Can FFmpeg convert mp3 files into m4a in full, i.e. with both audio and video streams (jpeg cover) copied?
I use Zeranoe build of FFmpeg. It converts mp3 files into m4a files just fine, as far as the audio stream is concerned, but I can't figure out a way to keep the songs album cover jpeg, which ffmpeg for some reason recognizes as
Stream #0:1: Video: mjpeg, yuvj420p, 200x200 [SAR 120:120 DAR 1:1]
included into the output.m4a file. When I use the following command line:
ffmpeg.exe -i 09.mp3 -map 0 -codec:a libvo_aacenc -ab 320k -ar 44100 -ac 2 -codec:v copy output.m4a
I get the no tag, codec not currently in the container error. And yet, when I run ffprobe with a .m4a file ctreated by iTunes, there it is:
Stream #0:1: Video: mjpeg, yuvj420p, 350x350 [SAR 72:72 DAR 1:1]
So, is there a way to copy the songs cover as well with ffmpeg conversion?
As far as I'm concerned, there's no easy way to tell FFmpeg to set the album artwork for an MP4 container, which you'd typically use for AAC audio (.m4a). You can however use AtomicParsley to add the artwork later, via command line.
Here's how you can install AtomicParsley:
- All operating systems have binaries from the SourceForge page
- Linux distributions might have it in the packages, i.e.
apt-get install atomicparsley - OS X through Homebrew with
brew install atomicparsley
But first, we'll need to extract the artwork, e.g. as a JPEG file:
ffmpeg -i input.mp3 artwork.jpg
We can then use AtomicParsley to add the album artwork:
AtomicParsley output.m4a --artwork artwork.jpg
This will not overwrite the original file but create a temporary file instead, e.g. output-temp-15274.m4a. If you want the original to be overwritten, add the --overWrite option to the command, e.g.:
AtomicParsley output.m4a --artwork artwork.jpg --overWrite
And voilà:
