====== Command line usage ======

===== Invoking =====

Avidemux may be called with many arguments. The most obvious is //avidemux(nbsp)myFile.avi//, that will load myFile.avi.

You can also provide other commands, each one of them beginning by "--" to invoke an action. You won't have the full capabilities of the GUI though.

**Warning**: When in command line mode, all alert boxes will be skipped and questions will be automatically set to NO.

The arguments are evaluated from left to right and processed one at a time. The command line is far from bullet proof as most of the checks are inside the GUI.

A project file is a file containing all settings and loaded files. It is a "snapshot" of avidemux state at the point it was saved.

===== Commands =====

To get up to date command list and parameters, just invoke Avidemux with the argument //<nowiki>--</nowiki>help//.

^Audio commands  ^Parameters  ^Description  ^
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>audio-bitrate  |value  |Set the audio bitrate. **Warning: You must enter valid audio bitrate!**  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>audio-codec  |Audio codec: MP2 <nowiki>|</nowiki> MP3 <nowiki>|</nowiki> AC3 <nowiki>|</nowiki> TWOLAME  |Select the audio codec that will be used when you set process mode.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>audio-delay  |value in ms (milliseconds)  |Shift the audio/video sync by value.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>audio-downsample  |none  |Activate 48 kHz to 44.1 kHz downsampling.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>audio-normalize  |none  |Activate audio normalization filter.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>audio-map  |none  |Scan the audio to properly handle VBR audio.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>audio-mono2stereo  |none  |Channels: convert mono to stereo.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>audio-resample  |desired resample frequency  |Resample to 'X' kHz.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>audio-stereo2mono  |none  |Channels: convert stereo to mono.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>no-audio  |none  |Disable internal audio. Useful if you want to use only external audio files.  |
^Audio output commands  ^Parameters  ^Description  ^
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>save-raw-audio  |filename  |Save output audio in copy mode, same audio as input audio.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>save-uncompressed-audio  |filename  |Save audio as PCM. Default is no filters, but they can be applied.  |
^External audio commands  ^Parameters  ^Description  ^
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>external-mp3  |filename  |Load the MPEG audio as soundtrack. **Warning: If VBR, you must put a <nowiki>--</nowiki>audio-map afterward.**  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>external-ac3  |filename  |Load the AC3 file as soundtrack.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>external-wav  |filename  |Load the WAV file as soundtrack.  |
^Video commands  ^Parameters  ^Description  ^
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>video-codec  |XVID4 <nowiki>|</nowiki> x264 <nowiki>|</nowiki> FFmpeg4 <nowiki>|</nowiki> VCD <nowiki>|</nowiki> SVCD <nowiki>|</nowiki>DVD <nowiki>|</nowiki> XSVCD <nowiki>|</nowiki> XVCD  |Select the video codec that will be used when you save in process mode.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>video-conf  |cq=q <nowiki>|</nowiki> cbr=br <nowiki>|</nowiki> 2pass=xx  |Select the encoding mode: constant quality (cq=quality), constant bitrate (br=bitrate) or 2 pass mode, in that case, give the final size in megabytes.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>set-pp  |Two arguments: value (1=hdeblok<nowiki>|</nowiki>2=vdeblock<nowiki>|</nowiki>4=dering) & strength (0-5)  |Set the default post-processing value.  |
^Filter commands  ^Parameters  ^Description  ^
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>filters  |filename  |Load a filter set.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>listfilters  |none  |List all filters by name.  |
^Codec configuration commands  ^Parameters  ^Description  ^
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>codec-conf  |codec-config-filename  |Load a codec configuration.  |
^Resolution commands  ^Parameters  ^Description  ^
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>dvd-res  |none  |Sets DVD resolution by adding needed filters for conversion.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>svcd-res  |none  |Sets SVCD resolution by adding needed filters for conversion.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>halfd1-res  |none  |Sets 1/2 DVD resolution by adding needed filters for conversion.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>vcd-res  |none  |Sets VCD resolution by adding needed filters for conversion.  |
^Start/finish commands  ^Parameters  ^Description  ^
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>begin  |frame number  |Set the start marker to frame.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>end  |frame number  |Set the end marker to frame.  |
^Load commands  ^Parameters  ^Description  ^
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>load  |filename  |Load a video file.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>load-workbench  |filename  |Load a workbench/edit list.  |
^Misc. commands  ^Parameters  ^Description  ^
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>append  |video filename  |Append a video file to the current video  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>autoindex  |none  |Try to generate required index files as necessary  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>force-b-frame  |none  |Force detection of b-frame in next loaded file  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>force-alt-h264  |none  |Force use of alternate safe read mode for h264 video. **Warning: This argument must be used before <nowiki>--</nowiki>load to be effective.**  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>force-smart  |none  |Engage smart copy mode with CQ=3 at next save  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>force-unpack  |none  |Force detection of packed VOP in next loaded file  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>fps  |value  |Set the frame rate per second of the workbench  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>index-mpeg  |MPEG_file INDEX_file TrackNumber  |Create index for the MPEG file.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>info  |none  |Show information about loaded video and audio streams  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>rebuild-index  |none  |Rebuild index with correct frame type.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>reuse-2pass-log  |none  |Reuse the 2-pass logfile if it exists.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>run  |script filename  |Load and run a script.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>save-jpg  |output filename  |Save current video frame image as a JPEG file.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>save-workbench  |output filename  |Save the current workbench into a project file.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>var  |my_var_name=value  |Set variable value.  |
^Output save commands  ^Parameters  ^Description  ^
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>save  |filename  |Save the file. Default output format is AVI.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>save-dvd  |(two args)  |Save as DVD MPEG PS.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>save-unpacked-vop  |filename  |Save as AVI with unpacked VOP.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>save-ogm  |filename  |Save as OGM file.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>save-raw-video  |none  |Save elementary video stream and strip the container, you will end up with raw MPEG video!  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>output-format  |AVI <nowiki>|</nowiki> AVI_DUAL <nowiki>|</nowiki> AVI_UNP <nowiki>|</nowiki> ES <nowiki>|</nowiki> MP4 <nowiki>|</nowiki> OGM <nowiki>|</nowiki> PS <nowiki>|</nowiki> TS <nowiki>|</nowiki> MATROSKA  |Set the output format. ES is for video only, PS for Program Stream (VCD/SVCD/DVD) and TS for Transport Stream.  |
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>auto-split  |Size in megabytes  |Avidemux will automatically split the files when they reach the given size and create file.avi, file.avi.1, file.avi.2... The default is 2 GB.  |