Asset Generation

Asset Generation

Image to video

Create 10-second video from looping image with audio and fade-in:

ffmpeg -loop 1 -t 10 -i image.png -i audio.mp3 \
  -vf "scale=1280:720:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=1280:720:-1:-1:color=black,setsar=1,fade=t=in:st=0:d=1,format=yuv420p" \
  -c:v libx264 -c:a aac -shortest output.mp4

• -loop 1 - infinitely loop input image
• -t 10 - limit loop duration to 10 seconds
• fade=t=in:st=0:d=1 - 1-second fade-in at start
• Loop reference

For faster processing, download the image locally first (ffmpeg re-downloads each frame from URLs).

Slideshow with fade

5 seconds per image, fading between images:

ffmpeg -loop 1 -t 5 -i image1.png -loop 1 -t 5 -i image2.png -i audio.mp3 \
  -filter_complex " \
    [0:v]format=yuv420p,fade=t=in:st=0:d=0.5,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS[v0]; \
    [1:v]format=yuv420p,fade=t=out:st=4.5:d=0.5,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS[v1]; \
    [v0][v1]xfade=transition=fade:duration=0.5:offset=4.5,format=yuv420p[v]" \
  -map "[v]" -map 2:a -c:v libx264 -c:a aac -shortest output.mp4

Output is 9.5 seconds (0.5s overlap during transition). First image fades in, last fades out.

• Streams flow: [0:v] filtered to [v0], [1:v] to [v1], then xfade to [v]
• xfade=transition=fade:duration=0.5:offset=4.5 - starts transition at 4.5s of first image, lasts 0.5s

Ken Burns effect (zoompan)

Zoom in on first image centre, fade to second image which zooms out from left:

ffmpeg -loop 1 -i image1.png -loop 1 -i image2.png -i audio.mp3 \
  -filter_complex " \
    [0:v]scale=8000:-1,zoompan=z='zoom+0.005':x='iw/2-(iw/zoom/2)':y='ih/2-(ih/zoom/2)':d=100:s=1920x1080:fps=25,trim=duration=4,format=yuv420p,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS[v0]; \
    [1:v]scale=8000:-1,zoompan=z='if(lte(zoom,1.0),1.5,max(zoom-0.005,1.005))':x=0:y='ih/2-(ih/zoom/2)':d=100:s=1920x1080:fps=25,trim=duration=4,format=yuv420p,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS[v1]; \
    [v0][v1]xfade=transition=fade:duration=1:offset=3,format=yuv420p[v]" \
  -map "[v]" -map 2:a -c:v libx264 -c:a aac -shortest output.mp4

Output is 7 seconds (4s + 4s - 1s fade overlap).

zoompan reference

Zoom-in parameters:

• z='zoom+0.005' - each frame adds 0.005 zoom
• x='iw/2-(iw/zoom/2)':y='ih/2-(ih/zoom/2)' - pan to centre
• d=100:s=1920x1080:fps=25 - 100 frames at 25fps = 4 seconds

Zoom-out parameters:

• z='if(lte(zoom,1.0),1.5,max(zoom-0.005,1.005))' - start at 1.5x zoom, decrease by 0.005 per frame until 1.005x
• x=0 - pan from left side

Key details:

• scale=8000:-1 - upscale first to avoid jitteriness bug with zoompan. Costs more compute but smooth result.
• trim=duration=4 required instead of -t because zoompan's internal frame/fps control overrides -t
• Ken Burns Effect

Create GIFs

Looping GIF from video, auto-scaled to 320px height, every 2nd frame, 10x speed:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "select='gt(trunc(t/2),trunc(prev_t/2))',setpts='PTS*0.1',scale=trunc(oh*a/2)*2:320:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=trunc(oh*a/2)*2:320:-1:-1" \
  -loop 0 -an output.gif

