Analyzing Files Before Processing

Always inspect your source files before processing. ffprobe tells you everything about a media file — codec, resolution, bitrate, frame rate, pixel format, color space, and more.

JSON Output (Best for Parsing)

bash

ffprobe -v quiet -print_format json -show_format -show_streams input.mp4

This outputs structured JSON with all stream details:

json (example output)

{
  "streams": [{
    "codec_name": "h264",
    "codec_type": "video",
    "width": 1920,
    "height": 1080,
    "r_frame_rate": "30/1",
    "pix_fmt": "yuv420p",
    "bit_rate": "5000000"
  }],
  "format": {
    "duration": "120.500000",
    "size": "75312500",
    "bit_rate": "5000000"
  }
}

Quick Useful Commands

bash

# Just video resolution
ffprobe -v error -select_streams v:0 -show_entries stream=width,height -of csv=p=0 input.mp4

# Duration in seconds
ffprobe -v error -show_entries format=duration -of default=nw=1:nk=1 input.mp4

# Total bitrate
ffprobe -v error -show_entries format=bit_rate -of default=nw=1:nk=1 input.mp4

# List all streams
ffprobe -v error -show_entries stream=index,codec_type,codec_name -of csv input.mp4

💡 Tip

Use -v error to suppress the banner and only show errors. Use -v quiet for no output except the requested data. Use -of (output format) to control the format: json, csv, flat, ini.