Answers.Body: <h1>Get <code>ffmpeg</code></h1>
  
  <p>Download a recent build of <code>ffmpeg</code>. Binaries for Windows, Linux, and OS X are available on the <a href="http://ffmpeg.org/download.html" rel="nofollow">FFmpeg Download</a> page. Development is very active and there is no need to use buggy <code>avconv</code> (note that this answer was written for <code>ffmpeg</code>, so I'm not sure if any examples will work with <code>avconv</code>).</p>
  
  <h1>Theora video &amp; Vorbis audio in OGG</h1>
  
  <p>Theora is old and has been superseded in many cases by VP8/VP9 video in WebM (see example below), so there are few reasons to use Theora in OGG/OGV.</p>
  
  <pre><code>ffmpeg -i input -c:v libtheora -q:v 5 -c:a libvorbis -q:a 5 output.ogv
  </code></pre>
  
  <ul>
  <li><p><code>-q:v</code> – video quality. Range is 0-10, where 10 is highest quality. 5-7 is a good range to try. If you omit <code>-q:v</code> then <code>ffmpeg</code> will use the default of <code>-b:v 200k</code> which will most likely provide a poor quality output, and libtheora may drop/skip frames if the bitrate is too low. </p></li>
  <li><p><code>-q:a</code> – audio quality. Range is 0-10, where 10 is highest quality. 3-6 is a good range to try. Default is <code>-q:a 3</code>. </p></li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>Adapted from <a href="https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/TheoraVorbisEncodingGuide" rel="nofollow">FFmpeg Wiki: A Brief Theora and Vorbis Encoding Guide</a>.</p>
  
  <h1>VP8 video &amp; Vorbis audio in WebM</h1>
  
  <pre><code>ffmpeg -i input -c:v libvpx -qmin 0 -qmax 50 -crf 5 -b:v 1M -c:a libvorbis -q:a 5 output.webm
  </code></pre>
  
  <ul>
  <li><p>See <a href="http://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/Encode/VP8" rel="nofollow">FFmpeg Wiki: VP8 Encoding Guide</a> and <a href="http://www.webmproject.org/docs/encoder-parameters/" rel="nofollow">VP8 Encode Parameter Guide</a> to optimize your command.</p></li>
  <li><p>If you want to encode VP9 video, then use <code>-c:v libvpx-vp9</code>. It is currently a slow encoder.</p></li>
  </ul>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-08-13T22:20:48.027Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2015-08-13T22:20:48.027Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: llogan
Answers.Body: <p>Use: </p>
  
  <pre><code>$ avconv -i video.mp4 -vcodec copy video.ogg
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>this should work, the <code>-vcodec copy</code> option copies the video track from mp4 container into the ogg container.</p>
  
  <p>If it does not work, see: </p>
  
  <pre><code>$ avconv -codecs
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>the <code>-codecs</code> option to see which are supported by your program. That depends on the libraries linked after compilation of the source.</p>
  
  <p>See the manual: </p>
  
  <pre><code>$ man avconv
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>for more information on options like <code>-r</code> (video bit rate option).</p>
  
  <p>That option allows you to select a better bit rate for video, a similar one to the source video may be a good choice, if it does not works fine, try a higher rate.</p>
  
  <p><em>Although <code>avconv</code> is a development derived from a fork of FFmpeg it can still lack features and bug fixes that are present in <code>ffmpeg</code>.</em></p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-08-13T11:15:11.200Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2015-08-13T22:03:31.250Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2015-08-13T22:03:31.250Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: sporadic visitor
Body: <p>I have this linux command line app called <a href="http://libav.org/avconv.html" rel="nofollow">avcon</a>. It is used to converting files. For instance if I have a file called video.mp4 I can run <code>avconv -i video.mp4 video.ogg</code> and it will convert this <code>video.mp4</code> to <code>video.ogg</code>. </p>
  
  <p>So my problem(question):
  Whenever it converts any file the output file's quality is super bad compared to the original video (the input video). How can I get around with that? I mean how can I convert the file and still get the same quality?  </p>
  
