How to use ffmpeg to encode mp4 to mov

Question

I trying to use ffmpeg to encode a video for the first time. Can anyone tell me the exact command to encode a video in the following format:

Music Video HD Source Profile

● Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) ● VBR expected at ~220 Mbps ● HD encoded dimensions accepted to support square pixel aspect ratios (PASP): Encoded PASP Converted to ProRes From 1920 x 1080 1:1 HDCAM SR, D5, ATSC 1280 x 720 1:1 ATSC progressive

● HD encoded dimensions accepted to support non-square pixel aspect ratios (this allows you to send HD video in the native dimensions of your best original source, for example in HD broadcast dimensions*):

Encoded PASP Converted to ProRes From 1440 x 1080 1:1.33333 XDCAM-HD, HDCAM 1280 x 1080 1:1.5 DVCProHD interlaced 960 x 720 1:1.33333 DVCProHD progressive

Native frame rate of original source:

● 29.97 interlaced frames per second for video sourced ● 24 or 25 progressive frames per second for film sourced ● 23.976 progressive frames for inverse telecine sourced from film ● Telecine materials will not be accepted

● HD source may be delivered matted: letterbox, pillarbox, or windowbox.

Music Video Audio Source Profile

Stereo ● MPEG-1 layer II stereo ● 384 kpbs ● 48Khz ● Included in the same file as the delivered video

Solution

I used to do a lot of this stuff when i worked in the industry, I used mencoder personally (which I then wrapped into a VB.NET app to poll the directory for new files and auto encode them when they were delivered) but FFMPEG is the most popular.

MP4 and MOV are just containers that have an audio and a video stream inside them, these streams can be in multiple formats for example you could have an MP4 with AAC Audio and X264 video or you could have an MP4 with MP3 audio and X265 video, they are both MP4's but they are very different inside the container.

To change containers (re-encoding streams if necessary):

ffmpeg -i input_file.mp4 -f mov output_file.mov

Do some research into FFMPEG and the command line parameters, -acodec and -vcodec can be played around with for re-encoding to different bitrates and formats.

Comments

[Ken Williams]

I don't think he/she copied & pasted from any such instruction set, those are just the (verbose) characteristics of the current & desired formats. I'm a casual user of ffmpeg and I do find the learning curve quite difficult because it requires detailed learning about both formats & the tool at the same time.

[Ken Williams]

However - much thanks for this answer. I was able to copy & paste it without doing any interpretation, and it solved my exact problem. =)

[Ken Williams]

Actually, I spoke too soon. I think I need to go do some research on what streams are compatible with Power Point 2010 on Windows. Simply changing containers from MP4 to MOV doesn't seem to have done the trick.

[slhck]

Note to readers: There is rarely a need to just change the containers. Most of the time if there are specific requirements you need to actually re-encode the video stream. So this command isn't going to help.

[Angsuman Chakraborty]

Remove -acodec copy -vcodec copy and you should fine.