Version 1.

5
Copyright 2006 2013
http://www.winff.org
Convert your videos quickly, easily, and all at once with WinFF and FFmpeg.
Introduction
WinFF is a GUI for the command line video converter, FFMPEG. It will convert most any video
file that FFmpeg will convert. For example yo! can convert yo!r camera, phone, and internet
videos into videos for m!ltiple phones, we"sites, and media players.
WinFF is free software yo! can redistri"!te it and#or modify it !nder the terms of the G$U
General P!"lic %icense as p!"lished "y the Free &oftware Fo!ndation, either version ' of the
%icense, or any later version. (opies of the latest and previo!s so!rce code archives are availa"le at
WinFF.org.
WinFF is distri"!ted in the hope that it will "e !sef!l, "!t WI)*+U) ,$- W,..,$)-/
witho!t even the implied warranty of ME.(*,$),0I%I)- or FI)$E&& F+. , P,.)I(U%,.
PU.P+&E. &ee the G$U General P!"lic %icense for more details.
FFmpeg is a separate pro1ect, not connected to WinFF. 2FFmpeg is a complete, cross3platform
sol!tion to record, convert and stream a!dio and video. It incl!des li"avcodec 3 the leading
a!dio#video codec li"rary.4 FFmpeg is a )rademar5 of Fa"rice 0ellard, originator of the FFmpeg
pro1ect. Ffmpeg is free software and is licensed !nder the %GP% or GP%. &pecifically in the case of
versions of Ffmpeg pac5aged with WinFF, FFmpeg is licensed !nder the GP%. (omplete FFmpeg
doc!mentation and so!rces are availa"le Ffmpeg.org
Using WinFF for the First Time.
,fter installing WinFF, +pen WinFF. -o! will see the main window. ,t the top are the 0!ttons.
0elow them is the File %ist. $ext is the +ptions.
)he first thing to do is select the format yo! wish for yo!r videos. In the +ption 6eteails, yo! will
see (onvert )o. For example yo! may wish to convert yo!r video to MPEG7 or Google ,ndroid.
-o! can choose ,!dio if yo! are converting a!dio files. -o! can also convert videos file to a!dio
files.
$ext is the Preset 8Preset (onfig!rations9. If yo! chose MPEG7, yo! may choose Mpeg7 :;<p. -o!
may also choose F!ll &creen or Widescreen, as apropriate.
)hen is the +!tp!t Folder 8or destination directory9. )his is where yo! wish to p!t yo!r converted
videos. -o! may also chec5 the Use &o!rce "ox to !se the folder that the video files are in.
)o add yo!r videos, clic5 the ,dd "!tton. 0rowse to the videos yo! wish to convert. -o! can select
m!ltiple videos at one time. -o! can also drag and drop yo!r videos files on to the WinFF window.
If yo! add the wrong video yo! can clic5 on the video and clic5 the .emove "!tton. )o remove all
the videos in the File %ist, clic5 the (lear "!tton.
)o play a movie, clic5 the Play "!tton.
)o preview a video yo! wish to convert, clic5 the Preview "!tton. )he Preview "!tton will convert
one min!te of yo! video and play it. &ome video conversions will ta5e a long time depending each
video, the n!m"er of videos, the format chosen, and yo!r comp!ter. -o! may wish to preview a
video "efore converting them all.
)o start the conversion, clic5 the (onvert "!tton. , (ommand Window will open. FFmpeg will start
converting. It is not important to 5now what FFmpeg is doing. ,dvanced !sers will "e a"le to
interp!t the o!tp!t. Even if errors are reported, the video8s9 may play fine. -o! can find more
information a"o!t the o!tp!t in the FFmpeg 6oc!mention. -o! may close the WinFF window at
this point. FFmpeg will contin!e converting. When the video8s9 are done converting yo! will see,
=Press any 5ey to contin!e.= ,fter pressing a 5ey the command window will close.
-o! videos are now converted. $ot all videos will convert all the time. -o! sho!ld chec5 the videos
for errors.
Selecting Options for Videos
-o! can select different presets and options for different videos. -o! can convert some videos to
one format, and others to other formats.
)o select a video8s9 clic5 the video8s9 in the File %ist. )he options will change to the options of the
c!rrent video. -o! can then change (onvert )o, Preset, and +!tp!t Folder for the video8s9. (ancel
(hanges, ,pply (hanges, and ,pply to ,ll will then appear at the "ottom of the WinFF main
window. (lic5 ,pply (hanges to apply the changes.
(lic5 the +ptions 0!tton to show the additional options. -o! will see new ta"s next to the +!tp!t
Folder )a".
