How to create thumbnail image from .flv video by using ffmpeg ?

Question

I am using following command to create thumbnail image from flv video , image is created but with error (image doesn't open)

ffmpeg -ss 00:00:10 -i output.mp4 -f image2  -s 150x150 -vframes 1  -c:v libx264  assetPathNew.jpg

ffmpeg version 0.9.2, Copyright (c) 2000-2012 the FFmpeg developers
  built on Oct 22 2012 11:15:53 with gcc 4.4.4 20100630 (Red Hat 4.4.4-10)
  configuration: --enable-libx264 --enable-gpl
  libavutil    51. 32. 0 / 51. 32. 0
  libavcodec   53. 42. 4 / 53. 42. 4
  libavformat  53. 24. 2 / 53. 24. 2
  libavdevice  53.  4. 0 / 53.  4. 0
  libavfilter   2. 53. 0 /  2. 53. 0
  libswscale    2.  1. 0 /  2.  1. 0
  libpostproc  51.  2. 0 / 51.  2. 0
Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from 'output.mp4':
  Metadata:
    major_brand     : isom
    minor_version   : 512
    compatible_brands: isomiso2avc1mp41
    creation_time   : 1970-01-01 00:00:00
    encoder         : Lavf52.64.2
  Duration: 00:00:16.96, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 873 kb/s
    Stream #0:0(und): Video: h264 (High) (avc1 / 0x31637661), yuv420p, 320x240, 825 kb/s, 25 fps, 25 tbr, 25 tbn, 50 tbc
    Metadata:
      creation_time   : 1970-01-01 00:00:00
      handler_name    : VideoHandler
    Stream #0:1(und): Audio: mp3 (mp4a / 0x6134706D), 22050 Hz, stereo, s16, 40 kb/s
    Metadata:
      creation_time   : 1970-01-01 00:00:00
      handler_name    : 
[buffer @ 0xa1c7620] w:320 h:240 pixfmt:yuv420p tb:1/1000000 sar:0/1 sws_param:
[scale @ 0xa1befa0] w:320 h:240 fmt:yuv420p -> w:150 h:150 fmt:yuv420p flags:0x4
[libx264 @ 0xa1bc540] using cpu capabilities: none!
[libx264 @ 0xa1bc540] profile High, level 1.1
Output #0, image2, to 'assetPathNew.jpg':
  Metadata:
    major_brand     : isom
    minor_version   : 512
    compatible_brands: isomiso2avc1mp41
    creation_time   : 1970-01-01 00:00:00
    encoder         : Lavf53.24.2
    Stream #0:0(und): Video: h264, yuv420p, 150x150, q=-1--1, 90k tbn, 25 tbc
    Metadata:
      creation_time   : 1970-01-01 00:00:00
      handler_name    : VideoHandler
Stream mapping:
  Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (h264 -> libx264)
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
frame=    1 fps=  0 q=28.0 Lsize=       0kB time=00:00:00.-4 bitrate=  -0.0kbits/s dup=0 drop=41    
video:5kB audio:0kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead -100.000000%
[libx264 @ 0xa1bc540] frame I:1     Avg QP:32.24  size:  4707
[libx264 @ 0xa1bc540] mb I  I16..4:  0.0% 43.0% 57.0%
[libx264 @ 0xa1bc540] 8x8 transform intra:43.0%
[libx264 @ 0xa1bc540] coded y,uvDC,uvAC intra: 94.8% 97.0% 74.0%
[libx264 @ 0xa1bc540] i8 v,h,dc,ddl,ddr,vr,hd,vl,hu: 35% 10%  9% 12%  8%  7%  3% 10%  5%
[libx264 @ 0xa1bc540] i4 v,h,dc,ddl,ddr,vr,hd,vl,hu: 22% 17% 13% 10%  7%  8%  6% 10%  8%
[libx264 @ 0xa1bc540] i8c dc,h,v,p: 49% 19% 19% 13%
[libx264 @ 0xa1bc540] kb/s:941.40

Answer 1

When you pass -c:v libx264 after -i, you're telling FFmpeg to encode the input video stream to x264 video. However, you're telling it to write the video to an image2 format, within a JPEG file. This, naturally, won't work. You can actually see this in the stream mapping:

Stream mapping:
Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (h264 -> libx264)

So let's make FFmpeg write a JPEG image. Use a simple command instead:

ffmpeg -ss 00:00:10 -i output.mp4 -s 150x150 -vframes 1 assetPathNew.jpg

This time, we get the correct stream mapping:

Stream mapping:
Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (h264 -> mjpeg)

Note that FFmpeg will automatically choose the right container. You therefore don't need the -f image2.

Using 150x150 will probably create a stretched image and will not keep the original aspect ratio of the input. You can use the scale filter to automatically resize while keeping the aspect ratio:

ffmpeg -ss 00:00:10 -i output.mp4 -filter:v scale=150:-1 -vframes 1 assetPathNew.jpg

This will most likely give you an output of 150x113. If you must have a size of 150x150, then you can add the pad filter to fill in the extra:

ffmpeg -ss 00:00:10 -i output.mp4 -filter:v "scale=150:-1,pad=iw:150:0:(ow-ih)/2" -vframes 1 assetPathNew.jpg