ffmpeg, dash manifest cannot be created due to unspecified pixel format

Question

I am using ffmpeg 2.8 on OSX.

I try to convert a short mp4 video to webm for adaptive streaming like suggested here http://wiki.webmproject.org/adaptive-streaming/instructions-to-playback-adaptive-webm-using-dash like this:

VP9_DASH_PARAMS="-tile-columns 6 -frame-parallel 1"

ffmpeg -i t2.mp4 -c:v libvpx-vp9 -s 160x90 -b:v 250k -keyint_min 150 -g 150 ${VP9_DASH_PARAMS} -an -f webm -dash 1 video_160x90_250k.webm
ffmpeg -i t2.mp4 -c:a libvorbis -b:a 128k -vn -f webm -dash 1 audio_128k.webm

ffmpeg \
 -f webm_dash_manifest -i video_160x90_250k.webm \
 -f webm_dash_manifest -i audio_128k.webm \
 -c copy -map 0 -map 1 \
 -f webm_dash_manifest \
 -adaptation_sets "id=0,streams=0 id=1,streams=1" \
 manifest.mpd

However this gives me a warning unspecified pixel format:

[webm_dash_manifest @ 0x7f9414812800] Could not find codec parameters for stream 0 (Video: vp9, none, 160x90): unspecified pixel format
Consider increasing the value for the 'analyzeduration' and 'probesize' options
video_160x90_250k.webm: could not find codec parameters
Input #0, webm_dash_manifest, from 'video_160x90_250k.webm':
  Metadata:
    encoder         : Lavf56.36.100
  Duration: 00:00:09.97, bitrate: 111 kb/s
    Stream #0:0: Video: vp9, none, 160x90, SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9, 23.98 fps, 23.98 tbr, 1k tbn, 1k tbc (default)
    Metadata:
      webm_dash_manifest_duration: 9969
      webm_dash_manifest_initialization_range: 437
      webm_dash_manifest_file_name: video_160x90_250k.webm
      webm_dash_manifest_track_number: 1
      webm_dash_manifest_cues_start: 139297
      webm_dash_manifest_cues_end: 139399
      webm_dash_manifest_bandwidth: 99164
      webm_dash_manifest_cluster_keyframe: 1
      webm_dash_manifest_cue_timestamps: 0,2085,4171,6256,8342
Input #1, webm_dash_manifest, from 'audio_128k.webm':
  Metadata:
    encoder         : Lavf56.36.100
  Duration: 00:00:10.01, bitrate: 120 kb/s
    Stream #1:0: Audio: vorbis, 48000 Hz, stereo, fltp (default)
    Metadata:
      webm_dash_manifest_duration: 10009
      webm_dash_manifest_initialization_range: 4697
      webm_dash_manifest_file_name: audio_128k.webm
      webm_dash_manifest_track_number: 1
      webm_dash_manifest_cues_start: 151174
      webm_dash_manifest_cues_end: 151240
      webm_dash_manifest_bandwidth: 105517
      webm_dash_manifest_cluster_keyframe: 1
      webm_dash_manifest_cue_timestamps: 0,4999,9998
Output #0, webm_dash_manifest, to 'manifest.mpd':
  Metadata:
    encoder         : Lavf56.36.100
    Stream #0:0: Video: vp9, none, 160x90 [SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9], q=2-31, 23.98 fps, 23.98 tbr, 1k tbn, 1k tbc (default)
    Metadata:
      webm_dash_manifest_duration: 9969
      webm_dash_manifest_initialization_range: 437
      webm_dash_manifest_file_name: video_160x90_250k.webm
      webm_dash_manifest_track_number: 1
      webm_dash_manifest_cues_start: 139297
      webm_dash_manifest_cues_end: 139399
      webm_dash_manifest_bandwidth: 99164
      webm_dash_manifest_cluster_keyframe: 1
      webm_dash_manifest_cue_timestamps: 0,2085,4171,6256,8342
    Stream #0:1: Video: vorbis, none, q=2-31, 1k tbn, 1k tbc (default)
    Metadata:
      webm_dash_manifest_duration: 10009
      webm_dash_manifest_initialization_range: 4697
      webm_dash_manifest_file_name: audio_128k.webm
      webm_dash_manifest_track_number: 1
      webm_dash_manifest_cues_start: 151174
      webm_dash_manifest_cues_end: 151240
      webm_dash_manifest_bandwidth: 105517
      webm_dash_manifest_cluster_keyframe: 1
      webm_dash_manifest_cue_timestamps: 0,4999,9998
Stream mapping:
  Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (copy)
  Stream #1:0 -> #0:1 (copy)
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
frame=    0 fps=0.0 q=-1.0 Lsize=       1kB time=00:00:00.00 bitrate=N/A    
video:0kB audio:0kB subtitle:0kB other streams:0kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead: unknown
Output file is empty, nothing was encoded (check -ss / -t / -frames parameters if used)

