Ubuntu howto: converting .FLV to MPG

sudo apt-get install ffmpeg

ffmpeg -i video.flv -ab 56 -ar 22050 -b 500  -s 320x240 video.mpg

finally to make your life easier just put it a script file to excute later

mkdir ~/scripts;
echo 'ffmpeg -i $1 -ab 56 -ar 22050 -b 500  -s 320x240 $1.mpg' > f2mpg.sh;
mv Flv2Mpg.sh ~/scripts

now whenever you want to convert FLV file to mpg just shot the

 ~/scripts/f2mpg.sh Flv_video_file_name.flv

for further information check

man ffmpeg

Tags: ubuntu, linux, howto, convert, flv, mpg, avi, ffmpeg

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Rodnei said on June 25, 2006 at 5:25 am

Hey, thanks very much for this tip!!!

faizal said on June 25, 2006 at 1:11 pm

just what i need for converting files for my ppc. 10q man

d said on June 25, 2006 at 10:44 pm

gr8, never thought this was possible.

Moyea said on July 6, 2006 at 6:14 am

You can convert flv to mpeg easily useing Moyea Flash to Video Converter on windows.

Me said on July 9, 2006 at 3:23 pm

I only get
[flv @ 0x82c5740]Unsupported video codec (4)

So, is there anyway to
a) adjust your solution
b) use another converting solution
c) get totem, vlc or mplayer to play the file
d) get another player to play the file

all solutions must be for Linux of course, preferably Ubuntu…

Jad said on July 9, 2006 at 3:46 pm

Can you give yourself a name? and please paste the error here.
maybe you should follow the instructions here.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RestrictedFormats

Larsson said on July 9, 2006 at 7:32 pm

Me = Larsson

When I run f2mpg.sh I get
>~/scripts/f2mpg.sh file.flv
ffmpeg version CVS, build 3276800, Copyright (c) 2000-2004 Fabrice Bellard
configuration: –build i486-linux-gnu –enable-gpl –enable-pp –enable-zlib –enable-vorbis –enable-libogg –enable-theora –enable-a52 –enable-dts –enable-dc1394 –enable-libgsm –disable-debug –prefix=/usr
built on Sep 29 2005 03:25:16, gcc: 4.0.2 20050808 (prerelease) (Ubuntu 4.0.1-4ubuntu8)
[flv @ 0x82c5740]Unsupported video codec (4)
[flv @ 0x82c5740]Unsupported video codec (4)
[flv @ 0x82c5740]Unsupported video codec (4)
[flv @ 0x82c5740]Unsupported video codec (4)
[flv @ 0x82c5740]Unsupported video codec (4)
[flv @ 0x82c5740]Unsupported video codec (4)
[flv @ 0x82c5740]Unsupported video codec (4)
[flv @ 0x82c5740]Unsupported video codec (4)
[flv @ 0x82c5740]Unsupported video codec (4)
[flv @ 0x82c5740]Unsupported video codec (4)
[flv @ 0x82c5740]Unsupported video codec (4)
[flv @ 0x82c5740]Unsupported video codec (4)
[flv @ 0x82c5740]Unsupported video codec (4)

Jad said on July 10, 2006 at 1:14 am

Larsson,
Weird, it should work; anyway please try

 file video.flv

it should return

video.flv: Macromedia Flash Video

else it would be a different video format with incorrect .FLV extension

actually I just tried to install ffmpeg on new ubuntu installation and I
just had to install

ffmpeg libdc1394-13 libimlib2

and it worked just fine

ffmpeg -i video.flv -ab 56 -ar 22050 -b 500  -s 320x240 vide o.mpg
ffmpeg version CVS, build 3276800, Copyright (c) 2000-2004 Fabrice Bellard
  configuration:  --extra-cflags=-fomit-frame-pointer -DRUNTIME_CPUDETECT
 --buil d i486-linux-gnu --enable-gpl --enable-pp --enable-zlib
--enable-vorbis
--enable -libogg --enable-theora --enable-a52 --enable-dts --enable-dc1394
--enable-libgs m --disable-debug --prefix=/usr

  built on Nov 24 2005 10:19:02, gcc: 4.0.3 20051121 (prerelease)
(Ubuntu 4.0.2- 4ubuntu3)

