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I wanted to figure out a way to quickly and easily combine an image file (jpg) and audio file (mp3) into a video file (mov) using the free media converter tool ffmpeg.  This would allow me to upload my podcast episodes and songs to YouTube.  After extensive googling and testing I found the combination that finally worked.  And since I'm such a nice dude, I'll share it with you:

ffmpeg -loop 1 -i image-file.jpg -i audio-file.mp3 -shortest -acodec copy -f mov video-file.mov

Notes
* The above is on Ubuntu Server 12.04 LTS.  Other ffmpeg versions may require tweaking of command options, hence the reason this took me extensive research and testing.
* Ffmpeg accepts a very wide range of file formats, so png, aif, wav, etc. can also be used.

UPDATE
* On Ubuntu at least, ffmpeg has been replaced by the avconv command; however, the exact same command format above works with avconv.  Here it is again for copy/paste convenience:

avconv -loop 1 -i image-file.jpg -i audio-file.mp3 -shortest -acodec copy -f mov video-file.mov

* Here's how to install avconv:

apt-get install libav-tools

* Working fine on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

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