[FFmpeg-user] -c:v or -vcodec copy or -codec:v

[DopeLabs]

c:v is an abbreviated version of codec:v

vcodec is an alias of codec:v

So all 3 function the same, but are not limited to 'copy' only. It is used to specify the codec, or copy.

For example

ffmpeg -i INPUT -map 0 -c:v libx264 -c:a copy OUTPUT

encodes all video streams with libx264 and copies all audio streams.

This could also be written as

ffmpeg -i INPUT -map 0 -codec:v libx264 -acodec copy OUTPUT

or

ffmpeg -i INPUT -map 0 -vcodec libx264 -codec:a copy OUTPUT




From the man pages:

-vcodec codec (output)

Set the video codec. This is an alias for "-codec:v".


-c[:stream_specifier] codec (input/output,per-stream)
-codec[:stream_specifier] codec (input/output,per-stream)

Select an encoder (when used before an output file) or a decoder (when used before an input file) for one or more streams. codec is the name of a decoder/encoder or a special value "copy" (output only to indicate that the stream is not to be re-encoded.


For example

ffmpeg -i INPUT -map 0 -c:v libx264 -c:a copy OUTPUT

encodes all video streams with libx264 and copies all audio streams.






> On Feb 21, 2017, at 11:39 51PM, Tim Hiles <thiles at confex.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> What is the deal with all the different ways to copy?  Do they all do the
> same thing? Cause if not, it is NOT clear what they are and if so....seems
> like a lot of redundancy.
> 
> Thanks!
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