| name | media-processing |
| description | FFmpeg + ImageMagick media processing. This skill should be used when transcoding video/audio, resizing/cropping images, HLS/DASH, thumbnails, batch ops, or hardware-accelerated pipelines. |
| license | MIT |
Media Processing Skill
Process video, audio, and images using FFmpeg and ImageMagick for conversion, optimization, streaming, and manipulation.
When to Use This Skill
- Converting media formats (video, audio, images)
- Encoding video with codecs (H.264, H.265, VP9, AV1)
- Processing images (resize, crop, effects, watermarks)
- Extracting audio from video
- Creating streaming manifests (HLS/DASH)
- Generating thumbnails and previews
- Batch processing media files
- Hardware-accelerated encoding
Tool Selection Guide
| Task | Tool |
|---|
| Video encoding/transcoding | FFmpeg |
| Audio extraction/conversion | FFmpeg |
| Live streaming (RTMP/HLS/DASH) | FFmpeg |
| Image resize/crop/convert | ImageMagick |
| Batch image processing | ImageMagick (mogrify) |
| Video thumbnails | FFmpeg |
| Image effects/watermarks | ImageMagick |
Installation
brew install ffmpeg imagemagick
sudo apt-get install ffmpeg imagemagick
winget install ffmpeg
winget install ImageMagick.ImageMagick
ffmpeg -version && ffprobe -version && magick -version
Quick Examples
ffmpeg -i input.mkv -c copy output.mp4
ffmpeg -i input.avi -c:v libx264 -crf 22 -c:a aac output.mp4
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf scale=-1:720 -c:a copy output.mp4
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vn -q:a 0 audio.mp3
magick input.png -quality 85 -strip output.jpg
magick input.jpg -resize 800x output.jpg
magick input.jpg -resize 200x200^ -gravity center -extent 200x200 thumb.jpg
mogrify -path ./output -resize 800x -quality 85 *.jpg
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -preset fast -crf 22 \
-f hls -hls_time 6 -hls_playlist_type vod playlist.m3u8
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "fps=15,scale=640:-1:flags=lanczos,split[s0][s1];[s0]palettegen[p];[s1][p]paletteuse" output.gif
Key Parameters
FFmpeg Video
-c:v — Video codec (libx264, libx265, libvpx-vp9)-crf — Quality (0-51, lower=better, 23=default)-preset — Speed/compression (ultrafast to veryslow)-b:v — Video bitrate (e.g., 2M, 2500k)-vf — Video filters
FFmpeg Audio
-c:a — Audio codec (aac, mp3, opus)-b:a — Audio bitrate (e.g., 128k, 192k)-ar — Sample rate (44100, 48000)
ImageMagick Geometry
800x600 — Fit within (maintains aspect)800x600! — Force exact size800x600^ — Fill (may crop)800x / x600 — Width or height only50% — Scale percentage
Troubleshooting
FFmpeg "Unknown encoder"
ffmpeg -encoders | grep h264
sudo apt-get install libx264-dev libx265-dev
ImageMagick "not authorized"
Memory errors
ffmpeg -threads 4 input.mp4 output.mp4
magick -limit memory 2GB -limit map 4GB input.jpg output.jpg
References
FFmpeg:
ffmpeg/encoding-codecs.md — H.264, H.265, VP9, AV1, audio codecs, codec selectionffmpeg/encoding-quality.md — CRF, bitrate, presets, tune options, threadingffmpeg/encoding-hardware.md — NVIDIA NVENC, Intel QSV, AMD AMF, Apple VideoToolboxffmpeg/filters-video.md — Scale, crop, rotate, overlay, denoise, color, textffmpeg/filters-audio-advanced.md — Audio filters, complex filtergraphs, recipesffmpeg/streaming-hls-dash.md — HLS, multi-bitrate HLS, DASH, encryptionffmpeg/streaming-live.md — RTMP platforms, screen capture, UDP/RTP, loop streamsffmpeg/streaming-thumbnails.md — Frame extraction, sprite sheets, preview generation
ImageMagick:
imagemagick/editing-basics.md — Format conversion, resize, crop, thumbnails, rotationimagemagick/editing-effects.md — Blur, sharpen, color effects, borders, text, compositionimagemagick/batch-basic.md — Mogrify, resize loops, format conversion, optimizationimagemagick/batch-advanced.md — Parallel processing, watermarks, web pipelines, Python
Formats:
format-compatibility/formats.md — Supported formats, codecs, platform compatibility tablesformat-compatibility/conversions.md — Common conversion commands, migration strategies
Resources
