Japanatron Logo

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* On Ubuntu at least, ffmpeg has been replaced by the avconv command; however, the exact same command format above works with avconv.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

Related Articles

How To Build an Ubuntu Web Ser...

The following is a task outline for building an Ubuntu-based web-server to run Joomla and JomSocial.  I created this for my own notes, so apologies if it's...

FreeNAS - Bi-Directional Rsync...

Go to /root on 1st server. ssh root@server1 cd /root FreeNAS OS drive is mounted read-only, so mount it RW. mount -o rw / Generate an RSA key & leave the ...

Joomla - YouTube Videos Too Bi...

PROBLEMAfter updating my Joomla Gavick template to the latest version, the embedded YouTube videos appeared massively large on desktop browsers.  Mobile browser...

Building the Ultimate Media Ce...

Also known as a "home theater PC" (HTPC), a media center PC is connected to a TV and is built and configured for streaming / downloading media available on the ...