FFmpeg Video Editing Skill#

Basic video editing operations: cutting, trimming, concatenating, and splitting videos.

When to Use#

• Cut segments from video
• Trim video length
• Concatenate multiple videos
• Split video into parts
• Extract specific time ranges

Cutting and Trimming#

bash

# Cut from 10s to 30s (using -ss and -to)
ffmpeg -ss 00:00:10 -to 00:00:30 -i input.mp4 -c copy output.mp4

# Cut from 10s for 20 seconds duration
ffmpeg -ss 00:00:10 -t 20 -i input.mp4 -c copy output.mp4

# First 60 seconds
ffmpeg -t 60 -i input.mp4 -c copy output.mp4

# Last 30 seconds (need duration first)
ffmpeg -sseof -30 -i input.mp4 -c copy output.mp4

Precise Cutting#

bash

# With re-encoding (more precise)
ffmpeg -ss 00:00:10 -i input.mp4 -t 20 -c:v libx264 -c:a aac output.mp4

# Keyframe-accurate (faster, may be less precise)
ffmpeg -ss 00:00:10 -i input.mp4 -t 20 -c copy output.mp4

Concatenation#

Method 1: File List (Recommended)#

bash

# Create list.txt file:
# file 'video1.mp4'
# file 'video2.mp4'
# file 'video3.mp4'

ffmpeg -f concat -safe 0 -i list.txt -c copy output.mp4

Method 2: Same Codec Files#

bash

# If all videos have same codec/format
ffmpeg -i "concat:video1.mp4|video2.mp4|video3.mp4" -c copy output.mp4

Method 3: Re-encode (Different Codecs)#

bash

# Re-encode for compatibility
ffmpeg -f concat -safe 0 -i list.txt -c:v libx264 -c:a aac output.mp4

Splitting Video#

bash

# Split into 60-second segments
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c copy -f segment -segment_time 60 \
  -reset_timestamps 1 output_%03d.mp4

# Split at specific timestamps
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 00:00:00 -t 00:01:00 -c copy part1.mp4
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 00:01:00 -t 00:01:00 -c copy part2.mp4

Extract Segment with Re-encoding#

bash

# When you need to change quality/codec
ffmpeg -ss 00:00:10 -i input.mp4 -t 20 \
  -c:v libx264 -crf 23 -c:a aac -b:a 192k output.mp4

Multiple Segments#

bash

# Extract multiple segments
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -ss 00:00:10 -t 00:00:05 -c copy segment1.mp4 \
  -ss 00:01:00 -t 00:00:10 -c copy segment2.mp4

Notes#

• Use -c copy for speed (no re-encoding)
• -ss before -i is faster but less precise
• -ss after -i is more precise but slower
• Concatenation requires same codec/format for -c copy
• Use file list method for best concatenation results