ffmpeg "unsuitable output format" error

[arthurm]

Hi there,

I'm currently working on a command that lets me convert a full DCP to a x264 high 4.1 MKV file. here's what I have:

ffmpeg -i "VIDEO_INPUT.mxf" -i "AUDIO_INPUT.mxf" -map 0:0 -filter:v "crop=1984:1072:8:4" w=1920 h=1038 -c:v:0 libx264 -preset placebo -crf 14 -map 1:0 -c:a:1 copy -c:a:2 ac3 -ab 640k "OUTPUT.mkv"

I detected the crop size using ffplay. the error it now gives is:

[NULL @ 0000000008c80680] Unable to find a suitable output format for 'w=1920'
w=1920: Invalid argument

is there maybe something wrong with the order it's in?

I also want it to be high profile 4.1. I usually do these encodes with HandBrake, but I couldn't find the settings that handBrake uses and how to use those settings in ffmpeg. So if some of you have any tips about that, that would be great .

bye!

[Cornucopia]

It is not possible to crop to an amount LARGER than your source. If you start with 1920x1080 or 1920x1038, the resulting values have to be <=, yet you have 1984 in there...

Scott

[pandy]

looks like ffmpeg syntax error - IMHO this should be like this:

-filter:v "crop=1984:1072:8:4,scale=w=1920:h=1038"

[arthurm]

I start out with a flat video, so 1998x1080, crop it to 1984x1072 and then resize to 1920x1038.

[arthurm]

@pandy works! Thanks! Any advice on high 4.1 x246?

[LigH.de]

If it doesn't pass the parameter (like -crf in your existing command):

-profile high

you may have to pass libx264 specific parameters, probably like:

-x264opts "profile=high"

(according to the recent help output, the first variant should work, but no warranty).

Regarding Level 4.1, you should usually not use such a parameter because it won't ensure that encoding limits are used, just that this level is put in the header; instead, use VBV limits matching this desired level to guide the encoder in utilizing the available bitrate range.

[pandy]

@pandy works! Thanks! Any advice on high 4.1 x246?

part from one of my scripts (DOS, Win CMD):

@SET x264opts="bframes=2:bitrate=%vbitrate%:vbv-maxrate=%vbitrate%:vbv-bufsize=%vbuffsiz%:no-scenecut:nal-hrd=cbr:slices=4:tff=1:open-gop=0:colorprim=bt470bg:transfer=bt470bg:colormatrix=bt470bg:fullrange=off:overscan=show:pic-struct:aud:force-cfr:level=4.1:keyint=%gop%:keyint_min=%gop%:qpmin=4:cabac=1:threads=auto:no-psnr:no-ssim:bluray-compat"

and

@ffmpeg -i %1 -c:v libx264 -preset veryfast -tune fastdecode -profile:v high -x264opts %x264opts% -x264-params %x264opts%  ...

feel free to modify

[arthurm]

thanx, I now have written this command:

ffmpeg -i "VIDEO_INPUT.mxf" -i "AUDIO_INPUT.mxf" -map 0:0 –map 1:0 -filter:v "crop=1984:1072:8:4,scale=w=1920:h=1038" -c:v:0 libx264 -preset medium -profile:v high -level 4.1 -crf 17 –maxrate 62.5M –bufsize 78.125M -x264opts keyint=240 -pix_fmt yuv420p -map 1:0 -c:a:0 copy -c:a:1 ac3 -ab 640k –map_metadata -1  "OUTPUT.mkv"

I tried to use the same encoding settings as Handbrake.

Here's the media info of a video I encoded with Handbrake:

General
Format                                   : Matroska
Format version                           : Version 4 / Version 2
File size                                : 322 MiB
Duration                                 : 1mn 50s
Overall bit rate                         : 24.5 Mbps
Writing application                      : Lavf56.36.100
Writing library                          : Lavf56.36.100

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames                : 4 frames
Codec ID                                 : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Width                                    : 1 920 pixels
Height                                   : 1 036 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 1.85:1
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 23.976 fps
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Writing library                          : x264 core 142 r2479 dd79a61
Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=6 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=14.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / vbv_maxrate=62500 / vbv_bufsize=78125 / crf_max=0.0 / nal_hrd=none / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Audio #1
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : PCM
Codec ID                                 : A_PCM/INT/LIT
Duration                                 : 1mn 50s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Channel(s)                               : 6 channels
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth                                : 24 bits
Delay relative to video                  : 3ms
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Audio #2
ID                                       : 3
Format                                   : AC-3
Format/Info                              : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension                           : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness              : Big
Codec ID                                 : A_AC3
Duration                                 : 1mn 50s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 640 Kbps
Channel(s)                               : 6 channels
Channel positions                        : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Delay relative to video                  : 11ms
Stream size                              : 8.40 MiB (3%)
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

