to the bitstream if a center channel is present. The value is specified as a scale factor. There are 3 valid values: @table @option @item 0.707 Apply -3dB gain @item 0.595 Apply -4.5dB gain (default) @item 0.500 Apply -6dB gain @end table @item -surround_mixlev @var{level} Surround Mix Level. The amount of gain the decoder should apply to the surround channel(s) when downmixing to stereo. This field will only be written to the bitstream if one or more surround channels are present. The value is specified as a scale factor. There are 3 valid values: @table @option @item 0.707 Apply -3dB gain @item 0.500 Apply -6dB gain (default) @item 0.000 Silence Surround Channel(s) @end table @end table @subsubsection Audio Production Information Audio Production Information is optional information describing the mixing environment. Either none or both of the fields are written to the bitstream. @table @option @item -mixing_level @var{number} Mixing Level. Specifies peak sound pressure level (SPL) in the production environment when the mix was mastered. Valid values are 80 to 111, or -1 for unknown or not indicated. The default value is -1, but that value cannot be used if the Audio Production Information is written to the bitstream. Therefore, if the @code{room_type} option is not the default value, the @code{mixing_level} option must not be -1. @item -room_type @var{type} Room Type. Describes the equalization used during the final mixing session at the studio or on the dubbing stage. A large room is a dubbing stage with the industry standard X-curve equalization; a small room has flat equalization. This field will not be written to the bitstream if both the @code{mixing_level} option and the @code{room_type} option have the default values. @table @option @item 0 @itemx notindicated Not Indicated (default) @item 1 @itemx large Large Room @item 2 @itemx small Small Room @end table @end table @subsubsection Other Metadata Options @table @option @item -copyright @var{boolean} Copyright Indicator. Specifies whether a copyright exists for this audio. @table @option @item 0 @itemx off No Copyright Exists (default) @item 1 @itemx on Copyright Exists @end table @item -dialnorm @var{value} Dialogue Normalization. Indicates how far the average dialogue level of the program is below digital 100% full scale (0 dBFS). This parameter determines a level shift during audio reproduction that sets the average volume of the dialogue to a preset level. The goal is to match volume level between program sources. A value of -31dB will result in no volume level change, relative to the source volume, during audio reproduction. Valid values are whole numbers in the range -31 to -1, with -31 being the default. @item -dsur_mode @var{mode} Dolby Surround Mode. Specifies whether the stereo signal uses Dolby Surround (Pro Logic). This field will only be written to the bitstream if the audio stream is stereo. Using this option does @b{NOT} mean the encoder will actually apply Dolby Surround processing. @table @option @item 0 @itemx notindicated Not Indicated (default) @item 1 @itemx off Not Dolby Surround Encoded @item 2 @itemx on Dolby Surround Encoded @end table @item -original @var{boolean} Original Bit Stream Indicator. Specifies whether this audio is from the original source and not a copy. @table @option @item 0 @itemx off Not Original Source @item 1 @itemx on Original Source (default) @end table @end table @subsection Extended Bitstream Information The extended bitstream options are part of the Alternate Bit Stream Syntax as specified in Annex D of the A/52:2010 standard. It is grouped into 2 parts. If any one parameter in a group is specified, all values in that group will be written to the bitstream. Default values are used for those that are written but have not been specified. If the mixing levels are written, the decoder will use these values instead of the ones specified in the @code{center_mixlev} and @code{surround_mixlev} options if it supports the Alternate Bit Stream Syntax. @subsubsection Extended Bitstream Information - Part 1 @table @option @item -dmix_mode @var{mode} Preferred Stereo Downmix Mode. Allows the user to select either Lt/Rt (Dolby Surround) or Lo/Ro (normal stereo) as the preferred stereo downmix mode. @table @option @item 0 @itemx notindicated Not Indicated (default) @item 1 @itemx ltrt Lt/Rt Downmix Preferred @item 2 @itemx loro Lo/Ro Downmix Preferred @end table @item -ltrt_cmixlev @var{level} Lt/Rt Center Mix Level. The amount of gain the decoder should apply to the center channel when downmixing to stereo in Lt/Rt mode. @table @option @item 1.414 Apply +3dB gain @item 1.189 Apply +1.5dB gain @item 1.000 Apply 0dB gain @item 0.841 Apply -1.5dB gain @item 0.707 Apply -3.0dB gain @item 0.595 Apply -4.5dB gain (default) @item 0.500 Apply -6.0dB gain @item 0.000 Silence Center Channel @end table @item -ltrt_surmixlev @var{level} Lt/Rt Surround Mix Level. The amount of gain the decoder should apply to the surround channel(s) when downmixing to stereo in Lt/Rt mode. @table @option @item 0.841 Apply -1.5dB gain @item 0.707 Apply -3.0dB gain @item 0.595 Apply -4.5dB gain @item 0.500 Apply -6.0dB gain (default) @item 0.000 Silence Surround Channel(s) @end table @item -loro_cmixlev @var{level} Lo/Ro Center Mix Level. The amount of gain the decoder should apply to the center channel when downmixing to stereo in Lo/Ro mode. @table @option @item 1.414 Apply +3dB gain @item 1.189 Apply +1.5dB gain @item 1.000 Apply 0dB gain @item 0.841 Apply -1.5dB gain @item 0.707 Apply -3.0dB gain @item 0.595 Apply -4.5dB gain (default) @item 0.500 Apply -6.0dB gain @item 0.000 Silence Center Channel @end table @item -loro_surmixlev @var{level} Lo/Ro Surround Mix Level. The amount of gain the decoder should apply to the surround channel(s) when downmixing to stereo in Lo/Ro mode. @table @option @item 0.841 Apply -1.5dB gain @item 0.707 Apply -3.0dB gain @item 0.595 