path: root/doc/avtools-common-opts.texi

All the numerical options, if not specified otherwise, accept in input
a string representing a number, which may contain one of the
SI unit prefixes, for example 'K', 'M', 'G'.
If 'i' is appended after the prefix, binary prefixes are used,
which are based on powers of 1024 instead of powers of 1000.
The 'B' postfix multiplies the value by 8, and can be
appended after a unit prefix or used alone. This allows using for
example 'KB', 'MiB', 'G' and 'B' as number postfix.

Options which do not take arguments are boolean options, and set the
corresponding value to true. They can be set to false by prefixing
with "no" the option name, for example using "-nofoo" in the
command line will set to false the boolean option with name "foo".

@anchor{Stream specifiers}
@section Stream specifiers
Some options are applied per-stream, e.g. bitrate or codec. Stream specifiers
are used to precisely specify which stream(s) does a given option belong to.

A stream specifier is a string generally appended to the option name and
separated from it by a colon. E.g. @code{-codec:a:1 ac3} option contains
@code{a:1} stream specifer, which matches the second audio stream. Therefore it
would select the ac3 codec for the second audio stream.

A stream specifier can match several stream, the option is then applied to all
of them. E.g. the stream specifier in @code{-b:a 128k} matches all audio
streams.

An empty stream specifier matches all streams, for example @code{-codec copy}
or @code{-codec: copy} would copy all the streams without reencoding.

Possible forms of stream specifiers are:
@table @option
@item @var{stream_index}
Matches the stream with this index. E.g. @code{-threads:1 4} would set the
thread count for the second stream to 4.
@item @var{stream_type}[:@var{stream_index}]
@var{stream_type} is one of: 'v' for video, 'a' for audio, 's' for subtitle,
'd' for data and 't' for attachments. If @var{stream_index} is given, then
matches stream number @var{stream_index} of this type. Otherwise matches all
streams of this type.
@item p:@var{program_id}[:@var{stream_index}]
If @var{stream_index} is given, then matches stream number @var{stream_index} in
program with id @var{program_id}. Otherwise matches all streams in this program.
@end table
@section Generic options

These options are shared amongst the av* tools.

@table @option

@item -L
Show license.

@item -h, -?, -help, --help [@var{arg}]
Show help. An optional parameter may be specified to print help about a specific
item.

Possible values of @var{arg} are:
@table @option
@item decoder=@var{decoder_name}
Print detailed information about the decoder named @var{decoder_name}. Use the
@option{-decoders} option to get a list of all decoders.

@item encoder=@var{encoder_name}
Print detailed information about the encoder named @var{encoder_name}. Use the
@option{-encoders} option to get a list of all encoders.

@item demuxer=@var{demuxer_name}
Print detailed information about the demuxer named @var{demuxer_name}. Use the
@option{-formats} option to get a list of all demuxers and muxers.

@item muxer=@var{muxer_name}
Print detailed information about the muxer named @var{muxer_name}. Use the
@option{-formats} option to get a list of all muxers and demuxers.

@end table

@item -version
Show version.

@item -formats
Show available formats.

The fields preceding the format names have the following meanings:
@table @samp
@item D
Decoding available
@item E
Encoding available
@end table

@item -codecs
Show all codecs known to libavcodec.

Note that the term 'codec' is used throughout this documentation as a shortcut
for what is more correctly called a media bitstream format.

@item -decoders
Show available decoders.

@item -encoders
Show all available encoders.

@item -bsfs
Show available bitstream filters.

@item -protocols
Show available protocols.

@item -filters
Show available libavfilter filters.

@item -pix_fmts
Show available pixel formats.

@item -sample_fmts
Show available sample formats.

@item -loglevel @var{loglevel} | -v @var{loglevel}
Set the logging level used by the library.
@var{loglevel} is a number or a string containing one of the following values:
@table @samp
@item quiet
@item panic
@item fatal
@item error
@item warning
@item info
@item verbose
@item debug
@end table

By default the program logs to stderr, if coloring is supported by the
terminal, colors are used to mark errors and warnings. Log coloring
can be disabled setting the environment variable
@env{AV_LOG_FORCE_NOCOLOR} or @env{NO_COLOR}, or can be forced setting
the environment variable @env{AV_LOG_FORCE_COLOR}.
The use of the environment variable @env{NO_COLOR} is deprecated and
will be dropped in a following Libav version.

@end table

@section AVOptions

These options are provided directly by the libavformat, libavdevice and
libavcodec libraries. To see the list of available AVOptions, use the
@option{-help} option. They are separated into two categories:
@table @option
@item generic
These options can be set for any container, codec or device. Generic options
are listed under AVFormatContext options for containers/devices and under
AVCodecContext options for codecs.
@item private
These options are specific to the given container, device or codec. Private
options are listed under their corresponding containers/devices/codecs.
@end table

For example to write an ID3v2.3 header instead of a default ID3v2.4 to
an MP3 file, use the @option{id3v2_version} private option of the MP3
muxer:
@example
avconv -i input.flac -id3v2_version 3 out.mp3
@end example

All codec AVOptions are obviously per-stream, so the chapter on stream
specifiers applies to them

Note @option{-nooption} syntax cannot be used for boolean AVOptions,
use @option{-option 0}/@option{-option 1}.

Note2 old undocumented way of specifying per-stream AVOptions by prepending
v/a/s to the options name is now obsolete and will be removed soon.

@include avoptions_codec.texi
@include avoptions_format.texi