[FFmpeg-trac] #9487(ffmpeg:new): FFmpeg -shortest not working when using -filter_complex with audio and video filters

FFmpeg trac at avcodec.org
Sat Oct 30 06:47:23 EEST 2021


#9487: FFmpeg -shortest not working when using -filter_complex with audio and
video filters
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
             Reporter:               |                     Type:  defect
  pigeonburger                       |
               Status:  new          |                 Priority:  normal
            Component:  ffmpeg       |                  Version:  git-
             Keywords:  shortest     |  master
  filter_complex audio video         |               Blocked By:
  audio/video filters                |
             Blocking:               |  Reproduced by developer:  0
Analyzed by developer:  0            |
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
 Pretty much the exact same issue was described
 [[https://trac.ffmpeg.org/ticket/3789|here]] several years ago, but the
 'solution' given, while it works, is more inconvenient and doesn't explain
 why the actual command in question does not work.

 I'm using the following command to mix the audio of `input.mp4` with
 `song.m4a` and ensure that the dimensions of my output file are even
 numbers:

 {{{
 ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -i song.m4a -filter_complex \
 [0:a][1:a]amix[s0];[0:v]pad=height=ceil(ih/2)*2:width=ceil(iw/2)*2[s1] \
 -map [s0] -map [s1] -shortest output.mp4
 }}}

 `input.mp4` is only about 20 seconds long, but `song.m4a` is about 8
 minutes long. I want to mix both the audio streams together, so that the
 first 20 seconds of `song.m4a` plays alongside the original audio of
 `input.m4a`. To ensure that the output file does not become 8 minutes
 long, I'm using the `-shortest` option, which should make FFmpeg stop
 encoding once it hits the shortest audio/video stream. However, in the
 command above, `-shortest` seems to be not working entirely.

 When I separate the audio and video filters into 2 separate
 `-filter_complex`s, it works as intended (doing this was also the solution
 given in the issue a linked at the top):

 {{{
 ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -i song.m4a -filter_complex \
 [0:a][1:a]amix[s0] -filter_complex
 [0:v]pad=height=ceil(ih/2)*2:width=ceil(iw/2)*2[s1] \
 -map [s0] -map [s1] -shortest output.mp4
 }}}

 Same with if I remove the video filters entirely:

 {{{
 ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -i song.m4a -filter_complex [0:a][1:a]amix[s0] -map
 [s0] -map 0:v -shortest output.mp4
 }}}

 Using the above 2 commands results in a 20-second long video as intended.

 I guess my question is why is `-shortest` made redundant when combining
 both audio and video filters in a single `-filter_complex` argument? Is
 this a bug, or the intended behaviour? How can I get it to work as
 intended with just one `-filter_complex`?

 I'm using a self-compiled FFmpeg build on Linux (using the most recent Git
 version as of writing this) but I can confirm I can also recreate the
 issue with the official Linux AND Windows builds as well, even when using
 different audio and video files too.
-- 
Ticket URL: <https://trac.ffmpeg.org/ticket/9487>
FFmpeg <https://ffmpeg.org>
FFmpeg issue tracker


More information about the FFmpeg-trac mailing list