Copy mp3 with ffmpeg not playable by QuickTime

Question

I am trying to create a video out of one image and copy audio on top. Following this (last section), I tried:

$ ffmpeg -loop 1 -i img.jpg -i audio.mp3 -c:v libx264 -c:a copy -shortest h264.mp4
ffmpeg version 2.5.2 Copyright (c) 2000-2014 the FFmpeg developers
  built on Feb 23 2015 10:29:52 with Apple LLVM version 6.0 (clang-600.0.56) (based on LLVM 3.5svn)
  configuration: --prefix=/usr/local/Cellar/ffmpeg/2.5.2 --enable-shared --enable-pthreads --enable-gpl --enable-version3 --enable-hardcoded-tables --enable-avresample --cc=clang --host-cflags= --host-ldflags= --enable-libx264 --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libxvid --enable-libfreetype --enable-libtheora --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-librtmp --enable-libopencore-amrnb --enable-libopencore-amrwb --enable-libvo-aacenc --enable-libass --enable-ffplay --enable-libspeex --enable-libschroedinger --enable-libfdk-aac --enable-libopus --enable-frei0r --enable-libopenjpeg --disable-decoder=jpeg2000 --extra-cflags='-I/usr/local/Cellar/openjpeg/1.5.1_1/include/openjpeg-1.5 ' --enable-nonfree --enable-vda
  libavutil      54. 15.100 / 54. 15.100
  libavcodec     56. 13.100 / 56. 13.100
  libavformat    56. 15.102 / 56. 15.102
  libavdevice    56.  3.100 / 56.  3.100
  libavfilter     5.  2.103 /  5.  2.103
  libavresample   2.  1.  0 /  2.  1.  0
  libswscale      3.  1.101 /  3.  1.101
  libswresample   1.  1.100 /  1.  1.100
  libpostproc    53.  3.100 / 53.  3.100
Input #0, image2, from 'img.jpg':
  Duration: 00:00:00.04, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 123986 kb/s
    Stream #0:0: Video: mjpeg, yuvj440p(pc, bt470bg/unknown/unknown), 1440x900 [SAR 72:72 DAR 8:5], 25 fps, 25 tbr, 25 tbn, 25 tbc
[mp3 @ 0x7f94d2034600] Estimating duration from bitrate, this may be inaccurate
Input #1, mp3, from 'audio.mp3':
  Metadata:
    genre           : Other
  Duration: 00:00:03.25, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 130 kb/s
    Stream #1:0: Audio: mp3, 44100 Hz, mono, s16p, 128 kb/s
[swscaler @ 0x7f94d2800000] deprecated pixel format used, make sure you did set range correctly
No pixel format specified, yuvj444p for H.264 encoding chosen.
Use -pix_fmt yuv420p for compatibility with outdated media players.
[libx264 @ 0x7f94d281b200] using SAR=1/1
[libx264 @ 0x7f94d281b200] using cpu capabilities: MMX2 SSE2Fast SSSE3 SSE4.2 AVX AVX2 FMA3 LZCNT BMI2
[libx264 @ 0x7f94d281b200] profile High 4:4:4 Predictive, level 4.0, 4:4:4 8-bit
[libx264 @ 0x7f94d281b200] 264 - core 142 r2455 021c0dc - H.264/MPEG-4 AVC codec - Copyleft 2003-2014 - http://www.videolan.org/x264.html - options: cabac=1 ref=3 deblock=1:0:0 analyse=0x3:0x113 me=hex subme=7 psy=1 psy_rd=1.00:0.00 mixed_ref=1 me_range=16 chroma_me=1 trellis=1 8x8dct=1 cqm=0 deadzone=21,11 fast_pskip=1 chroma_qp_offset=4 threads=6 lookahead_threads=1 sliced_threads=0 nr=0 decimate=1 interlaced=0 bluray_compat=0 constrained_intra=0 bframes=3 b_pyramid=2 b_adapt=1 b_bias=0 direct=1 weightb=1 open_gop=0 weightp=2 keyint=250 keyint_min=25 scenecut=40 intra_refresh=0 rc_lookahead=40 rc=crf mbtree=1 crf=23.0 qcomp=0.60 qpmin=0 qpmax=69 qpstep=4 ip_ratio=1.40 aq=1:1.00
Output #0, mp4, to 'h264.mp4':
  Metadata:
    encoder         : Lavf56.15.102
    Stream #0:0: Video: h264 (libx264) ([33][0][0][0] / 0x0021), yuvj444p(pc), 1440x900 [SAR 1:1 DAR 8:5], q=-1--1, 25 fps, 12800 tbn, 25 tbc
