Command Line Tool that will output Re-Encoded Audio

[Maikeru-sama]

Is there a command line tool available that would allow me to Re-Encode the audio of a video and output it in that format?

Now I know FFMpeg and MPlayer would allow me to output the audio in its present form inside the container like so:
mplayer input.avi -dumpaudio -dumpfile output.ac3
ffmpeg -i input.avi -vn -acodec copy input.ac3


Scenario
AVI File
MP3 Audio

Could I use one of the above tools to output a Re-Encoded AC3 or MP2 or some other format based on the aforementioned scenario? Basically Re-Encode the audio and output it. Kind of like Demuxing/Re-Encoding at the same time?

[AlanHK]

Could I use one of the above tools to output a Re-Encoded AC3 or MP2 or some other format based on the aforementioned scenario? Basically Re-Encode the audio and output it. Kind of like Demuxing/Re-Encoding at the same time?

Both ffmpeg and Besweet have GUIs which expose the command lines which you can copy and modify.

For example, using ffmeg, this batch file will extract the audio from an avi (or all avis in a folder) and produce an AC3 at 128k:

save as AVI-MAKE-AC3.BAT

@echo avi-make-ac3 file.avi
@echo convert avi to ac3, 128k

@if %1X==X goto ALL

:LOOP
for %%I in (%1) do  p:\ffmpeggui\ffmpeg -i "%%~fI" -ab 128 -ar 48000 -ac 2 -acodec ac3 -y "%%~dpnI.ac3"
SHIFT
@if %1X==X goto END
@goto LOOP

:ALL
for %%I in (*.avi) do  p:\ffmpeggui\ffmpeg -i "%%~fI" -ab 128 -ar 48000 -ac 2 -acodec ac3 -y "%%~dpnI.ac3"

:END

[Maikeru-sama]

Alan, thanks for responding.

A couple of questions.

1) I am assuming Mplayer/Mencoder cannot do what I asked?

2) I don't have FFMpeg and I have been trying to download it, I don't see where to download it with the link below:
http://ffmpeg.mplayerhq.hu/

I hit the "Download and SVN" link, but didn't see anything there.

3) I have Beesweet 1.4. It seems like Besweet has to have audio input to spit out the audio output. Meaning, you cannot give it an avi as input and it spits out the audio.

Like always, I will continue to look for these answers

Thanks

[Maikeru-sama]

AlanHk, disregard #2, I went to the 2nd mirror and downloaded the exe, although it isnt the gui.

[Maikeru-sama]

Just by eyeballing this command line, does anyone see a problem?

ffmpeg.exe -i "C:\input.avi" -ab 128 -ar 48000 -ac 2 -acodec ac3 -y "C:\input.ac3"

I am knew to ffmpeg, so I am testing something simple and it kind of tells me that there maybe something wrong with the paramaters entered and I have tried it on different video inputs.

[jman98]

3) I have Beesweet 1.4. It seems like Besweet has to have audio input to spit out the audio output. Meaning, you cannot give it an avi as input and it spits out the audio.

You are correct, but that's why demuxing exists. I'm not sure I'd trust "dumping" the audio AND converting it on the fly to give the best results.

There are generally 2 ways to do things in the video/audio world - quickly or correctly. They aren't the same. If you just want it done quickly, then you agree to live with weird problems that may crop up. If you want it done correctly, then you demux the audio before you work on it and it takes as long as it takes to work correctly.-

[AlanHK]

3) I have Beesweet 1.4. It seems like Besweet has to have audio input to spit out the audio output. Meaning, you cannot give it an avi as input and it spits out the audio.

You are correct

No, he's incorrect.

It works fine.

I used to use BeSweet's wizard in batch mode, throw in a folder full of AVIs and get matching AC3s.

The command line it makes is something like:

"P:\BeSweet\BeSweet\BeSweet.exe" -core( -input "P:\A1.avi" -output "P:\A1 - New - [12.01.2008] - [20.46.56].ac3" -logfilea "P:\BeSweet\BeSweet.log" ) -ssrc( --rate 48000 ) -ac3enc( -b 128 )

Which you can use as a basis of your own batch file.

These days though I usually do demux to MP3, so I can run MP3Gain, then batch convert with an ffmpeg command line.

And if I've been doing any editing (trims) in AVS files, I use WAVI to extract from AVS to wave and convert that.

