Can't add watermark using scale2ref with hardware transcoding in FFmpeg?

FFmpeg Command for CUDA GPU with Watermark

This article provides a detailed explanation on how to use FFmpeg with a CUDA GPU to add a watermark to a video. We will cover the key concepts, subtopics, and provide properly formatted code blocks for different programming languages.

Prerequisites

Before we dive into the FFmpeg command, ensure you have the following prerequisites:

• An NVIDIA GPU with CUDA support
• FFmpeg installed with CUDA support

FFmpeg Command

Here is the FFmpeg command for adding a watermark to a video using a CUDA GPU:

ffmpeg -y -init_hw_device cuda=cuda:0 -filter_hw_device cuda -vsync 0 -hwaccel cuda -hwaccel_output_format cuda -i ./input.avi -i ./watermark.png -filter_complex "overlay=W-w-10:H-h-10" -c:v libx264 -crf 23 -preset slow -c:a aac -b:a 192k -movflags +faststart output.mp4

Explanation of the FFmpeg Command

The FFmpeg command consists of the following parameters:

• -y: Overwrite output files without asking
• -init_hw_device cuda=cuda:0: Initialize the CUDA device (0 is the default device)
• -filter_hw_device cuda: Enable hardware acceleration using CUDA
• -vsync 0: Disable video sync to prevent dropped frames
• -hwaccel cuda: Enable CUDA hardware acceleration for the output
• -hwaccel_output_format cuda: Set the output format to CUDA
• -i ./input.avi: Input video file
• -i ./watermark.png: Watermark image file
• -filter_complex "overlay=W-w-10:H-h-10": Overlay the watermark on the video with the specified position
• -c:v libx264: Set the video codec to H.264
• -crf 23: Set the constant rate factor for H.264 encoding
• -preset slow: Set the encoding preset to slow for better quality
• -c:a aac: Set the audio codec to AAC
• -b:a 192k: Set the audio bitrate to 192k
• -movflags +faststart: Add the faststart flag to improve streaming
• output.mp4: Output video file

References

• FFmpeg Documentation
• Add Watermark to Video Using FFmpeg
• Install FFmpeg on Ubuntu Linux