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* On Ubuntu at least, ffmpeg has been replaced by the avconv command; however, the exact same command format above works with avconv.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

Nginx - How to Block or Redire...

I've been figuring out how to block or redirect web traffic in Nginx based on the country geoIP. NOTES* You need the package nginx-extras for this because this...

Setting Up SPF on Zimbra Runni...

SPF is awesome for stopping delivery of spoofed spam and junk back-scatter, but many of the articles on how to set up SPF in Zimbra are old and out-of-date.  It...

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 ...

Zimbra - How to Stop Automatic...

By default Zimbra automatically discards inbound mail that receives a high spam score (aka "super spam").  Although the score is configurable up to 100, this de...