[AlanHK]

1) I am assuming Mplayer/Mencoder cannot do what I asked?

I don't use those, can't say.

Just by eyeballing this command line, does anyone see a problem?

ffmpeg.exe -i "C:\input.avi" -ab 128 -ar 48000 -ac 2 -acodec ac3 -y "C:\input.ac3"

I am knew to ffmpeg, so I am testing something simple and it kind of tells me that there maybe something wrong with the paramaters entered and I have tried it on different video inputs.

What do you mean " it kind of tells me that there maybe something wrong "?
Anyway, looks okay -- as long as ffmpeg is in the command path. If not, give the full path of the EXE.

You can get the GUI here: ffmpeggui

[Maikeru-sama]

Thanks for the reply Alan.

I was literally up at 2 AM this mourning fooling around with alot of this stuff and incorporating it into my .Net application that streamlines encoding.

There was and error in FFMpeg because I didn't have a "k" next to the 128 in this argument "-ab 128".

I have some other questions, but I will probably have to make a new thread.

[AlanHK]

Thanks for the reply Alan.

I was literally up at 2 AM this mourning fooling around with alot of this stuff and incorporating it into my .Net application that streamlines encoding.

There was and error in FFMpeg because I didn't have a "k" next to the 128 in this argument "-ab 128".

That's odd, because my batch files work without the "k"

According to the help:
-ab bitrate set audio bitrate (in kbit/s)

This is for "ffmpeg version 0.4.9-pre1, build 4743"

But I see the docs at http://ffmpeg.mplayerhq.hu/ffmpeg-doc.html
say: `-ab bitrate' Set the audio bitrate in bit/s (default = 64k).
I can't see which build this is for.

So perhaps they have changed that. If so seems a bit inconsiderate to change an option that will screw up existing batch files and GUIs.

[Maikeru-sama]

Thanks for the reply Alan.

I was literally up at 2 AM this mourning fooling around with alot of this stuff and incorporating it into my .Net application that streamlines encoding.

There was and error in FFMpeg because I didn't have a "k" next to the 128 in this argument "-ab 128".

That's odd, because my batch files work without the "k"

According to the help:
-ab bitrate set audio bitrate (in kbit/s)

This is for "ffmpeg version 0.4.9-pre1, build 4743"

But I see the docs at http://ffmpeg.mplayerhq.hu/ffmpeg-doc.html
say: `-ab bitrate' Set the audio bitrate in bit/s (default = 64k).
I can't see which build this is for.

So perhaps they have changed that. If so seems a bit inconsiderate to change an option that will screw up existing batch files and GUIs.

Not sure what command to use to see what build I have.

I downloaded FFMpeg from the link below:
http://ffdshow.faireal.net/mirror/ffmpeg/

I choose the first one at the top

[AlanHK]

Not sure what command to use to see what build I have.

I downloaded FFMpeg from the link below:
http://ffdshow.faireal.net/mirror/ffmpeg/

I choose the first one at the top

Just type "ffmpeg" and it gives its help. Redirect to a file:
ffmpeg >ffmpeg.txt
That lists (from the one at your link):

usage: ffmpeg [[infile options] -i infile]... {[outfile options] outfile}...
Hyper fast Audio and Video encoder

Main options:
-L                  show license
-h                  show help
-version            show version
-formats            show available formats, codecs, protocols, ...
-f fmt              force format
-i filename         input file name
-y                  overwrite output files
-t duration         record or transcode "duration" seconds of audio/video
-fs limit_size      set the limit file size in bytes
-ss time_off        set the start time offset
-itsoffset time_off  set the input ts offset
-title string       set the title
-timestamp time     set the timestamp
-author string      set the author
-copyright string   set the copyright
-comment string     set the comment
-album string       set the album
-v verbose          control amount of logging
-target type        specify target file type ("vcd", "svcd", "dvd", "dv", "dv50", "pal-vcd", "ntsc-svcd", ...)
-dframes number     set the number of data frames to record
-sn                 disable subtitle
-scodec codec       force subtitle codec ('copy' to copy stream)
-newsubtitle        add a new subtitle stream to the current output stream
-slang code         set the ISO 639 language code (3 letters) of the current subtitle stream

