External resources

$ ls -la /external — links worth bookmarking, organized by topic.

[ 01 ]official_

Official FFmpeg documentation

FFmpeg official documentation ↗

ffmpeg.org/documentation.html

The canonical reference. Complete, dense, the ultimate source of truth.

FFmpeg Wiki ↗

trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki

Community-maintained wiki with practical guides and tutorials.

FFmpeg command-line reference ↗

ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg.html

Detailed reference for the ffmpeg CLI itself, every flag.

[ 02 ]community_

Community resources

amiaopensource.github.io/ffmprovisr

A fantastic recipe collection from media archivists and preservation specialists. Tested commands for common workflows.

Smooth video with frame interpolation ↗

blog.programster.org/…frame-interpolation

Tutorial on using FFmpeg's minterpolate filter to generate higher-framerate video from existing frames.

BlueSwordM's SVT-AV1 guide ↗

gist.github.com/BlueSwordM

A practical beginner's guide to AV1 encoding with SVT-AV1. Essential parameters, preset selection, and optimization tips for live-action and anime.

[ 03 ]codecs_

Codec documentation

x264 / H.264 encoding guide ↗

trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/Encode/H.264

FFmpeg Wiki guide for H.264/AVC encoding parameters and presets.

x265 / H.265 encoding guide ↗

trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/Encode/H.265

FFmpeg Wiki guide for H.265/HEVC encoding.

VP9 encoding guide ↗

trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/Encode/VP9

FFmpeg Wiki guide for VP9 encoding.

AV1 encoding guide ↗

trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/Encode/AV1

FFmpeg Wiki guide for AV1 encoding.

[ 04 ]learning_

Learning resources

FFmpeg official tutorial ↗

ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg-all.html#Tutorial

Official beginner's tutorial from the FFmpeg project.

FFmpeg Basics (book) ↗

FFmpeg Basics by Frantisek Korbel

Comprehensive book covering FFmpeg fundamentals and multimedia handling.

Digital Video Introduction ↗

github.com/leandromoreira/digital_video_introduction

Excellent gentle introduction to digital video concepts. Worth reading before tweaking encoder flags.

[ 05 ]technical_

Technical references

x264 settings reference ↗

chaneru.com/Roku/HLS/X264_Settings.htm

Detailed x264 parameter explanations — useful when the official help text isn't enough.

SVT-AV1 documentation ↗

gitlab.com/AOMediaCodec/SVT-AV1

Official SVT-AV1 encoder documentation.

libvpx VP9 parameters ↗

developers.google.com/media/vp9

Google's VP9 VOD encoding recommendations.

[ 06 ]tools_

Tools & utilities

mediaarea.net/MediaInfo

Detailed technical information about video and audio files. The first tool to reach for when something looks off.

ffmpeg.org/ffprobe.html

FFmpeg's stream analyzer. Inspect everything about a media file from the CLI.

Open-source video transcoder with a GUI. Built on top of x264, x265, and other libraries.

ffmpeg-normalize ↗

github.com/slhck/ffmpeg-normalize

Python CLI wrapper that batch-normalizes audio loudness using EBU R128 (two-pass), RMS, or peak modes.