Apply -4.5dB gain @item 0.500 Apply -6.0dB gain (default) @item 0.000 Silence Surround Channel(s) @end table @end table @subsubsection Extended Bitstream Information - Part 2 @table @option @item -dsurex_mode @var{mode} Dolby Surround EX Mode. Indicates whether the stream uses Dolby Surround EX (7.1 matrixed to 5.1). Using this option does @b{NOT} mean the encoder will actually apply Dolby Surround EX processing. @table @option @item 0 @itemx notindicated Not Indicated (default) @item 1 @itemx on Dolby Surround EX Off @item 2 @itemx off Dolby Surround EX On @end table @item -dheadphone_mode @var{mode} Dolby Headphone Mode. Indicates whether the stream uses Dolby Headphone encoding (multi-channel matrixed to 2.0 for use with headphones). Using this option does @b{NOT} mean the encoder will actually apply Dolby Headphone processing. @table @option @item 0 @itemx notindicated Not Indicated (default) @item 1 @itemx on Dolby Headphone Off @item 2 @itemx off Dolby Headphone On @end table @item -ad_conv_type @var{type} A/D Converter Type. Indicates whether the audio has passed through HDCD A/D conversion. @table @option @item 0 @itemx standard Standard A/D Converter (default) @item 1 @itemx hdcd HDCD A/D Converter @end table @end table @subsection Other AC-3 Encoding Options @table @option @item -stereo_rematrixing @var{boolean} Stereo Rematrixing. Enables/Disables use of rematrixing for stereo input. This is an optional AC-3 feature that increases quality by selectively encoding the left/right channels as mid/side. This option is enabled by default, and it is highly recommended that it be left as enabled except for testing purposes. @end table @subsection Floating-Point-Only AC-3 Encoding Options These options are only valid for the floating-point encoder and do not exist for the fixed-point encoder due to the corresponding features not being implemented in fixed-point. @table @option @item -channel_coupling @var{boolean} Enables/Disables use of channel coupling, which is an optional AC-3 feature that increases quality by combining high frequency information from multiple channels into a single channel. The per-channel high frequency information is sent with less accuracy in both the frequency and time domains. This allows more bits to be used for lower frequencies while preserving enough information to reconstruct the high frequencies. This option is enabled by default for the floating-point encoder and should generally be left as enabled except for testing purposes or to increase encoding speed. @table @option @item -1 @itemx auto Selected by Encoder (default) @item 0 @itemx off Disable Channel Coupling @item 1 @itemx on Enable Channel Coupling @end table @item -cpl_start_band @var{number} Coupling Start Band. Sets the channel coupling start band, from 1 to 15. If a value higher than the bandwidth is used, it will be reduced to 1 less than the coupling end band. If @var{auto} is used, the start band will be determined by the encoder based on the bit rate, sample rate, and channel layout. This option has no effect if channel coupling is disabled. @table @option @item -1 @itemx auto Selected by Encoder (default) @end table @end table @anchor{libfaac} @section libfaac libfaac AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) encoder wrapper. Requires the presence of the libfaac headers and library during configuration. You need to explicitly configure the build with @code{--enable-libfaac --enable-nonfree}. This encoder is considered to be of higher quality with respect to the @ref{aacenc,,the native experimental FFmpeg AAC encoder}. For more information see the libfaac project at @url{http://www.audiocoding.com/faac.html/}. @subsection Options The following shared FFmpeg codec options are recognized. The following options are supported by the libfaac wrapper. The @command{faac}-equivalent of the options are listed in parentheses. @table @option @item b (@emph{-b}) Set bit rate in bits/s for ABR (Average Bit Rate) mode. If the bit rate is not explicitly specified, it is automatically set to a suitable value depending on the selected profile. @command{faac} bitrate is expressed in kilobits/s. Note that libfaac does not support CBR (Constant Bit Rate) but only ABR (Average Bit Rate). If VBR mode is enabled this option is ignored. @item ar (@emph{-R}) Set audio sampling rate (in Hz). @item ac (@emph{-c}) Set the number of audio channels. @item cutoff (@emph{-C}) Set cutoff frequency. If not specified (or explicitly set to 0) it will use a value automatically computed by the library. Default value is 0. @item profile Set audio profile. The following profiles are recognized: @table @samp @item aac_main Main AAC (Main) @item aac_low Low Complexity AAC (LC) @item aac_ssr Scalable Sample Rate (SSR) @item aac_ltp Long Term Prediction (LTP) @end table If not specified it is set to @samp{aac_low}. @item flags +qscale Set constant quality VBR (Variable Bit Rate) mode. @item global_quality Set quality in VBR mode as an integer number of lambda units. Only relevant when VBR mode is enabled with @code{flags +qscale}. The value is converted to QP units by dividing it by @code{FF_QP2LAMBDA}, and used to set the quality value used by libfaac. A reasonable range for the option value in QP units is [10-500], the higher the value the higher the quality. @item q (@emph{-q}) Enable VBR mode when set to a non-negative value, and set constant quality value as a double floating point value in QP units. The value sets the quality value used by libfaac. A reasonable range for the option value is [10-500], the higher the value the higher the quality. This option is valid only using the @command{ffmpeg} command-line tool. For library interface users, use @option{global_quality}. @end table @subsection Examples @itemize @item Use @command{ffmpeg} to convert an audio file to ABR 128 kbps AAC in an M4A (MP4) container: @example ffmpeg -i input.wav -codec:a