Video options:
-b                  set bitrate (in bits/s)
-vb                 set bitrate (in bits/s)
-vframes number     set the number of video frames to record
-r rate             set frame rate (Hz value, fraction or abbreviation)
-s size             set frame size (WxH or abbreviation)
-aspect aspect      set aspect ratio (4:3, 16:9 or 1.3333, 1.7777)
-croptop size       set top crop band size (in pixels)
-cropbottom size    set bottom crop band size (in pixels)
-cropleft size      set left crop band size (in pixels)
-cropright size     set right crop band size (in pixels)
-padtop size        set top pad band size (in pixels)
-padbottom size     set bottom pad band size (in pixels)
-padleft size       set left pad band size (in pixels)
-padright size      set right pad band size (in pixels)
-padcolor color     set color of pad bands (Hex 000000 thru FFFFFF)
-vn                 disable video
-vcodec codec       force video codec ('copy' to copy stream)
-sameq              use same video quality as source (implies VBR)
-pass n             select the pass number (1 or 2)
-passlogfile file   select two pass log file name
-newvideo           add a new video stream to the current output stream

Advanced Video options:
-pix_fmt format     set pixel format, 'list' as argument shows all the pixel formats supported
-intra              use only intra frames
-vdt n              discard threshold
-qscale q           use fixed video quantizer scale (VBR)
-qdiff q            max difference between the quantizer scale (VBR)
-rc_override override  rate control override for specific intervals
-me_threshold       motion estimaton threshold
-strict strictness  how strictly to follow the standards
-deinterlace        deinterlace pictures
-psnr               calculate PSNR of compressed frames
-vstats             dump video coding statistics to file
-vstats_file file   dump video coding statistics to file
-intra_matrix matrix  specify intra matrix coeffs
-inter_matrix matrix  specify inter matrix coeffs
-top                top=1/bottom=0/auto=-1 field first
-dc precision       intra_dc_precision
-vtag fourcc/tag    force video tag/fourcc
-qphist             show QP histogram
-vbsf bitstream filter  

Audio options:
-ab                 set bitrate (in bits/s)
-aframes number     set the number of audio frames to record
-aq quality         set audio quality (codec-specific)
-ar rate            set audio sampling rate (in Hz)
-ac channels        set number of audio channels
-an                 disable audio
-acodec codec       force audio codec ('copy' to copy stream)
-vol volume         change audio volume (256=normal)
-newaudio           add a new audio stream to the current output stream
-alang code         set the ISO 639 language code (3 letters) of the current audio stream

Advanced Audio options:
-atag fourcc/tag    force audio tag/fourcc
-absf bitstream filter  

Subtitle options:
-sn                 disable subtitle
-scodec codec       force subtitle codec ('copy' to copy stream)
-newsubtitle        add a new subtitle stream to the current output stream
-slang code         set the ISO 639 language code (3 letters) of the current subtitle stream

Audio/Video grab options:
-vc channel         set video grab channel (DV1394 only)
-tvstd standard     set television standard (NTSC, PAL (SECAM))
-isync              sync read on input

