@ -712,13 +712,13 @@ You can also use special names to select particular edge case formats:
- `bestaudio`: Select the best quality audio only-format. May not be available.
- `bestaudio`: Select the best quality audio only-format. May not be available.
- `worstaudio`: Select the worst quality audio only-format. May not be available.
- `worstaudio`: Select the worst quality audio only-format. May not be available.
For example, to download the worst quality video-only format you can use `-f worstvideo`. It is however recomended to never actually use `worst` and related options. See [sorting formats](#sorting-formats) for more details.
For example, to download the worst quality video-only format you can use `-f worstvideo`. It is however recomended to never actually use `worst` and related options. When your format selector is `worst`, the format which is worst in all respects is selected. Most of the time, what you actually want is the video with the smallest filesize instead. So it is generally better to use `-f best -S +size,+br,+res,+fps` instead of `-f worst`. See [sorting formats](#sorting-formats) for more details.
If you want to download multiple videos and they don't have the same formats available, you can specify the order of preference using slashes. Note that formats on the left hand side are preferred, for example `-f 22/17/18` will download format 22 if it's available, otherwise it will download format 17 if it's available, otherwise it will download format 18 if it's available, otherwise it will complain that no suitable formats are available for download.
If you want to download multiple videos and they don't have the same formats available, you can specify the order of preference using slashes. Note that formats on the left hand side are preferred, for example `-f 22/17/18` will download format 22 if it's available, otherwise it will download format 17 if it's available, otherwise it will download format 18 if it's available, otherwise it will complain that no suitable formats are available for download.
If you want to download several formats of the same video use a comma as a separator, e.g. `-f 22,17,18` will download all these three formats, of course if they are available. Or a more sophisticated example combined with the precedence feature: `-f 136/137/mp4/bestvideo,140/m4a/bestaudio`.
If you want to download several formats of the same video use a comma as a separator, e.g. `-f 22,17,18` will download all these three formats, of course if they are available. Or a more sophisticated example combined with the precedence feature: `-f 136/137/mp4/bestvideo,140/m4a/bestaudio`.
You can merge the video and audio of multiple formats into a single file using `-f <format-1>+<format-2>` (requires ffmpeg or avconv installed), for example `-f bestvideo+bestaudio` will download the best video-only format, the best audio-only format and mux them together with ffmpeg/avconv.
You can merge the video and audio of multiple formats into a single file using `-f <format-1>+<format-2>+...` (requires ffmpeg or avconv installed), for example `-f bestvideo+bestaudio` will download the best video-only format, the best audio-only format and mux them together with ffmpeg/avconv.
## Filtering Formats
## Filtering Formats
@ -768,7 +768,7 @@ You can change the criteria for being considered the `best` by using `-S` (`--fo
- `vext`, `video_ext`: Video Extension (`mp4` > `flv` > `webm` > other > unknown). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, `webm` is prefered.
- `vext`, `video_ext`: Video Extension (`mp4` > `flv` > `webm` > other > unknown). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, `webm` is prefered.
- `aext`, `audio_ext`: Video Extension (`m4a` > `aac` > `mp3` > `ogg` > `opus` > `webm` > other > unknown). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, the order changes to `opus` > `ogg` > `webm` > `m4a` > `mp3` > `aac`.
- `aext`, `audio_ext`: Audio Extension (`m4a` > `aac` > `mp3` > `ogg` > `opus` > `webm` > other > unknown). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, the order changes to `opus` > `ogg` > `webm` > `m4a` > `mp3` > `aac`.
- `ext`, `extension`: Equivalent to `vext,aext`
- `ext`, `extension`: Equivalent to `vext,aext`
- `filesize`: Exact filesize, if know in advance. This will be unavailable for mu38 and DASH formats.
- `filesize`: Exact filesize, if know in advance. This will be unavailable for mu38 and DASH formats.
- `filesize_approx`: Approximate filesize calculated the manifests
- `filesize_approx`: Approximate filesize calculated the manifests
@ -783,11 +783,9 @@ You can change the criteria for being considered the `best` by using `-S` (`--fo
- `br`, `bitrate`: Equivalent to using `tbr,vbr,abr`
- `br`, `bitrate`: Equivalent to using `tbr,vbr,abr`
- `samplerate`, `asr`: Audio sample rate in Hz
- `samplerate`, `asr`: Audio sample rate in Hz
All fields, unless specified otherwise, are sorted in decending order. To reverse this, prefix the field with a `+`. Eg: `+res` prefers the smallest resolution format. Additionally, you can suffix a prefered value for the fields, seperated by a `:`. Eg: `res:720` prefers larger videos, but no larger than 720p and the smallest video if there are no videos less than 720p. For `codec` and `ext`, you can provide two prefered values, the first for video and the second for audio. Eg: `+codec:avc:m4a` (equivalent to `+vcodec:avc,+acodec:m4a`) sets the video codec preference to `h264` > `h265` > `vp9` > `av01` > `vp8` > `h263` > `theora` and audio codec preference to `mp4a` > `aac` > `vorbis` > `opus` > `mp3` > `ac3` > `dts`. You can also make the sorting prefer the nearest values to the provided by using `~` as the delimiter. Eg: `filesize~1G` prefers the format with filesize closest to 1 GiB.
All fields, unless specified otherwise, are sorted in decending order. To reverse this, prefix the field with a `+`. Eg: `+res` prefers the format with the smallest resolution. Additionally, you can suffix a prefered value for the fields, seperated by a `:`. Eg: `res:720` prefers larger videos, but no larger than 720p and the smallest video if there are no videos less than 720p. For `codec` and `ext`, you can provide two prefered values, the first for video and the second for audio. Eg: `+codec:avc:m4a` (equivalent to `+vcodec:avc,+acodec:m4a`) sets the video codec preference to `h264` > `h265` > `vp9` > `av01` > `vp8` > `h263` > `theora` and audio codec preference to `mp4a` > `aac` > `vorbis` > `opus` > `mp3` > `ac3` > `dts`. You can also make the sorting prefer the nearest values to the provided by using `~` as the delimiter. Eg: `filesize~1G` prefers the format with filesize closest to 1 GiB.
The fields `has_video`, `has_audio`, `extractor_preference`, `language_preference`, `quality` are always given highest priority in sorting, irrespective of the user-defined order. This behaviour can be changed by using `--force-format-sort`. Apart from these, the default order used by youtube-dlc is: `tbr,filesize,vbr,height,width,protocol,vext,abr,aext,fps,filesize_approx,source_preference,format_id`. Note that the extractors may override this default order (currently no extractor does this), but not the user-provided order.
The fields `has_video`, `has_audio`, `extractor_preference`, `language_preference`, `quality` are always given highest priority in sorting, irrespective of the user-defined order. This behaviour can be changed by using `--force-format-sort`. Apart from these, the default order used by youtube-dlc is: `tbr,filesize,vbr,height,width,protocol,vext,abr,aext,fps,filesize_approx,source_preference,format_id`. Note that the extractors may override this default order, but not the user-provided order.
If your format selector is `worst`, the last item is selected after sorting. This means it will select the format that is worst in all repects. Most of the time, what you actually want is the video with the smallest filesize instead. So it is generally better to use `-f best -S +size,+br,+res,+fps`.
**Tip**: You can use the `-v -F` to see how the formats have been sorted (worst to best).
**Tip**: You can use the `-v -F` to see how the formats have been sorted (worst to best).