libfaac -b:a 128k -output.m4a @end example @item Use @command{ffmpeg} to convert an audio file to VBR AAC, using the LTP AAC profile: @example ffmpeg -i input.wav -c:a libfaac -profile:a aac_ltp -q:a 100 output.m4a @end example @end itemize @anchor{libfdk-aac-enc} @section libfdk_aac libfdk-aac AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) encoder wrapper. The libfdk-aac library is based on the Fraunhofer FDK AAC code from the Android project. Requires the presence of the libfdk-aac headers and library during configuration. You need to explicitly configure the build with @code{--enable-libfdk-aac}. The library is also incompatible with GPL, so if you allow the use of GPL, you should configure with @code{--enable-gpl --enable-nonfree --enable-libfdk-aac}. This encoder is considered to be of higher quality with respect to both @ref{aacenc,,the native experimental FFmpeg AAC encoder} and @ref{libfaac}. For more information see the fdk-aac project at @url{http://sourceforge.net/p/opencore-amr/fdk-aac/}. @subsection Options The following options are mapped on the shared FFmpeg codec options. @table @option @item b Set bit rate in bits/s. If the bitrate is not explicitly specified, it is automatically set to a suitable value depending on the selected profile. In case VBR mode is enabled the option is ignored. @item ar Set audio sampling rate (in Hz). @item channels Set the number of audio channels. @item flags +qscale Enable fixed quality, VBR (Variable Bit Rate) mode. Note that VBR is implicitely enabled when the @option{vbr} value is positive. @item cutoff Set cutoff frequency. If not specified (or explicitly set to 0) it will use a value automatically computed by the library. Default value is 0. @item profile Set audio profile. The following profiles are recognized: @table @samp @item aac_low Low Complexity AAC (LC) @item aac_he High Efficiency AAC (HE-AAC) @item aac_he_v2 High Efficiency AAC version 2 (HE-AACv2) @item aac_ld Low Delay AAC (LD) @item aac_eld Enhanced Low Delay AAC (ELD) @end table If not specified it is set to @samp{aac_low}. @end table The following are private options of the libfdk_aac encoder. @table @option @item afterburner Enable afterburner feature if set to 1, disabled if set to 0. This improves the quality but also the required processing power. Default value is 1. @item eld_sbr Enable SBR (Spectral Band Replication) for ELD if set to 1, disabled if set to 0. Default value is 0. @item signaling Set SBR/PS signaling style. It can assume one of the following values: @table @samp @item default choose signaling implicitly (explicit hierarchical by default, implicit if global header is disabled) @item implicit implicit backwards compatible signaling @item explicit_sbr explicit SBR, implicit PS signaling @item explicit_hierarchical explicit hierarchical signaling @end table Default value is @samp{default}. @item latm Output LATM/LOAS encapsulated data if set to 1, disabled if set to 0. Default value is 0. @item header_period Set StreamMuxConfig and PCE repetition period (in frames) for sending in-band configuration buffers within LATM/LOAS transport layer. Must be a 16-bits non-negative integer. Default value is 0. @item vbr Set VBR mode, from 1 to 5. 1 is lowest quality (though still pretty good) and 5 is highest quality. A value of 0 will disable VBR mode, and CBR (Constant Bit Rate) mode is enabled. Currently only the @samp{aac_low} profile supports VBR mode. VBR modes 1-5 correspond to roughly the following average bit rate: @table @samp @item 1 32 kbps/channel @item 2 40 kbps/channel @item 3 48-56 kbps/channel @item 4 64 kbps/channel @item 5 about 80-96 kbps/channel @end table Default value is 0. @end table @subsection Examples @itemize @item Use @command{ffmpeg} to convert an audio file to VBR AAC in an M4A (MP4) container: @example ffmpeg -i input.wav -codec:a libfdk_aac -vbr 3 output.m4a @end example @item Use @command{ffmpeg} to convert an audio file to CBR 64k kbps AAC, using the High-Efficiency AAC profile: @example ffmpeg -i input.wav -c:a libfdk_aac -profile:a aac_he -b:a 64k output.m4a @end example @end itemize @anchor{libmp3lame} @section libmp3lame LAME (Lame Ain't an MP3 Encoder) MP3 encoder wrapper. Requires the presence of the libmp3lame headers and library during configuration. You need to explicitly configure the build with @code{--enable-libmp3lame}. See @ref{libshine} for a fixed-point MP3 encoder, although with a lower quality. @subsection Options The following options are supported by the libmp3lame wrapper. The @command{lame}-equivalent of the options are listed in parentheses. @table @option @item b (@emph{-b}) Set bitrate expressed in bits/s for CBR or ABR. LAME @code{bitrate} is expressed in kilobits/s. @item q (@emph{-V}) Set constant quality setting for VBR. This option is valid only using the @command{ffmpeg} command-line tool. For library interface users, use @option{global_quality}. @item compression_level (@emph{-q}) Set algorithm quality. Valid arguments are integers in the 0-9 range, with 0 meaning highest quality but slowest, and 9 meaning fastest while producing the worst quality. @item reservoir Enable use of bit reservoir when set to 1. Default value is 1. LAME has this enabled by default, but can be overriden by use @option{--nores} option. @item joint_stereo (@emph{-m j}) Enable the encoder to use (on a frame by frame basis) either L/R stereo or mid/side stereo. Default value is 1. @item abr (@emph{--abr}) Enable the encoder to use ABR when set to 1. The @command{lame} @option{--abr} sets the target bitrate, while this options only tells FFmpeg to use ABR still relies on @option{b} to set bitrate. @end table @section libopencore-amrnb OpenCORE Adaptive Multi-Rate Narrowband encoder. Requires the presence of the libopencore-amrnb headers and library during configuration. You need to explicitly configure the build with @code{--enable-libopencore-amrnb --enable-version3}. This