Advanced options:
-map file:stream[:syncfile:syncstream]  set input stream mapping
-map_meta_data outfile:infile  set meta data information of outfile from infile
-benchmark          add timings for benchmarking
-dump               dump each input packet
-hex                when dumping packets, also dump the payload
-re                 read input at native frame rate
-loop_input         loop (current only works with images)
-loop_output        number of times to loop output in formats that support looping (0 loops forever)
-threads count      thread count
-vsync              video sync method
-async              audio sync method
-adrift_threshold   audio drift threshold
-vglobal            video global header storage type
-copyts             copy timestamps
-shortest           finish encoding within shortest input
-dts_delta_threshold   timestamp discontinuity delta threshold
-programid          desired program number
-muxdelay seconds   set the maximum demux-decode delay
-muxpreload seconds  set the initial demux-decode delay
AVCodecContext AVOptions:
-b                 <int>   E.V.. set bitrate (in bits/s)
-ab                <int>   E..A. set bitrate (in bits/s)
-bt                <int>   E.V.. set video bitrate tolerance (in bits/s)
-flags             <flags> EDVA.
   mv4                     E.V.. use four motion vector by macroblock (mpeg4)
   obmc                    E.V.. use overlapped block motion compensation (h263+)
   qpel                    E.V.. use 1/4 pel motion compensation
   loop                    E.V.. use loop filter
   gmc                     E.V.. use gmc
   mv0                     E.V.. always try a mb with mv=<0,0>
   part                    E.V.. use data partitioning
   gray                    EDV.. only decode/encode grayscale
   psnr                    E.V.. error[?] variables will be set during encoding
   naq                     E.V.. normalize adaptive quantization
   ildct                   E.V.. use interlaced dct
   low_delay               EDV.. force low delay
   alt                     E.V.. enable alternate scantable (mpeg2/mpeg4)
   trell                   E.V.. use trellis quantization
   bitexact                EDVAS use only bitexact stuff (except (i)dct)
   aic                     E.V.. h263 advanced intra coding / mpeg4 ac prediction
   umv                     E.V.. use unlimited motion vectors
   cbp                     E.V.. use rate distortion optimization for cbp
   qprd                    E.V.. use rate distortion optimization for qp selection
   aiv                     E.V.. h263 alternative inter vlc
   slice                   E.V..
   ilme                    E.V.. interlaced motion estimation
   scan_offset             E.V.. will reserve space for svcd scan offset user data
   cgop                    E.V.. closed gop
-me_method         <int>   E.V.. set motion estimation method
   zero                    E.V.. zero motion estimation (fastest)
   full                    E.V.. full motion estimation (slowest)
   epzs                    E.V.. EPZS motion estimation (default)
   log                     E.V.. log motion estimation
   phods                   E.V.. phods motion estimation
   x1                      E.V.. X1 motion estimation
   hex                     E.V.. hex motion estimation
   umh                     E.V.. umh motion estimation
   iter                    E.V.. iter motion estimation
-me                <int>   E.V.. set motion estimation method (deprecated, use me_method instead)
   zero                    E.V.. zero motion estimation (fastest)
   full                    E.V.. full motion estimation (slowest)
   epzs                    E.V.. EPZS motion estimation (default)
   log                     E.V.. log motion estimation
   phods                   E.V.. phods motion estimation
   x1                      E.V.. X1 motion estimation
   hex                     E.V.. hex motion estimation
   umh                     E.V.. umh motion estimation
   iter                    E.V.. iter motion estimation
-g                 <int>   E.V.. set the group of picture size
-cutoff            <int>   E..A. set cutoff bandwidth
-frame_size        <int>   E..A.
-qcomp             <float> E.V.. video quantizer scale compression (VBR)
-qblur             <float> E.V.. video quantizer scale blur (VBR)
-qmin              <int>   E.V.. min video quantizer scale (VBR)
-qmax              <int>   E.V.. max video quantizer scale (VBR)
-qdiff             <int>   E.V.. max difference between the quantizer scale (VBR)
-bf                <int>   E.V.. use 'frames' B frames
-b_qfactor         <float> E.V.. qp factor between p and b frames
-rc_strategy       <int>   E.V.. ratecontrol method
-b_strategy        <int>   E.V.. strategy to choose between I/P/B-frames
-hurry_up          <int>   .DV..
-ps                <int>   E.V.. rtp payload size in bits
-bug               <flags> .DV.. workaround not auto detected encoder bugs
