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@ESWZY
Last active May 9, 2024 17:48
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An example Python code for compressing video file to target size.
# Simplified version and explanation at: https://stackoverflow.com/a/64439347/12866353
import os
import ffmpeg
def compress_video(video_full_path, size_upper_bound, two_pass=True, filename_suffix='cps_'):
"""
Compress video file to max-supported size.
:param video_full_path: the video you want to compress.
:param size_upper_bound: Max video size in KB.
:param two_pass: Set to True to enable two-pass calculation.
:param filename_suffix: Add a suffix for new video.
:return: out_put_name or error
"""
filename, extension = os.path.splitext(video_full_path)
extension = '.mp4'
output_file_name = filename + filename_suffix + extension
# Adjust them to meet your minimum requirements (in bps), or maybe this function will refuse your video!
total_bitrate_lower_bound = 11000
min_audio_bitrate = 32000
max_audio_bitrate = 256000
min_video_bitrate = 100000
try:
# Bitrate reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bit_rate#Encoding_bit_rate
probe = ffmpeg.probe(video_full_path)
# Video duration, in s.
duration = float(probe['format']['duration'])
# Audio bitrate, in bps.
audio_bitrate = float(next((s for s in probe['streams'] if s['codec_type'] == 'audio'), None)['bit_rate'])
# Target total bitrate, in bps.
target_total_bitrate = (size_upper_bound * 1024 * 8) / (1.073741824 * duration)
if target_total_bitrate < total_bitrate_lower_bound:
print('Bitrate is extremely low! Stop compress!')
return False
# Best min size, in kB.
best_min_size = (min_audio_bitrate + min_video_bitrate) * (1.073741824 * duration) / (8 * 1024)
if size_upper_bound < best_min_size:
print('Quality not good! Recommended minimum size:', '{:,}'.format(int(best_min_size)), 'KB.')
# return False
# Target audio bitrate, in bps.
audio_bitrate = audio_bitrate
# target audio bitrate, in bps
if 10 * audio_bitrate > target_total_bitrate:
audio_bitrate = target_total_bitrate / 10
if audio_bitrate < min_audio_bitrate < target_total_bitrate:
audio_bitrate = min_audio_bitrate
elif audio_bitrate > max_audio_bitrate:
audio_bitrate = max_audio_bitrate
# Target video bitrate, in bps.
video_bitrate = target_total_bitrate - audio_bitrate
if video_bitrate < 1000:
print('Bitrate {} is extremely low! Stop compress.'.format(video_bitrate))
return False
i = ffmpeg.input(video_full_path)
if two_pass:
ffmpeg.output(i, os.devnull,
**{'c:v': 'libx264', 'b:v': video_bitrate, 'pass': 1, 'f': 'mp4'}
).overwrite_output().run()
ffmpeg.output(i, output_file_name,
**{'c:v': 'libx264', 'b:v': video_bitrate, 'pass': 2, 'c:a': 'aac', 'b:a': audio_bitrate}
).overwrite_output().run()
else:
ffmpeg.output(i, output_file_name,
**{'c:v': 'libx264', 'b:v': video_bitrate, 'c:a': 'aac', 'b:a': audio_bitrate}
).overwrite_output().run()
if os.path.getsize(output_file_name) <= size_upper_bound * 1024:
return output_file_name
elif os.path.getsize(output_file_name) < os.path.getsize(video_full_path): # Do it again
return compress_video(output_file_name, size_upper_bound)
else:
return False
except FileNotFoundError as e:
print('You do not have ffmpeg installed!', e)
print('You can install ffmpeg by reading https://github.com/kkroening/ffmpeg-python/issues/251')
return False
if __name__ == '__main__':
file_name = compress_video('input.mp4', 50 * 1000)
print(file_name)
@felipef78
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Hi. I'm trying to use these codes, but all three versions keep giving me errors:

-The StackOverflow version runs up to the second ffmpeg.output where it terminates with a [NULL @ memory address] Unable to find a suitable output format for 'input path' 'output path': invalid argument.

-The full version doesn't recognize the key 'format' in duration = float(probe['format']['duration']).

-The typed version doesn't recognize the type -> None|NoReturn at the check_bitrate function.

Do you have any idea of a possible solution?

@ESWZY
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ESWZY commented Jul 20, 2022

Hi. I'm trying to use these codes, but all three versions keep giving me errors:

-The StackOverflow version runs up to the second ffmpeg.output where it terminates with a [NULL @ memory address] Unable to find a suitable output format for 'input path' 'output path': invalid argument.