is a mono-only encoder. Officially it only supports 8000Hz sample rate, but you can override it by setting @option{strict} to @samp{unofficial} or lower. @subsection Options @table @option @item b Set bitrate in bits per second. Only the following bitrates are supported, otherwise libavcodec will round to the nearest valid bitrate. @table @option @item 4750 @item 5150 @item 5900 @item 6700 @item 7400 @item 7950 @item 10200 @item 12200 @end table @item dtx Allow discontinuous transmission (generate comfort noise) when set to 1. The default value is 0 (disabled). @end table @anchor{libshine} @section libshine Shine Fixed-Point MP3 encoder wrapper. Shine is a fixed-point MP3 encoder. It has a far better performance on platforms without an FPU, e.g. armel CPUs, and some phones and tablets. However, as it is more targeted on performance than quality, it is not on par with LAME and other production-grade encoders quality-wise. Also, according to the project's homepage, this encoder may not be free of bugs as the code was written a long time ago and the project was dead for at least 5 years. This encoder only supports stereo and mono input. This is also CBR-only. The original project (last updated in early 2007) is at @url{http://sourceforge.net/projects/libshine-fxp/}. We only support the updated fork by the Savonet/Liquidsoap project at @url{https://github.com/savonet/shine}. Requires the presence of the libshine headers and library during configuration. You need to explicitly configure the build with @code{--enable-libshine}. See also @ref{libmp3lame}. @subsection Options The following options are supported by the libshine wrapper. The @command{shineenc}-equivalent of the options are listed in parentheses. @table @option @item b (@emph{-b}) Set bitrate expressed in bits/s for CBR. @command{shineenc} @option{-b} option is expressed in kilobits/s. @end table @section libtwolame TwoLAME MP2 encoder wrapper. Requires the presence of the libtwolame headers and library during configuration. You need to explicitly configure the build with @code{--enable-libtwolame}. @subsection Options The following options are supported by the libtwolame wrapper. The @command{twolame}-equivalent options follow the FFmpeg ones and are in parentheses. @table @option @item b (@emph{-b}) Set bitrate expressed in bits/s for CBR. @command{twolame} @option{b} option is expressed in kilobits/s. Default value is 128k. @item q (@emph{-V}) Set quality for experimental VBR support. Maximum value range is from -50 to 50, useful range is from -10 to 10. The higher the value, the better the quality. This option is valid only using the @command{ffmpeg} command-line tool. For library interface users, use @option{global_quality}. @item mode (@emph{--mode}) Set the mode of the resulting audio. Possible values: @table @samp @item auto Choose mode automatically based on the input. This is the default. @item stereo Stereo @item joint_stereo Joint stereo @item dual_channel Dual channel @item mono Mono @end table @item psymodel (@emph{--psyc-mode}) Set psychoacoustic model to use in encoding. The argument must be an integer between -1 and 4, inclusive. The higher the value, the better the quality. The default value is 3. @item energy_levels (@emph{--energy}) Enable energy levels extensions when set to 1. The default value is 0 (disabled). @item error_protection (@emph{--protect}) Enable CRC error protection when set to 1. The default value is 0 (disabled). @item copyright (@emph{--copyright}) Set MPEG audio copyright flag when set to 1. The default value is 0 (disabled). @item original (@emph{--original}) Set MPEG audio original flag when set to 1. The default value is 0 (disabled). @end table @anchor{libvo-aacenc} @section libvo-aacenc VisualOn AAC encoder. Requires the presence of the libvo-aacenc headers and library during configuration. You need to explicitly configure the build with @code{--enable-libvo-aacenc --enable-version3}. This encoder is considered to be worse than the @ref{aacenc,,native experimental FFmpeg AAC encoder}, according to multiple sources. @subsection Options The VisualOn AAC encoder only support encoding AAC-LC and up to 2 channels. It is also CBR-only. @table @option @item b Set bit rate in bits/s. @end table @section libvo-amrwbenc VisualOn Adaptive Multi-Rate Wideband encoder. Requires the presence of the libvo-amrwbenc headers and library during configuration. You need to explicitly configure the build with @code{--enable-libvo-amrwbenc --enable-version3}. This is a mono-only encoder. Officially it only supports 16000Hz sample rate, but you can override it by setting @option{strict} to @samp{unofficial} or lower. @subsection Options @table @option @item b Set bitrate in bits/s. Only the following bitrates are supported, otherwise libavcodec will round to the nearest valid bitrate. @table @samp @item 6600 @item 8850 @item 12650 @item 14250 @item 15850 @item 18250 @item 19850 @item 23050 @item 23850 @end table @item dtx Allow discontinuous transmission (generate comfort noise) when set to 1. The default value is 0 (disabled). @end table @section libopus libopus Opus Interactive Audio Codec encoder wrapper. Requires the presence of the libopus headers and library during configuration. You need to explicitly configure the build with @code{--enable-libopus}. @subsection Option Mapping Most libopus options are modeled after the @command{opusenc} utility from opus-tools. The following is an option mapping chart describing options supported by the libopus wrapper, and their @command{opusenc}-equivalent in parentheses. @table @option @item b (@emph{bitrate}) Set the bit rate in bits/s. FFmpeg's @option{b} option is expressed in bits/s, while @command{opusenc}'s @option{bitrate} in kilobits/s. @item vbr (@emph{vbr}, @emph{hard-cbr}, and @emph{cvbr}) Set VBR mode. The FFmpeg @option{vbr} option has the following valid arguments, with the their @command{opusenc} equivalent options in parentheses: @table @samp @item off (@emph{hard-cbr}) Use constant bit rate encoding. @item on (@emph{vbr}) Use variable bit rate encoding (the default). @item constrained (@emph{cvbr}) Use constrained variable bit rate encoding. @end table @item compression_level (@emph{comp}) Set encoding algorithm complexity. Valid options are integers in the 0-10 range. 