   autodetect              .DV..
   old_msmpeg4             .DV.. some old lavc generated msmpeg4v3 files (no autodetection)
   xvid_ilace              .DV.. Xvid interlacing bug (autodetected if fourcc==XVIX)
   ump4                    .DV.. (autodetected if fourcc==UMP4)
   no_padding              .DV.. padding bug (autodetected)
   amv                     .DV..
   ac_vlc                  .DV.. illegal vlc bug (autodetected per fourcc)
   qpel_chroma             .DV..
   std_qpel                .DV.. old standard qpel (autodetected per fourcc/version)
   qpel_chroma2            .DV..
   direct_blocksize         .DV.. direct-qpel-blocksize bug (autodetected per fourcc/version)
   edge                    .DV.. edge padding bug (autodetected per fourcc/version)
   hpel_chroma             .DV..
   dc_clip                 .DV..
   ms                      .DV.. workaround various bugs in microsofts broken decoders
-lelim             <int>   E.V.. single coefficient elimination threshold for luminance (negative values also consider dc coefficient)
-celim             <int>   E.V.. single coefficient elimination threshold for chrominance (negative values also consider dc coefficient)
-strict            <int>   .DVA. how strictly to follow the standards
   very                    E.V.. strictly conform to a older more strict version of the spec or reference software
   strict                  E.V.. strictly conform to all the things in the spec no matter what consequences
   normal                  E.V..
   inofficial              E.V.. allow inofficial extensions
   experimental            E.V.. allow non standardized experimental things
-b_qoffset         <float> E.V.. qp offset between p and b frames
-er                <int>   .DVA. set error resilience strategy
   careful                 .DV..
   compliant               .DV..
   aggressive              .DV..
   very_aggressive         .DV..
-mpeg_quant        <int>   E.V.. use MPEG quantizers instead of H.263
-qsquish           <float> E.V.. how to keep quantizer between qmin and qmax (0 = clip, 1 = use differentiable function)
-rc_qmod_amp       <float> E.V.. experimental quantizer modulation
-rc_qmod_freq      <int>   E.V.. experimental quantizer modulation
-rc_eq             <string> E.V.. set rate control equation
-maxrate           <int>   E.V.. set max video bitrate tolerance (in bits/s)
-minrate           <int>   E.V.. set min video bitrate tolerance (in bits/s)
-bufsize           <int>   E.V.. set ratecontrol buffer size (in bits)
-rc_buf_aggressivity <float> E.V.. currently useless
-i_qfactor         <float> E.V.. qp factor between p and i frames
-i_qoffset         <float> E.V.. qp offset between p and i frames
-rc_init_cplx      <float> E.V.. initial complexity for 1-pass encoding
-dct               <int>   E.V.. DCT algorithm
   auto                    E.V.. autoselect a good one (default)
   fastint                 E.V.. fast integer
   int                     E.V.. accurate integer
   mmx                     E.V..
   mlib                    E.V..
   altivec                 E.V..
   faan                    E.V.. floating point AAN DCT
-lumi_mask         <float> E.V.. compresses bright areas stronger than medium ones
-tcplx_mask        <float> E.V.. temporal complexity masking
-scplx_mask        <float> E.V.. spatial complexity masking
-p_mask            <float> E.V.. inter masking
-dark_mask         <float> E.V.. compresses dark areas stronger than medium ones
-idct              <int>   EDV.. select IDCT implementation
   auto                    EDV..
   int                     EDV..
   simple                  EDV..
   simplemmx               EDV..
   libmpeg2mmx             EDV..
   ps2                     EDV..
   mlib                    EDV..
   arm                     EDV..
   altivec                 EDV..
   sh4                     EDV..
   simplearm               EDV..
   simplearmv5te           EDV..
   h264                    EDV..
   vp3                     EDV..
   ipp                     EDV..
   xvidmmx                 EDV..
-ec                <flags> .DV.. set error concealment strategy
   guess_mvs               .DV.. iterative motion vector (MV) search (slow)
   deblock                 .DV.. use strong deblock filter for damaged MBs
-pred              <int>   E.V.. prediction method
   left                    E.V..
   plane                   E.V..
   median                  E.V..
-aspect            <rational> E.V.. sample aspect ratio
-debug             <flags> EDVAS print specific debug info
   pict                    .DV.. picture info
   rc                      E.V.. rate control
   bitstream               .DV..
   mb_type                 .DV.. macroblock (MB) type
   qp                      .DV.. per-block quantization parameter (QP)
   mv                      .DV.. motion vector
   dct_coeff               .DV..
   skip                    .DV..
   startcode               .DV..
   pts                     .DV..
