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This reference lists all encoders available in FFmpeg for encoding video, audio, and subtitle streams.

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Video Encoders

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Modern Video Encoders

EncoderCodecDescription
libx264H.264/AVCIndustry-standard H.264 encoder (external library)
h264_nvencH.264/AVCNVIDIA GPU-accelerated H.264 encoder
h264_qsvH.264/AVCIntel Quick Sync H.264 encoder
h264_videotoolboxH.264/AVCApple VideoToolbox H.264 encoder
h264_amfH.264/AVCAMD AMF H.264 encoder
h264_v4l2m2mH.264/AVCVideo4Linux2 H.264 encoder
libx265H.265/HEVCHigh-efficiency H.265 encoder (external library)
hevc_nvencH.265/HEVCNVIDIA GPU-accelerated HEVC encoder
hevc_qsvH.265/HEVCIntel Quick Sync HEVC encoder
hevc_videotoolboxH.265/HEVCApple VideoToolbox HEVC encoder
libvpxVP8Google VP8 encoder
libvpx-vp9VP9Google VP9 encoder
libaom-av1AV1Alliance for Open Media AV1 encoder
libsvtav1AV1SVT-AV1 encoder (optimized)

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MPEG Family Encoders

EncoderCodecDescription
mpeg1videoMPEG-1MPEG-1 video encoder
mpeg2videoMPEG-2MPEG-2 video encoder
mpeg4MPEG-4 Part 2MPEG-4 Part 2 video encoder
msmpeg4v2MS-MPEG4v2Microsoft MPEG-4 v2 encoder
msmpeg4v3MS-MPEG4v3Microsoft MPEG-4 v3 encoder
wmv1WMV 7Windows Media Video 7 encoder
wmv2WMV 8Windows Media Video 8 encoder
h261H.261ITU H.261 encoder
h263H.263ITU H.263 encoder
h263pH.263+H.263+ encoder

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Professional & Lossless Encoders

EncoderCodecDescription
proresProResApple ProRes encoder (proxy, LT, standard, HQ)
prores_awProResAlternative ProRes encoder
prores_ksProResKostya’s ProRes encoder
dnxhdDNxHDAvid DNxHD/DNxHR encoder
ffv1FFV1FFmpeg lossless video encoder
ffvhuffFFVHuffFFmpeg variant of HuffYUV
huffyuvHuffYUVLossless HuffYUV encoder
utvideoUt VideoLossless Ut Video encoder
cfhdCineform HDGoPro Cineform encoder
vc2Dirac ProSMPTE VC-2 (Dirac Pro) encoder
speedhqSpeedHQNewTek SpeedHQ encoder

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Image & Animation Encoders

EncoderCodecDescription
mjpegMotion JPEGMotion JPEG encoder
ljpegLossless JPEGLossless JPEG encoder
jpeg2000JPEG 2000JPEG 2000 image/video encoder
jpeglsJPEG-LSJPEG-LS lossless/near-lossless encoder
pngPNGPortable Network Graphics encoder
apngAPNGAnimated PNG encoder
gifGIFGraphics Interchange Format encoder
webpWebPGoogle WebP encoder (via libwebp)
tiffTIFFTagged Image File Format encoder
bmpBMPWindows Bitmap encoder
dpxDPXDigital Picture Exchange encoder
exrOpenEXROpenEXR high dynamic range encoder
fitsFITSFlexible Image Transport System encoder

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Raw & Uncompressed Encoders

EncoderCodecDescription
rawvideoRawUncompressed raw video
v210v210Uncompressed 10-bit 4:2:2
v308v308Uncompressed 8-bit 4:4:4
v408v408Uncompressed 8-bit with alpha
v410v410Uncompressed 10-bit 4:4:4
r210r210Uncompressed 10-bit RGB
r10kr10kUncompressed 10-bit RGB
y41pY41PUncompressed 4:1:1
yuv4YUV4Uncompressed 4:2:0
ayuvAYUVUncompressed 4:4:4 with alpha
bitpackedBitpackedBitpacked video

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Legacy & Specialized Encoders

EncoderCodecDescription
cinepakCinepakCinepak animation encoder
flashsvFlash ScreenFlash Screen Video encoder
flashsv2Flash Screen 2Flash Screen Video 2 encoder
flvFLVFlash Video (Sorenson Spark) encoder
qtrleQuickTime RLEQuickTime Animation (RLE) encoder
smcQuickTime GraphicsQuickTime Graphics encoder
snowSnowFFmpeg’s experimental Snow encoder
svq1Sorenson Video 1Sorenson Vector Quantizer 1 encoder
zlibZLIBZLIB compressed RGB encoder
zmbvZMBVZip Motion Blocks Video encoder
a64multiCommodore 64Commodore 64 multicolor encoder
a64multi5Commodore 64Commodore 64 multicolor variant
amvAMVAMV video encoder
asv1ASUS V1ASUS Video v1 encoder
asv2ASUS V2ASUS Video v2 encoder

