convertVideo

Convert video files between popular formats using ffmpeg.

Usage

openGyver convertVideo <input-file> [flags]

Prerequisites

ffmpeg must be installed and available in PATH.

Platform	Install Command
macOS	brew install ffmpeg
Linux	apt install ffmpeg / dnf install ffmpeg
Windows	ffmpeg.org/download.html

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
input-file	Yes	Path to the input video file

Flags

Flag	Short	Type	Default	Description
--output	-o	string	""	Output file path (required)
--resolution		string	""	Output resolution (e.g., 1920x1080, 1280x720)
--vbitrate		string	""	Video bitrate (e.g., 2M, 5M, 10M)
--abitrate		string	""	Audio bitrate (e.g., 128k, 192k, 320k)
--fps		string	""	Frames per second (e.g., 24, 30, 60)
--codec		string	""	Video codec (e.g., libx264, libx265, libvpx-vp9)
--quiet	-q	bool	false	Suppress output messages (for piping)
--json	-j	bool	false	Output result as JSON
--help	-h	bool	false	Show help for convertVideo

Supported Formats (37)

3G2, 3GP, 3GPP, ASF, AV1, AVI, CAVS, DIVX, DV, DVR, F4V, FLV, HEVC, M2TS, M2V, M4V, MJPEG, MKV, MOD, MOV, MP4, MPEG, MPG, MTS, MXF, OGG, OGV, RM, RMVB, SWF, TOD, TS, VOB, WEBM, WMV, WTV, XVID

Additionally, GIF is supported as an output format for creating animated GIFs from video.

Common Video Codecs

Codec	Description
libx264	H.264/AVC (widely compatible, good quality)
libx265	H.265/HEVC (better compression, newer)
libvpx-vp9	VP9 (good for WebM)
libaom-av1	AV1 (best compression, slow encoding)
mpeg4	MPEG-4 Part 2 (legacy)

Examples

# Convert AVI to MP4
openGyver convertVideo input.avi -o output.mp4

# Convert MKV to WebM
openGyver convertVideo input.mkv -o output.webm

# Convert with specific resolution
openGyver convertVideo input.mov -o output.mp4 --resolution 1920x1080

# Set video and audio bitrate
openGyver convertVideo input.mp4 -o output.mp4 --vbitrate 5M --abitrate 192k

# Create an animated GIF from video
openGyver convertVideo input.mp4 -o output.gif --fps 10

# Use a specific video codec
openGyver convertVideo input.mp4 -o output.webm --codec libvpx-vp9

# Downscale to 720p
openGyver convertVideo input.mp4 -o output.mp4 --resolution 1280x720

# Convert with H.265 for smaller file size
openGyver convertVideo input.mov -o output.mp4 --codec libx265

# Convert old format to modern MP4
openGyver convertVideo input.wmv -o output.mp4

# High-quality conversion with all options
openGyver convertVideo input.mov -o output.mp4 --resolution 1920x1080 --vbitrate 8M --abitrate 256k --fps 30 --codec libx264

# Quiet mode for scripting
openGyver convertVideo input.avi -o output.mp4 -q

# JSON output for automation
openGyver convertVideo input.avi -o output.mp4 -j

# Convert VOB (DVD) to MP4
openGyver convertVideo input.vob -o output.mp4

# Convert MTS (camera footage) to MP4
openGyver convertVideo footage.mts -o footage.mp4

# Pipe JSON output to jq
openGyver convertVideo input.avi -o output.mp4 -j | jq '.output_format'

# Batch convert with a shell loop
for f in *.avi; do openGyver convertVideo "$f" -o "${f%.avi}.mp4" -q; done

# Create low-fps GIF for preview
openGyver convertVideo clip.mp4 -o preview.gif --fps 5 --resolution 320x240

JSON Output Format

{
  "success": true,
  "input": "input.avi",
  "output": "output.mp4",
  "output_format": "mp4",
  "resolution": "1920x1080",
  "video_bitrate": "5M",
  "audio_bitrate": "192k",
  "fps": "30",
  "codec": "libx264"
}

Notes

• The output format is determined by the file extension of the --output path.
• If optional flags (--resolution, --vbitrate, --abitrate, --fps, --codec) are not specified, ffmpeg uses sensible defaults for the output format.
• The -y flag is passed to ffmpeg automatically, so existing output files will be overwritten without prompting.
• GIF is accepted as an output format even though it is not in the main supported formats list. Use --fps to control the frame rate of the resulting GIF.
• Resolution is specified as WIDTHxHEIGHT (e.g., 1920x1080).
• Video bitrate uses ffmpeg notation: 2M = 2 Mbps, 500k = 500 Kbps.
• Audio bitrate uses ffmpeg notation: 128k = 128 Kbps, 320k = 320 Kbps.