Part 2 of FFMPEG and ROAV Dash Cam C1 Pro

While writing my software to concatenate and speed up the video files from my ROAV Dashcam I ran into an interesting issue with FFMPEG.

The -filter_complex option seems to stop parsing it’s parameters somewhere above 960 characters on the command line. I didn’t narrow down the exact point, or go digging in the FFMPEG source code to find the size. I expect this is an arbitrary buffer size in FFMPEG. I may contribute to the source code since it fails with no explanation, even when generating a report file. Learning the FFMPEG source structure in itself is a large task, meaning that I’ve not found time to do anything beyond find a workaround.

My workaround was to recognize when the command size will get long and fall back to using the -f concat option with a temporary file listing the input files instead of using the complex filtergraph.

The advantage of the complex filtergraph is twofold. It does not require a secondary input file or any cleanup. It can deal with input files that change resolution if necessary.

Here’s an example of the complex filtergraph:

ffmpeg.exe -report -i 2018_0705_101335_006.MP4 -i 2018_0705_101635_007.MP4 -i 2018_0705_101935_008.MP4 -i 2018_0705_102235_009.MP4 -i 2018_0705_102535_010.MP4 -i 2018_0705_102835_011.MP4 -i 2018_0705_103135_012.MP4 -i 2018_0705_103435_013.MP4 -i 2018_0705_103613_014A.MP4 -i 2018_0705_103615_015A.MP4 -i 2018_0705_104449_016A.MP4 -i 2018_0705_104750_017A.MP4 -i 2018_0705_105050_018A.MP4 -i 2018_0705_105350_019A.MP4 -i 2018_0705_105650_020A.MP4 -i 2018_0705_105950_021A.MP4 -i 2018_0705_110250_022A.MP4 -i 2018_0705_110550_023A.MP4 -i 2018_0705_110850_024A.MP4 -i 2018_0705_143415_025.MP4 -i 2018_0705_143716_026.MP4 -i 2018_0705_144016_027.MP4 -i 2018_0705_144316_028.MP4 -i 2018_0705_144616_029.MP4 -i 2018_0705_144916_030.MP4 -i 2018_0705_145216_031.MP4 -i 2018_0705_145516_032.MP4 -i 2018_0705_145816_033.MP4 -i 2018_0705_150116_034.MP4 -i 2018_0705_150416_035.MP4 -i 2018_0705_150716_036.MP4 -i 2018_0705_151016_037.MP4 -i 2018_0705_151316_038.MP4 -i 2018_0705_151616_039.MP4 -i 2018_0705_151916_040.MP4 -i 2018_0705_152216_041.MP4 -i 2018_0705_152516_042.MP4 -i 2018_0705_152816_043.MP4 -i 2018_0705_153116_044.MP4 -i 2018_0705_153416_045.MP4 -i 2018_0705_153716_046.MP4 -i 2018_0705_154016_047.MP4 -i 2018_0705_154316_048.MP4 -i 2018_0705_154616_049.MP4 -i 2018_0705_154916_050.MP4 -i 2018_0705_155216_051.MP4 -i 2018_0705_155516_052.MP4 -i 2018_0705_155816_053.MP4 -i 2018_0705_160116_054.MP4 -i 2018_0705_160416_055.MP4 -i 2018_0705_160716_056.MP4 -i 2018_0705_161016_057.MP4 -i 2018_0705_161316_058.MP4 -i 2018_0705_161616_059.MP4 -i 2018_0705_161916_060.MP4 -i 2018_0705_162216_061.MP4 -i 2018_0705_162516_062.MP4 -i 2018_0705_162816_063.MP4 -i 2018_0705_163116_064.MP4 -i 2018_0705_163416_065.MP4 -i 2018_0705_163716_066.MP4 -i 2018_0705_164016_067.MP4 -i 2018_0705_164316_068.MP4 -i 2018_0705_164616_069.MP4 -i 2018_0705_164916_070.MP4 -i 2018_0705_165215_071.MP4 -i 2018_0705_165516_072.MP4 -i 2018_0705_165815_073.MP4 -i 2018_0705_170115_074.MP4 -i 2018_0705_170415_075.MP4 -i 2018_0705_170715_076.MP4 -i 2018_0705_171015_077.MP4 -i 2018_0705_171315_078.MP4 -i 2018_0705_171615_079.MP4 -i 2018_0705_171915_080.MP4 -i 2018_0705_172216_081.MP4 -i 2018_0705_172515_082.MP4 -i 2018_0705_172815_083.MP4 -i 2018_0705_173115_084.MP4 -i 2018_0705_173415_085.MP4 -i 2018_0705_173715_086.MP4 -i 2018_0705_174015_087.MP4 -i 2018_0705_174315_088.MP4 -i 2018_0705_174615_089.MP4 -i 2018_0705_174915_090.MP4 -i 2018_0705_175215_091.MP4 -i 2018_0705_175515_092.MP4 -i 2018_0705_175815_093.MP4 -i 2018_0705_180115_094.MP4 -i 2018_0705_180415_095.MP4 -i 2018_0705_180715_096.MP4 -i 2018_0705_181015_097.MP4 -i 2018_0705_181315_098.MP4 -i 2018_0705_181615_099.MP4 -i 2018_0705_181915_100.MP4 -i 2018_0705_182215_101.MP4 -i 2018_0705_182515_102.MP4 -i 2018_0705_182815_103.MP4 -i 2018_0705_183115_104.MP4 -i 2018_0705_183415_105.MP4 -i 2018_0705_183715_106.MP4 -i 2018_0705_184015_107.MP4 -i 2018_0705_184315_108.MP4 -i 2018_0705_184615_109.MP4 -i 2018_0705_184915_110.MP4 -i 2018_0705_185215_111.MP4 -i 2018_0705_185515_112.MP4 -i 2018_0705_185815_113.MP4 -i 2018_0705_190115_114.MP4 -i 2018_0705_190415_115.MP4 -filter_complex [0:v][1:v][2:v][3:v][4:v][5:v][6:v][7:v][8:v][9:v][10:v][11:v][12:v][13:v][14:v][15:v][16:v][17:v][18:v][19:v][20:v][21:v][22:v][23:v][24:v][25:v][26:v][27:v][28:v][29:v][30:v][31:v][32:v][33:v][34:v][35:v][36:v][37:v][38:v][39:v][40:v][41:v][42:v][43:v][44:v][45:v][46:v][47:v][48:v][49:v][50:v][51:v][52:v][53:v][54:v][55:v][56:v][57:v][58:v][59:v][60:v][61:v][62:v][63:v][64:v][65:v][66:v][67:v][68:v][69:v][70:v][71:v][72:v][73:v][74:v][75:v][76:v][77:v][78:v][79:v][80:v][81:v][82:v][83:v][84:v][85:v][86:v][87:v][88:v][89:v][90:v][91:v][92:v][93:v][94:v][95:v][96:v][97:v][98:v][99:v][100:v][101:v][102:v][103:v][104:v][105:v][106:v][107:v][108:v][109:v]concat=n=110:v=1[v];[v]setpts=(1/60)*PTS,drawtext=fontfile=C\\:/WINDOWS/Fonts/consola.ttf:fontcolor=white:fontsize=80:y=main_h-text_h-50:x=50:text=WimsWorld[o] -map [o] -c:v libx265 -crf 23 -preset veryfast -movflags +faststart -bf 2 -g 15 -pix_fmt yuv420p -y “Output.mp4”

Here’s an example of the command where all the input files are defined in the temporary file:

ffmpeg.exe -report -f concat -safe 0 -i C:\Users\Wim\AppData\Local\Temp\Wim4BD3.tmp -vf setpts=(1/60)*PTS,drawtext=fontfile=C\\:/WINDOWS/Fonts/consola.ttf:fontcolor=white:fontsize=80:y=main_h-text_h-50:x=50:text=WimsWorld -an -c:v libx265 -crf 23 -preset veryfast -movflags +faststart -bf 2 -g 15 -pix_fmt yuv420p -y “Output.mp4”