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I am using ffmpeg to cut out a section of a large file like this:

ffmpeg -i input.wmv -ss 60 -t 60 -acodec copy -vcodec copy output.wmv

The -ss part works fine but the -t is ignored. It correctly removes the initial specified seconds specified with -ss but then keeps going to the end of the input with the copy.

Is there a way to use ffmpeg to cut off the end of a video without recoding it?

Hastur
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Neil
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9 Answers9

681

You can use the -ss option to specify a start timestamp, and the -t option to specify the encoding duration.

The following would skip the first 30 seconds, and then extract the next 10 seconds to a file called output.wmv:

ffmpeg -ss 30 -i input.wmv -c copy -t 10 output.wmv

In the above command, the timestamps are in seconds (s.msec), but timestamps can also be in HH:MM:SS.xxx format. The following is equivalent:

ffmpeg -ss 00:00:30.0 -i input.wmv -c copy -t 00:00:10.0 output.wmv

Note that -t is an output option and always needs to be specified after -i.

Some tips:

  • For older ffmpeg versions, if you use -ss after -i, you get more accurate seeking at the expense of a slower execution altogether. See also: Seeking with FFmpeg

  • You can use -to instead of -t to specify the timestamp to which you want to cut. So, instead of -i <input> -ss 30 -t 10 you could also do -i <input> -ss 30 -to 40 to achieve the same thing.

  • If your ffmpeg does not support -c, or -to, it is likely very outdated. Compile a new version yourself or download a static build from their homepage. It's really not complicated.

rgov
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    @Mondain Actually, you get more accuracy putting the -ss after. And slhck mentions this here http://blog.superuser.com/2012/02/24/ffmpeg-the-ultimate-video-and-audio-manipulation-tool/ also in ffmpeg documentation for -ss it mentions a difference between putting it before or after. – barlop Oct 11 '13 at 00:38
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    From the docs, the part you said about -t being only an output option is incorrect: `When used as an input option (before -i), limit the duration of data read from the input file.

    When used as an output option (before an output filename), stop writing the output after its duration reaches duration.`

     – Do Not Track Me Aug 30 '16 at 02:52
  • @barlop sorry to summon you 10 years after, but I just witnessed the exact opposite: I was trying to cut a video from the beginning (00:00 seconds) and, by a strange astral coincidence of keyframes and PTS, by putting -ss 00:00:00.0 after the -i <input.mp4> the output video was starting a few tenths of a second after the actual zero, while putting it before the -i <input.mp4> the output video started precisely at the "true zero". – Avio Oct 24 '23 at 16:11
  • @Avio I think both the ss before or after -i, are meant to be "frame accurate" now post 2015 post ffmpeg 2.1, ..and the ss before -i is recommended 'cos it's faster. I spoke to an ffmpeg expert and he suggested that you might have a "negative timeframe". I looked that up and it showed https://stackoverflow.com/questions/41032079/ffmpeg-start-time-is-negative What if you do ffprobe -i test.mp4 -show_format you could see what it says after "start_time=" ? – barlop Oct 26 '23 at 04:41
  • @barlop I get: ffprobe version 4.4.2-0ubuntu0.22.04.1 ... Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from 'test.mp4': Metadata: major_brand : isom minor_version : 512 compatible_brands: isomiso2avc1mp41 encoder : Lavf58.76.100 Duration: 00:00:53.13, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 25313 kb/s Stream #0:0(und): Video: h264 (High 4:4:4 Predictive) (avc1 / 0x31637661), yuv444p, 1920x1080, 25343 kb/s, 30 fps, 30 tbr, 15360 tbn, 60 tbc (default) Metadata: handler_name : VideoHandler vendor_id : [0][0][0][0] – Avio Oct 27 '23 at 11:22
  • @barlop [FORMAT] filename=test.mp4 nb_streams=1 nb_programs=0 format_name=mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 format_long_name=QuickTime / MOV start_time=0.000000 duration=53.134000 size=168128007 bit_rate=25313811 probe_score=100 TAG:major_brand=isom TAG:minor_version=512 TAG:compatible_brands=isomiso2avc1mp41 TAG:encoder=Lavf58.76.100 [/FORMAT] – Avio Oct 27 '23 at 11:27
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    @Avio ah I don't know but If you're curious there is an ffmpeg irc chat on on /server irc.libera.chat and some experts there , you could get an answer there then post it here as a Q and A. – barlop Oct 27 '23 at 13:04
  • ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 00:00:00 -to 00:00:00 -c copy output.mp4 (start time, end time) ffmpeg -ss 00:00:00.0 -i *.mp4 -c copy -t 00:00:00.0 output.mp4 (start time, duration) – brett Jan 14 '24 at 21:09
177

