[ffmpeg] Rotating videos with FFmpeg

I have been trying to figure out how to rotate videos with FFmpeg. I am working with iPhone videos taken in portrait mode. I know how to determine the current degrees of rotation using MediaInfo (excellent library, btw) but I'm stuck on FFmpeg now.

From what I've read, what you need to use is a vfilter option. According to what I see, it should look like this:

ffmpeg -vfilters "rotate=90" -i input.mp4 output.mp4

However, I can't get this to work. First, -vfilters doesn't exist anymore, it's now just -vf. Second, I get this error:

No such filter: 'rotate'
Error opening filters!

As far as I know, I have an all-options-on build of FFmpeg. Running ffmpeg -filters shows this:

Filters:
anull            Pass the source unchanged to the output.
aspect           Set the frame aspect ratio.
crop             Crop the input video to x:y:width:height.
fifo             Buffer input images and send them when they are requested.
format           Convert the input video to one of the specified pixel formats.
hflip            Horizontally flip the input video.
noformat         Force libavfilter not to use any of the specified pixel formats
 for the input to the next filter.
null             Pass the source unchanged to the output.
pad              Pad input image to width:height[:x:y[:color]] (default x and y:
 0, default color: black).
pixdesctest      Test pixel format definitions.
pixelaspect      Set the pixel aspect ratio.
scale            Scale the input video to width:height size and/or convert the i
mage format.
slicify          Pass the images of input video on to next video filter as multi
ple slices.
unsharp          Sharpen or blur the input video.
vflip            Flip the input video vertically.
buffer           Buffer video frames, and make them accessible to the filterchai
n.
color            Provide an uniformly colored input, syntax is: [color[:size[:ra
te]]]
nullsrc          Null video source, never return images.
nullsink         Do absolutely nothing with the input video.

Having the options for vflip and hflip are great and all, but they just won't get me where I need to go. I need to the ability to rotate videos 90 degrees at the very least. 270 degrees would be an excellent option to have as well. Where have the rotate options gone?

I came across this page while searching for the same answer. It is now six months since this was originally asked and the builds have been updated many times since then. However, I wanted to add an answer for anyone else that comes across here looking for this information.

I am using Debian Squeeze and FFmpeg version from those repositories.

The MAN page for ffmpeg states the following use

ffmpeg -i inputfile.mpg -vf "transpose=1" outputfile.mpg

The key being that you are not to use a degree variable, but a predefined setting variable from the MAN page.

0=90CounterCLockwise and Vertical Flip  (default) 
1=90Clockwise 
2=90CounterClockwise 
3=90Clockwise and Vertical Flip

If you're getting a "Codec is experimental but experimental codecs are not enabled" error use this :

ffmpeg -i inputFile -vf "transpose=1" -c:a copy outputFile

Happened with me for some .mov file with aac audio.

Since ffmpeg transpose command is very slow, use the command below to rotate a video by 90 degrees clockwise.

Fast command (Without encoding)-

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c copy -metadata:s:v:0 rotate=270 output.mp4

For full video encoding (Slow command, does encoding)

ffmpeg -i inputFile -vf "transpose=1" -c:a copy outputFile

If you don't want to re-encode your video AND your player can handle rotation metadata you can just change the rotation in the metadata using ffmpeg:

ffmpeg -i input.m4v -map_metadata 0 -metadata:s:v rotate="90" -codec copy output.m4v

Smartphone: Recored a video in vertical format

Want to send it to a webside it was 90° to the left (anti clockwise, landscape format) hmm.

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "rotate=0" output.mp4

does it. I got vertical format back again

debian buster: ffmpeg --version ffmpeg version 4.1.4-1~deb10u1 Copyright (c) 2000-2019 the FFmpeg developers

To rotate the picture clockwise you can use the rotate filter, indicating a positive angle in radians. With 90 degrees equating with PI/2, you can do it like so:

ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -vf "rotate=PI/2" out.mp4

for counter-clockwise the angle must be negative

ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -vf "rotate=-PI/2" out.mp4

The transpose filter will work equally well for 90 degrees, but for other angles this is a faster or only choice.

