zennoe/ffmpeg-docker-ostw repository overview

⁠ffmpeg-docker-container

A personal FFmpeg container using a recent FFmpeg and library version based off the work of openSUSE Tumbleweed and packman projects. Tested on Linux, likely runs on Windows.

Compatible with podman and docker-ce. Built in the GitHub container registry.

For Docker newbs on Windows, see the manual for Docker For Windows⁠

Due to how these containers work you need to expose your directory with your workfiles to the container as a volume using -v. Read the Usage section for more information

⁠What it is

FFmpeg is a big flexible suite of filters, codecs and muxers allowing you to create complex filter chain and convert media into various formats. It is aimed at advanced users and developers and does not come with a GUI. For beginners I recommend Handbrake instead. However it offers huge flexiblity and power compared to other software. Check out the official FFmpeg documentation⁠ to learn more.

Encoder libraries receive constant improvements in efficiency, ffmpeg gains more features and codecs. However some distributions keep using old versions from years ago. Hence this container can help you to benefit from the latest releases.

⁠Other resources

If you would like to batch convert multiple files, checkout my ffmpeg batch converter script here (not online yet).

⁠Usage examples

The shown commands work with either podman and docker as a prefix. You can substitute either with whatever you are using.

Feel free to take these examples and adjust them to your needs. Add a video filter with a -vf line or crop your input with -ss 00:16:12.25 -t 2.6 -i "$INPUT.

Beware! Since containers have their own filesystem you have to pass through your folder containing your input and output files using -v /host-path:/path-in-container. In the examples we pass through your current working directory. All files you would like to use hence have to be in or in a subdirectory of the directory where you execute the commands.

⁠Test the image and your runtime:

docker run --rm ghcr.io/tamara-schmitz/ffmpeg-docker-container:master

or

podman run --rm ghcr.io/tamara-schmitz/ffmpeg-docker-container:master

⁠Simple FLAC to MP3 conversion

docker run --rm -v "$PWD:/temp/" ghcr.io/tamara-schmitz/ffmpeg-docker-container:master -i /temp/input.flac -c:a libmp3lame -b:a 320k /temp/output.mp3

⁠Convert 2K gameplay footage to VP9 video in an MKV

export INPUT=inputfile.mp4
export OUTPUT=outputfile.mkv
time sh -c 'docker run --rm -v "$PWD:/temp/" ghcr.io/tamara-schmitz/ffmpeg-docker-container:master -y \
-i "/temp/$INPUT" \
-c:v libvpx-vp9 -b:v 12M -deadline good -cpu-used 2 -threads 0 -g 660 -tile-columns 3 -row-mt 1 -frame-parallel 0 -vsync 2 -aq-mode 1 \
-pass 1 -passlogfile "/temp/$(basename "$OUTPUT")" \
-c:a libopus -b:a 256k -ac 2 -vbr on \
-f webm /dev/null && \
docker run --rm -v "$PWD:/temp/" ghcr.io/tamara-schmitz/ffmpeg-docker-container:master \
-i "/temp/$INPUT" \
-c:v libvpx-vp9 -b:v 12M -deadline good -cpu-used 2 -threads 0 -g 660 -tile-columns 3 -row-mt 1 -frame-parallel 0 -vsync 2 -aq-mode 1 \
-pass 2 -auto-alt-ref 2 -passlogfile "/temp/$(basename "$OUTPUT")" \
-c:a copy \
"/temp/$OUTPUT"'

⁠Convert a video to a Discord ready WebM (is under 8MB if video is <35s)

export INPUT=inputfile.mp4
export OUTPUT=outputfile.webm
time sh -c 'docker run --rm -v "$PWD:/temp/" ghcr.io/tamara-schmitz/ffmpeg-docker-container:master -y \
-i "/temp/$INPUT" \
-vf scale=-1:720:flags=lanczos \
-c:v libvpx-vp9 -b:v 1.5M -deadline good -cpu-used 1 -threads 0 -g 450 -tile-columns 2 -row-mt 1 -frame-parallel 0 -vsync 2 -aq-mode 1 \
-pass 1 -passlogfile "/temp/$(basename "$OUTPUT")" \
-c:a libopus -b:a 128k -ac 2 -vbr on \
-f webm /dev/null && \
docker run --rm -v "$PWD:/temp/" ghcr.io/tamara-schmitz/ffmpeg-docker-container:master \
-i "/temp/$INPUT" \
-vf scale=-1:720:flags=lanczos \
-c:v libvpx-vp9 -b:v 1.5M -deadline good -cpu-used 1 -threads 0 -g 450 -tile-columns 2 -row-mt 1 -frame-parallel 0 -vsync 2 -aq-mode 1 \
-pass 2 -auto-alt-ref 2 -passlogfile "/temp/$(basename "$OUTPUT")" \
-c:a libopus -b:a 128k -ac 2 -vbr on \
"/temp/$OUTPUT"'

⁠Convert a video to a GIF

export INPUT=inputfile.mp4
export OUTPUT=outputfile.gif
docker run --rm -v "$PWD:/temp/" ghcr.io/tamara-schmitz/ffmpeg-docker-container:master \
-ss 00:00:02.25 -t 2.6 -i "/temp/$INPUT" \
-filter_complex "[0:v] fps=15,scale=480:-1:flags=lanczos,split [a][b];[a] palettegen [p];[b][p] paletteuse" \
"$OUTPUT"

⁠Export a single still PNG from video

export INPUT=video.mkv
export OUTPUT=out.png
docker run --rm -v "$PWD:/temp/" ghcr.io/tamara-schmitz/ffmpeg-docker-container:master \
-ss 00:01:30 -i "/temp/$INPUT" \
-vframes 1 "/temp/$OUTPUT

⁠Play a video through the container. (Requires a local installation of ffplay to work)

export INPUT=video.mkv
docker run --rm -v "$PWD:/temp/" ghcr.io/tamara-schmitz/ffmpeg-docker-container:master \
-i "/temp/$INPUT" \
-c:v rawvideo -f matroska \
- | ffplay -