How to extract all key frames from a video clip?

I'm trying to extract key frames from a video clip. I tried the following command, but it extracts all frames.

ffmpeg -vf select="eq(pict_type\,PICT_TYPE_I)" -i 2.flv -vsync 2 -s 73x41 -r 30 -f image2 thumbnails-%%02d.jpeg

ffmpeg

Rashed Mustafa

Posted 2013-11-05T07:01:46.257

Reputation: 91

Answers

You can make this simpler using -skip_frame without the need for select video filter:

ffmpeg -skip_frame nokey -i 2.flv -vsync 0 -r 30 -f image2 thumbnails-%02d.jpeg

radoh

Posted 2013-11-05T07:01:46.257

Reputation: 361

2Amazing, takes less than 10s on a 20min video compared to more than 3 minutes with select filter ! – mad – 2018-04-08T15:23:18.223

Make sure to use -threads 1, compared to the default -threads auto it makes a cropdetect filter graph (ffmpeg -threads 1 -skip_frame nokey -i input.mkv -filter:v select='not(mod(n\,20))',cropdetect -an -f null /dev/null) 2x as fast on my system (60s down to 30s)! – genpfault – 2019-02-09T03:36:50.457

I would not use skip_frame nokey. Have you even checked the output? On my files and build (aug 2019) I get improper time stamps, as in nokey gives me the preceding frame before the I frame, while the nonfiltered/all frames show the I frame at a later time stamp. – JasonXA – 2019-11-21T04:57:37.193

Example using the select and scale filters:

ffmpeg -i 2.flv -vf "select=eq(pict_type\,I),scale=73x41" \
-vsync vfr -qscale:v 2 thumbnails-%02d.jpeg

A few tips:

Filters should not come before the -i option, as they're an output option. I don't know where exactly you got the command from, but PICT_TYPE_I does not exist – it should be I.
In the scale filter you can replace 73 or 41 to have the filter automatically calculate the width or height to preserve aspect ratio: such as scale=73:-1 or scale=-1:41. This prevents stretching or squishing that can result from "forced" scaling.
Output quality can be controlled with -qscale:v (or the alias -q:v). Effective range is a linear scale of 2 to 31 and a lower value is a higher quality.
That your ffmpeg allows a filter before the input tells me it could be outdated. Download a recent static build for your operating system, or build it yourself according to the compilation guides if the above does not work.

slhck

Posted 2013-11-05T07:01:46.257

Reputation: 182 472

1If your goal is to extract the key frames losslessly, you can try the following: ffmpeg -i 2.flv -vf "select=eq(pict_type\,I)" -vsync vfr frame-%02d.png – Peltier – 2015-03-07T14:11:56.277

if this errors：

Option vf (set video filters) cannot be applied to input url 1508.mp4 -- you are trying to apply an input option to an output file or vice versa. Move this option before the file it belongs to. Error parsing options for input file 1508.mp4. Error opening input files: Invalid argument

you can do this：

ffmpeg -i 263.mp4 -vf select=eq(pict_type\,PICT_TYPE_I)  -vsync 2 -s 480x320 -r 24 -f image2 thumbnails-%05d.jpeg

==--------------------------------------------

“-i” Parameters in advance

steve

Posted 2013-11-05T07:01:46.257

Reputation: 1