Convert VP9 video to H264 Losslessly

VP9 serves as the standard codec for YouTube, even though it's not frequently found in video editing tools. If you have a video encoded with the VP9 codec and you want to edit it, you may have to transform it into a more commonly used codec, such as H264.

This conversion, referred to as transcoding, can be effortlessly performed using ffmpeg. By executing the following command, you can convert a VP9 video to H264 without any loss of quality:

bash
Wrap|Copy
ffmpeg -i video.webm -y -vcodec libx264 -qp 0 -pix_fmt yuv420p -acodec copy video.mp4

Here's a breakdown of what each part of this command does:

• ffmpeg: Initiates the command-line tool for multimedia operations.
• -i video.webm: Specifies the VP9-encoded input file.
• -y: Overwrites the output file if it exists.
• -vcodec libx264: Sets the video codec to H.264.
• -qp 0: Maintains maximum quality with a quantization parameter of 0.
• -pix_fmt yuv420p: Sets the pixel format for compatibility.
• -acodec copy: Preserves the original audio quality by copying the audio codec.
• video.mp4: Names the output file in the H.264 format.

By understanding this command, you can efficiently convert VP9 videos to H264, making them more accessible for various editing tools.