Downscaling 4K video with ffmpeg

Sep 19, 2018

Just about every camera I have records in 4K, I record in full quality, and down convert when needed:

single file:

ffmpeg -i DJI_0029.MP4 -vf scale=1920:1080 -c:v libx264 -crf 35 DJI_0029-smaller.mp4

bash script:

save this file to convert.sh and chmod +x convert.sh

#!/bin/bash
ffmpeg -i $1 -vf scale=1920:1080 -c:v libx264 -crf 35 $1-1080P.mp4

usage:

./convert.sh filename.mp4

the output files will have a filename of filename.mp4.1080P.mp4, but for my use it's fine.