For me it works like this

Rotate clockwise

 ffmpeg -i "path_source_video.mp4" -filter:v "transpose=1" "path_output_video.mp4"

Rotate counterclockwise

 ffmpeg -i "path_source_video.mp4" -filter:v "transpose=0,transpose=1,transpose=0" -acodec copy "path_output_video.mp4"

the package I use zeranoe

Have you tried transpose yet? Like (from the other answer)

 ffmpeg -i input -vf transpose=2 output

If you are using an old version, you have to update ffmpeg if you want to use the transpose feature, as it was added in October 2011.

The FFmpeg download page offers static builds that you can directly execute without having to compile them.

Unfortunately, the Ubuntu version of ffmpeg does support videofilters.

You need to use avidemux or some other editor to achieve the same effect.

In the programmatic way, mencoder has been recommended.

This script that will output the files with the directory structure under "fixedFiles". At the moment is fixed to MOV files and will execute a number of transformations depending on the original "rotation" of the video. Works with iOS captured videos on a Mac running Mavericks, but should be easily exportable. Relies on having installed both exiftool and ffmpeg.

#!/bin/bash

# rotation of 90 degrees. Will have to concatenate.
#ffmpeg -i <originalfile> -metadata:s:v:0 rotate=0 -vf "transpose=1" <destinationfile>
#/VLC -I dummy -vvv <originalfile> --sout='#transcode{width=1280,vcodec=mp4v,vb=16384,vfilter={canvas{width=1280,height=1280}:rotate{angle=-90}}}:std{access=file,mux=mp4,dst=<outputfile>}\' vlc://quit

#Allowing blanks in file names
SAVEIFS=$IFS
IFS=$(echo -en "\n\b")

#Bit Rate
BR=16384

#where to store fixed files
FIXED_FILES_DIR="fixedFiles"
#rm -rf $FIXED_FILES_DIR
mkdir $FIXED_FILES_DIR

# VLC
VLC_START="/Applications/VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/VLC -I dummy -vvv"
VLC_END="vlc://quit"


#############################################
# Processing of MOV in the wrong orientation
for f in `find . -regex '\./.*\.MOV'` 
do
  ROTATION=`exiftool "$f" |grep Rotation|cut -c 35-38`
  SHORT_DIMENSION=`exiftool "$f" |grep "Image Size"|cut -c 39-43|sed 's/x//'`
  BITRATE_INT=`exiftool "$f" |grep "Avg Bitrate"|cut -c 35-38|sed 's/\..*//'`
  echo Short dimension [$SHORT_DIMENSION] $BITRATE_INT

  if test "$ROTATION" != ""; then
    DEST=$(dirname ${f})
    echo "Processing $f with rotation $ROTATION in directory $DEST"
    mkdir -p $FIXED_FILES_DIR/"$DEST"

    if test "$ROTATION" == "0"; then
      cp "$f" "$FIXED_FILES_DIR/$f"

    elif test "$ROTATION" == "180"; then
#      $(eval $VLC_START \"$f\" "--sout="\'"#transcode{vfilter={rotate{angle=-"$ROTATION"}},vcodec=mp4v,vb=$BR}:std{access=file,mux=mp4,dst=\""$FIXED_FILES_DIR/$f"\"}'" $VLC_END )
      $(eval ffmpeg -i \"$f\" -vf hflip,vflip -r 30 -metadata:s:v:0 rotate=0 -b:v "$BITRATE_INT"M -vcodec libx264 -acodec copy \"$FIXED_FILES_DIR/$f\")

    elif test "$ROTATION" == "270"; then
      $(eval ffmpeg -i \"$f\" -vf "scale=$SHORT_DIMENSION:-1,transpose=2,pad=$SHORT_DIMENSION:$SHORT_DIMENSION:\(ow-iw\)/2:0" -r 30 -s "$SHORT_DIMENSION"x"$SHORT_DIMENSION" -metadata:s:v:0 rotate=0 -b:v "$BITRATE_INT"M -vcodec libx264 -acodec copy \"$FIXED_FILES_DIR/$f\" )