As other people mentioned, putting -ss before (much faster) or after (more accurate) the -i makes a big difference. The section "Fast And Accurate Seeking" on the ffmpeg seek page tells you how to get both, and I have used it, and it makes a big difference. Basically you put -ss before AND after the -i, just make sure to leave enough time before where you want to start cutting to have another key frame. Example: If you want to make a 1-minute clip, from 9min0sec to 10min 0sec in Video.mp4, you could do it both quickly and accurately using:

ffmpeg -ss 00:08:00 -i Video.mp4 -ss 00:01:00 -t 00:01:00 -c copy VideoClip.mp4

The first -ss seeks fast to (approximately) 8min0sec, and then the second -ss seeks accurately to 9min0sec, and the -t 00:01:00 takes out a 1min0sec clip.

Also note this important point from that page: "If you use -ss with -c:v copy, the resulting bitstream might end up being choppy, not playable, or out of sync with the audio stream, since ffmpeg is forced to only use/split on i-frames."

This means you need to re-encode the video, even if you want to just copy it, or risk it being choppy and out of sync. You could try just -c copy first, but if the video sucks you'll need to re-do it.

gronostaj
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seriesoftubes
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    -ss as an input option is both fast and accurate as of FFmpeg 2.1, so there's no need to include it as an output option too: https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/Seeking – cgenco Jun 19 '21 at 15:56
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    Is it possible to clarify: This answer says "You could try just -c copy first, but if the video sucks you'll need to re-do it." However, only -c copy is provided in the answer, there is no discussion of what options to add if the result is not cut correctly. What options should be added? – MRule Sep 16 '21 at 12:27
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    @MRule if you leave out the -c copy, it'll reencode, which is computationally expensive compared to copying, but is more accurate because it doesn't rely on keyframes being the same in the input and output. – BallpointBen Jun 22 '23 at 18:54
  • Is there a way to use the original timestamps with -ss before and after the -i? Ex have ffmpeg -ss 30 -i input.mp4 -ss 40 -to 50 output.mp4 create a clip from 40sec to 50sec in the original vid, but “fast forward” 30 seconds to make it go faster? This way I wouldn't have to do the math to figure out the new timestamps. As written, this command would instead take the clip from 70sec to 80sec. – BallpointBen Oct 18 '23 at 21:30
49

I found that -ss combined with -c copy resulted in a half-second chop at the start.

To avoid that, you have to remove the -c copy (which admittedly will do a transcode).

umläute
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Chris
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15

MANUALLY

Open the file in a media player that will frame by frame advance and play an AVISynth file with data such as:

DirectShowSource(("C:\Downloads\Video\Do you want him.flv"), Pixel_Type="yuy2").Crop(0,0,-0,-0)
Subtitle("C:\Downloads\Video\Do you want him.flv", font="Arial", size=24, text_color=$ff0000, align=3)
ShowFrameNumber(scroll=true, x=336, y=27, font="Arial", size=24, text_color=$ff0000)
ShowTime(x=398, y=44, font="Arial", size=24, text_color=$ff0000)