And here is the media-info of a video I encoded with this tool:

General
Format                                   : Matroska
Format version                           : Version 4 / Version 2
File size                                : 455 MiB
Duration                                 : 2mn 24s
Overall bit rate                         : 26.3 Mbps
Writing application                      : Lavf56.36.100
Writing library                          : Lavf56.36.100

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames                : 4 frames
Codec ID                                 : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Width                                    : 1 920 pixels
Height                                   : 1 038 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 1.85:1
Frame rate mode                          : Variable
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Writing library                          : x264 core 146 r2538 121396c
Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=6 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=17.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / vbv_maxrate=62500 / vbv_bufsize=78125 / crf_max=0.0 / nal_hrd=none / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Audio #1
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : PCM
Codec ID                                 : A_PCM/INT/LIT
Duration                                 : 2mn 24s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Channel(s)                               : 6 channels
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth                                : 24 bits
Delay relative to video                  : 5ms
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Audio #2
ID                                       : 3
Format                                   : AC-3
Format/Info                              : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension                           : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness              : Big
Codec ID                                 : A_AC3
Duration                                 : 2mn 24s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 640 Kbps
Channel(s)                               : 6 channels
Channel positions                        : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth                                : 32 bits
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 11.0 MiB (2%)
Writing library                          : Lavc56.41.100 ac3
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

As you can see I used different videos, that's probably (hopefully) why I had to use different CRF values. I triend to use the settings from the encoding settings from Handbrake, here are the settings from handbrake and ffmpeg:

 HB: cabac=1 / ref=1 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=2 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=0 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=0 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=0 / threads=6 / lookahead_threads=2 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=1 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=10 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=14.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / vbv_maxrate=62500 / vbv_bufsize=78125 / crf_max=0.0 / nal_hrd=none / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
FF:  cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=6 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=17.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / vbv_maxrate=62500 / vbv_bufsize=78125 / crf_max=0.0 / nal_hrd=none / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00

@pandy:

Is this kind of simular to what you suggested? And how do I enable the first script you posted? I don't really know how to do that yet...

I'll try to do the encode the same video with both handbrake and FFmpeg soon for comparison.

Greets!

[LigH.de]

The tool is called "Handbrake", just like this device which stops a car: a brake.

Breaking your hand is not intended.

[arthurm]

whoops... fixed it

[pandy]

@pandy:

Is this kind of simular to what you suggested? And how do I enable the first script you posted? I don't really know how to do that yet...

My examples are from same script - only because script is more complex and focus on other things than transcode i didn't provided it fully.
After modification those examples may look in Your script like this: [beware - i had no possibility to verify script with your files and also my scripting skills are not good]

@SET x264opts="vbv_maxrate=62500:vbv_bufsize=78125:slices=4:open_gop=0:pic_struct=1:aud=1:force_cfr=1:level=4.1:keyint=240:cabac=1:threads=auto:no_psnr=1:no_ssim=1:bluray_compat=1:colorprim=bt709:transfer=bt709:colormatrix=bt709"

@ffmpeg -i "VIDEO_INPUT.mxf" -i "AUDIO_INPUT.mxf" -map 0:0 –map 1:0 -filter:v "crop=1984:1072:8:4,scale=w=1920:h=1038:sws_flags=spline:sws_dither=a_dither,format=pix_fmts=yuv420p" -c:v:0 libx264 -preset medium -tune film -profile:v high -crf 17 -x264opts %x264opts% -x264-params %x264opts% -map 1:0 -c:a:0 copy -c:a:1 ac3 -ab 640k –map_metadata -1 "OUTPUT.mkv"

You may ask why -x264opts and -x264-params are used for exactly same thing i.e. passing parameters in ffmpeg to xlib264 - from some reason sometimes using only one of them may not work fully as expected - i've learned that passing parameters (same) trough both eliminate sometimes surprises.