Okay, now is time to see some command line tools to analysis videos. I selected 4 Open-Source applications (avprobe, mediainfo, mplayer, exiftool).

Specification

• docker
• git

Get ready for docker images

On Bitbucket I created a repository with needed Dockerfiles for fast usage. You can also choose the installation method.

# change directory (optional)
$ cd ~/Projects/

# clone repository
$ git clone https://bitbucket.org/Lupin3000/tinydockerapps ~/Projects/tinydockerapps

# change directory
$ cd ~/Projects/VideoTest/

# build docker image for mediainfo
$ docker build -t debian/mediainfo ~/Projects/tinydockerapps/mediainfo/

# build docker image for mplayer
$ docker build -t debian/mplayer ~/Projects/tinydockerapps/mplayer/

# build docker image for exiftool
$ docker build -t debian/exiftool ~/Projects/tinydockerapps/exiftool/

# build docker image for avprobe
$ docker build -t debian/avprobe ~/Projects/tinydockerapps/avprobe/

# check available images (optional)
$ docker images

mediainfo

Lets start with mediainfo. Here some information about on wikipedia.

# list help
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/mediainfo --help

# run simple scan
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/mediainfo demo.mp4

# run full scan
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/mediainfo -f demo.mp4

# show aspect ratio
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/mediainfo --Inform="Video;%DisplayAspectRatio%" demo.mp4

# show duration
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/mediainfo --Inform="General;%Duration/String3%" demo.mp4

# show audio format
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/mediainfo --Inform="Audio;%Format%" demo.mp4

# show resolution and codec
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/mediainfo --Inform="Video;Resolution=%Width%x%Height%\nCodec=%CodecID%" demo.mp4

# list all possible file parameters
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/mediainfo --info-parameters | less

# create XML report (all internal tags)
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/mediainfo -f --Output=XML demo.mp4

# show mediatrace info
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/mediainfo --Details=1 demo.mp4

# create report file
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/mediainfo demo.mp4 --LogFile="Report.log"

mplayer

Second application is mplayer. Here the wikipedia link.

# list help
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/mplayer --help

# show all properties
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/mplayer -vo null -ao null -frames 0 -identify demo.mp4

# show all video properties
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/mplayer -vo null -ao null -frames 0 -identify demo.mp4 | grep VIDEO

# show all audio properties
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/mplayer -vo null -ao null -frames 0 -identify demo.mp4 | grep AUDIO

# show video format
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/mplayer -vo null -ao null -frames 0 -identify demo.mp4 | grep ID_VIDEO_FORMAT

exiftool

Now we take a look on exiftool. Here the wikipedia article and the official documentation.

# show all parameters
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/exiftool demo.mp4

# show all parameters sort by group (including duplicate and unknown tags)
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/exiftool -a -u -g1 demo.mp4

# show friendly parameters
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/exiftool -s -G demo.mp4

# show Height and Width
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/exiftool '-*source*image*' demo.mp4

# show audio format
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/exiftool '-*Audio*Format*' demo.mp4

# show video duration
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/exiftool '-*Duration*' demo.mp4 | head -1

# create json output with specific values
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/exiftool -j -VideoFrameRate -MediaDuration demo.mp4 > report.json

# create csv report file with specific values
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/exiftool -csv -FileSize -ImageWidth -ImageHeight -AudioFormat -AudioChannels demo.mp4 > report.csv

avprobe

Last but not least avprobe. Here the wikipedia article and detailed official documentation.

# list help
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/avprobe --help

# list available formats
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/avprobe -formats

# list available codecs
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/avprobe -codecs

# show all properties
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/avprobe demo.mp4

# show stream properties in json format
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/avprobe -of json -loglevel quiet -show_streams demo.mp4

# show specific properties
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/avprobe -show_format -show_streams -pretty demo.mp4

# show size properties
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/avprobe -show_entries format=size demo.mp4

# show duration and size properties
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/avprobe -loglevel quiet -show_entries format=duration,size demo.mp4

# show duration and size properties in json format
$ docker run --rm -i -v ~/Projects/VideoTest/:/mnt debian/avprobe -of json -loglevel quiet -show_entries format=duration,size demo.mp4

Compare tools by expecting specific result

I will not judge the applications against each other! But here a compare of complexity of commands and output for video duration.

# get duration by exiftool
$ exiftool -s -s -s  -MediaDuration demo.mp4
...
0:01:04

# get duration by mediainfo
$ mediainfo --Inform="General;%Duration/String3%" demo.mp4
...
00:01:04.884

# get duration by avprobe
$ avprobe -v error -sexagesimal -show_entries format=duration -of default=noprint_wrappers=1:nokey=1 demo.mp4
...
0:01:04.884000

# get duration by mplayer
$ mplayer -vo null -ao null -frames 0 -nolirc -identify demo.mp4 | grep ID_LENGTH | cut -d'=' -f2
...
64.88