Then cut with the EXACT time format:

ffmpeg -i "Path\do you want him.flv"        \
       -ss 00:00:05.240 -to 00:00:08.360    \
       -vcodec libx264 -acodec libvo_aacenc \
       "Path\Do you want him1.flv"

and

ffmpeg -i "Path\do you want him.flv"        \
       -ss 00:00:10.240 -to 00:00:14.360    \
       -vcodec libx264 -acodec libvo_aacenc \
       "Path\Do you want him2.flv"

Now make a txt file with the video files with contents like:

file 'C:\Downloads\Video\Do you want him1.flv'
file 'C:\Downloads\Video\Do you want him2.flv'

Run ffmpeg:

ffmpeg -f concat -i FileList.txt -c copy "Path\NewName_joined.flv"
DavidPostill
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budman1
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  • If you use -c copy it will maintain the original keyframes and their position. Your videos will be cut to those keyframes, so no, the time will not be exact. – user1323995 Oct 16 '19 at 15:46
11

use this format: 

ffmpeg <start time> <input file> <cut duration> <out file>

eg. cut 60 second clip after 1 minute of video

ffmpeg.exe -ss 00:01:00 -i "in file.mp4" -to 00:01:00 -c copy out.mp4

Notes:
start time before input file is faster.
start time after input file is accurate/precise.

Zimba
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    Start time before input option is accurate/precise, too, for FFmpeg 2.1+. – MarianD Jan 23 '22 at 02:00
  • It's accurate enough. In either case, if you're looking at frame level accuracy, then you'll need processing at frame level, requiring more lines of code, eg. removing watermarks or embedded subtitles. – Zimba Aug 16 '23 at 04:24
8

For me -t option didn't work, but -vframes worked. I prefer using #frames, since I would rather cut at I-Frames and I found out GOP for video using ffprobe.

The command line that worked for me is:

ffmpeg -ss 60s -i input.wmv -vframes 1800 -acodec copy -vcodec copy output.wmv

By the way, putting -ss in the front of -i makes a big difference in execution time.

slm
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Ben
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5

As with user225366, the -t option doesn't work for short videos, but it does for longer videos. For short videos it seems that -frames:v is better. This is what worked for me.

ffmpeg -ss 4 -i input.mp4 -frames:v 200 -vcodec copy output.mp4

-acodec copy needs to added if the video has audio, as the other answers show.

MarianD
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VectorVortec
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4

I see not many mention this (I'm no expert so maybe there is a catch), but if your file has other streams like subtitles and other metadata like chapters and so on, it's possible to cut/trim and keep all streams with the following command

ffmpeg -to 60 -i input.mkv -map 0 -c copy output.mkv

With -map 0 you take all the streams in the file, and with -c copy you copy all them as they are.
Using -to omitting the start via -ss will cut the input video from start to second 60.

Fiddling with map is useful also if you want only specific streams to be kept in the cut (maybe you don't need all the audio sources in the file, or only some subtitles).

I use this when I need to split big MKV files that can't be stored in FAT32 storage.

Community
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Gruber
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  • I added a start time and a end time, and it seems working well: ffmpeg -ss 18:50 -to 35:35 -i in.mp4" -map 0 -c copy out.mp4" – Harry Apr 30 '21 at 03:41
0

Building on top of already great answers. What is missing there is preservation of metadata.

I am using following script to cut_video, which also preserves metadata:

#!/usr/bin/env bash

INPUT="$1"
START="$2"
DURATION="$3"


OUTPUT="${INPUT%.}.cut.${INPUT##.}"


ffmpeg -i "$INPUT" -ss "$START" -t "$DURATION" -c copy -movflags use_metadata_tags -map_metadata 0 "$OUTPUT"

Explanation:

  • ${INPUT%.*} - the % removes the shortest matching suffix .*, i.e. deletes extension,
  • ${INPUT##*.} - the ## removes the longest matching prefix .*, i.e. extracts extension.

See also following answer about metadata - How to prevent FFmpeg from dropping metadata?.

kravemir
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