"Print a text file to STDOUT using ffmpeg"
ffmpeg -v quiet -f data -i input.txt -map 0:0 -c text -f data -
I tried this in a directory with input.txt with some random text
Nothing.
So changed the verbosity to trace
ffmpeg -v trace -f data -i input.txt -map 0:0 -c text -f data -
---snip--
[dost#0:0 @ 0x625775f0ba80] Encoder 'text' specified, but only '-codec copy' supported for data streams
[dost#0:0 @ 0x625775f0ba80] Error selecting an encoder
Error opening output file -.
Error opening output files: Function not implemented
[AVIOContext @ 0x625775f09cc0] Statistics: 10 bytes read, 0 seeks
I was expecting text to be written to stdout?
What did I miss?
It's not working for me either, on FFmpeg 7.0.2. I suspect something has changed in FFmpeg since that command was shared on the Reddit post mentioned on the website. That was a few years ago.
However, from the same Reddit thread, this works:
ffmpeg -v quiet -f data -i input.txt -map 0 -f data pipe:1
EDIT: just verified the `-c text` approach works on FFmpeg major versions 4 and 5. From FFmpeg 6 onwards, it's broken. The `pipe:1` method works from FFmpeg 5 onwards, so the site should probably be updated to use that instead (also, FFmpeg 5.1 is an LTS release).
In fact, that LLMs are typically steered away from sarcasm or irony (i guess via system prompts stressing on formalism), makes it easier to identify their output. Its output is so formal, taking the question very seriously though it is obviously just an exercise, that it sounds ironical.
So changed the verbosity to trace ffmpeg -v trace -f data -i input.txt -map 0:0 -c text -f data -
---snip-- [dost#0:0 @ 0x625775f0ba80] Encoder 'text' specified, but only '-codec copy' supported for data streams [dost#0:0 @ 0x625775f0ba80] Error selecting an encoder Error opening output file -. Error opening output files: Function not implemented [AVIOContext @ 0x625775f09cc0] Statistics: 10 bytes read, 0 seeks
I was expecting text to be written to stdout? What did I miss?