Containers

Generic

class av.container.Container

Bases: object

options

container_options

stream_options

metadata_encoding

metadata_errors

open_timeout

read_timeout

Flags

av.container.Container.flags

class av.container.Flags

Wraps AVFormatContext.flags.

Container Attribute	Flags Name	Flag Value	Meaning in FFmpeg
gen_pts	GENPTS	0x1	Generate missing pts even if it requires parsing future frames.
ign_idx	IGNIDX	0x2	Ignore index.
non_block	NONBLOCK	0x4	Do not block when reading packets from input.
ign_dts	IGNDTS	0x8	Ignore DTS on frames that contain both DTS & PTS.
no_fill_in	NOFILLIN	0x10	Do not infer any values from other values, just return what is stored in the container.
no_parse	NOPARSE	0x20	Do not use AVParsers, you also must set AVFMT_FLAG_NOFILLIN as the fillin code works on frames and no parsing -> no frames. Also seeking to frames can not work if parsing to find frame boundaries has been disabled.
no_buffer	NOBUFFER	0x40	Do not buffer frames when possible.
custom_io	CUSTOM_IO	0x80	The caller has supplied a custom AVIOContext, don’t avio_close() it.
discard_corrupt	DISCARD_CORRUPT	0x100	Discard frames marked corrupted.
flush_packets	FLUSH_PACKETS	0x200	Flush the AVIOContext every packet.
bit_exact	BITEXACT	0x400	When muxing, try to avoid writing any random/volatile data to the output. This includes any random IDs, real-time timestamps/dates, muxer version, etc. This flag is mainly intended for testing.
sort_dts	SORT_DTS	0x10000	Try to interleave outputted packets by dts (using this flag can slow demuxing down).
fast_seek	FAST_SEEK	0x80000	Enable fast, but inaccurate seeks for some formats.
shortest	SHORTEST	0x100000	Stop muxing when the shortest stream stops.
auto_bsf	AUTO_BSF	0x200000	Add bitstream filters as requested by the muxer.

Input Containers

class av.container.InputContainer

Bases: Container

bit_rate

close()

decode(streams=None, video=None, audio=None, subtitles=None, data=None)

Yields a series of Frame from the given set of streams:

for frame in container.decode():
    # Do something with `frame`.

See also

StreamContainer.get() for the interpretation of the arguments.

demux(streams=None, video=None, audio=None, subtitles=None, data=None)

Yields a series of Packet from the given set of Stream:

for packet in container.demux():
    # Do something with `packet`, often:
    for frame in packet.decode():
        # Do something with `frame`.

See also

StreamContainer.get() for the interpretation of the arguments.

Note

The last packets are dummy packets that when decoded will flush the buffers.

duration

seek(offset, *, backward=True, any_frame=False, stream=None)

Seek to a (key)frame nearsest to the given timestamp.

Parameters:

• offset (int) – Time to seek to, expressed in``stream.time_base`` if stream is given, otherwise in av.time_base.

• backward (bool) – If there is not a (key)frame at the given offset, look backwards for it.

• any_frame (bool) – Seek to any frame, not just a keyframe.

• stream (Stream) – The stream who’s time_base the offset is in.

• unsupported_frame_offset (bool) – offset is a frame index instead of a time; not supported by any known format.

• unsupported_byte_offset (bool) – offset is a byte location in the file; not supported by any known format.

After seeking, packets that you demux should correspond (roughly) to the position you requested.

In most cases, the defaults of backwards = True and any_frame = False are the best course of action, followed by you demuxing/decoding to the position that you want. This is becase to properly decode video frames you need to start from the previous keyframe.

See also

avformat_seek_file for discussion of the flags.

size

start_time

Output Containers

class av.container.OutputContainer

Bases: Container

add_stream(codec_name, rate=None)

Creates a new stream from a codec name and returns it.

Parameters:

• codec_name (str | Codec) – The name of a codec.

• options (dict) – Stream options.

• **kwargs – Set attributes for the stream.

Return type:

The new Stream.

add_stream_from_template(Stream template, **kwargs)

Creates a new stream from a template.

Parameters:

• template – Copy codec from another Stream instance.

• **kwargs – Set attributes for the stream.

Return type:

The new Stream.

close()

default_audio_codec

Returns the default audio codec this container recommends.

default_subtitle_codec

Returns the default subtitle codec this container recommends.

default_video_codec

Returns the default video codec this container recommends.

mux(packets)

mux_one(Packet packet)

start_encoding()

Write the file header! Called automatically.

supported_codecs

Returns a set of all codecs this format supports.

Formats

class av.format.ContainerFormat

Bases: object

Descriptor of a container format.

Parameters:

• name (str) – The name of the format.

• mode (str) – 'r' or 'w' for input and output formats; defaults to None which will grab either.

ContainerFormat.name

ContainerFormat.long_name

ContainerFormat.options

ContainerFormat.input

An input-only view of this format.

ContainerFormat.output

An output-only view of this format.

ContainerFormat.is_input

ContainerFormat.is_output

ContainerFormat.extensions

Flags

ContainerFormat.flags

class av.format.Flags

Bases: EnumFlag

ContainerFormat Attribute	Flags Name	Flag Value	Meaning in FFmpeg
no_file	NOFILE	0x1	-
need_number	NEEDNUMBER	0x2	Needs ‘%d’ in filename.
show_ids	SHOW_IDS	0x8	Show format stream IDs numbers.
global_header	GLOBALHEADER	0x40	Format wants global header.
no_timestamps	NOTIMESTAMPS	0x80	Format does not need / have any timestamps.
generic_index	GENERIC_INDEX	0x100	Use generic index building code.
ts_discont	TS_DISCONT	0x200	Format allows timestamp discontinuities. Note, muxers always require valid (monotone) timestamps
variable_fps	VARIABLE_FPS	0x400	Format allows variable fps.
no_dimensions	NODIMENSIONS	0x800	Format does not need width/height
no_streams	NOSTREAMS	0x1000	Format does not require any streams
no_bin_search	NOBINSEARCH	0x2000	Format does not allow to fall back on binary search via read_timestamp
no_gen_search	NOGENSEARCH	0x4000	Format does not allow to fall back on generic search
no_byte_seek	NO_BYTE_SEEK	0x8000	Format does not allow seeking by bytes
allow_flush	ALLOW_FLUSH	0x10000	Format allows flushing. If not set, the muxer will not receive a NULL packet in the write_packet function.
ts_nonstrict	TS_NONSTRICT	0x20000	Format does not require strictly increasing timestamps, but they must still be monotonic.
ts_negative	TS_NEGATIVE	0x40000	Format allows muxing negative timestamps. If not set the timestamp will be shifted in av_write_frame and av_interleaved_write_frame so they start from 0. The user or muxer can override this through AVFormatContext.avoid_negative_ts
seek_to_pts	SEEK_TO_PTS	0x4000000	Seeking is based on PTS