Advanced Editing

Advanced Editing

Change playback speed

Speed up 1.5x without distorting audio:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -filter_complex "[0:v]setpts=PTS/1.5[v];[0:a]atempo=1.5[a]" \
  -map "[v]" -map "[a]" output.mp4

• setpts=PTS/1.5 - speeds up video by 1.5x
• atempo=1.5 - speeds up audio playback while preserving pitch

Change FPS

Change video frame rate without changing audio speed:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -filter:v fps=60 output.mp4

Jump cuts

Remove segments and keep only specified time ranges:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "select='between(t,0.0,5.7)+between(t,11.0,18.0)+between(t,19.0,20.0)',setpts=N/FRAME_RATE/TB" \
  -af "aselect='between(t,0.0,5.7)+between(t,11.0,18.0)+between(t,19.0,20.0)',asetpts=N/SR/TB" \
  output.mp4

Used for making clips shorter, silence removal, removing transitions.

setpts=N/FRAME_RATE/TB and asetpts=N/SR/TB reset presentation timestamps:

• N - count of consumed frames/audio samples (from 0)
• FRAME_RATE / SR - video frame rate / audio sample rate
• TB - timebase of input timestamps

Video cropping for social media

Crop 1080x720 video to 720x1080 vertical by cropping chunks at specific timeframes, upscaling 1.5x:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "split=3[1][2][3]; \
    [1]trim=0.0:4.5,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS,crop=min(in_w-300\,480):min(in_h-0\,720):300:0,scale=720:1080,setsar=1:1[1]; \
    [2]trim=4.5:8.5,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS,crop=min(in_w-500\,480):min(in_h-0\,720):500:0,scale=720:1080,setsar=1:1[2]; \
    [3]trim=8.5,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS,crop=min(in_w-400\,480):min(in_h-0\,720):400:0,scale=720:1080,setsar=1:1[3]; \
    [1][2][3]concat=n=3:v=1" \
  -c:v libx264 -c:a copy output.mp4

• split=3 - splits input into 3 named streams
• trim=0.0:4.5 - cuts to time range; omit end to go to video end
• setpts=PTS-STARTPTS - required after trim before concat to reset timestamps
• crop=width:height:x:y - the min() prevents cropping outside frame boundaries

With black padding for out-of-bounds crops:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "split=3[1][2][3]; \
    [1]trim=0.0:4.5,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS,crop=min(in_w-1200\,480):min(in_h-0\,720):1200:0,pad=480:720:(ow-iw)/2:(oh-ih)/2:color=black,scale=720:1080,setsar=1:1[1]; \
    [2]trim=4.5:8.5,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS,crop=min(in_w-500\,480):min(in_h-0\,720):500:0,pad=480:720:(ow-iw)/2:(oh-ih)/2:color=black,scale=720:1080,setsar=1:1[2]; \
    [3]trim=8.5,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS,crop=min(in_w-400\,480):min(in_h-0\,720):400:0,pad=480:720:(ow-iw)/2:(oh-ih)/2:color=black,scale=720:1080,setsar=1:1[3]; \
    [1][2][3]concat=n=3:v=1" \
  -c:v libx264 -c:a copy output.mp4

Overlay text on video (drawtext)

Three text messages with timed fade-in and semi-transparent background:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "drawtext=text='Get ready':x=50:y=100:fontsize=80:fontcolor=black:alpha='if(gte(t,1)*lte(t,3),(t-1)/2,1)':box=1:boxcolor=#6bb666@0.6:boxborderw=7:enable='gte(t,1)', \
       drawtext=text='Set':x=50:y=200:fontsize=80:fontcolor=black:alpha='if(gte(t,6)*lte(t,10),(t-6)/4,1)':box=1:boxcolor=#6bb666@0.6:boxborderw=7:enable='gte(t,6)', \
       drawtext=text='BOOM!':x=50:y=300:fontsize=80:fontcolor=black:alpha='if(gte(t,10)*lte(t,15),(t-10)/5,1)':box=1:boxcolor=#6bb666@0.6:boxborderw=7:enable='gte(t,10)'" \
  -c:v libx264 output.mp4

drawtext reference

Text from file with custom font

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "drawtext=textfile=text.txt:fontfile=Poppins-Regular.ttf:x=50:y=100:fontsize=40:fontcolor=black:alpha='if(gte(t,1)*lte(t,5),t-1,1)':box=1:boxcolor=#6bb666@0.6:boxborderw=7:enable='gte(t,1)'" \
  -c:v libx264 output.mp4

ffmpeg does not download textfile= or fontfile= files - they must be local. Use textfile instead of inline text to avoid shell special character issues.