-The full version doesn't recognize the key 'format' in duration = float(probe['format']['duration']).

-The typed version doesn't recognize the type -> None|NoReturn at the check_bitrate function.

Do you have any idea of a possible solution?

It looks like some unsupported file type. Could you give us some details about your file?

@felipef78
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Hi. I'm trying to use these codes, but all three versions keep giving me errors:
-The StackOverflow version runs up to the second ffmpeg.output where it terminates with a [NULL @ memory address] Unable to find a suitable output format for 'input path' 'output path': invalid argument.
-The full version doesn't recognize the key 'format' in duration = float(probe['format']['duration']).
-The typed version doesn't recognize the type -> None|NoReturn at the check_bitrate function.
Do you have any idea of a possible solution?

It looks like some unsupported file type. Could you give us some details about your file?

It's just an mp4 file. If you need any other info, you might have to point me to how I can get it.

I tried the following code and it worked, but your solution seems more flexible, so I'd still like to make it work.

import os
import subprocess

import ffmpeg

subprocess.run('ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vcodec h264 -acodec mp2 output.mp4')

@ESWZY
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ESWZY commented Jul 21, 2022

Hi. I'm trying to use these codes, but all three versions keep giving me errors:
-The StackOverflow version runs up to the second ffmpeg.output where it terminates with a [NULL @ memory address] Unable to find a suitable output format for 'input path' 'output path': invalid argument.
-The full version doesn't recognize the key 'format' in duration = float(probe['format']['duration']).
-The typed version doesn't recognize the type -> None|NoReturn at the check_bitrate function.
Do you have any idea of a possible solution?

It looks like some unsupported file type. Could you give us some details about your file?

It's just an mp4 file. If you need any other info, you might have to point me to how I can get it.

I tried the following code and it worked, but your solution seems more flexible, so I'd still like to make it work.

import os
import subprocess

import ffmpeg

subprocess.run('ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vcodec h264 -acodec mp2 output.mp4')

I think it's a version mismatch or a file format problem. I have not tested this code in many platforms. If you know the duration of your video, you can assign a value directly to variable duration.

@Inge1234567890
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I am getting this error with the first code example and the simplified version on stackoverflow. Any solution?

audio_bitrate = float(next((s for s in probe['streams'] if s['codec_type'] == 'audio'), None)['bit_rate'])

TypeError: 'NoneType' object is not subscriptable

@ESWZY
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ESWZY commented Aug 6, 2022

I am getting this error with the first code example and the simplified version on stackoverflow. Any solution?

audio_bitrate = float(next((s for s in probe['streams'] if s['codec_type'] == 'audio'), None)['bit_rate'])

TypeError: 'NoneType' object is not subscriptable

Please print out the probe variable. Maybe something is missing here.

@Inge1234567890
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Inge1234567890 commented Aug 6, 2022

Spoiler - fixed it allready {'streams': [{'index': 0, 'codec_name': 'h264', 'codec_long_name': 'H.264 / AVC / MPEG-4 AVC / MPEG-4 part 10', 'profile': 'High', 'codec_type': 'video', 'codec_time_base': '1001/60000', 'codec_tag_string': 'avc1', 'codec_tag': '0x31637661', 'width': 1920, 'height': 1080, 'coded_width': 1920, 'coded_height': 1088, 'closed_captions': 0, 'has_b_frames': 1, 'sample_aspect_ratio': '1:1', 'display_aspect_ratio': '16:9', 'pix_fmt': 'yuv420p', 'level': 40, 'color_range': 'tv', 'color_space': 'bt709', 'color_transfer': 'bt709', 'color_primaries': 'bt709', 'chroma_location': 'left', 'field_order': 'progressive', 'refs': 1, 'is_avc': 'true', 'nal_length_size': '4', 'r_frame_rate': '30000/1001', 'avg_frame_rate': '30000/1001', 'time_base': '1/30000', 'start_pts': 0, 'start_time': '0.000000', 'duration_ts': 23635612, 'duration': '787.853733', 'bit_rate': '18752', 'bits_per_raw_sample': '8', 'disposition': {'default': 1, 'dub': 0, 'original': 0, 'comment': 0, 'lyrics': 0, 'karaoke': 0, 'forced': 0, 'hearing_impaired': 0, 'visual_impaired': 0, 'clean_effects': 0, 'attached_pic': 0, 'timed_thumbnails': 0}, 'tags': {'creation_time': '2021-04-03T13:57:24.000000Z', 'language': 'und', 'handler_name': 'ISO Media file produced by Google Inc.'}}], 'format': {'filename': 'input.mp4', 'nb_streams': 1, 'nb_programs': 0, 'format_name': 'mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2', 'format_long_name': 'QuickTime / MOV', 'start_time': '0.000000', 'duration': '787.853733', 'size': '196029230', 'bit_rate': '1990513', 'probe_score': 100, 'tags': {'major_brand': 'dash', 'minor_version': '0', 'compatible_brands': 'iso6avc1mp41', 'creation_time': '2021-04-03T13:57:24.000000Z'}}}