    else
#      $(eval $VLC_START \"$f\" "--sout="\'"#transcode{scale=1,width=$SHORT_DIMENSION,vcodec=mp4v,vb=$BR,vfilter={canvas{width=$SHORT_DIMENSION,height=$SHORT_DIMENSION}:rotate{angle=-"$ROTATION"}}}:std{access=file,mux=mp4,dst=\""$FIXED_FILES_DIR/$f"\"}'" $VLC_END )
      echo ffmpeg -i \"$f\" -vf "scale=$SHORT_DIMENSION:-1,transpose=1,pad=$SHORT_DIMENSION:$SHORT_DIMENSION:\(ow-iw\)/2:0" -r 30 -s "$SHORT_DIMENSION"x"$SHORT_DIMENSION" -metadata:s:v:0 rotate=0 -b:v "$BITRATE_INT"M -vcodec libx264 -acodec copy \"$FIXED_FILES_DIR/$f\" 
      $(eval ffmpeg -i \"$f\" -vf "scale=$SHORT_DIMENSION:-1,transpose=1,pad=$SHORT_DIMENSION:$SHORT_DIMENSION:\(ow-iw\)/2:0" -r 30 -s "$SHORT_DIMENSION"x"$SHORT_DIMENSION" -metadata:s:v:0 rotate=0 -b:v "$BITRATE_INT"M -vcodec libx264 -acodec copy \"$FIXED_FILES_DIR/$f\" )

    fi

  fi

echo 
echo ==================================================================
sleep 1
done

#############################################
# Processing of AVI files for my Panasonic TV
# Use ffmpegX + QuickBatch. Bitrate at 16384. Camera res 640x424
for f in `find . -regex '\./.*\.AVI'` 
do
  DEST=$(dirname ${f})
  DEST_FILE=`echo "$f" | sed 's/.AVI/.MOV/'`
  mkdir -p $FIXED_FILES_DIR/"$DEST"
  echo "Processing $f in directory $DEST"
  $(eval ffmpeg -i \"$f\" -r 20 -acodec libvo_aacenc -b:a 128k -vcodec mpeg4 -b:v 8M -flags +aic+mv4 \"$FIXED_FILES_DIR/$DEST_FILE\" )
echo 
echo ==================================================================

done

IFS=$SAVEIFS

ffmpeg -vfilters "rotate=90" -i input.mp4 output.mp4 

won't work, even with latest source...

must change the order:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf vflip output.mp4

works fine

Alexy's answer almost worked for me except that I was getting this error:

timebase 1/90000 not supported by MPEG 4 standard, the maximum admitted value for the timebase denominator is 65535

I just had to add a parameter (-r 65535/2733) to the command and it worked. The full command was thus:

ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -vf "transpose=1" -r 65535/2733 out.mp4

An additional solution with a different approach from the last mentioned solutions, is to check if your camera driver support the v4l2 camera controls (which is very common).
In the terminal just type:

v4l2-ctl -L

If your camera driver supports the v4l2 camera controls, you should get something like this (the list below depends on the controls that your camera driver supports):

               contrast (int)    : min=0 max=255 step=1 default=0 value=0 flags=slider
             saturation (int)    : min=0 max=255 step=1 default=64 value=64 flags=slider
                    hue (int)    : min=0 max=359 step=1 default=0 value=0 flags=slider
white_balance_automatic (bool)   : default=1 value=1 flags=update
            red_balance (int)    : min=0 max=4095 step=1 default=0 value=128 flags=inactive, slider
           blue_balance (int)    : min=0 max=4095 step=1 default=0 value=128 flags=inactive, slider
               exposure (int)    : min=0 max=65535 step=1 default=0 value=885 flags=inactive, volatile
         gain_automatic (bool)   : default=1 value=1 flags=update
                   gain (int)    : min=0 max=1023 step=1 default=0 value=32 flags=inactive, volatile
        horizontal_flip (bool)   : default=0 value=0
          vertical_flip (bool)   : default=0 value=0

And if you are lucky it supports horizontal_flip and vertical_flip.
Then all you need to do is to set the horizontal_flip by:

v4l2-ctl --set-ctrl horizontal_flip=1

or the vertical_flip by:

v4l2-ctl --set-ctrl vertical_flip=1

and then you can call your video device to capture a new video (see example below), and the video will be rotated/flipped.

ffmpeg -f v4l2 -video_size 640x480 -i /dev/video0 -vcodec libx264 -f mpegts input.mp4

Of-course that if you need to process an already existing video, than this method is not the solution you are looking for.

The advantage in this approach is that we flip the image in the sensor level, so the sensor of the driver already gives us the image flipped, and that's saves the application (like FFmpeg) any further and unnecessary processing.