More info can be found in numerous guides, the ffmpeg help and MAN files. Your first step is to identify the codec your file is originally encoded, and then decide what codec you wish to re-encode.Ī useful tool to identify the current encoding of any multimedia file is Mediainfo. and ffmpeg is a collection of these codecs (there are other collections like gstreamer). The essential aspect of the file is the encoding, and we use a type of library file called a 'codec' (which is an abbreviation and combination of 'encode' and 'decode' to denote the file can be used for both purposes) to read or create new encoded files. A 'container' helps to associate the file with a 'viewer' or 'player' application, but has little to do with the encoding of the multimedia file. AVI and MP4 are types of 'containers' which should give you a hint about their functionality and relevance to what you're doing. No one can know if you know what your'e doing when you use a word like 'format' for what you're doing.

When you're using a particular technology, learn the terminology.

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