In ffmpegx, there's an option for "High Quality". How can I obtain the same effect by using the command line tool ffmpeg?
More generally, is it possible to check which ffmpeg options are used behind the scenes by the ffmpegx GUI?
Super User is a question and answer site for computer enthusiasts and power users. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this communityffmpegX
?If you encode a video, you will see the command line used in the Process Information window.
Just click the blue i button next to the encoding process and you will find the command line in the top field starting with printf ...
. Copy it to some text editor to inspect the whole command.
This would reveal something like:
printf "Encoding started on " && date && /Applications/ffmpegX.app//Contents/Resources/ffmpeg -i /Users/werner/Desktop/echo-tv/01_BAD_talking_head.avi.MP4 -y -threads 2 -map 0.0:0.0 -f avi -vcodec xvid -b 733 -aspect 16:9 -s 480x272 -r pal -g 240 -me epzs -qmin 2 -qmax 9 -acodec mp3 -ab 128 -ar 48000 -ac 2 -map 0.1:0.1 -benchmark /Users/werner/Desktop/echo-tv/01_BAD_talking_head.avi.MP4.ff.avi && printf "Encoding completed on " && date && printf "\a"
That's the whole ffmpeg command used.
ffmpeg
?In the particular case of the "High quality" setting, I unfortunately could not find a difference between the command line used with "High Quality" and without "High Quality" enabled. I tested this by encoding a video using ffmpeg
and XviD. According to the ffmpegX manual, the "High Quality" setting ...
[...] encodes each macroblock in all modes and then choose the best. Slower, but results in better quality and file size.
It should be the same for ffmpeg
and mencoder
, as they both use libavcodec
to convert. Maybe I couldn't see a difference in the command line because of the video I tested this with.
My guess is that it's the -mbd
option used for macroblock decision or the -4mv
option for four motion vectors per macroblock (MPEG-4 only). There are no other options related to macroblocks in ffmpeg.