0 gives the fastest encodes but lower quality, while 10 gives the highest quality but slowest encoding. The default is 10. @item frame_duration (@emph{framesize}) Set maximum frame size, or duration of a frame in milliseconds. The argument must be exactly the following: 2.5, 5, 10, 20, 40, 60. Smaller frame sizes achieve lower latency but less quality at a given bitrate. Sizes greater than 20ms are only interesting at fairly low bitrates. The default is 20ms. @item packet_loss (@emph{expect-loss}) Set expected packet loss percentage. The default is 0. @item application (N.A.) Set intended application type. Valid options are listed below: @table @samp @item voip Favor improved speech intelligibility. @item audio Favor faithfulness to the input (the default). @item lowdelay Restrict to only the lowest delay modes. @end table @item cutoff (N.A.) Set cutoff bandwidth in Hz. The argument must be exactly one of the following: 4000, 6000, 8000, 12000, or 20000, corresponding to narrowband, mediumband, wideband, super wideband, and fullband respectively. The default is 0 (cutoff disabled). @end table @section libvorbis libvorbis encoder wrapper. Requires the presence of the libvorbisenc headers and library during configuration. You need to explicitly configure the build with @code{--enable-libvorbis}. @subsection Options The following options are supported by the libvorbis wrapper. The @command{oggenc}-equivalent of the options are listed in parentheses. To get a more accurate and extensive documentation of the libvorbis options, consult the libvorbisenc's and @command{oggenc}'s documentations. See @url{http://xiph.org/vorbis/}, @url{http://wiki.xiph.org/Vorbis-tools}, and oggenc(1). @table @option @item b (@emph{-b}) Set bitrate expressed in bits/s for ABR. @command{oggenc} @option{-b} is expressed in kilobits/s. @item q (@emph{-q}) Set constant quality setting for VBR. The value should be a float number in the range of -1.0 to 10.0. The higher the value, the better the quality. The default value is @samp{3.0}. This option is valid only using the @command{ffmpeg} command-line tool. For library interface users, use @option{global_quality}. @item cutoff (@emph{--advanced-encode-option lowpass_frequency=N}) Set cutoff bandwidth in Hz, a value of 0 disables cutoff. @command{oggenc}'s related option is expressed in kHz. The default value is @samp{0} (cutoff disabled). @item minrate (@emph{-m}) Set minimum bitrate expressed in bits/s. @command{oggenc} @option{-m} is expressed in kilobits/s. @item maxrate (@emph{-M}) Set maximum bitrate expressed in bits/s. @command{oggenc} @option{-M} is expressed in kilobits/s. This only has effect on ABR mode. @item iblock (@emph{--advanced-encode-option impulse_noisetune=N}) Set noise floor bias for impulse blocks. The value is a float number from -15.0 to 0.0. A negative bias instructs the encoder to pay special attention to the crispness of transients in the encoded audio. The tradeoff for better transient response is a higher bitrate. @end table @section libwavpack A wrapper providing WavPack encoding through libwavpack. Only lossless mode using 32-bit integer samples is supported currently. The @option{compression_level} option can be used to control speed vs. compression tradeoff, with the values mapped to libwavpack as follows: @table @option @item 0 Fast mode - corresponding to the wavpack @option{-f} option. @item 1 Normal (default) settings. @item 2 High quality - corresponding to the wavpack @option{-h} option. @item 3 Very high quality - corresponding to the wavpack @option{-hh} option. @item 4-8 Same as 3, but with extra processing enabled - corresponding to the wavpack @option{-x} option. I.e. 4 is the same as @option{-x2} and 8 is the same as @option{-x6}. @end table @c man end AUDIO ENCODERS @chapter Video Encoders @c man begin VIDEO ENCODERS A description of some of the currently available video encoders follows. @section libtheora libtheora Theora encoder wrapper. Requires the presence of the libtheora headers and library during configuration. You need to explicitly configure the build with @code{--enable-libtheora}. For more informations about the libtheora project see @url{http://www.theora.org/}. @subsection Options The following global options are mapped to internal libtheora options which affect the quality and the bitrate of the encoded stream. @table @option @item b Set the video bitrate in bit/s for CBR (Constant Bit Rate) mode. In case VBR (Variable Bit Rate) mode is enabled this option is ignored. @item flags Used to enable constant quality mode (VBR) encoding through the @option{qscale} flag, and to enable the @code{pass1} and @code{pass2} modes. @item g Set the GOP size. @item global_quality Set the global quality as an integer in lambda units. Only relevant when VBR mode is enabled with @code{flags +qscale}. The value is converted to QP units by dividing it by @code{FF_QP2LAMBDA}, clipped in the [0 - 10] range, and then multiplied by 6.3 to get a value in the native libtheora range [0-63]. A higher value corresponds to a higher quality. @item q Enable VBR mode when set to a non-negative value, and set constant quality value as a double floating point value in QP units. The value is clipped in the [0-10] range, and then multiplied by 6.3 to get a value in the native libtheora range [0-63]. This option is valid only using the @command{ffmpeg} command-line tool. For library interface users, use @option{global_quality}. @end table @subsection Examples @itemize @item Set maximum constant