Nevertheless the manifest file is created. I tried to specify the pixel format:

-pix_fmt yuv420p

However this did not change anything. The warning remains the same.

Any ideas why the warning appears and how to fix this?

`ffmpeg -f webm_dash_manifest -i video_160x90_250k.webm` forces ffmpeg to interpret the following input file as a webm_dash_manifest, are you sure this is what you want ? — SirDarius, Sep 18 '15 at 13:31
@SirDarius No, that's how it's used: https://www.ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg-formats.html#Example-2. This is probably related to this answer http://stackoverflow.com/questions/29004197/webm-dash-encoding-what-are-the-correct-ffmpeg-parameters — aergistal, Sep 18 '15 at 13:34
Ah, my bad, if I understand well, using webm_dash_manifest as a demuxer only demuxes the video's metadata, so it is indeed valid as long as the webm are created with -dash. Doesn't quite work like most demuxers I'm used to. — SirDarius, Sep 18 '15 at 14:07
Why would you convert your mp4 to WebM to then dash it? MP4 is very well suited for MPEG-DASH. Simply DASH your MP4 file with MP4Box. — cconcolato, Sep 19 '15 at 07:12
@cconcolato webm is awesome when it comes to adaptive streaming :) — DarkLeafyGreen, Sep 19 '15 at 09:22
@artworkadシYou wouldn't have the problem raised here with mp4 as you wouldn't need to transform your content at all. And you'll have the same adaptive streaming features. Good luck. — cconcolato, Sep 21 '15 at 07:34
@cconcolato The container is not likely the problem since with WebM/VP8 it works without warnings. Maybe the OP doesn't want to pay the royalties for AVC so let's focus on the issue. — aergistal, Sep 21 '15 at 08:18

score 5 · Accepted Answer · edited Sep 24 '15 at 13:53

The problem seems to be that ffmpeg fails to decode a few frames to get the pixel format when using webm_dash_manifest with the VP9 codec. It works without issues for VP8.

This happens in the avformat_find_stream_info function:

        ret = read_frame_internal(ic, &pkt1);
        if (ret == AVERROR(EAGAIN))
            continue;

        if (ret < 0) {
            /* EOF or error*/
            break;
        }

read_frame_internal() returns garbage and prevents the code to reach the try_decode_frame() part.

When using VP8 it retrieves the parameters directly from the codec context:

        // Try to just open decoders, in case this is enough to get parameters.
        if (!has_codec_parameters(st, NULL) && st->request_probe <= 0) {
            if (codec && !st->codec->codec)
                if (avcodec_open2(st->codec, codec, options ? &options[i] : &thread_opt) < 0)
                    av_log(ic, AV_LOG_WARNING,
                           "Failed to open codec in av_find_stream_info\n");
        }

st->codec-pix_fmt is 0 for VP8 and -1 (not found) for VP9. If it's supposed to get the parameters directly from the context then maybe there's an issue with libvpx-vp9.

It works when using ffprobe directly with the webm file:

ffprobe -i video_160x90_250k.webm

Stream #0:0: Video: vp9 (Profile 0), yuv420p(tv), 160x90, SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9, 23.98 fps, 23.98 tbr, 1k tbn, 1k tbc (default)

The issue doesn't seem to affect the manifest creation so I guess you can ignore the warnings.

I'm not yet sufficiently familiar with ffmpeg to propose a patch, so it may be best to report it as a bug on the ffmpeg tracker: http://ffmpeg.org/pipermail/ffmpeg-user/2015-September/028610.html

I updated the answer with the VP8 findings and reported the issue on ffmpeg-user. — aergistal, Sep 21 '15 at 12:52

ffmpeg, dash manifest cannot be created due to unspecified pixel format

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