FFmpeg 4.4.5
Since* 1.0
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Read audio and/or video stream(s) from a movie container.

It accepts the following parameters:

filename

The name of the resource to read (not necessarily a file; it can also be a device or a stream accessed through some protocol).

format_name, f

Specifies the format assumed for the movie to read, and can be either the name of a container or an input device. If not specified, the format is guessed from movie_name or by probing.

seek_point, sp

Specifies the seek point in seconds. The frames will be output starting from this seek point. The parameter is evaluated with av_strtod, so the numerical value may be suffixed by an IS postfix. The default value is "0".

streams, s

Specifies the streams to read. Several streams can be specified, separated by "+". The source will then have as many outputs, in the same order. The syntax is explained in the "Stream specifiers" section in the ffmpeg manual. Two special names, "dv" and "da" specify respectively the default (best suited) video and audio stream. Default is "dv", or "da" if the filter is called as "amovie".

stream_index, si

Specifies the index of the video stream to read. If the value is -1, the most suitable video stream will be automatically selected. The default value is "-1". Deprecated. If the filter is called "amovie", it will select audio instead of video.

loop

Specifies how many times to read the stream in sequence. If the value is 0, the stream will be looped infinitely. Default value is "1".

Note that when the movie is looped the source timestamps are not changed, so it will generate non monotonically increasing timestamps.

discontinuity

Specifies the time difference between frames above which the point is considered a timestamp discontinuity which is removed by adjusting the later timestamps.

It allows overlaying a second video on top of the main input of a filtergraph, as shown in this graph:

input -----------> deltapts0 --> overlay --> output
                                    ^
                                    |
movie --> scale--> deltapts1 -------+
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Examples

  • Skip 3.2 seconds from the start of the AVI file in.avi, and overlay it on top of the input labelled "in":

    movie=in.avi:seek_point=3.2, scale=180:-1, setpts=PTS-STARTPTS [over];
    [in] setpts=PTS-STARTPTS [main];
    [main][over] overlay=16:16 [out]
  • Read from a video4linux2 device, and overlay it on top of the input labelled "in":

    movie=/dev/video0:f=video4linux2, scale=180:-1, setpts=PTS-STARTPTS [over];
    [in] setpts=PTS-STARTPTS [main];
    [main][over] overlay=16:16 [out]
  • Read the first video stream and the audio stream with id 0x81 from dvd.vob; the video is connected to the pad named "video" and the audio is connected to the pad named "audio":

    movie=dvd.vob:s=v:0+#0x81 [video] [audio]
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Commands

Both movie and amovie support the following commands:

seek

Perform seek using "av_seek_frame". The syntax is: seek stream_index|timestamp|flags

  • stream_index: If stream_index is -1, a default stream is selected, and timestamp is automatically converted from AV_TIME_BASE units to the stream specific time_base.

  • timestamp: Timestamp in AVStream.time_base units or, if no stream is specified, in AV_TIME_BASE units.

  • flags: Flags which select direction and seeking mode.

get_duration

Get movie duration in AV_TIME_BASE units.