(lic5ing the >ideo ta" will show the video options. -o! can change the >ideo 0itrate, Frame .ate,
>ideo &i?e, ,spect .atio, and .otate the >ideo. )he ;Pass chec5 "ox will r!n Ffmpeg twice on the
same video. &ometimes this will increase the @!ality of the final video8s9. 6einterlace will ma5e the
video progressive as in :;<p compared to 7A<i.
)he a!dio ta" shows the ,!dio 0itrate, &ample .ate, ,!dio (hannels, >ol!me, and &ync. )he (rop
ta" will allow yo! to crop the video. )he time ta" allows yo! to convert portions of a video.
)he FFmpeg ta" allows yo! to change the Ffmpeg command line. ,dditional (ommand %ine
Paramters allows advanced !sers to add parameters to Ffmpeg. )he first and second pass allows
parameters to "e added to each respectively.
,fter changing the options, always reme"er to clic5 ,pply (hanges "efore choosing other files.
Navigating the Menus
Under the File Men! is Import Preset and Exit.
Preset files are =.wff= files. )he containe one or more preset config!rations for
vario!s !ses and devices. 6epending on yo!r operating system yo! may "e a"le to
1!st do!"le clic5 the preset file to import it in to WinFF.
+f co!rse Exit, exits WinFF.
Under the Edit men! is Presets and Preferences.
Editing the Presets will allow yo! to change the presets or create new presets.
Editing the Preferences will allow to change vario!s things a"o!t WinFFBs "ehavior.
0oth editing the Presets and the Preferences are addressed f!rther in this doc!ment.
Under the +ptions Men! is ,dditional +ptions, 6isplay (M6 %ine, Pa!se on Finish, &h!tdown on
Finish, and &ave +ptions to Preset.
,dditional +ptions will show or hide the +ptions, 1!st as the +ptions "!tton does.
6isplay (M6 %ine will show a window that allows yo! to edit the script that WinFF
creates to r!n Ffmpeg.
Pa!se on Finish will display the, =Press any 5ey to contin!e.= at the end of the
conversion. Unchec5ing Pa!se on Finish will close the command window
a!tomaticly at the end of conversion.
&h!tdown on Finish will sh!t down the comp!ter at the end of conversion. &ome
operating systems have pro"lems with sh!tting down, especially older versions of
windows.
&ave to Presets will save the c!rrent options to the c!rrently selected preset. For
example yo! may change the the MPEG7 preset to the options re@!ired for yo!r
phone, witho!t editing the preset.
Under the *elp men! yo! can open
this doc!mentation
the WinFF we"site
the mailing list
the credits.
Editing the Presets
)he presets editor is open "y choosing 2Presets4 from the Edit men!. +nce open yo! will see
the list of presets. (lic5ing a Preset will fill the "oxes "elow with the selected presetBs information.
)he Preset $ame is an internal name !sed in the xml file.
It m!st follow all the r!les of an CM% tag name.
$amely, one word, only letters and n!m"ers.
If the preset name is the same as another preset the existing preset will "e replaced
"y the c!rrent information.
)he Preset %a"el is the la"el shown in the list of presets shown on the main window
It may contain any characters yo! wish.
It sho!ld "e descriptive.
,"o!t 7< characters max visi"le. Extra will "e shown as 2...4
)he (ommandline Parameters are the FFmpeg parameters for the preset.
)he params will "e specified after 23i inp!tfile4 and "efore the o!tp!t filename.
&pacing of params sho!ld "e the same as if the were typed into the command line.
&pacing "efore and after the params will "e handled a!tomatically
6o not specify the inp!t or o!tp!t file names.
Existing Presets are great examples.
)he Preset Extension is the file extension of the o!tp!t files.
)his also specifies the container format for the file.
Use 23f 2 in the params to force a partic!lar format.
)he Preset (ategory is the (ategory for the Preset to "e shown in.
)o create a new category, 1!st type a new name.
)o !se an existing category, enter the category.
)he ,dd#Update "!tton adds or !pdates the c!rrent preset.
-o! will "e as5ed to confirm the addition or !pdate.
+nce a preset is added it will "e availa"le in the main window "!t is not saved to dis5
!ntil the &,>E "!tton is pressed.
)he 6elete "!tton deletes the c!rrent preset.
)he &ave "!tton saves the presets to presets.xml
)he (lose "!tton closes the preset editor.
(loses the window "!t does not save
Preset changes are availa"le in the main window, "!t not saved.
If yo! have not saved, the next time WinFF is started the presets will revert.
)he Import 0!tton imports presets from a file.
$ame and %a"el m!st "e !ni@!e or yo! will "e as5ed to replace the preset.
WinFF presets are saved as 2.wff4 files
When importing if a preset already exists, WinFF will as5 to replace it.
)he Export "!tton exports presets to a file
&elect the presets to export from the list.