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Audio Encoders

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Lossy Audio Encoders

EncoderCodecDescription
aacAACNative FFmpeg AAC encoder
libfdk_aacAACFraunhofer FDK AAC encoder (high quality)
libmp3lameMP3LAME MP3 encoder
mp2MP2MPEG Audio Layer 2 encoder
mp2fixedMP2Fixed-point MP2 encoder
libopusOpusOpus audio encoder
libvorbisVorbisVorbis audio encoder
vorbisVorbisNative FFmpeg Vorbis encoder
ac3AC-3Dolby Digital (AC-3) encoder
ac3_fixedAC-3Fixed-point AC-3 encoder
eac3E-AC-3Dolby Digital Plus encoder
dcaDTSDTS Coherent Acoustics encoder
wmav1WMA v1Windows Media Audio v1 encoder
wmav2WMA v2Windows Media Audio v2 encoder

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Lossless Audio Encoders

EncoderCodecDescription
flacFLACFree Lossless Audio Codec encoder
alacALACApple Lossless Audio Codec encoder
wavpackWavPackWavPack lossless encoder
ttaTTATrue Audio lossless encoder
mlpMLPMeridian Lossless Packing encoder
truehdTrueHDDolby TrueHD encoder

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Speech & Low-Bitrate Encoders

EncoderCodecDescription
libopusOpusOpus encoder (excellent for speech)
libspeexSpeexSpeex speech encoder
g723_1G.723.1ITU G.723.1 speech encoder
libcodec2Codec2Low-bitrate speech codec
ra_144RealAudio 14.4RealAudio 14.4kbps encoder
roq_dpcmRoQ DPCMid Software RoQ DPCM encoder
sbcSBCLow Complexity Subband Codec (Bluetooth)
comfortnoiseComfort NoiseComfort noise generator

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PCM Encoders

EncoderFormatDescription
pcm_s16lePCM16-bit signed little-endian
pcm_s16bePCM16-bit signed big-endian
pcm_s24lePCM24-bit signed little-endian
pcm_s24bePCM24-bit signed big-endian
pcm_s32lePCM32-bit signed little-endian
pcm_s32bePCM32-bit signed big-endian
pcm_f32lePCM32-bit float little-endian
pcm_f32bePCM32-bit float big-endian
pcm_f64lePCM64-bit float little-endian
pcm_f64bePCM64-bit float big-endian
pcm_alawPCMA-law compressed PCM
pcm_mulawPCMμ-law compressed PCM
pcm_blurayPCMBlu-ray PCM
pcm_dvdPCMDVD PCM

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ADPCM Encoders

EncoderFormatDescription
adpcm_adxADXCRI ADX ADPCM
adpcm_ima_wavIMA WAVIMA WAV ADPCM
adpcm_ima_qtIMA QTQuickTime IMA ADPCM
adpcm_msMS ADPCMMicrosoft ADPCM
adpcm_yamahaYamahaYamaha ADPCM
adpcm_swfFlashFlash ADPCM

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Specialized Audio Encoders

EncoderCodecDescription
nellymoserNellymoserNellymoser ASAO encoder
sonicSonicExperimental lossy encoder
sonic_lsSonic LosslessExperimental lossless encoder
dfpwmDFPWMDFPWM1a audio encoder
adpcm_adxADXCRI Middleware ADX encoder
roq_dpcmRoQid Software RoQ DPCM encoder
s302mS302MSMPTE 302M PCM encoder

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Subtitle Encoders

EncoderFormatDescription
assASS/SSAAdvanced SubStation Alpha encoder
srtSubRipSubRip text encoder
webvttWebVTTWeb Video Text Tracks encoder
mov_textMOVTextMP4 timed text encoder
ttmlTTMLTimed Text Markup Language encoder
dvdsubDVD SubDVD bitmap subtitle encoder
dvbsubDVB SubDVB bitmap subtitle encoder
xsubXSUBDivX XSUB encoder

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Usage Examples

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Video Encoding

# H.264 encoding with libx264
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -preset medium -crf 23 output.mp4

# H.265 encoding with libx265
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx265 -preset medium -crf 28 output.mp4

# Hardware-accelerated H.264 (NVIDIA)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v h264_nvenc -preset medium output.mp4

# ProRes encoding
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v prores_ks -profile:v 3 output.mov

# Lossless FFV1 encoding
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v ffv1 -level 3 output.mkv

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Audio Encoding

# AAC encoding
ffmpeg -i input.wav -c:a aac -b:a 192k output.m4a

# MP3 encoding
ffmpeg -i input.wav -c:a libmp3lame -q:a 2 output.mp3

# Opus encoding
ffmpeg -i input.wav -c:a libopus -b:a 128k output.opus

# FLAC lossless
ffmpeg -i input.wav -c:a flac output.flac

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Getting Encoder Information

# List all encoders
ffmpeg -encoders

# Get detailed help for specific encoder
ffmpeg -h encoder=libx264
ffmpeg -h encoder=aac

# List encoder-specific options
ffmpeg -h encoder=libx265

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See Also

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