FFMPEG video conversion to MP4 works everywhere except in iOS Safari/Chrome

Question

I use the following code to convert .webm videos to .mp4 using the FFMPEG library:

ffmpeg -i video.webm -vcodec h264 -acodec aac -strict experimental video.mp4

This works flawless when playing the converted video in Windows (Chrome/Firefox), Mac (Safari/Chrome), Android (Chrome) but it does not work when watching through iOS (Safari/Chrome).

At first I thought it might be an mp4 problem? But then I played without any problems in my iOS Safari this video https://www.w3schools.com/html/mov_bbb.mp4 which is also a mp4.

So this tells me that something is not quite right about the conversion.

What am I missing in the conversion?

Log from PuTTy: https://pastebin.com/VLSPL0nC

Tosch

Show the complete log from your command. – Pursuant

@Pursuant added the log – Tosch

Your ffmpeg is ancient. Download or compile a new version. Then remove -strict experimental (that's only needed for really old builds), add -movflags +faststart, and try again. If it still fails add -profile:v main. – Pursuant

@Pursuant thank you, will do. I just tried with -profile:v main -level 3.1 and it worked. And I just saw that -strict experimental was removed in 2015 or something!! – Tosch

I doubt you need -level. – Pursuant

how to convert you third-party library or standalone library now browser support convent with library – Exasperation

Answer 1

1. Your ffmpeg is ancient. Download or compile a new version.
2. Remove -strict experimental (that's only needed for really old builds).
3. Add -movflags +faststart so it can begin playback faster.
4. Add -vf format=yuv420p for a compatible pixel format.
5. Output AAC audio (-c:a aac) instead of MP3 (-c:a libmp3lame).
6. If it still fails it may be due to the device not supporting High profile. Add -profile:v main. You don't need to add this if your device supports High profile.

Example:

ffmpeg -i input -c:v libx264 -profile:v main -vf format=yuv420p -c:a aac -movflags +faststart output.mp4

• Refer to the specifications of your target device to determine the appropriate -profile:v (and possibly -level).

• See FFmpeg Wiki: H.264 for more info.

Pursuant

Hey, dou you happen to know how do I update my current FFMPEG version through shell? Is there any command, like yum FFMPEG update? – Tosch

@Tosch If yum supplies ffmpeg then it would probably be outdated. If you download a build from my first link then you can move the ffmpeg executable file into /usr/local/bin (or ~/bin if you don't have permission). If you follow the second link and compile the instructions will do everything for you. – Pursuant

Hey @Pursuant can you check this question, please? #69663284 – Skeg

Answer 2

Safari requires your web server to support HTTP range requests. So make sure it does!

Pray

Answer 3

In addition to the arguments provided by @llogan, I found that lowering the frame rate of my videos was the key to playback in browser on IOS. I had success after adding fps=30 as a video filter.

Note: If there are multiple video filters, such as format=yuv420p then the filters need to be surrounded by quotes and separated by commas, like so:

-vf "format=yuv420p, fps=30"

Filler