quality (VBR) encoding with @command{ffmpeg}: @example ffmpeg -i INPUT -codec:v libtheora -q:v 10 OUTPUT.ogg @end example @item Use @command{ffmpeg} to convert a CBR 1000 kbps Theora video stream: @example ffmpeg -i INPUT -codec:v libtheora -b:v 1000k OUTPUT.ogg @end example @end itemize @section libvpx VP8 format supported through libvpx. Requires the presence of the libvpx headers and library during configuration. You need to explicitly configure the build with @code{--enable-libvpx}. @subsection Options Mapping from FFmpeg to libvpx options with conversion notes in parentheses. @table @option @item threads g_threads @item profile g_profile @item vb rc_target_bitrate @item g kf_max_dist @item keyint_min kf_min_dist @item qmin rc_min_quantizer @item qmax rc_max_quantizer @item bufsize, vb rc_buf_sz @code{(bufsize * 1000 / vb)} rc_buf_optimal_sz @code{(bufsize * 1000 / vb * 5 / 6)} @item rc_init_occupancy, vb rc_buf_initial_sz @code{(rc_init_occupancy * 1000 / vb)} @item rc_buffer_aggressivity rc_undershoot_pct @item skip_threshold rc_dropframe_thresh @item qcomp rc_2pass_vbr_bias_pct @item maxrate, vb rc_2pass_vbr_maxsection_pct @code{(maxrate * 100 / vb)} @item minrate, vb rc_2pass_vbr_minsection_pct @code{(minrate * 100 / vb)} @item minrate, maxrate, vb @code{VPX_CBR} @code{(minrate == maxrate == vb)} @item crf @code{VPX_CQ}, @code{VP8E_SET_CQ_LEVEL} @item quality @table @option @item @var{best} @code{VPX_DL_BEST_QUALITY} @item @var{good} @code{VPX_DL_GOOD_QUALITY} @item @var{realtime} @code{VPX_DL_REALTIME} @end table @item speed @code{VP8E_SET_CPUUSED} @item nr @code{VP8E_SET_NOISE_SENSITIVITY} @item mb_threshold @code{VP8E_SET_STATIC_THRESHOLD} @item slices @code{VP8E_SET_TOKEN_PARTITIONS} @item max-intra-rate @code{VP8E_SET_MAX_INTRA_BITRATE_PCT} @item force_key_frames @code{VPX_EFLAG_FORCE_KF} @item Alternate reference frame related @table @option @item vp8flags altref @code{VP8E_SET_ENABLEAUTOALTREF} @item @var{arnr_max_frames} @code{VP8E_SET_ARNR_MAXFRAMES} @item @var{arnr_type} @code{VP8E_SET_ARNR_TYPE} @item @var{arnr_strength} @code{VP8E_SET_ARNR_STRENGTH} @item @var{rc_lookahead} g_lag_in_frames @end table @item vp8flags error_resilient g_error_resilient @end table For more information about libvpx see: @url{http://www.webmproject.org/} @section libx264 x264 H.264/MPEG-4 AVC encoder wrapper. This encoder requires the presence of the libx264 headers and library during configuration. You need to explicitly configure the build with @code{--enable-libx264}. libx264 supports an impressive number of features, including 8x8 and 4x4 adaptive spatial transform, adaptive B-frame placement, CAVLC/CABAC entropy coding, interlacing (MBAFF), lossless mode, psy optimizations for detail retention (adaptive quantization, psy-RD, psy-trellis). Many libx264 encoder options are mapped to FFmpeg global codec options, while unique encoder options are provided through private options. Additionally the @option{x264opts} and @option{x264-params} private options allows to pass a list of key=value tuples as accepted by the libx264 @code{x264_param_parse} function. The x264 project website is at @url{http://www.videolan.org/developers/x264.html}. @subsection Options The following options are supported by the libx264 wrapper. The @command{x264}-equivalent options or values are listed in parentheses for easy migration. To reduce the duplication of documentation, only the private options and some others requiring special attention are documented here. For the documentation of the undocumented generic options, see @ref{codec-options,,the Codec Options chapter}. To get a more accurate and extensive documentation of the libx264 options, invoke the command @command{x264 --full-help} or consult the libx264 documentation. @table @option @item b (@emph{bitrate}) Set bitrate in bits/s. Note that FFmpeg's @option{b} option is expressed in bits/s, while @command{x264}'s @option{bitrate} is in kilobits/s. @item bf (@emph{bframes}) @item g (@emph{keyint}) @item qmax (@emph{qpmax}) @item qmin (@emph{qpmin}) @item qdiff (@emph{qpstep}) @item qblur (@emph{qblur}) @item qcomp (@emph{qcomp}) @item refs (@emph{ref}) @item sc_threshold (@emph{scenecut}) @item trellis (@emph{trellis}) @item nr (@emph{nr}) @item me_range (@emph{merange}) @item me_method (@emph{me}) Set motion estimation method. Possible values in the decreasing order of speed: @table @samp @item dia (@emph{dia}) @item epzs (@emph{dia}) Diamond search with radius 1 (fastest). @samp{epzs} is an alias for @samp{dia}. @item hex (@emph{hex}) Hexagonal search with radius 2. @item umh (@emph{umh}) Uneven multi-hexagon search. @item esa (@emph{esa}) Exhaustive search. @item tesa (@emph{tesa}) Hadamard exhaustive search (slowest). @end table @item subq (@emph{subme}) @item b_strategy (@emph{b-adapt}) @item keyint_min (@emph{min-keyint}) @item coder Set entropy encoder. Possible values: @table @samp @item ac Enable CABAC. @item vlc Enable CAVLC and disable CABAC. It generates the same effect as @command{x264}'s @option{--no-cabac} option. @end table @item cmp Set full pixel motion estimation comparation algorithm. Possible values: @table @samp @item chroma Enable chroma in motion estimation. @item sad Ignore chroma in motion estimation. It generates the same effect as @command{x264}'s @option{--no-chroma-me} option. @end table @item threads (@emph{threads}) @item thread_type Set multithreading technique. Possible values: @table @samp @item slice Slice-based multithreading. It generates the same effect as @command{x264}'s @option{--sliced-threads} option. @item frame Frame-based multithreading. @end table @item flags Set encoding flags. It can be used to disable closed GOP and enable open GOP by setting it to @code{-cgop}. The result is similar to the behavior of @command{x264}'s @option{--open-gop} option. @item rc_init_occupancy (@emph{vbv-init}) @item preset (@emph{preset}) Set the encoding preset. @item tune (@emph{tune}) Set tuning of the encoding params. @item profile (@emph{profile}) Set profile restrictions. @item fastfirstpass Enable fast settings when encoding first pass, when set to 1. When set to 0, it has the same effect of @command{x264}'s @option{--slow-firstpass} option. @item crf (@emph{crf}) Set the quality for constant quality mode. @item crf_max (@emph{crf-max}) In CRF mode, prevents VBV from lowering quality beyond this point. @item qp (@emph{qp}) Set constant quantization rate control method parameter. @item aq-mode (@emph{aq-mode}) Set AQ method. Possible values: @table @samp @item none (@emph{0}) Disabled. @item variance (@emph{1}) Variance AQ (complexity mask). @item autovariance (@emph{2}) Auto-variance AQ (experimental). @end table @item aq-strength (@emph{aq-strength}) Set AQ strength, reduce blocking and blurring in flat and textured areas. @item psy Use psychovisual optimizations when set to 1. When set to 0, it has the same effect as @command{x264}'s @option{--no-psy} option. @item psy-rd (@emph{psy-rd}) Set strength of psychovisual optimization, in @var{psy-rd}:@var{psy-trellis} format. @item rc-lookahead (@emph{rc-lookahead}) Set number of frames to look ahead for frametype and ratecontrol. @item weightb Enable weighted prediction for B-frames when set to 1. When set to 0, it has the same effect as @command{x264}'s @option{--no-weightb} option. @item weightp (@emph{weightp}) Set weighted prediction method for P-frames. Possible values: @table @samp @item none (@emph{0}) Disabled @item simple (@emph{1}) Enable only weighted refs @item smart (@emph{2}) Enable both weighted refs and duplicates @end table @item ssim (@emph{ssim}) Enable calculation and printing SSIM stats after the encoding. @item intra-refresh (@emph{intra-refresh}) Enable the use of Periodic Intra Refresh instead of IDR frames when set to 1. @item bluray-compat (@emph{bluray-compat}) Configure the encoder to be compatible with the bluray standard. It is a shorthand for setting "bluray-compat=1 force-cfr=1". @item b-bias (@emph{b-bias}) Set the influence on how often B-frames are used. @item b-pyramid (@emph{b-pyramid}) Set method for keeping of some B-frames as references. Possible values: @table @samp @item none (@emph{none}) Disabled. @item strict (@emph{strict}) Strictly hierarchical pyramid. @item normal (@emph{normal}) Non-strict (not Blu-ray compatible). @end table @item mixed-refs Enable the use of one reference per partition, as opposed to one reference per macroblock when set to 1. When set to 0, it has the same effect as @command{x264}'s @option{--no-mixed-refs} option. @item 8x8dct Enable adaptive spatial transform (high profile 8x8 transform) when set to 1. When set to 0, it has the same effect as @command{x264}'s @option{--no-8x8dct} option. @item fast-pskip Enable early SKIP detection on P-frames when set to 1. When set to 0, it has the same effect as @command{x264}'s @option{--no-fast-pskip} option. @item aud (@emph{aud}) Enable use of access unit delimiters when set to 1. @item mbtree Enable use macroblock tree ratecontrol when set to 1. When set to 0, it has the same effect as @command{x264}'s @option{--no-mbtree} option. @item deblock (@emph{deblock}) Set loop filter parameters, in @var{alpha}:@var{beta} form. @item cplxblur (@emph{cplxblur}) Set fluctuations reduction in QP (before curve compression). @item partitions (@emph{partitions}) Set partitions to consider as a comma-separated list of. Possible values in the list: @table @samp @item p8x8 8x8 P-frame partition. @item p4x4 4x4 P-frame partition. @item b8x8 4x4 B-frame partition. @item i8x8 8x8 I-frame partition. @item i4x4 4x4 I-frame partition. (Enabling @samp{p4x4} requires @samp{p8x8} to be enabled. Enabling @samp{i8x8} requires adaptive spatial transform (@option{8x8dct} option) to be enabled.) @item none (@emph{none}) Do not consider any partitions. @item all (@emph{all}) Consider every partition. @end table @item direct-pred (@emph{direct}) Set direct MV prediction mode. Possible values: @table @samp @item none (@emph{none}) Disable MV prediction. @item spatial (@emph{spatial}) Enable spatial predicting. @item temporal (@emph{temporal}) Enable temporal predicting. @item auto (@emph{auto}) Automatically decided. @end table @item slice-max-size (@emph{slice-max-size}) Set the limit of the size of each slice in bytes. If not specified but RTP payload size (@option{ps}) is specified, that is used. @item stats (@emph{stats}) Set the file name for multi-pass stats. @item nal-hrd (@emph{nal-hrd}) Set signal HRD information (requires @option{vbv-bufsize} to be set). Possible values: @table @samp @item none (@emph{none}) Disable HRD information signaling. @item vbr (@emph{vbr}) Variable bit rate. @item cbr (@emph{cbr}) Constant bit rate (not allowed in MP4 container). @end table @item x264opts (N.A.) Set any x264 option, see @command{x264 --fullhelp} for a list. Argument is a list of @var{key}=@var{value} couples separated by ":". In @var{filter} and @var{psy-rd} options that use ":" as a separator themselves, use "," instead. They accept it as well since long ago but this is kept undocumented for some reason. For example to specify libx264 encoding options with @command{ffmpeg}: @example ffmpeg -i foo.mpg -vcodec libx264 -x264opts keyint=123:min-keyint=20 -an out.mkv @end example @item x264-params (N.A.) Override the x264 configuration using a :-separated list of key=value parameters. This option is functionally the same as the @option{x264opts}, but is duplicated for compability with the Libav fork. For example to specify libx264 encoding options with @command{ffmpeg}: @example ffmpeg -i INPUT -c:v libx264 -x264-params level=30:bframes=0:weightp=0:\ cabac=0:ref=1:vbv-maxrate=768:vbv-bufsize=2000:analyse=all:me=umh:\ no-fast-pskip=1:subq=6:8x8dct=0:trellis=0 OUTPUT @end example @end table Encoding ffpresets for common usages are provided so they can be used with the