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Video Repair 6 minute read

How to Repair Corrupt Video Files using FFmpeg

Updated on June 18th, 2020
Sumona Chatterjee
Written By
Sumona Chatterjee

” Can I repair corrupt MOV video files using FFmpeg that became corrupted after I changed settings during recording? “

” How can I improve sound quality in my 2GB MP3 video file of Canon camcorder by FFmpeg? “

Videos need editing or repair to improve quality and enhance the viewing experience. Sometimes, however good in quality, you may just want to edit, cut, sharpen, rotate, add sound or text over them. To do such tasks, there are a plethora of video editing tools. But unlike paid editing platforms, which may not let you do all the activities, FFmpeg is a complete software project for multimedia files. It has a vast suite of libraries and programs which lets you convert, edit, repair, and improve your video formats.

FFmpeg multimedia framework has its distinct fan following too, owing to its multi-facet utilities.

Recently, NASA used FFmpeg to combine the high-resolution images taken from GOES-R series of Earth observation satellites to create a video. While some miles away, the game developer- Looking Glass Studios included FFmpeg video support in its latest Dark Mod Thief game version 2.06.

Everyone from end users to developers use open source FFmpeg to create, convert, record, cut, stream, encode, transcode, mux, demux, and so much more to their videos.

Contents

  • How does FFmpeg work?
  • What all you can do with FFmpeg?
  • Can FFmpeg repair corrupt videos?
  • How to Repair Corrupt Video Files like MOV, MP4 etc. using FFmpeg?
  • How to Repair Corrupt Videos using Video Repair Software?

How does FFmpeg work?

FFmpeg is a command-line tool that uses commands to convert audio or video formats.

For example: To extract sound from a video and save it as MP3, you can use command line: $ ffmpeg -i video1.avi -vn -ar 44100 -ac 2 -ab 192 -f mp3 audio3.mp3

To increase video play back speed command line is: $ ffmpeg -i video.mpg -vf “setpts=0.5*PTS” highspeed.mpg

It can also capture and encode in real-time from various sources such as a TV capture card. FFmpeg comes with a wide range of audio and video codecs support. You can use to fix your video-related issues of any file format on Linux, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, the Unix BSDs, and Solaris systems.

What all you can do with FFmpeg?

  • Decode, encode, transcode, mux, demux, stream, and filter multimedia files
  • Convert video to images and images to video
  • Scale, pad, crop, flip, rotate, blur, sharpen and de-noise video
  • Speed up or slow down audio and video
  • Let the computer to read the text with selected voice
  • Display and record input from your webcam
  • Record input from microphone or send it to loudspeakers
  • Add static or dynamic text on video
  • Add, edit or delete file metadata
  • Preview modified input in 2, 3 or 4 windows
  • Include a logo or provide Picture in Picture
  • Create sound with mathematical expressions
  • Resize video with a high quality polyphase filter
  • Display input from 2 webcams in one window
  • Set the bitrate, frame rate, maximum file size and related options
  • Encode subtitles directly to the video stream
  • Join various file formats, modify streams and modify audio channels

Can FFmpeg repair corrupt videos?

Yes, it can. You can try to repair your video files using various command lines in FFmpeg. But this could be a little tricky for beginners. You should have knowledge of various command lines to perform different tasks in FFmpeg.

Also, the success of repair of corrupt video files depends upon what issue you want to fix and how badly the file is damaged.

How to Repair Corrupt Video Files like MOV, MP4 etc. using FFmpeg?

To use FFmpeg you need to open a command prompt window and give specific command lines to fix corruption or inaccessible video problems.

Step-by-step: How to use FFmpeg to fix corrupt video

  • Download and install FFmpeg on your computer.
  • Copy the corrupt video file from source location to desktop
  • Open Command Prompt using Win+R and type cmd in the box
  • In command prompt window type in cd Desktop and press Enter

How to Repair Corrupt Video Files like MOV, MP4 etc. using FFmpeg

  • Enter the command line. For example, to convert an MP4 video called ‘Party’ into a AVI file called ‘Birthday’, type in ffmpeg -i Party.mp4 Birthday.avi

Note: Keep your file name exactly the same including the upper and lower case in the command line.