   er                      .DV.. error resilience
   mmco                    .DV.. memory management control operations (H.264)
   bugs                    .DV..
   vis_qp                  .DV.. visualize quantization parameter (QP), lower QP are tinted greener
   vis_mb_type             .DV.. visualize block types
-vismv             <int>   .DV.. visualize motion vectors (MVs)
   pf                      .DV.. forward predicted MVs of P-frames
   bf                      .DV.. forward predicted MVs of B-frames
   bb                      .DV.. backward predicted MVs of B-frames
-mb_qmin           <int>   E.V.. obsolete, use qmin
-mb_qmax           <int>   E.V.. obsolete, use qmax
-cmp               <int>   E.V.. full pel me compare function
   sad                     E.V.. sum of absolute differences, fast (default)
   sse                     E.V.. sum of squared errors
   satd                    E.V.. sum of absolute Hadamard transformed differences
   dct                     E.V.. sum of absolute DCT transformed differences
   psnr                    E.V.. sum of squared quantization errors (avoid, low quality)
   bit                     E.V.. number of bits needed for the block
   rd                      E.V.. rate distortion optimal, slow
   zero                    E.V.. 0
   vsad                    E.V.. sum of absolute vertical differences
   vsse                    E.V.. sum of squared vertical differences
   nsse                    E.V.. noise preserving sum of squared differences
   w53                     E.V.. 5/3 wavelet, only used in snow
   w97                     E.V.. 9/7 wavelet, only used in snow
   dctmax                  E.V..
   chroma                  E.V..
-subcmp            <int>   E.V.. sub pel me compare function
   sad                     E.V.. sum of absolute differences, fast (default)
   sse                     E.V.. sum of squared errors
   satd                    E.V.. sum of absolute Hadamard transformed differences
   dct                     E.V.. sum of absolute DCT transformed differences
   psnr                    E.V.. sum of squared quantization errors (avoid, low quality)
   bit                     E.V.. number of bits needed for the block
   rd                      E.V.. rate distortion optimal, slow
   zero                    E.V.. 0
   vsad                    E.V.. sum of absolute vertical differences
   vsse                    E.V.. sum of squared vertical differences
   nsse                    E.V.. noise preserving sum of squared differences
   w53                     E.V.. 5/3 wavelet, only used in snow
   w97                     E.V.. 9/7 wavelet, only used in snow
   dctmax                  E.V..
   chroma                  E.V..
-mbcmp             <int>   E.V.. macroblock compare function
   sad                     E.V.. sum of absolute differences, fast (default)
   sse                     E.V.. sum of squared errors
   satd                    E.V.. sum of absolute Hadamard transformed differences
   dct                     E.V.. sum of absolute DCT transformed differences
   psnr                    E.V.. sum of squared quantization errors (avoid, low quality)
   bit                     E.V.. number of bits needed for the block
   rd                      E.V.. rate distortion optimal, slow
   zero                    E.V.. 0
   vsad                    E.V.. sum of absolute vertical differences
   vsse                    E.V.. sum of squared vertical differences
   nsse                    E.V.. noise preserving sum of squared differences
   w53                     E.V.. 5/3 wavelet, only used in snow
   w97                     E.V.. 9/7 wavelet, only used in snow
   dctmax                  E.V..
   chroma                  E.V..
-ildctcmp          <int>   E.V.. interlaced dct compare function
   sad                     E.V.. sum of absolute differences, fast (default)
   sse                     E.V.. sum of squared errors
   satd                    E.V.. sum of absolute Hadamard transformed differences
   dct                     E.V.. sum of absolute DCT transformed differences
   psnr                    E.V.. sum of squared quantization errors (avoid, low quality)
   bit                     E.V.. number of bits needed for the block
   rd                      E.V.. rate distortion optimal, slow
   zero                    E.V.. 0
   vsad                    E.V.. sum of absolute vertical differences
   vsse                    E.V.. sum of squared vertical differences
   nsse                    E.V.. noise preserving sum of squared differences
   w53                     E.V.. 5/3 wavelet, only used in snow
   w97                     E.V.. 9/7 wavelet, only used in snow
   dctmax                  E.V..
   chroma                  E.V..
-dia_size          <int>   E.V.. diamond type & size for motion estimation
-last_pred         <int>   E.V.. amount of motion predictors from the previous frame