general presets system (e.g. passing the @option{pre} option). @section libxvid Xvid MPEG-4 Part 2 encoder wrapper. This encoder requires the presence of the libxvidcore headers and library during configuration. You need to explicitly configure the build with @code{--enable-libxvid --enable-gpl}. The native @code{mpeg4} encoder supports the MPEG-4 Part 2 format, so users can encode to this format without this library. @subsection Options The following options are supported by the libxvid wrapper. Some of the following options are listed but are not documented, and correspond to shared codec options. See @ref{codec-options,,the Codec Options chapter} for their documentation. The other shared options which are not listed have no effect for the libxvid encoder. @table @option @item b @item g @item qmin @item qmax @item mpeg_quant @item threads @item bf @item b_qfactor @item b_qoffset @item flags Set specific encoding flags. Possible values: @table @samp @item mv4 Use four motion vector by macroblock. @item aic Enable high quality AC prediction. @item gray Only encode grayscale. @item gmc Enable the use of global motion compensation (GMC). @item qpel Enable quarter-pixel motion compensation. @item cgop Enable closed GOP. @item global_header Place global headers in extradata instead of every keyframe. @end table @item trellis @item me_method Set motion estimation method. Possible values in decreasing order of speed and increasing order of quality: @table @samp @item zero Use no motion estimation (default). @item phods @item x1 @item log Enable advanced diamond zonal search for 16x16 blocks and half-pixel refinement for 16x16 blocks. @samp{x1} and @samp{log} are aliases for @samp{phods}. @item epzs Enable all of the things described above, plus advanced diamond zonal search for 8x8 blocks, half-pixel refinement for 8x8 blocks, and motion estimation on chroma planes. @item full Enable all of the things described above, plus extended 16x16 and 8x8 blocks search. @end table @item mbd Set macroblock decision algorithm. Possible values in the increasing order of quality: @table @samp @item simple Use macroblock comparing function algorithm (default). @item bits Enable rate distortion-based half pixel and quarter pixel refinement for 16x16 blocks. @item rd Enable all of the things described above, plus rate distortion-based half pixel and quarter pixel refinement for 8x8 blocks, and rate distortion-based search using square pattern. @end table @item lumi_aq Enable lumi masking adaptive quantization when set to 1. Default is 0 (disabled). @item variance_aq Enable variance adaptive quantization when set to 1. Default is 0 (disabled). When combined with @option{lumi_aq}, the resulting quality will not be better than any of the two specified individually. In other words, the resulting quality will be the worse one of the two effects. @item ssim Set structural similarity (SSIM) displaying method. Possible values: @table @samp @item off Disable displaying of SSIM information. @item avg Output average SSIM at the end of encoding to stdout. The format of showing the average SSIM is: @example Average SSIM: %f @end example For users who are not familiar with C, %f means a float number, or a decimal (e.g. 0.939232). @item frame Output both per-frame SSIM data during encoding and average SSIM at the end of encoding to stdout. The format of per-frame information is: @example SSIM: avg: %1.3f min: %1.3f max: %1.3f @end example For users who are not familiar with C, %1.3f means a float number rounded to 3 digits after the dot (e.g. 0.932). @end table @item ssim_acc Set SSIM accuracy. Valid options are integers within the range of 0-4, while 0 gives the most accurate result and 4 computes the fastest. @end table @section png PNG image encoder. @subsection Private options @table @option @item dpi @var{integer} Set physical density of pixels, in dots per inch, unset by default @item dpm @var{integer} Set physical density of pixels, in dots per meter, unset by default @end table @section ProRes Apple ProRes encoder. FFmpeg contains 2 ProRes encoders, the prores-aw and prores-ks encoder. The used encoder can be choosen with the @code{-vcodec} option. @subsection Private Options for prores-ks @table @option @item profile @var{integer} Select the ProRes profile to encode @table @samp @item proxy @item lt @item standard @item hq @item 4444 @end table @item quant_mat @var{integer} Select quantization matrix. @table @samp @item auto @item default @item proxy @item lt @item standard @item hq @end table If set to @var{auto}, the matrix matching the profile will be picked. If not set, the matrix providing the highest quality, @var{default}, will be picked. @item bits_per_mb @var{integer} How many bits to allot for coding one macroblock. Different profiles use between 200 and 2400 bits per macroblock, the maximum is 8000. @item mbs_per_slice @var{integer} Number of macroblocks in each slice (1-8); the default value (8) should be good in almost all situations. @item vendor @var{string} Override the 4-byte vendor ID. A custom vendor ID like @var{apl0} would claim the stream was produced by the Apple encoder. @item alpha_bits @var{integer} Specify number of bits for alpha component. Possible values are @var{0}, @var{8} and @var{16}. Use @var{0} to disable alpha plane coding. @end table @subsection Speed considerations In the default mode of operation the encoder has to honor frame constraints (i.e. not produc frames with size bigger than requested) while still making output picture as good as possible. A frame containing a lot of small details is harder to compress and the encoder would spend more time searching for appropriate quantizers for each slice. Setting a higher @option{bits_per_mb} limit will improve the speed. For the fastest encoding speed set the @option{qscale} parameter (4 is the recommended value) and do not set a size constraint. @c man end VIDEO ENCODERS