Media Processing Skill
Process video, audio, and images using FFmpeg and ImageMagick command-line tools for conversion, optimization, streaming, and manipulation tasks.
When to Use This Skill
Use when:
Converting media formats (video, audio, images) Encoding video with codecs (H.264, H.265, VP9, AV1) Processing images (resize, crop, effects, watermarks) Extracting audio from video Creating streaming manifests (HLS/DASH) Generating thumbnails and previews Batch processing media files Optimizing file sizes and quality Applying filters and effects Creating composite images or videos Tool Selection Guide FFmpeg: Video/Audio Processing
Use FFmpeg for:
Video encoding, conversion, transcoding Audio extraction, conversion, mixing Live streaming (RTMP, HLS, DASH) Video filters (scale, crop, rotate, overlay) Hardware-accelerated encoding Media file inspection (ffprobe) Frame extraction, concatenation Codec selection and optimization ImageMagick: Image Processing
Use ImageMagick for:
Image format conversion (PNG, JPEG, WebP, GIF) Resizing, cropping, transformations Batch image processing (mogrify) Visual effects (blur, sharpen, sepia) Text overlays and watermarks Image composition and montages Color adjustments, filters Thumbnail generation Decision Matrix Task Tool Why Video encoding FFmpeg Native video codec support Audio extraction FFmpeg Direct stream manipulation Image resize ImageMagick Optimized for still images Batch images ImageMagick mogrify for in-place edits Video thumbnails FFmpeg Frame extraction built-in GIF creation FFmpeg or ImageMagick FFmpeg for video source, ImageMagick for images Streaming FFmpeg Live streaming protocols Image effects ImageMagick Rich filter library Installation macOS brew install ffmpeg imagemagick
Ubuntu/Debian sudo apt-get install ffmpeg imagemagick
Windows
Using winget
winget install ffmpeg winget install ImageMagick.ImageMagick
Or download binaries
FFmpeg: https://ffmpeg.org/download.html
ImageMagick: https://imagemagick.org/script/download.php
Verify Installation ffmpeg -version ffprobe -version magick -version
or
convert -version
Quick Start Examples Video Conversion
Convert format (copy streams, fast)
ffmpeg -i input.mkv -c copy output.mp4
Re-encode with H.264
ffmpeg -i input.avi -c:v libx264 -crf 22 -c:a aac output.mp4
Resize video to 720p
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf scale=-1:720 -c:a copy output.mp4
Audio Extraction
Extract audio (no re-encoding)
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vn -c:a copy audio.m4a
Convert to MP3
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vn -q:a 0 audio.mp3
Image Processing
Convert format
magick input.png output.jpg
Resize maintaining aspect ratio
magick input.jpg -resize 800x600 output.jpg
Create square thumbnail
magick input.jpg -resize 200x200^ -gravity center -extent 200x200 thumb.jpg
Batch Image Resize
Resize all JPEGs to 800px width
mogrify -resize 800x -quality 85 *.jpg
Output to separate directory
mogrify -path ./output -resize 800x600 *.jpg
Video Thumbnail
Extract frame at 5 seconds
ffmpeg -ss 00:00:05 -i video.mp4 -vframes 1 -vf scale=320:-1 thumb.jpg
HLS Streaming
Generate HLS playlist
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \ -c:v libx264 -preset fast -crf 22 -g 48 \ -c:a aac -b:a 128k \ -f hls -hls_time 6 -hls_playlist_type vod \ playlist.m3u8
Image Watermark
Add watermark to corner
magick input.jpg watermark.png -gravity southeast \ -geometry +10+10 -composite output.jpg
Common Workflows Optimize Video for Web
H.264 with good compression
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \ -c:v libx264 -preset slow -crf 23 \ -c:a aac -b:a 128k \ -movflags +faststart \ output.mp4
Create Responsive Images
Generate multiple sizes
for size in 320 640 1024 1920; do magick input.jpg -resize ${size}x -quality 85 "output-${size}w.jpg" done
Extract Video Segment
From 1:30 to 3:00 (re-encode for precision)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 00:01:30 -to 00:03:00 \ -c:v libx264 -c:a aac output.mp4