-preme             <int>   E.V.. pre motion estimation
-precmp            <int>   E.V.. pre motion estimation compare function
   sad                     E.V.. sum of absolute differences, fast (default)
   sse                     E.V.. sum of squared errors
   satd                    E.V.. sum of absolute Hadamard transformed differences
   dct                     E.V.. sum of absolute DCT transformed differences
   psnr                    E.V.. sum of squared quantization errors (avoid, low quality)
   bit                     E.V.. number of bits needed for the block
   rd                      E.V.. rate distortion optimal, slow
   zero                    E.V.. 0
   vsad                    E.V.. sum of absolute vertical differences
   vsse                    E.V.. sum of squared vertical differences
   nsse                    E.V.. noise preserving sum of squared differences
   w53                     E.V.. 5/3 wavelet, only used in snow
   w97                     E.V.. 9/7 wavelet, only used in snow
   dctmax                  E.V..
   chroma                  E.V..
-pre_dia_size      <int>   E.V.. diamond type & size for motion estimation pre-pass
-subq              <int>   E.V.. sub pel motion estimation quality
-me_range          <int>   E.V.. limit motion vectors range (1023 for DivX player)
-ibias             <int>   E.V.. intra quant bias
-pbias             <int>   E.V.. inter quant bias
-coder             <int>   E.V..
   vlc                     E.V.. variable length coder / huffman coder
   ac                      E.V.. arithmetic coder
   raw                     E.V.. raw (no encoding)
   rle                     E.V.. run-length coder
   deflate                 E.V.. deflate-based coder
-context           <int>   E.V.. context model
-mbd               <int>   E.V.. macroblock decision algorithm (high quality mode)
   simple                  E.V.. use mbcmp (default)
   bits                    E.V.. use fewest bits
   rd                      E.V.. use best rate distortion
-sc_threshold      <int>   E.V.. scene change threshold
-lmin              <int>   E.V.. min lagrange factor (VBR)
-lmax              <int>   E.V.. max lagrange factor (VBR)
-nr                <int>   E.V.. noise reduction
-rc_init_occupancy <int>   E.V.. number of bits which should be loaded into the rc buffer before decoding starts
-inter_threshold   <int>   E.V..
-flags2            <flags> EDVA.
   fast                    E.V.. allow non spec compliant speedup tricks
   sgop                    E.V.. strictly enforce gop size
   noout                   E.V.. skip bitstream encoding
   local_header            E.V.. place global headers at every keyframe instead of in extradata
   bpyramid                E.V.. allows B-frames to be used as references for predicting
   wpred                   E.V.. weighted biprediction for b-frames (H.264)
   mixed_refs              E.V.. one reference per partition, as opposed to one reference per macroblock
   dct8x8                  E.V.. high profile 8x8 transform (H.264)
   fastpskip               E.V.. fast pskip (H.264)
   aud                     E.V.. access unit delimiters (H.264)
   brdo                    E.V.. b-frame rate-distortion optimization
   skiprd                  E.V.. RD optimal MB level residual skipping
   ivlc                    E.V.. intra vlc table
   drop_frame_timecode         E.V..
   non_linear_q            E.V.. use non linear quantizer
-error             <int>   E.V..
-antialias         <int>   .DV.. MP3 antialias algorithm
   auto                    .DV..
   fastint                 .DV..
   int                     .DV..
   float                   .DV..
-qns               <int>   E.V.. quantizer noise shaping
-threads           <int>   EDV..
-mb_threshold      <int>   E.V.. macroblock threshold
-dc                <int>   E.V.. intra_dc_precision
-nssew             <int>   E.V.. nsse weight
-skip_top          <int>   .DV.. number of macroblock rows at the top which are skipped
-skip_bottom       <int>   .DV.. number of macroblock rows at the bottom which are skipped
-profile           <int>   E.VA.
   unknown                 E.VA.
   aac_main                E..A.
   aac_low                 E..A.
   aac_ssr                 E..A.
   aac_ltp                 E..A.
-level             <int>   E.VA.
   unknown                 E.VA.
-lowres            <int>   .DV.. decode at 1= 1/2, 2=1/4, 3=1/8 resolutions
-skip_threshold    <int>   E.V.. frame skip threshold
-skip_factor       <int>   E.V.. frame skip factor
-skip_exp          <int>   E.V.. frame skip exponent
-skipcmp           <int>   E.V.. frame skip compare function
   sad                     E.V.. sum of absolute differences, fast (default)
   sse                     E.V.. sum of squared errors
   satd                    E.V.. sum of absolute Hadamard transformed differences
   dct                     E.V.. sum of absolute DCT transformed differences
   psnr                    E.V.. sum of squared quantization errors (avoid, low quality)