Seems that stream 1 comes from film source: 1000.00 (1000/1) -> 30.00 (30/1)
Input #0, flv, from 'video.flv':
  Duration: N/A, bitrate: N/A
  Stream #0.0: Audio: mp3, 22050 Hz, mono
  Stream #0.1: Video: flv, yuv420p, 320x239, 1000.00 fps
Output #0, mpeg, to 'video.mpg':
  Stream #0.0: Video: mpeg1video, yuv420p, 320x240, 30.00 fps, q=2-31, 500 kb/s
  Stream #0.1: Audio: mp2, 22050 Hz, mono, 56 kb/s
Stream mapping:
  Stream #0.1 -> #0.0
  Stream #0.0 -> #0.1
Press [q] to stop encoding
frame=  922 q=0.0 Lsize=    2298kB time=30.5 bitrate= 617.0kbits/s
video:2062kB audio:209kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead 1.213712%

so finally if the file video.flv return a correct macromedia format then the solution would be beyond my experience how ever I’ll try to digg for a solution

Link With Reality Web Log » links for 2006-07-06 said on July 14, 2006 at 6:12 pm

[...] Ubuntu howto: converting .FLV to MPG Quick tutorial on converting FLV files to MPG. (tags: howto video linux) Links :: John :: [...]

Jade said on July 15, 2006 at 5:28 am

Hello,
When I have tried to do this, I get this error string in root usr:

root@jadesworld:/home/jadester# ffmpeg - vido.flv -ab 56 -ar 22050 -b 500 -s 320 x240 video.mpg
ffmpeg version CVS, build 3276800, Copyright (c) 2000-2004 Fabrice Bellard
configuration: –extra-cflags=-fomit-frame-pointer -DRUNTIME_CPUDETECT –buil d i486-linux-gnu –enable-gpl –enable-pp –enable-zlib –enable-vorbis –enable -libogg –enable-theora –enable-a52 –enable-dts –enable-dc1394 –enable-libgs m –disable-debug –prefix=/usr
built on Nov 24 2005 10:19:02, gcc: 4.0.3 20051121 (prerelease) (Ubuntu 4.0.2- 4ubuntu3)
Unable for find a suitable output format for ‘pipe:’

So I cannot convert flv files to mpg files. Help if you can. If you can’t I totally understand.
Any other info you may need pls ask. Thanks and Cheers!
Jade

Quicksilver_Johny said on July 15, 2006 at 7:59 am

On Xubuntu: with ffmpeg, libdc1394-13, and libimlib2:

ffmpeg -i video.flv -ab 56 -ar 22050 -b 500 -s 320×240 video.mpg
ffmpeg version CVS, build 3276800, Copyright (c) 2000-2004 Fabrice Bellard
configuration: –extra-cflags=-fomit-frame-pointer -DRUNTIME_CPUDETECT –build i486-linux-gnu –enable-gpl –enable-pp –enable-zlib –enable-vorbis –enable-libogg –enable-theora –enable-a52 –enable-dts –enable-dc1394 –enable-libgsm –disable-debug –prefix=/usr
built on Nov 24 2005 10:19:02, gcc: 4.0.3 20051121 (prerelease) (Ubuntu 4.0.2-4ubuntu3)
[flv @ 0x82c8200]Unsupported video codec (3)
[flv @ 0x82c8200]Unsupported video codec (3)
[flv @ 0x82c8200]Unsupported video codec (3)
[flv @ 0x82c8200]Unsupported video codec (3)
[flv @ 0x82c8200]Unsupported video codec (3)
[flv @ 0x82c8200]Unsupported video codec (3)
[flv @ 0x82c8200]Unsupported video codec (3)
[flv @ 0x82c8200]Unsupported video codec (3)
[flv @ 0x82c8200]Unsupported video codec (3)
[flv @ 0x82c8200]Unsupported video codec (3)
[flv @ 0x82c8200]Unsupported video codec (3)
[flv @ 0x82c8200]Unsupported video codec (3)
[flv @ 0x82c8200]Unsupported video codec (3)
video.flv: could not find codec parameters