WinFF presets are saved as 2.wff4
.wff files are the same format as the main presets file
Preferences
General Preferences
The Default Directory is the directory that will "e set as the destination directory at start !p. If
.emem"er %ast is chec5ed then WinFF will remem"er the destination directory from the last time it
was ran.
Remember Last Directory Used will set the o!tp!t folder to the last folder "efore WinFF was
closed.
Use &everal Encoding )hreads !ses FFmpegBs 3threads parameter. It wor5 on some
codecs "!t not all and the codecs it wor5s on is vario!s in Windows and %in!x. )wo, fo!r, and eight
wo!ld "e !sed for d!al core, @!adcore, eight3core processors.
Priority is the priority for the FFmpeg process when converting. &etting to high will !se all
reso!rces availa"le to get done faster. &etting the Priority to Idle will only convert when the
comp!ter is doing nothing. In %in!x a !ser is not allowed to set a priority higher than normal. &o
setting the priority to high will have no effect, !nless WinFF is ran as root, which is not advisa"le.
Preferences For Windows
First things first If WinFF is r!nning !nder Windows the %in!x#Unix ta" is completely
nonf!nctional.
6onBt worry a"o!t screwing anything !p, ca!se it 1!st wonBt happen.
)he path to FFmpeg.exe is the f!ll path to ffmpeg. &!ch as
2(DProgram FilesDWinFFDwinff.exe4
-o! may change this to any location yo! have installed FFmpeg.exe. If yo! leave this "lan5, WinFF
will a!tomatically revert to the location of WinFF.exe and ass!me FFmpeg.exe is in the same
directory. )he path to ffplay.exe f!nctions exactly li5e the path to ffmpeg.exe, except it sho!ld point
to ffplay.exe.
Use CHCP for international characters set the code page for the command prompt with the
system setting. )he (*(P command ar"itrarily crashes on later versions of CP and >ista. If this is
the case yo! can t!rn it off "y !nchec5ing the "ox for it. If it is !nchec5ed tho!gh yo! will need to
remove non ,$&I characters from file names of the videos to "e converted.
Preferences For UnixLinux
>ice versa to Windows If WinFF is r!nning !nder %in!x or another flavor of Unix. )he Windows
ta" is completely non3f!nctional. 6onBt worry a"o!t screwing anything !p, ca!se it 1!st wonBt
happen.
The Path to FFm!e" is the f!ll path to FFmpeg. &!ch as 2#!sr#"in#ffmpeg4 -o! may change this to
any location yo! have installed FFmpeg. )he first time WinFF is ran, and anytime there after that
2E#.winff#cfg.xml4 is not fo!nd 8s!ch as the !ser deleting it9, WinFF will loo5 for FFmpeg in
2#!sr#"in4 and 2#!sr#local#"in4.
The Path to FF!lay f!nctions exactly li5e the path to FFmpeg, except it sho!ld point to
FFplay.
The Terminal to Use is the f!ll path to the terminal yo! wish to !se. WinFF defa!lts to Cterm
as almost all C3windows systems have Cterm installed. +n 6e"ian#U"!nt! "ased systems, WinFF
!se the x3term3em!lator sym"olic lin5. -o! may !se any terminal yo! li5e "y specifying itBs f!ll
path here. For example, to !se Gnome3terminal !nder U"!nt!, yo! co!ld specify this to "e
2#!sr#"in#gnometerminal4, and specify the )erminal +ptions as 23x4 instead of 23e4. )o !se Cterm
!nder &lac5ware, this sho!ld "e 2#!sr#CFF.G#"in#xterm4.
)he )erminal +ptions can "e anything yo! li5e, "!t m!st incl!de as the last option, the option to
exec!te the remainder of the command line. ,gain for example, Cterm !ses 23e4, and Gnome3
)erminal !ses 23x4.
Further Reading
For more help please see the doc!mentation page at WinFF.org or the WinFF Mailing %ist.
For more in depth information on the FFmpeg command line please see http##ffmpeg.org#ffmpeg3
doc.html. It contains the entire list of options and formats the can "e set !sing FFmpeg. Googling
for FFmpeg and the format will give yo! some examples. ,lso existing presets will give yo! some
good example of what sho!ld "e specified.
WinFF #$%
(odename Emma
Written by Matthew Weatherford and Ian &toff"erg
Debian and Ubuntu Packages by Pa!l Gevers
Co!yri"ht of this document&
'()#* +atthew Weatherford
matt,bi""matt$com
Permission is "ranted to co!y- distribute andor modify this document under the
terms of the G.U Free Documentation License- /ersion #$* or any later 0ersion
!ublished by the Free 1oftware Foundation2 with no 3n0ariant 1ections- no
Front4Co0er Texts- and no 5ac64Co0er Texts$ 7 co!y of the license should be
found with this document$ 3f you did not obtain the license- it can be found at
htt!&www$"nu$or"licensesfdl$html$