How can I convert AVI files into MPGs with ffmpeg?

Question

I have this problem with some AVI files. The output of

ffmpeg -i file.avi

contains the line

[NULL @ 0x97c4d40]Invalid and inefficient vfw-avi packed B frames detected.

Someone advised me to use

ffmpeg -i file.avi -vcodec h263 -acodec aac -f mpg output.mpg

to convert the file to the correct format, but that produces the error

Unknown input or output format: mpg

How can I convert my files?

Have you tried repairing the file? `ffmpeg -i infile.avi -acodec copy -vcodec copy outfile.avi` — slhck, Mar 15 '11 at 19:34

jet · Answer 1 · 2011-03-15T19:08:07.280

4

mpeg instead of mpg

ffmpeg -i file.avi -vcodec mpeg4 -f mpeg output.mp4

edited Mar 15 '11 at 19:08

answered Mar 15 '11 at 18:39

jet

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This writes error message: Unknown encoder 'aac' – xralf Mar 15 '11 at 18:50
I edited my answer - try – jet Mar 15 '11 at 19:08
This writes: Error while opening codec for output stream #0.1 - maybe incorrect parameters such as bit_rate, rate, width or height – xralf Mar 15 '11 at 19:21
1

`ffmpeg -i file.avi -vcodec mpeg4 -s 320x240 -b 300k -r 23.98 -acodec libmp3lame -ar 48000 -ab 112k output.mp4` - you can play with size and bitrate – jet Mar 15 '11 at 19:50
The same error. – xralf Mar 15 '11 at 19:59

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 16 '15 at 06:31

3

Thanks to Andreas Cadhalpun ffmpeg now has new filter: mpeg4_unpack_bframes (see ref).

Usage is as simple as:

ffmpeg -i INPUT.avi -codec copy -bsf:v mpeg4_unpack_bframes OUTPUT.mpg

answered Aug 16 '15 at 06:31

malat

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I get `buffer underflow` error. When it finished converting, the video works, but there is no sound – parsecer Jun 17 '21 at 11:51

score 1 · Answer 3 · edited Mar 13 '12 at 17:05

I'd use MPEG Streamclip. It's really simple. Although they haven't updated the software in a while, I've been using the same version for years (most recently on my Intel Mac with OS 10.6.6). It's good for individual files. Not sure about batching. Good luck.

MPEG Streamclip is a powerful free video converter, player, editor for Mac and Windows. It can play many movie files, not only MPEGs; it can convert MPEG files between muxed/demuxed formats for authoring; it can encode movies to many formats, including iPod; it can cut, trim and join movies. MPEG Streamclip can also download videos from YouTube and Google by entering the page URL.

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 24 '12 at 03:06

I had a similar case when I ran

ffmpeg -v 5 -i input.avi -f null -

and the following errors appeared:

[mpeg4 @ 02505f00] Invalid and inefficient vfw-avi packed B frames detected
[null @ 024eb020] Encoder did not produce proper pts, making some up.

The solution:

ffmpeg.exe -i input.avi output.mp4

As simple as that.

(Use output.mpg to convert to mpg.)

How can I convert AVI files into MPGs with ffmpeg?

4 Answers4