Jad said on July 15, 2006 at 8:44 am

Jade,
I’m not that expert but I found similar problem and solution at ffmpeg-user mailing list the guy had similar problem and they helped him to get it solved.

Quicksilver_Johny,
First go through this guide
if it didn’t work after installing the restricted format then it’s not supported

Terminally Incoherent » Blog Archive » Saving YouTube Movies said on July 17, 2006 at 8:27 am

[...] Sources: gillsmethod and jadmadi. tags: flv, youtube, saving youtube video, flv player, media coder, mplayer, ffmpeg [...]

burnick said on July 23, 2006 at 11:15 am

do u know how to convert mpg videos to 3gp? using ffmpeg

Roy said on July 30, 2006 at 9:51 pm

Here’s a small tweak for your script that cleans up the final filename a little:

#!/bin/bash
OLD=$1
NEW=`basename $OLD .flv`
ffmpeg -i $OLD -ab 56 -ar 22050 -b 500 -s 320×240 $NEW.mpg

Dave said on August 19, 2006 at 2:06 am

Great work fella! Combine this with the firefox extension and you’re laughing!
http://javimoya.com/blog/youtube_en.php

HorusLee said on August 28, 2006 at 9:16 am

Error:
“mv Flv2Mpg.sh ~/scripts”
should be
“mv f2mpg.sh ~/scripts”
right?

HorusLee said on August 28, 2006 at 6:02 pm

[mpeg1video @ 0x8336308]warning, clipping 1 dct coefficients to -255..255
[mpeg1video @ 0x8336308]warning, clipping 1 dct coefficients to -255..255
[mpeg1video @ 0x8336308]warning, clipping 1 dct coefficients to -255..255
[mpeg1video @ 0x8336308]warning, clipping 1 dct coefficients to -255..255
[mpeg1video @ 0x8336308]warning, clipping 1 dct coefficients to -255..255
[mpeg1video @ 0x8336308]warning, clipping 1 dct coefficients to -255..255
[mpeg1video @ 0x8336308]warning, clipping 1 dct coefficients to -255..255

Why this happened?

Jad said on August 29, 2006 at 10:21 am

hmm, well I don’t know but I’ll go through the documentations again and see if I can come up with a script that convert and give explanation when there is a problem.

links for 2006-09-02 « Where Is All This Leading To? said on September 2, 2006 at 4:12 am

[...] Ubuntu howto: converting .FLV to MPG (tags: flash howto kubuntu linux ubuntu video flv multimedia convert mpg) [...]

The Shout of Horus Lee said on September 16, 2006 at 6:00 pm

Ubuntu howto: converting .FLV to MPG by Jad…

Ubuntu howto: converting .FLV to MPG by Jad…

inan said on October 2, 2006 at 7:58 pm

Excellent!! That’s exactly what i want…
thnx.

bijan said on October 8, 2006 at 1:11 am

Hey Jad, thanks for the cool tip, but after running the command, I get the following error:

bijan@romanticFart:~$ ffmpeg -i MyDownloads/get_video.flv -ab 56 -ar 22050 -b 500 -s 320×240 oopse.mpg
ffmpeg version CVS, build 3276800, Copyright (c) 2000-2004 Fabrice Bellard
configuration: –extra-cflags=-fomit-frame-pointer -DRUNTIME_CPUDETECT –build i486-linux-gnu –enable-gpl –enable-pp –enable-zlib –enable-vorbis –enable-libogg –enable-theora –enable-a52 –enable-dts –enable-dc1394 –enable-libgsm –disable-debug –prefix=/usr
built on Nov 24 2005 10:19:02, gcc: 4.0.3 20051121 (prerelease) (Ubuntu 4.0.2-4ubuntu3)

