The FFmpeg media editing software is a valuable tool, but its documentation is only barely adequate. It certainly does not answer all the questions I have, as a user trying to understand why FFmpeg is not doing what I want it to do.

Fortunately, FFmpeg is open source, so when the documentation fails, one can read the source. I wanted to learn about presentation time stamps and time bases. The fps video filter source code, in file libavfilter/vf_fps.c, was an instructive read.

I took what I learned from reading that source, and did a complete rewrite of the fps filter documentation. It is longer than the original fps filter documentation (as archived in April 2020 — you can check if the present documentation is any better). I believe the rewrite is more complete and more accurate. I contributed the rewrite to the FFmpeg project. I submitted it as a patch to the ffmpeg developers list. Discussion continues. I don’t know if this contribution will ultimately get accepted.

So, for the benefit of FFmpeg users who are web-searching for answers, here is my documentation of FFmpeg’s fps video filter.

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