Batch Image Optimization
Convert PNG to optimized JPEG
mogrify -path ./optimized -format jpg -quality 85 -strip *.png
Video GIF Creation
High quality GIF with palette
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "fps=15,scale=640:-1:flags=lanczos,split[s0][s1];[s0]palettegen[p];[s1][p]paletteuse" output.gif
Image Blur Effect
Gaussian blur
magick input.jpg -gaussian-blur 0x8 output.jpg
Advanced Techniques Multi-Pass Video Encoding
Pass 1 (analysis)
ffmpeg -y -i input.mkv -c:v libx264 -b:v 2600k -pass 1 -an -f null /dev/null
Pass 2 (encoding)
ffmpeg -i input.mkv -c:v libx264 -b:v 2600k -pass 2 -c:a aac output.mp4
Hardware-Accelerated Encoding
NVIDIA NVENC
ffmpeg -hwaccel cuda -i input.mp4 -c:v h264_nvenc -preset fast -crf 22 output.mp4
Intel QuickSync
ffmpeg -hwaccel qsv -c:v h264_qsv -i input.mp4 -c:v h264_qsv output.mp4
Complex Image Pipeline
Resize, crop, border, adjust
magick input.jpg \ -resize 1000x1000^ \ -gravity center \ -crop 1000x1000+0+0 +repage \ -bordercolor black -border 5x5 \ -brightness-contrast 5x10 \ -quality 90 \ output.jpg
Video Filter Chains
Scale, denoise, watermark
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -i logo.png \ -filter_complex "[0:v]scale=1280:720,hqdn3d[v];[v][1:v]overlay=10:10" \ -c:a copy output.mp4
Animated GIF from Images
Create with delay
magick -delay 100 -loop 0 frame*.png animated.gif
Optimize size
magick animated.gif -fuzz 5% -layers Optimize optimized.gif
Media Analysis Inspect Video Properties
Detailed JSON output
ffprobe -v quiet -print_format json -show_format -show_streams input.mp4
Get resolution
ffprobe -v error -select_streams v:0 \ -show_entries stream=width,height \ -of csv=s=x:p=0 input.mp4
Image Information
Basic info
identify image.jpg
Detailed format
identify -verbose image.jpg
Custom format
identify -format "%f: %wx%h %b\n" image.jpg
Performance Tips Use CRF for quality control - Better than bitrate for video Copy streams when possible - Avoid re-encoding with -c copy Hardware acceleration - GPU encoding 5-10x faster Appropriate presets - Balance speed vs compression Batch with mogrify - In-place image processing Strip metadata - Reduce file size with -strip Progressive JPEG - Better web loading with -interlace Plane Limit memory - Prevent crashes on large batches Test on samples - Verify settings before batch Parallel processing - Use GNU Parallel for multiple files Reference Documentation
Detailed guides in references/:
ffmpeg-encoding.md - Video/audio codecs, quality optimization, hardware acceleration ffmpeg-streaming.md - HLS/DASH, live streaming, adaptive bitrate ffmpeg-filters.md - Video/audio filters, complex filtergraphs imagemagick-editing.md - Format conversion, effects, transformations imagemagick-batch.md - Batch processing, mogrify, parallel operations format-compatibility.md - Format support, codec recommendations Common Parameters FFmpeg Video -c:v - Video codec (libx264, libx265, libvpx-vp9) -crf - Quality (0-51, lower=better, 23=default) -preset - Speed/compression (ultrafast to veryslow) -b:v - Video bitrate (e.g., 2M, 2500k) -vf - Video filters FFmpeg Audio -c:a - Audio codec (aac, mp3, opus) -b:a - Audio bitrate (e.g., 128k, 192k) -ar - Sample rate (44100, 48000) ImageMagick Geometry 800x600 - Fit within (maintains aspect) 800x600! - Force exact size 800x600^ - Fill (may crop) 800x - Width only x600 - Height only 50% - Scale percentage Troubleshooting
FFmpeg "Unknown encoder"
Check available encoders
ffmpeg -encoders | grep h264
Install codec libraries
sudo apt-get install libx264-dev libx265-dev
ImageMagick "not authorized"
Edit policy file
sudo nano /etc/ImageMagick-7/policy.xml
Change
to
Memory errors
Limit memory usage
ffmpeg -threads 4 input.mp4 output.mp4 magick -limit memory 2GB -limit map 4GB input.jpg output.jpg
Resources FFmpeg: https://ffmpeg.org/documentation.html FFmpeg Wiki: https://trac.ffmpeg.org/ ImageMagick: https://imagemagick.org/ ImageMagick Usage: https://imagemagick.org/Usage/