my ytdl params are ydl_opts = {'cookiefile': 'cookies.txt',
'output': 'C:/xxx/videos',
'outtmpl': 'input.mp4',
'format': 'bestvideo[ext=mp4]',
'progress_hooks': [self.my_hook]}

My format was without audio, so i have to add

                'format': 'bestvideo[ext=mp4]+bestaudio[ext=m4a]/bestvideo+bestaudio',

Next problem:

Spoiler - fixed it allready too Now a new problem occures:
raise Error('ffprobe', out, err)

ffmpeg._run.Error: ffprobe error (see stderr output for detail). i found out that there is a missing av1 encoder, but not how to solve the problem.

Fixed it allready by updating ffmpeg.

Now this error occures:

duration = float(probe['format']['duration'])

KeyError: 'format'

@ESWZY
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ESWZY commented Aug 6, 2022

Spoiler - fixed it allready
{'streams': [{'index': 0, 'codec_name': 'h264', 'codec_long_name': 'H.264 / AVC / MPEG-4 AVC / MPEG-4 part 10', 'profile': 'High', 'codec_type': 'video', 'codec_time_base': '1001/60000', 'codec_tag_string': 'avc1', 'codec_tag': '0x31637661', 'width': 1920, 'height': 1080, 'coded_width': 1920, 'coded_height': 1088, 'closed_captions': 0, 'has_b_frames': 1, 'sample_aspect_ratio': '1:1', 'display_aspect_ratio': '16:9', 'pix_fmt': 'yuv420p', 'level': 40, 'color_range': 'tv', 'color_space': 'bt709', 'color_transfer': 'bt709', 'color_primaries': 'bt709', 'chroma_location': 'left', 'field_order': 'progressive', 'refs': 1, 'is_avc': 'true', 'nal_length_size': '4', 'r_frame_rate': '30000/1001', 'avg_frame_rate': '30000/1001', 'time_base': '1/30000', 'start_pts': 0, 'start_time': '0.000000', 'duration_ts': 23635612, 'duration': '787.853733', 'bit_rate': '18752', 'bits_per_raw_sample': '8', 'disposition': {'default': 1, 'dub': 0, 'original': 0, 'comment': 0, 'lyrics': 0, 'karaoke': 0, 'forced': 0, 'hearing_impaired': 0, 'visual_impaired': 0, 'clean_effects': 0, 'attached_pic': 0, 'timed_thumbnails': 0}, 'tags': {'creation_time': '2021-04-03T13:57:24.000000Z', 'language': 'und', 'handler_name': 'ISO Media file produced by Google Inc.'}}], 'format': {'filename': 'input.mp4', 'nb_streams': 1, 'nb_programs': 0, 'format_name': 'mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2', 'format_long_name': 'QuickTime / MOV', 'start_time': '0.000000', 'duration': '787.853733', 'size': '196029230', 'bit_rate': '1990513', 'probe_score': 100, 'tags': {'major_brand': 'dash', 'minor_version': '0', 'compatible_brands': 'iso6avc1mp41', 'creation_time': '2021-04-03T13:57:24.000000Z'}}}
my ytdl params are ydl_opts = {'cookiefile': 'cookies.txt', 'output': 'C:/xxx/videos', 'outtmpl': 'input.mp4', 'format': 'bestvideo[ext=mp4]', 'progress_hooks': [self.my_hook]}

My format was without audio, so i have to add

                'format': 'bestvideo[ext=mp4]+bestaudio[ext=m4a]/bestvideo+bestaudio',

Next problem:

Spoiler - fixed it allready too
Now a new problem occures:

raise Error('ffprobe', out, err)

ffmpeg._run.Error: ffprobe error (see stderr output for detail). i found out that there is a missing av1 encoder, but not how to solve the problem.

