Different tasks are performed by FFmpeg and FFprobe in the multimedia processing workflow. While FFprobe is a tool for multimedia analysis, metadata extraction, and media stream information retrieval, FFmpeg is mainly used for activities like video cutting, encoding, and manipulation.
FFmpeg is usually used for trimming videos because it can edit, crop, and resize videos. FFprobe, on the other hand, is useful for retrieving details about the video’s attributes, like codec specifications, resolution, and duration, even though it is not intended for video editing.
This is an example of how to trim a video with FFmpeg:
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss START_TIME -to END_TIME -c copy output.mp4
-i input.mp4: Specifies the input video file.-ss START_TIME: Sets the start time for trimming.-to END_TIME: Sets the end time for trimming.-c copy: Copies the video streams without re-encoding (preserving quality).output.mp4: Specifies the output file.
On the other hand, FFprobe can be used to obtain information about the video file but is not directly intended for video trimming:
ffprobe -i input.mp4
This command offers comprehensive details on the input video, such as codecs, duration, and other information of the stream.
In conclusion, FFprobe is utilized for multimedia file inspection and analysis, whereas FFmpeg is the preferred program for video cutting and modification. They are frequently combined in a workflow for multimedia processing, with FFprobe offering data that helps guide choices made in FFmpeg commands.
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