How to convert flv to avi using ffmpeg high quality

Question

Need to convert flv files to avi or mov, trying out ffmpeg but the output quality is terrible. How can I get the video output to be on par quality with the source?

I thought ffmpeg -i name.flv -s 320x... name.avi would do it, but no good.

Seow

Answer 1

That's the command I was using for a ffmpeg project, the quality should be good enough. If not, try increasing the bitrate (-b argument):

ffmpeg -i input.flv -ar 22050 -b 2048k output.avi

Convince

it tells me -b is ambiguous. Use -b:v or -b:a instead. What's this? – Granadilla

@OptimusPrime: that's the video/audio bitrate respectively (if anyone else was also confused). – Ritualist

But the file size is so high. Anyway to reduce the file size without compramising quality. My video file mostly contains texts – Liverwort

Answer 2

This is a Good solutions

ffmpeg -async 1 -i inputVideo.flv -f avi -b 700k -qscale 0 -ab 160k -ar 44100 outputVideo.avi

Or Used following one

ffmpeg -loglevel 0 -async 1 -i inputVideo.flv -f avi -b 700k -sameq -ab 160k -ar 44100 outputVideo.avi

Chippy

+1, the first command above is the only one that worked for me, others either had "invalid parameters" or seg faulted. – Bianca

this is THE solution! ,) – Mantra

+1 thanks to your second solution that I updated in ffmpeg -i input.flv -async 1 -f avi -b 700k -qscale 0 -ab 160k -ar 44100 outputVideo.avi. I convert a 100 mins flv video of 270mb to 1.5 GB avi file with the same quality. :) – Thylacine

Also works for me for avconv -async 1 -i in.mp4 -vf "transpose=1" -f avi -b 700k -qscale 0 -ab 160k -ar 44100 out2.avi – Natale

Answer 3

There is also another solution found on the internet and works like charm!

Just use same quality parameter -sameq.

ffmpeg.exe -i video.flv -sameq outputVideo.avi

Actually the command sameq is not same quality. In order to successfully do it this one must be applied: in case you have multiple files to do here is the complete command

for %i in (*.flv) do ffmpeg -i "%i" -q:a 0 -q:v 0 "%i".avi

Dale

This does NOT mean 'same quality': ffmpeg.org/trac/ffmpeg/wiki/… – Moltke

"Option 'sameq' was removed. If you are looking for an option to preserve the quality (which is not what -sameq was for), use -qscale 0 or an equivalent quality factor option." – Stomato

-q:a 0 -q:v 0 is the answer in 2020 – Lenorelenox

Answer 4

To preserve quality use -qscale 0.

For example ffmpeg.exe -i InputVid.avi -qscale 0 OutputVid.mp4

I converted my 1.64 GB avi video to 4.35 MB mp4 file.

Canvasback

-qscale is ignored by libx264 which, if available, is the default encoder for MP4 output. Use -crf instead if using this encoder. Since it is ignored I'll assume the default of -crf 23 was applied in your case. – Sealy