   bit                     E.V.. number of bits needed for the block
   rd                      E.V.. rate distortion optimal, slow
   zero                    E.V.. 0
   vsad                    E.V.. sum of absolute vertical differences
   vsse                    E.V.. sum of squared vertical differences
   nsse                    E.V.. noise preserving sum of squared differences
   w53                     E.V.. 5/3 wavelet, only used in snow
   w97                     E.V.. 9/7 wavelet, only used in snow
   dctmax                  E.V..
   chroma                  E.V..
-border_mask       <float> E.V.. increases the quantizer for macroblocks close to borders
-mblmin            <int>   E.V.. min macroblock lagrange factor (VBR)
-mblmax            <int>   E.V.. max macroblock lagrange factor (VBR)
-mepc              <int>   E.V.. motion estimation bitrate penalty compensation (1.0 = 256)
-bidir_refine      <int>   E.V.. refine the two motion vectors used in bidirectional macroblocks
-brd_scale         <int>   E.V.. downscales frames for dynamic B-frame decision
-crf               <float> E.V.. enables constant quality mode, and selects the quality (x264)
-cqp               <int>   E.V.. constant quantization parameter rate control method
-keyint_min        <int>   E.V.. minimum interval between IDR-frames (x264)
-refs              <int>   E.V.. reference frames to consider for motion compensation (Snow)
-chromaoffset      <int>   E.V.. chroma qp offset from luma
-bframebias        <int>   E.V.. influences how often B-frames are used
-trellis           <int>   E.VA. rate-distortion optimal quantization
-directpred        <int>   E.V.. direct mv prediction mode - 0 (none), 1 (spatial), 2 (temporal)
-complexityblur    <float> E.V.. reduce fluctuations in qp (before curve compression)
-deblockalpha      <int>   E.V.. in-loop deblocking filter alphac0 parameter
-deblockbeta       <int>   E.V.. in-loop deblocking filter beta parameter
-partitions        <flags> E.V.. macroblock subpartition sizes to consider
   parti4x4                E.V..
   parti8x8                E.V..
   partp4x4                E.V..
   partp8x8                E.V..
   partb8x8                E.V..
-sc_factor         <int>   E.V.. multiplied by qscale for each frame and added to scene_change_score
-mv0_threshold     <int>   E.V..
-b_sensitivity     <int>   E.V.. adjusts sensitivity of b_frame_strategy 1
-compression_level <int>   E.VA.
-use_lpc           <int>   E..A. sets whether to use LPC mode (FLAC)
-lpc_coeff_precision <int>   E..A. LPC coefficient precision (FLAC)
-min_prediction_order <int>   E..A.
-max_prediction_order <int>   E..A.
-prediction_order_method <int>   E..A. search method for selecting prediction order
-min_partition_order <int>   E..A.
-max_partition_order <int>   E..A.
-timecode_frame_start <int>   E.V.. GOP timecode frame start number, in non drop frame format
-request_channels  <int>   .D.A. set desired number of audio channels
AVFormatContext AVOptions:
-probesize         <int>   .D...
-muxrate           <int>   E.... set mux rate
-packetsize        <int>   E.... set packet size
-fflags            <flags> ED...
   ignidx                  .D... ignore index
   genpts                  .D... generate pts
-track             <int>   E....  set the track number
-year              <int>   E.... set the year
-analyzeduration   <int>   .D... how many microseconds are analyzed to estimate duration
SWScaler AVOptions:
-sws_flags         <flags> E.V.. scaler/cpu flags
   fast_bilinear           E.V.. fast bilinear
   bilinear                E.V.. bilinear
   bicubic                 E.V.. bicubic
   experimental            E.V.. experimental
   neighbor                E.V.. nearest neighbor
   area                    E.V.. averaging area
   bicublin                E.V.. luma bicubic, chroma bilinear
   gauss                   E.V.. gaussian
   sinc                    E.V.. sinc
   lanczos                 E.V.. lanczos
   spline                  E.V.. natural bicubic spline
   print_info              E.V.. print info
   accurate_rnd            E.V.. accurate rounding
   mmx                     E.V.. MMX SIMD acceleration
   mmx2                    E.V.. MMX2 SIMD acceleration
   3dnow                   E.V.. 3DNOW SIMD acceleration
   altivec                 E.V.. AltiVec SIMD acceleration
   bfin                    E.V.. Blackfin SIMD acceleration
   full_chroma_int         E.V.. full chroma interpolation
   full_chroma_inp         E.V.. full chroma input

And the above options do indeed say :
-ab set bitrate (in bits/s)

And we see "-version ".
trying "ffmpeg -version" gives
FFmpeg SVN-r11143

Not sure how that relates to "my" version (which came packaged with ffmpeggui), but it's different.

Not a great idea, as I said, to change how a command line switch works between minor updates. I can't update the version with ffmpeggui with this incompatibility.