Seems that stream 1 comes from film source: 1000.00 (1000/1) -> 15.00 (15/1)
Input #0, flv, from ‘MyDownloads/get_video.flv’:
Duration: N/A, bitrate: N/A
Stream #0.0: Audio: mp3, 22050 Hz, mono
Stream #0.1: Video: flv, yuv420p, 320×240, 1000.00 fps
Output #0, mpeg, to ‘oopse.mpg’:
Stream #0.0: Video: mpeg1video, yuv420p, 320×240, 15.00 fps, q=2-31, 500 kb/s
Stream #0.1: Audio: mp2, 22050 Hz, mono, 56 kb/s
Stream mapping:
Stream #0.1 -> #0.0
Stream #0.0 -> #0.1
[mpeg1video @ 0x8336308]MPEG1/2 does not support 15/1 fps
Error while opening codec for output stream #0.0 - maybe incorrect parameters such as bit_rate, rate, width or height

Well, I have no idea what I should give for those parameters, any tips?

bdogg64 said on October 18, 2006 at 3:19 am

You may need to update your version of ffmpeg. I compile ffmpeg from source on ubuntu every so often. I use ffmpeg to convert youtube and google flash videos from to 3gp and mp4 clips on MyMobileClips

Dusty Rancourt said on October 26, 2006 at 7:38 am

This is marvelous, thank you. One suggestion, if I may, though — your script as-is fails on file names with spaces. A small modification fixes this:

echo ‘ffmpeg -i “$1″ -ab 56 -ar 22050 -b 500 -s 320×240 “$1.mpg”‘ > f2mpg.sh

Thank you so much for this excellent solution. I am most grateful!

linux enthusiast said on October 30, 2006 at 6:57 am

here is my conversion script you can only do one video at a time
the flv converts to mpg and keeps the original file name.

#!/bin/bash

output=`ls *.flv -1|cut -f1 -d”.”`
ffmpeg -i *.flv -ab 56 -ar 22050 -b 500 -s 320×240 $output.mpg
rm *.flv
exit

linux enthusiast said on October 30, 2006 at 7:05 am

also you can only have one flv in the folder at a time
you should put the script in /usr/bin make a folder just for converting video put a shortcut to the script(inside the folder) that runs in the terminal drag one flv into the folder and click your shortcut
voila you have an mpg and the flv gets deleted. sorry for 2 post just wanted to make it easy on someone else.Took a while to get this right i’m not a bash expert.

Jake said on December 17, 2007 at 3:33 pm

Why not simply add a command to your .bashrc instead of making a script?

John said on February 17, 2008 at 9:56 pm

dice@ZepplinIV:~$ ffmpeg -i video.flv -ab 56 -ar 22050 -b 500 -s 320x240 video.mpg FFmpeg version SVN-rUNKNOWN, Copyright (c) 2000-2004 Fabrice Bellard configuration: --enable-gpl --enable-pp --enable-pthreads --enable-vorbis --enable-libogg --enable-a52 --enable-dts --enable-libgsm --enable-dc1394 --disable-debug --enable-shared --prefix=/usr libavutil version: 0d.49.0.0 libavcodec version: 0d.51.11.0 libavformat version: 0d.50.5.0 built on Jan 28 2007 22:48:38, gcc: 4.1.2 20070106 (prerelease) (Ubuntu 4.1.1-21ubuntu7) video.flv: I/O error occured Usually that means that input file is truncated and/or corrupted

I’m pretty new to linux, however I’m pretty sure the video works, because I can play it in windows on divX. Do you know if there would be any problem?
P.S. I’m using Feisty, but I figured it wouldn’t be a problem.