ffmpeg settings for converting to mp4 and ogg for HTML5 video [closed]

Question

Despite all the hype, in reality the HTML5 video tag has a bit of a problem. In order to use it and for it to be cross browser compatible, you have to include more than one format of the video. To target all supported browsers these formats are mp4 and ogg.

I was searching around for optimum settings for each format but unfortunately I couldn't find any. I'm using ffmpeg 0.6 which has the tagline "Works with HTML5". I'm no video expert so I was wondering if anyone could recommend decent settings for each format?

Bolen

"Questions are expected to generally relate to programming or software development"... So what's this, a dating question?: "ffmpeg -i video_source_file.ext -vcodec libx264 -vpre slow -vpre ipod640 -b 250k -bt 50k -acodec libfaac -ab 56k -ac 2 -s 480x320 video_out_file.mp4" – Sheldonshelduck

@Sheldonshelduck - This is more of an AV question than a programming question. Perhaps it should go on this stack exchange instead: avp.stackexchange.com – Magel

@Magel could it be migrated instead of closed please next time? thx – Verdi

@Verdi - I have nothing to do with this topic having been closed. I have insufficient rep to cast close/reopen votes... I think migrating a question between stack exchanges would involve contacting the actual paid employees of stack exchange. – Magel

Answer 1

I ended up using ffmpeg and ffmpeg2theora.

WebKit compatible h.264 video

I decided to go for the ipod640 preset because it means the video can be viewed nicely on an iPhone or iPod touch. Of course, you can change the settings around a bit, get rid of the '-vpre ipod640', change the resolution or quality. Anyway the command is:

ffmpeg -i video_source_file.ext -vcodec libx264 -vpre ipod640 -b 250k -bt 50k -acodec libfaac -ab 56k -ac 2 -s 480x320 video_out_file.mp4

move some information to the front of the file so the video can play before it loads

qt-faststart video_out_file.mp4 video_out_file_quickstart.mp4

Firefox compatible Ogg video

This depends on you having ffmpeg2theora installed. Also, I have only tested it with the input file being the output file from the previous ffmpeg conversion. The command is:

ffmpeg2theora -o video_out_file.ogv video_out_file.mp4

Bolen

was this working for windows? when I try ffmpeg to convert to mp4 it throws an error like something is missing to convert to mp4 – Deluca

I did not test it for Windows. It's more likely to work on OS X and Linux than Windows. – Bolen

well ffmpeg works on windows cause I can convert to other codecs, but when trying to convert to mp4 it complains and I was wondering if their were additional settings required – Deluca

I think that qt-faststart was moved into the main build of ffmpeg in the 1.0 release. You can now apply it with the flags: -movflags +faststart – Teeny

Here's a helpful link for ffmpeg2theora on some basic parameters like video quality: en.flossmanuals.net/ogg-theora/encoding/ffmpeg2theora – Wilfredowilfrid

+1 for webkit compatible specification! – Justification