Subtitles

Burn subtitles with custom font and style

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 00:00 -to 00:40 \
  -vf "subtitles=subs.srt:fontsdir=.:force_style='FontName=Poppins,FontSize=24,PrimaryColour=&HFFFFFF,OutlineColour=&H4066B66B,Outline=1,BorderStyle=3'" \
  -c:v libx264 -c:a copy output.mp4

• Use FontName (not filename) - check by opening the font file
• Specify fontsdir for the directory containing the font
• Colours: &HBBGGRR or &HAABBGGRR (FF = fully transparent, 00 = opaque)
• PrimaryColour = font colour
• OutlineColour with Outline=1,BorderStyle=3 creates a coloured background
• Burn subtitles reference
• Subtitles filter reference

For heavily customised subtitles use ASS format. ASS reference. For pixel-perfect effects, create opaque images and overlay them.

Embed subtitles in MKV (no re-encoding)

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -i subs.srt \
  -c copy -c:s srt -disposition:s:0 default output.mkv

• -c:s srt - subtitle format
• -disposition:s:0 default - set as default subtitle track

Extract subtitles from MKV

ffmpeg -i input.mkv -map 0:s:0 subs.srt

Combine media assets

Overlay image/logo on video

ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -i logo.png \
  -filter_complex "overlay=x=(main_w-overlay_w)/8:y=(main_h-overlay_h)/8:enable='gte(t,1)*lte(t,7)'" \
  -c:v libx264 -c:a copy output.mp4

• main_w/main_h - main video dimensions
• overlay_w/overlay_h - overlay image dimensions
• enable controls visibility timing

Overlay with controlled transparency

ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -i logo.png \
  -filter_complex "[1:v]format=argb,geq='p(X,Y)':a='0.5*alpha(X,Y)'[v1]; \
    [0:v][v1]overlay=x=(main_w-overlay_w)/8:y=(main_h-overlay_h)/8:enable='gte(t,1)*lte(t,7)'" \
  -c:v libx264 -c:a copy output.mp4

• format=argb - converts to ARGB for alpha channel support
• geq='p(X,Y)' - preserves original pixel colours
• a='0.5*alpha(X,Y)' - 50% transparency

Video on background image

ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -i background.png \
  -filter_complex "[1:v][0:v]overlay=(W-w)/2:(H-h)/2" \
  -c:v libx264 -c:a copy output.mp4

• [1:v][0:v] - background first, then video on top
• W/H = first stream (background) dimensions; w/h = second stream (video)

Concat intro + main + outro with background music

ffmpeg -i intro.mp4 -i main.mp4 -i outro.mp4 -i bgm.mp3 \
  -filter_complex " \
    [0:v]fps=30,format=yuv420p,setsar=1[intro_v]; \
    [1:v]scale=-2:720:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=1280:720:(ow-iw)/2:(oh-ih)/2:black,fps=30,format=yuv420p,setsar=1[main_v]; \
    [2:v]fps=30,format=yuv420p,setsar=1[outro_v]; \
    [0:a]aformat=sample_fmts=fltp:channel_layouts=stereo[intro_a]; \
    [1:a]aformat=sample_fmts=fltp:channel_layouts=stereo[main_a]; \
    [2:a]aformat=sample_fmts=fltp:channel_layouts=stereo[outro_a]; \
    [intro_v][intro_a][main_v][main_a][outro_v][outro_a]concat=n=3:v=1:a=1[combined_video][combined_audio]; \
    [3:a]volume=0.1,aformat=sample_fmts=fltp,afade=t=in:ss=0:d=1.5,afade=t=out:st=20:d=2[bgm_faded]; \
    [combined_audio][bgm_faded]amix=inputs=2:duration=first:dropout_transition=2[final_audio]" \
  -map "[combined_video]" -map "[final_audio]" \
  -c:v libx264 -c:a aac -shortest output.mp4

• duration=first - output audio duration matches combined audio
• dropout_transition=2 - fade out shorter audio to avoid abrupt cutoff
• aformat=sample_fmts=fltp - 32-bit float planar format (common in ffmpeg)

Stack two videos vertically

ffmpeg -i top.mp4 -i bottom.mp4 \
  -filter_complex " \
    [0:v]scale=720:-2:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=720:640:(ow-iw)/2:(oh-ih)/2:black[top]; \
    [1:v]scale=720:-2:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=720:640:(ow-iw)/2:(oh-ih)/2:black[bottom]; \
    [top][bottom]vstack=inputs=2:shortest=1[v]" \
  -map "[v]" -map 1:a -c:v libx264 -c:a aac -shortest output.mp4

• shortest=1 in vstack - follow shortest video stream
• -shortest - match output to shortest of video/audio