Answers.Body: <p>You can use the companion ffprobe tool, which really is meant for machine-parseable text.</p>
  <pre><code>ffprobe -v 0 -show_entries format=start_time -of compact=p=0:nk=1 &quot;input&quot;
  </code></pre>
  <p>This will print a value with the form <code>x.yyyyyy</code> or <code>N/A</code> for formats without timestamps.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2021-03-31T13:58:48.970Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2021-03-31T13:58:48.970Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Gyan
Body: <p>I need to get the start time of some videoclips (very precise, ideally precise at 0.1 sec). I have been told that I may be able to do so using ffmpeg. I managed to install it but am not sure how to obtain this information.</p>
  <p>I tried with</p>
  <pre><code>path &gt; ffmpeg -i test.mp4 -f ffmetadata test_metadata.txt
  </code></pre>
  <p>But then the <strong>test_metadata.txt</strong> file just contains the following</p>
  <pre><code>;FFMETADATA1
  major_brand=mp42
  minor_version=0
  compatible_brands=mp42isom
  encoder=Lavf58.77.100
  </code></pre>
  <p>Any suggestion? Also I am happy to use other commands/software. Can't use online services as video are sensible and I must adhere to GDPR</p>
  
Tags: <video><ffmpeg><metadata><time>
Title: get metadata for video start time with ffmpeg
UserDisplayName: FrAiello
ThreadText: # get metadata for video start time with ffmpeg
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2021-03-31)
  
  I need to get the start time of some videoclips (very precise, ideally precise at 0.1 sec). I have been told that I may be able to do so using ffmpeg. I managed to install it but am not sure how to obtain this information.
  
  I tried with
  
  ```
  path > ffmpeg -i test.mp4 -f ffmetadata test_metadata.txt
  
  ```
  
  But then the **test\_metadata.txt** file just contains the following
  
  ```
  ;FFMETADATA1
  major_brand=mp42
  minor_version=0
  compatible_brands=mp42isom
  encoder=Lavf58.77.100
  
  ```
  
  Any suggestion? Also I am happy to use other commands/software. Can't use online services as video are sensible and I must adhere to GDPR
  
  **Tags:** video, ffmpeg, metadata, time
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2021-03-31. Score: 1
  
  You can use the companion ffprobe tool, which really is meant for machine-parseable text.
  
  ```
  ffprobe -v 0 -show_entries format=start_time -of compact=p=0:nk=1 "input"
  
  ```
  
  This will print a value with the form `x.yyyyyy` or `N/A` for formats without timestamps.
  
  
  ---
  
  