    Metadata:
      encoder         : Lavc56.13.100 libx264
    Stream #0:1: Audio: mp3 (i[0][0][0] / 0x0069), 44100 Hz, mono, 128 kb/s
Stream mapping:
  Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (mjpeg (native) -> h264 (libx264))
  Stream #1:0 -> #0:1 (copy)
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
frame=   64 fps= 30 q=28.0 size=     332kB time=00:00:00.48 bitrate=5670.9kbits/frame=   80 fps= 30 q=28.0 size=     344kB time=00:00:01.12 bitrate=2514.2kbits/frame=   96 fps= 30 q=28.0 size=     356kB time=00:00:01.76 bitrate=1655.1kbits/frame=  112 fps= 30 q=28.0 size=     367kB time=00:00:02.40 bitrate=1252.1kbits/frame=  129 fps= 31 q=28.0 size=     378kB time=00:00:03.08 bitrate=1006.5kbits/frame=  134 fps= 26 q=-1.0 Lsize=     386kB time=00:00:03.28 bitrate= 963.5kbits/s    
video:331kB audio:51kB subtitle:0kB other streams:0kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead: 1.120110%
[libx264 @ 0x7f94d281b200] frame I:1     Avg QP:19.84  size:329471
[libx264 @ 0x7f94d281b200] frame P:34    Avg QP:16.64  size:   189
[libx264 @ 0x7f94d281b200] frame B:99    Avg QP:25.33  size:    48
[libx264 @ 0x7f94d281b200] consecutive B-frames:  1.5%  0.0%  0.0% 98.5%
[libx264 @ 0x7f94d281b200] mb I  I16..4:  2.8% 70.0% 27.3%
[libx264 @ 0x7f94d281b200] mb P  I16..4:  0.0%  0.0%  0.0%  P16..4:  1.2%  0.0%  0.0%  0.0%  0.0%    skip:98.8%
[libx264 @ 0x7f94d281b200] mb B  I16..4:  0.0%  0.0%  0.0%  B16..8:  0.0%  0.0%  0.0%  direct: 0.0%  skip:100.0%  L0: 1.6% L1:98.4% BI: 0.0%
[libx264 @ 0x7f94d281b200] 8x8 transform intra:70.0% inter:95.0%
[libx264 @ 0x7f94d281b200] coded y,u,v intra: 96.4% 73.8% 72.9% inter: 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
[libx264 @ 0x7f94d281b200] i16 v,h,dc,p: 37%  4%  1% 58%
[libx264 @ 0x7f94d281b200] i8 v,h,dc,ddl,ddr,vr,hd,vl,hu: 29% 27%  8%  3%  5%  5%  8%  4%  9%
[libx264 @ 0x7f94d281b200] i4 v,h,dc,ddl,ddr,vr,hd,vl,hu: 38% 18%  5%  3%  7%  7% 10%  5%  7%
[libx264 @ 0x7f94d281b200] Weighted P-Frames: Y:0.0% UV:0.0%
[libx264 @ 0x7f94d281b200] ref P L0: 20.0%  0.4% 42.4% 37.2%
[libx264 @ 0x7f94d281b200] ref B L0:  0.0% 100.0%
[libx264 @ 0x7f94d281b200] ref B L1: 90.9%  9.1%
[libx264 @ 0x7f94d281b200] kb/s:508.50

But I get a video with no audio in QuickTime. I think its a problem of the output container (mp4) not supporting mp3. What output container might be best? Due to quality loss, I am reluctant to convert the mp3 to another format. If my audio is mp3, what might I change about this ffmpeg command?

The final destination is YouTube.

Answer 1

Because YouTube is the final location you can ignore the other players:

• Most non-FFmpeg based players can't decode yuvj444p. If you want the video in these other players to work, then add -pix_fmt yuv420p as an output option as mentioned in the console output.

• Some players have trouble decoding MP3 in MP4 such as QuickTime and WMP with certain audio rates. If you need it to work in these players you'll need to re-encode to AAC audio by changing -c:a copy to -c:a aac.

• Since the input is a single image you can reduce your frame rate for a much faster encoding by adding -framerate 1 as an input option. Again, some players may not be able to decode this frame rate.

YouTube can handle these potential issues, so feel free to upload it. See FFmpeg Wiki: YouTube for more info.