  <p>If this is not possible using this app. Can anybody suggest anything else for converting video files using the command line?</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2015-07-23T11:43:13.513Z
Comments.Text: Use ffmpeg instead of avcon. But also, post the command line you're using. It's the settings that make the difference.
Comments.UserDisplayName: stib
Tags: <video><ffmpeg><avconv>
Title: avconv converting videos in really bad quality
UserDisplayName: Anonymous
ThreadText: # avconv converting videos in really bad quality
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2015-07-22)
  
  I have this linux command line app called [avcon](http://libav.org/avconv.html). It is used to converting files. For instance if I have a file called video.mp4 I can run `avconv -i video.mp4 video.ogg` and it will convert this `video.mp4` to `video.ogg`.
  
  So my problem(question):
  Whenever it converts any file the output file's quality is super bad compared to the original video (the input video). How can I get around with that? I mean how can I convert the file and still get the same quality?
  
  If this is not possible using this app. Can anybody suggest anything else for converting video files using the command line?
  
  **Tags:** video, ffmpeg, avconv
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: Use ffmpeg instead of avcon. But also, post the command line you're using. It's the settings that make the difference.  
  
  ---
  
  ## 2 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2015-08-13. Score: 2
  
  # Get `ffmpeg`
  
  Download a recent build of `ffmpeg`. Binaries for Windows, Linux, and OS X are available on the [FFmpeg Download](http://ffmpeg.org/download.html) page. Development is very active and there is no need to use buggy `avconv` (note that this answer was written for `ffmpeg`, so I'm not sure if any examples will work with `avconv`).
  
  # Theora video & Vorbis audio in OGG
  
  Theora is old and has been superseded in many cases by VP8/VP9 video in WebM (see example below), so there are few reasons to use Theora in OGG/OGV.
  
  ```
  ffmpeg -i input -c:v libtheora -q:v 5 -c:a libvorbis -q:a 5 output.ogv
  
  ```
  
  * `-q:v` – video quality. Range is 0-10, where 10 is highest quality. 5-7 is a good range to try. If you omit `-q:v` then `ffmpeg` will use the default of `-b:v 200k` which will most likely provide a poor quality output, and libtheora may drop/skip frames if the bitrate is too low.
  * `-q:a` – audio quality. Range is 0-10, where 10 is highest quality. 3-6 is a good range to try. Default is `-q:a 3`.
  
  Adapted from [FFmpeg Wiki: A Brief Theora and Vorbis Encoding Guide](https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/TheoraVorbisEncodingGuide).
  
  # VP8 video & Vorbis audio in WebM
  
  ```
  ffmpeg -i input -c:v libvpx -qmin 0 -qmax 50 -crf 5 -b:v 1M -c:a libvorbis -q:a 5 output.webm
  
  ```
  
  * See [FFmpeg Wiki: VP8 Encoding Guide](http://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/Encode/VP8) and [VP8 Encode Parameter Guide](http://www.webmproject.org/docs/encoder-parameters/) to optimize your command.
  * If you want to encode VP9 video, then use `-c:v libvpx-vp9`. It is currently a slow encoder.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_3 on 2015-08-13. Score: 1
  
  Use:
  
  ```
  $ avconv -i video.mp4 -vcodec copy video.ogg
  
  ```
  
  this should work, the `-vcodec copy` option copies the video track from mp4 container into the ogg container.
  
  If it does not work, see:
  
  ```
  $ avconv -codecs
  
  ```
  
  the `-codecs` option to see which are supported by your program. That depends on the libraries linked after compilation of the source.
  
  See the manual:
  
  ```
  $ man avconv
  
  ```
  
  for more information on options like `-r` (video bit rate option).
  
  That option allows you to select a better bit rate for video, a similar one to the source video may be a good choice, if it does not works fine, try a higher rate.
  
  *Although `avconv` is a development derived from a fork of FFmpeg it can still lack features and bug fixes that are present in `ffmpeg`.*
  
  
  ---
  
  