FFmpeg Encoding Presets — Copy & Use

Optimized for YouTube's recommended upload format. Uses High profile with CABAC for best quality-to-size ratio.

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -profile:v high -level 4.1 -pix_fmt yuv420p -preset medium -crf 18 -movflags +faststart -c:a aac -b:a 192k output_youtube.mp4

Click to copy · CRF 18 = near-lossless quality

Optimized for speed over size — ideal for processing gaming clips where bitrate is already high.

ffmpeg -i obs_clip.mp4 -c:v libx264 -preset fast -profile:v high -level 4.0 -pix_fmt yuv420p -crf 23 -c:a aac -b:a 128k output_gaming.mp4

Click to copy · Preset fast = 3-5x faster encode than medium

Compressed for social media algorithms with correct vertical aspect ratio.

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "scale=1080:1920:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=1080:1920:(ow-iw)/2:(oh-ih)/2:color=black" -c:v libx264 -crf 28 -preset fast -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:a aac -b:a 128k output_social.mp4

Click to copy · CRF 28 = compressed for platform upload

High-quality master for long-term archival. Nearly indistinguishable from source.

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -preset slow -profile:v high -level 5.1 -pix_fmt yuv420p -crf 12 -movflags +faststart -c:a flac output_master.mkv

Click to copy · CRF 12 = near-lossless (large file size)

WEBM/VP9 format for embedding on websites where file size matters most.

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libvpx-vp9 -b:v 1M -crf 30 -row-mt 1 -c:a libopus -b:a 96k output_web.webm

Click to copy · VP9 + Opus = smallest file at good quality

Process all MP4 files in a directory at once. Useful for bulk conversions.

# Bash (Linux/Mac) — process all videos in a folder\
for file in *.mp4; do\
  ffmpeg -i "$file" -c:v libx264 -crf 23 -preset fast -c:a aac -b:a 128k "output/${file%.*}_edited.mp4"\
done

Click to copy · Works on macOS and Linux terminals