ffmpeg-chapters-fetcher

Convert a normal timestamp list in a ffmetadata file that can be used to add timestamps using ffmpeg.

Try it now: https://dinoosauro.github.io/ffmpeg-chapters-fetcher/

What this website does

Let's say you've got a timestamp list:

0:00 - Introduction
1:15 - Topic 1
8:27 - Topic 2

It can be useful to embed it directly to the video, so that lots of players (like VLC) will show them on the progress bar. This can be done with FFmpeg, but you need to generate a file that tells FFmpeg the chapters to add. This small website is able to create this file.

As you can see from the screenshot, you need firstly to copy the timestamps in the main textarea. If you don't have them, but the same video is on YouTube, you can use a small script to paste in the console to get them. You can read more about this below.

Later, you need to tell the script what the divider is. Make sure it's correct (even the spacing must be right), otherwise the output file will be wrong. If timestamps are located on the right, make sure to tick the last checkbox.

Finally, it might be useful to provide the video length, so that we can mark the last second as the one where the video ends. You can manually put it, or, if you've the video downloaded, you can just pick it and the script will get it automatically. Note that, for this feature, file support is limited by the codec support of your browser (your video will never be uploaded anywhere – everything happens locally on your device).

Finally, click the Download FFmetadata text to download the file we'll need

How can I actually add the chapters to the file

Now, you'll need to use ffmpeg. Make sure you've installed it on your device. This is the command you need to run:

ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -f ffmetadata -i ffmetadata.txt -c copy output.mp4

Where:

• video.mp4 is the input video file, replace it with the real path of the video file
• ffmetadata.txt is the downloaded file from this website, replace it with the real path of it
• output.mp4 is the output file

Keeping original metadata

This will replace the metadata of the original video to add the chapters. If you want to keep the original metadata, follow these instructions:

First, export the FFmetadata of the original file. Write the following command:

ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -f ffmetadata metadata.txt

Replace video.mp4 with the real video file path and metadata.txt with whatever you like, the important thing is that you've access to it.

Now, open metadata.txt and copy everything but the first line. Paste it on the downloaded file from this website after the first line. Now, execute the command to merge the chapters, and metadata will be kept.

Fetching chapters from YouTube

If you've found some chapters on YouTube, you can export it using the small YouTube Extractor script. Open the video, and make sure you haven't opened the timestamp list at the right of the video. Now, open the developer console (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + I) and paste the content in the YouTube Extractor script. A file with the chapters will be downloaded. Now, paste the content of the file in the main textarea of this website, and continue.

Privacy

Everything is elaborated locally on your device, and nothing is sent to a server. You can download the HTML webpage and use it offline.