Repair Corrupt Video Files like MOV, MP4 etc. using FFmpeg

  • Press Enter

Once the process finishes, you can see the new video file on the Desktop with the file name that you entered (here as Birthday.avi)

Similarly, you can use different command lines for various actions like below:

To check for corruption in the input.ts stream video file and save the errors in log file:

ffmpeg –v error –i corrupted_input.ts -f null – &> corruptions.log

To fix the corrupt video file use:

ffmpeg –i corrupted_input.ts –map –ignore_unknown/-copy_unknown –c copy fixed.ts

If it’s a corrupt MP4 video:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c copy output.mp4

To fix a WMV video not playing and showing message video too long:

In FFmpeg, first convert the video to still images and then still images back to video.

First extract all the frames into JPEG images using command line: .\ffmpeg.exe -i ‘.\Video 36.wmv’ -an -f image2 filename%03d.jpg

Note: Remember the number of images created (say for example 99987 images).

Then, extract the audio using:

.\ffmpeg.exe -i ‘.\Video 36.wmv’ audio.mp3

Find the exact duration of the audio by using command:

.\ffprobe.exe -i .\audio.mp3 -show_entries format=duration -v quiet -print_format json

You would the output something as:

{    “format”: { “duration”: “4325.56210”  }}

Now calculate the frame rate of the output video to match the audio and video by diving number of images formed by the audio duration:

Here 99987 by 4325.56210 = 23.1153. This is the frame rate for your output video. It is necessary to use the exact number.

Next use command line and press Enter:

.\ffmpeg.exe -framerate 23.1153-f image2 -i .\filename%3d.jpg -codec copy ouput_noaudio.mkv

Now, use command line to mix the audio and video to get the final perfectly playing video:

.\ffmpeg.exe –i .\output_noaudio.mkv –i .\audio.mp3 –c copy –map 0:v:0 –map 1:a:0 output.mkv

Other easier programs to repair corrupt videos

 There are other programs such as video repair tools like Stellar Repair for Video ; noise reduction video plugins like Neat Video or Red Giant Magic Bullet Denoiser; video editing software like Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro X, or Lightworks that can be used to reduce noise and improve video quality.

But a dedicated video repair tool for video corruption is always a better choice. They can fix even severely corrupt MP4, MOV, AVI, AVCHD and all other important video file formats that are not playable or show error in loading.

The free demo version of the software is good enough for evaluating whether a video corruption issue can be resolved.

Video Repair Video Repair Mac

How to Repair Corrupt Videos using Video Repair Software?

Are you searching for software to repair broken video files? Stellar Repair for Video fixes almost all types of video corruptions that occur during editing, shoot, converting to a different format, or on the transfer of videos, etc. It repairs corruption in frames, sound section, header, etc. You can play your videos that turned grainy, choppy, jerky, broken, frozen or out of sync, etc.

Even the severely corrupt video files that are not fixed by FFmpeg or other editing/repair tools can be made playable using Stellar Repair for Video .

The software can also repair video files created through the FFmpeg program. Moreover, you do not need to fret over the repairing process. The advanced algorithms of the software easily fix any damage in the video files.

It supports repair of AVI, ASF, WMV, MKV, FLV, DIVX, WEBM, MJPEG, MPEG, AVCHD, MTS, MOV, MP4, M4V, 3G2, 3GP, and F4V video files.

Wrapping up

Thus by the above-mentioned methods, you can repair corrupt video files using FFmpeg using its command lines. However, for severely corrupt video files, a secure video repair tool Stellar Repair for Video is a recommended. Unlike FFmpeg, the software works in all kinds of video corruption without you putting in any efforts to repair the distorted multimedia file.

About The Author

Sumona Chatterjee

Sumona is a tech blogger, avid photographer, & technogeek with vast experience in writing about media file recovery tips and tutorials. She has over 10 years of experience in media file recovery/media file repair technology. She is passionate about Photography, Creative Designing, Music, and Exploring lesser-known destinations.

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18 comments

  1. Rengarajan S says:
    January 25, 2022 at 10:42 am

    Software worth its name. It worked for me with no difficulties.