Fixed it allready by updating ffmpeg.

Now this error occures:

duration = float(probe['format']['duration'])

KeyError: 'format'

Thanks for your report! I have not tested videos without audio, and I will fix it.

It's weird that your probe already has this field format, but reports missing here. Please print it again to have a look.🧐

@Inge1234567890
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Thats all really strange. the print of probe is empty.

that´s because ytdl does not merge audio and video before the hook starts.

This is my code:

def compress_video(self, video_full_path, output_file_name, target_size):
    # Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bit_rate#Encoding_bit_rate
    min_audio_bitrate = 32000
    max_audio_bitrate = 256000

    probe = ffmpeg.probe(video_full_path)
    print("Probe")
    print(probe)
    # Video duration, in s.
    duration = float(probe['format']['duration'])
    # Audio bitrate, in bps.
    audio_bitrate = float(next((s for s in probe['streams'] if s['codec_type'] == 'audio'), None)['bit_rate'])
    # Target total bitrate, in bps.
    target_total_bitrate = (target_size * 1024 * 8) / (1.073741824 * duration)

    # Target audio bitrate, in bps
    if 10 * audio_bitrate > target_total_bitrate:
        audio_bitrate = target_total_bitrate / 10
        if audio_bitrate < min_audio_bitrate < target_total_bitrate:
            audio_bitrate = min_audio_bitrate
        elif audio_bitrate > max_audio_bitrate:
            audio_bitrate = max_audio_bitrate
    # Target video bitrate, in bps.
    video_bitrate = target_total_bitrate - audio_bitrate

    i = ffmpeg.input(video_full_path)
    ffmpeg.output(i, os.devnull,
                  **{'c:v': 'libx264', 'b:v': video_bitrate, 'pass': 1, 'f': 'mp4'}
                  ).overwrite_output().run()
    ffmpeg.output(i, output_file_name,
                  **{'c:v': 'libx264', 'b:v': video_bitrate, 'pass': 2, 'c:a': 'aac', 'b:a': audio_bitrate}
                  ).overwrite_output().run()

def my_hook(self, d):
    if d['status'] == 'finished':
        filename = d['filename']
        print(filename)
        self.compress_video(filename, 'output.mp4', 50 * 1000)
        print('Done downloading, now converting ...')



async def download(self):
    ydl_opts = {'cookiefile': 'cookies.txt',
                'output': 'C:/xxx/videos',
                'outtmpl': 'input.mp4',
                'format': 'bestvideo[ext=mp4]+bestaudio[ext=m4a]/best[ext=mp4]/best',
                'progress_hooks': [self.my_hook]}
    with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
        ydl.download('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXkkUOCfnOQ')

with this i get
audio_bitrate = float(next((s for s in probe['streams'] if s['codec_type'] == 'audio'), None)['bit_rate'])
TypeError: 'NoneType' object is not subscriptable

because there is a input.f137.mp4 file with no audio only.

ytdl does not merge my files before i convert with ffmpeg. really strange

@ESWZY
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ESWZY commented Aug 6, 2022

@Inge1234567890 Yes, because the d['filename'] is just the video part, not the full part.

Maybe you can ues meta = ydl.extract_info(url, download=True) instead. And read the meta['ext'] (or meta['entries'][0]['ext']) to get the full filename.

@davidraider
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@ESWZY hi I used your code and it works perfectly for my project. I am new to python so I struggling on how to get the stdout to get the realtime status to a progressbar.can you help me out?

@ESWZY
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ESWZY commented Jun 27, 2023

@ESWZY hi I used your code and it works perfectly for my project. I am new to python so I struggling on how to get the stdout to get the realtime status to a progressbar.can you help me out?

That's interesting! But I think it is difficult to get the stdout directly from the code above without modifications.

As an idea, the ffmpeg library in Python just calls the ffmpeg binary, you can use this library as an alternative (just rename this library as ffmpeg):

https://github.com/althonos/ffpb

https://github.com/althonos/ffpb/blob/da41f96433bfc1d48a3ba4523d647ea1dac6a44e/ffpb.py#L155C21-L155C27

Or, you can parse the output of this Python snippet by following answers:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/747982/can-ffmpeg-show-a-progress-bar

@leonegao
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leonegao commented Jan 3, 2024

Do you have any function to compress a video file in Django in production? Thanks

@jmartinezchaine
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skvideo.io.FFmpegWriter con esta Clase es posible utiliar H264, una fiesta

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