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Linux FFmpeg Guide

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Mattscreative edited this page Dec 5, 2025 · 2 revisions

Linux FFmpeg Guide

Complete beginner-friendly guide to FFmpeg on Linux, covering Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other distributions including installation, video/audio conversion, and encoding.

Table of Contents

  1. FFmpeg Installation
  2. Basic Usage
  3. Video Conversion
  4. Audio Conversion
  5. Advanced Operations
  6. Troubleshooting

FFmpeg Installation

Install FFmpeg

Arch/CachyOS:

# Install FFmpeg
sudo pacman -S ffmpeg

# With all codecs
sudo pacman -S ffmpeg ffmpeg-full

Debian/Ubuntu:

sudo apt install ffmpeg

Fedora:

sudo dnf install ffmpeg

Verify Installation

Check FFmpeg:

# Check version
ffmpeg -version

# List codecs
ffmpeg -codecs

Basic Usage

Convert Video

Basic conversion:

# Convert video format
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 output.avi

# Convert with quality
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -crf 23 output.mp4

Extract Audio

Extract audio from video:

# Extract audio
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vn -acodec copy audio.aac

# Or convert audio format
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vn audio.mp3

Video Conversion

Video Formats

Convert formats:

# MP4 to AVI
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 output.avi

# MP4 to MKV
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 output.mkv

# With quality settings
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -crf 23 output.mp4

Resize Video

Change resolution:

# Resize to 1080p
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf scale=1920:1080 output.mp4

# Resize to 720p
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf scale=1280:720 output.mp4

Audio Conversion

Audio Formats

Convert audio:

# MP3 to WAV
ffmpeg -i input.mp3 output.wav

# WAV to FLAC
ffmpeg -i input.wav output.flac

# With quality
ffmpeg -i input.mp3 -b:a 320k output.mp3

Advanced Operations

Cut Video

Trim video:

# Cut from 10s to 30s
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 00:00:10 -t 00:00:20 output.mp4

Merge Videos

Concatenate videos:

# Create file list
echo "file 'video1.mp4'" > list.txt
echo "file 'video2.mp4'" >> list.txt

# Merge
ffmpeg -f concat -safe 0 -i list.txt -c copy output.mp4

Troubleshooting

Codec Errors

Check codecs:

# List available codecs
ffmpeg -codecs

# Install codecs if needed
sudo pacman -S ffmpeg-full

Conversion Errors

Check input:

# Get video info
ffmpeg -i input.mp4

# Check format
file input.mp4

Summary

This guide covered FFmpeg installation, basic usage, video/audio conversion, and advanced operations for Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other distributions.

Next Steps

This guide covers Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other Linux distributions. For distribution-specific details, refer to your distribution's documentation.

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