"ffplay" Interactive Commands

This section provides a tutorial example on how to use 'ffplay' interactive commands to seek a play particular position while playing a video file.

While playing a movie with the "ffplay", you can also control the playing process using the following interactive commands:

q, ESC            quit
f                 toggle full screen
p, SPC            pause
a                 cycle audio channel in the current program
v                 cycle video channel
t                 cycle subtitle channel in the current program
c                 cycle program
w                 cycle video filters or show modes
s                 activate frame-step mode
left/right        seek backward/forward 10 seconds
down/up           seek backward/forward 1 minute
page down/page up seek backward/forward 10 minutes
mouse click       seek to percentage in file corresponding 
                  to fraction of width

Let use these interactive commands to locate the ending position of the "Anchor 'Great Escape'" segment.

1. Run "ffplay" to play "Tony_reelshow_2009_512kb.mp4". The movie player starts.

2. Click the player screen at about 22% width position. The player seeks to 00:00:42 position and displays the following on the console:

Seek to 22% ( 0:00:42) of total duration ( 0:03:11)       B f=0/0

3. Press "p" to stop the play. The player displays a still image of the "Anchor 'Great Escape'" segment.

4. Press "s" to step 1 frame forward. The player shows the following on the console:

  42.03 A-V:  0.028 fd=  96 aq=    5KB vq=    9KB sq=    0B f=0/0

5. Press <right> arrow key to seek forward for 10 seconds. The player displays a still image of the next movie segment with the following on the console:

  52.03 A-V:    nan fd=  96 aq=    1KB vq=   19KB sq=    0B f=0/0

6. Press <left> arrow key to seek backward for 10 seconds. Then press "s" many times until you see the last image of the "Anchor 'Great Escape'" segment. It should be at 00:00:43.33.

The picture below shows you the "ffplay" console and player screen:

Seeking Play Position with 'ffplay'
Seeking Play Position with 'ffplay'

Repeat the above process to find out the starting position of the "Anchor 'Great Escape'" segment. It should be at 00:00:25.80.

Table of Contents

 About This Book

 Introduction of Adobe Flash

 Adobe Flash Player Plugin for Firefox

 Adobe Flash Player Plugin for Chrome

 Adobe Flash Player Plugin for Safari

 Adobe Flash Player ActiveX for IE

 Using "object" Elements for Flash Files

 Using "embed" Elements for Flash Files

 "mp3player" - MP3 Music Player

 SWFObject - Hidding "object" behind JavaScript

 Flash Player Projector

 SWFTools - SWF File Manipulation Tools

 SWFC Script to Generate Flash SWF Files

 ActionScript Embedded in SWFC Script

 AS3Compile - ActionScript 3 Compiler

 Adobe Flex SDK 4

 SWF File Structure and Tags

 SWF File Processing Rules

SWF Files for Video and Audio Streams

 Video and Audio Stream SWF File Structure

 Installing FFmpeg to Manipulate Video SWF Files

 Playing Movie with FFmpeg "ffplay" Command

 See File Properties with FFmpeg "ffprobe" Command

 Convert File Format with "ffmpeg" Command

 Issue with "ffplay" on SWF Output File

"ffplay" Interactive Commands

 Break Long Video into Parts with "ffmpeg"

 Concatenate Video Files with "ffmpeg"

 Video/Audio Stream Concatenation Order

 Split Audio Stream Out of SWF File

 Split Video Stream Out of SWF File

 Merge Video and Audio Streams to SWF File

 Reduce Video Stream Resolution

 Reduce Video Frame Rate

 Outdated Tutorials

 References

 Full Version in PDF/EPUB