• select='gt(trunc(t/2),trunc(prev_t/2))' - take every 2nd frame
• setpts='PTS*0.1' - 10x playback speed
• -loop 0 - infinite loop (default, can be omitted); -loop 1 loops once
• -an - no audio

Video compilation with fades

Split single video into segments with fade effects and concatenate:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -filter_complex " \
    [0:v]trim=start=11:end=15,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS,fade=t=in:st=0:d=0.5,fade=t=out:st=3.5:d=0.5[v1]; \
    [0:a]atrim=start=11:end=15,asetpts=PTS-STARTPTS,afade=t=in:st=0:d=0.5,afade=t=out:st=3.5:d=0.5[a1]; \
    [0:v]trim=start=21:end=25,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS,fade=t=in:st=0:d=0.5,fade=t=out:st=3.5:d=0.5[v2]; \
    [0:a]atrim=start=21:end=25,asetpts=PTS-STARTPTS,afade=t=in:st=0:d=0.5,afade=t=out:st=3.5:d=0.5[a2]; \
    [v1][a1][v2][a2]concat=n=2:v=1:a=1[outv][outa]" \
  -map "[outv]" -map "[outa]" -c:v libx264 -c:a aac output.mp4

• trim=start=X:end=Y - cut video to time range; atrim for audio
• setpts=PTS-STARTPTS - reset timestamps from 0
• fade=t=in:st=0:d=0.5 / fade=t=out:st=3.5:d=0.5 - fade effects
• afade - audio fade equivalent
• concat=n=2:v=1:a=1 - combine 2 segments with video and audio

Thumbnails

Single frame at specific time

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 00:00:07 -frames:v 1 thumbnail.png

With quality control (JPEG, 2 = best, 31 = worst):

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 00:00:07 -frames:v 1 -q:v 2 thumbnail.jpg

Multiple thumbnails at different times

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -filter_complex "[0:v]split=2[first][second];[first]select='gte(t,5)'[thumb1];[second]select='gte(t,15)'[thumb2]" \
  -map [thumb1] -frames:v 1 thumb_5s.png \
  -map [thumb2] -frames:v 1 thumb_15s.png

-frames:v 1 - output only 1 video frame.

Scene change detection thumbnail

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "select='gt(scene,0.4)'" -frames:v 1 -q:v 2 scene_thumb.jpg

gt(scene,0.4) - sensitivity 0 to 1 (lower = more sensitive). Recommended: 0.3-0.5.

Image thumbnail from input images

Overlay multiple images on a base image:

ffmpeg -i base.png -i overlay1.png -i overlay2.png \
  -filter_complex " \
    [1]scale=640:360,pad=648:368:4:4:black[overlay1]; \
    [2]scale=640:360,pad=648:368:4:4:black[overlay2]; \
    [0][overlay1]overlay=0:main_h-overlay_h[tmp1]; \
    [tmp1][overlay2]overlay=main_w-overlay_w:main_h-overlay_h" \
  -frames:v 1 thumbnail.png

Storyboards

Scene-based tile

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "select='gt(scene,0.4)',scale=640:480,tile=2x2" \
  -frames:v 1 storyboard.jpg

tile=2x2 creates a 2x2 grid from detected scenes.

Separate images per scene

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "select='gt(scene,0.4)'" \
  -vsync 0 scene_%03d.jpg

-vsync 0 drops duplicate frames from the same scene.

Note: -vsync is deprecated in newer ffmpeg versions; use -fps_mode instead. Reference

Keyframe-based tile

ffmpeg -skip_frame nokey -i input.mp4 \
  -vf 'scale=640:480,tile=4x4' \
  -an -vsync 0 keyframes_%03d.png

-skip_frame nokey - skip all non-keyframes.

Every Nth frame

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "select=not(mod(n\,10)),scale=640:480,tile=4x2" \
  -vsync 0 tile_%03d.png

Every 10th frame in 4x2 tiles. Remove ,tile=4x2 for individual frame images.