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Getting Started with VP9
Introduction
To try encoding with VP9 video, you will need:
a sample video
a way of encoding the video to VP9 so you can experiment with settings
a way of playing the VP9 to see the quality impact of those settings
Step 1: Get Sample Video
The Tears of Steel short movie covers a range of test cases
including action sequences and animation.
To test low-bitrate encoding profiles (for web and mobile), we use the
WebM 1080p version of the clip. This file is encoded using VP8
video, compressed at about 6Mbps -- a suitable starting point for web and
mobile compression testing.
For higher bit-rate encoding, you may wish to download the
4K version of the same movie.
Step 2: Encode VP9
A variety of encoding products and cloud service providers
allow you to encode VP9 video.
These pages assume you are using FFmpeg. You can download a
pre-compiled version of FFmpeg, or compile FFmpeg with the
--enable-libvpx option on your system.
FFmpeg is a command-line program. Once you have it installed, you can perform
encodes from the command line.
An easy example to get started, using the Tears of Steel clip above, is:
Use tears_of_steel_1080p.webm as input (-i tears_of_steel_1080p.webm)
Set the output video codec to VP9 (-c:v libvpx-vp9)
Set the output audio codec to Opus (-c:a libopus)
Create a WebM output file named output.webm
Step 3: Play the video
You can play WebM/VP9 in most major browsers, including Firefox,
Opera, Chrome and Microsoft Edge. In Chrome, you can drag the file into the
browser and it will play in that tab.
Other players also support VP9/WebM decoding, including:
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2023-05-25 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eThis guide provides a step-by-step process for encoding and playing videos using the VP9 codec.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou'll need a sample video, an encoding tool (like FFmpeg), and a compatible player to get started.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFFmpeg, a command-line program, can be used to encode videos into VP9 format using specific commands.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eEncoded VP9 videos in WebM format can be played in various web browsers and media players like VLC and MPC-HC.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["To use VP9, obtain a sample video like \"Tears of Steel\" (either 1080p or 4K). Then, encode it to VP9 using FFmpeg, ensuring it's compiled with the `--enable-libvpx` option. The command `ffmpeg -i input.webm -c:v libvpx-vp9 -c:a libopus output.webm` encodes the video to VP9 and audio to Opus. Finally, play the resulting WebM/VP9 file in major browsers or players like VLC (2.1.3+) and MPC-HC (1.7.1+).\n"],null,["Getting Started with VP9\n------------------------\n\n### Introduction\n\nTo try encoding with VP9 video, you will need:\n\n1. a sample video\n2. a way of encoding the video to VP9 so you can experiment with settings\n3. a way of playing the VP9 to see the quality impact of those settings\n\n### Step 1: Get Sample Video\n\nThe [Tears of Steel](https://mango.blender.org/) short movie covers a range of test cases\nincluding action sequences and animation.\n\nTo test low-bitrate encoding profiles (for web and mobile), we use the\n[WebM 1080p version](http://media.xiph.org/mango/tears_of_steel_1080p.webm) of the clip. This file is encoded using VP8\nvideo, compressed at about 6Mbps -- a suitable starting point for web and\nmobile compression testing.\n\nFor higher bit-rate encoding, you may wish to download the\n[4K version](http://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/graphics/blender/demo/movies/ToS/) of the same movie.\n\n### Step 2: Encode VP9\n\nA [variety](http://www.webmproject.org/tools/) of encoding products and cloud service providers\nallow you to encode VP9 video.\n\nThese pages assume you are using [FFmpeg](https://ffmpeg.org/). You can [download](https://ffmpeg.org/download.html) a\npre-compiled version of FFmpeg, or [compile](https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/CompilationGuide) FFmpeg with the\n`--enable-libvpx` option on your system.\n| **Note:** FFmpeg must be compiled with the `--enable-libvpx` option for VP9 to work. Most pre-compiled versions include this option by default. If your version of FFmpeg does not create VP9, it may be missing this compilation option.\n\nFFmpeg is a command-line program. Once you have it installed, you can perform\nencodes from the command line.\n\nAn easy example to get started, using the Tears of Steel clip above, is: \n\n ffmpeg -i tears_of_steel_1080p.webm -c:v libvpx-vp9 -c:a libopus output.webm\n\nThis command tells FFmpeg to:\n\n- Use *tears_of_steel_1080p.webm* as input (`-i tears_of_steel_1080p.webm`)\n- Set the output video codec to VP9 (`-c:v libvpx-vp9`)\n- Set the output audio codec to Opus (`-c:a libopus`)\n- Create a WebM output file named `output.webm`\n\n### Step 3: Play the video\n\nYou can play WebM/VP9 in [most major browsers](http://caniuse.com/#feat=webm), including Firefox,\nOpera, Chrome and Microsoft Edge. In Chrome, you can drag the file into the\nbrowser and it will play in that tab.\n\nOther players also support VP9/WebM decoding, including:\n\n| Player | Platform | Version |\n|--------|----------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|\n| VLC | Most Platforms | [Version 2.1.3 or later](https://www.videolan.org/vlc/#download) |\n| MPC-HC | Windows | [Version 1.7.1 or later](https://mpc-hc.org/downloads/) |"]]