    Reply
    1. Sumona Chatterjee says:
      March 21, 2022 at 6:09 am

      Hi Rengarajan, We are glad to be of help to you. Stay tuned for more.

      Reply
  2. Pham Hung says:
    January 30, 2021 at 8:51 am

    I got a corruption when saving mp4 video file because my disk is full. So my video is not completed. I use some software to view the file’s contains and see that: Size in mdat header is set to 0x00000000; and no moov chunk at the end of file. Whether I can use your software or any method to fix and repair my file? Thanks in advance!

    Reply
    1. Sumona Chatterjee says:
      February 4, 2021 at 7:46 am

      Hi Pham, you can try our software demo version if the demo version show the preview of your file. It’s definately repaired your video file. Thanks!

      Reply
  3. Leslie Dyche says:
    November 22, 2020 at 11:11 am

    Hi, can FFmpeg fix an mp4 file that has got an invalid timestamp error. And if not then is there any other program that can, as I have got an mp4 file which cannot be converted properly because of this problem?

    Thank you…

    Reply
    1. Sumona Chatterjee says:
      November 26, 2020 at 11:55 am

      Hi Leslie, You can use our software which may help to fix this issue of mp4 video using ffmpeg with timestamps. For converting the MP4 file, you can try Stellar Converter for Audio Video, which easily converts any video file to a supported video format. Thanks!

      Reply
  4. Roseanna says:
    August 17, 2019 at 7:16 pm

    Someone necessarily lends a hand to make critically posts I’d state.
    That is the very first time I frequented your website page and up to now?
    I amazed with the research you made to create this particular submit incredibly. Wonderful job!

    Reply
    1. Sumona Chatterjee says:
      August 19, 2019 at 2:51 am

      Hi Roseanna, Thanks for your appreciation!

      Reply
  5. santosh says:
    January 16, 2019 at 6:05 am

    hello i am santosh
    I have 3.56 GB mp4 file ,during transfer from my mobile to PC ,but it cant play ,i try so many time using different media player still no solution .please if any have solution ?

    Reply
    1. Sumona Chatterjee says:
      January 18, 2019 at 3:37 am

      Hi Santosh, during transfer file from mobile to PC there is the chance file may be corrupted. I suggest you can try our software demo version and see the preview of your repaired file. Thanks!

      Reply
  6. Kyle Sherman says:
    December 12, 2018 at 10:31 am

    This software help to get fix the issue of my MOV video using ffmpeg with Meta data, timestamps or container info. And it’s very fast, usually faster than play speed. Thanks!

    Reply
    1. Sumona Chatterjee says:
      December 14, 2018 at 11:14 am

      Hi Kyle, Thanks for using our Software!

      Reply
  7. Jess Lee says:
    November 22, 2018 at 10:35 am

    Hi, I try this software for repairing our video files but its showing message for “add a reference” with the same device. Is it possible to repair a video without a reference?

    Reply
    1. Sumona Chatterjee says:
      November 26, 2018 at 9:58 am

      Hi Jess, No, you must provide a good reference file from the same device for this repair method.

      Reply
  8. James Anderson says:
    September 19, 2018 at 10:33 am

    I fix this issues that I suppose stream and key frames related with ffmeg. This software worked like a charm for .avi files. Thank you!

    Reply
    1. Sumona Chatterjee says:
      September 20, 2018 at 6:07 am

      Hi James, Thanks for using our software!

      Reply
  9. Gabriel H. Sanchez says:
    August 29, 2018 at 10:18 am

    Awesome Post! I had issue with MP4 files atom not found input.mp4 it show an error Invalid data when processing. I try ffmpeg from the command line. Its work for me. Thanks!

    Reply
    1. Sumona Chatterjee says:
      August 30, 2018 at 3:21 am

      Hi Gabriel, Thanks for reading our blog and sharing your feedback with us!

      Reply

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Table of Contents    

  1. How does FFmpeg work?
  2. What all you can do with FFmpeg?
  3. Can FFmpeg repair corrupt videos?
  4. How to Repair Corrupt Video Files like MOV, MP4 etc. using FFmpeg?
  5. How to Repair Corrupt Videos using Video Repair Software?

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