Convert MP4 to AVI using FFmpeg on macOS

Convert MP4 to AVI using FFmpeg on macOS

If you're a macOS user and you're looking to convert MP4 videos to AVI format, you can use the powerful and versatile FFmpeg tool. In this article, we will guide you through the process of converting MP4 videos to AVI using FFmpeg on macOS.

What is FFmpeg?

FFmpeg is a free and open-source tool that can be used for handling multimedia files. It supports a wide range of video and audio formats, including MP4 and AVI. FFmpeg can be used for various tasks, such as transcoding, streaming, and filtering multimedia files.

Installing FFmpeg on macOS

Before you can start converting MP4 videos to AVI using FFmpeg on macOS, you need to install FFmpeg. You can install FFmpeg on macOS using Homebrew. If you don't have Homebrew installed, you can install it by running the following command in your terminal:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Once you have Homebrew installed, you can install FFmpeg by running the following command:

brew install ffmpeg

Converting MP4 to AVI using FFmpeg on macOS

Once you have installed FFmpeg on your macOS system, you can start converting MP4 videos to AVI. Here is an example command that you can use to convert an MP4 video to AVI using FFmpeg:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:a pcm_s16le -ar 22050 -r 10 -block_size 2205 -vf scale=1280:720 output.avi

Let's break down this command:

• ffmpeg: This is the FFmpeg command-line tool.

• -i input.mp4: This specifies the input file, which is an MP4 video.

• -c:a pcm_s16le: This specifies the audio codec to use for the output file. In this case, we are using the PCM S16LE codec.

• -ar 22050: This sets the audio sample rate to 22050 Hz.

• -r 10: This sets the video frame rate to 10 frames per second.

• -block_size 2205: This sets the block size to 2205 bytes.

• -vf scale=1280:720: This sets the video filter to scale the video to 1280x720 resolution.

• output.avi: This specifies the output file, which is an AVI video.

Adding Subtitles to the Output File

If you want to add subtitles to the output file, you can use the following command:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:a pcm_s16le -ar 22050 -r 10 -block_size 2205 -vf scale=1280:720,subtitles=subtitle.srt output.avi

In this command, we added the subtitles=subtitle.srt filter. This filter adds subtitles to the output file. Make sure that the subtitle file (in this case, subtitle.srt) is in the same directory as the input file.

In this article, we covered the process of converting MP4 videos to AVI using FFmpeg on macOS. We discussed the basics of FFmpeg and how to install it on macOS. We also covered the different options that you can use to convert MP4 videos to AVI using FFmpeg on macOS. Finally, we discussed how to add subtitles to the output file.

References

• FFmpeg

• Homebrew

• Scaling (resizing) within ffmpeg

• Filtering Guide