what is the codec for mp4 videos in python OpenCV

Question

fourcc = cv2.cv.CV_FOURCC(*'XVID')

The above line is used for avi video. In the same fashion, which codec do we use for mp4 videos in Ubuntu?

Answer 1

The codec is H.264.

One of these should work for you:

fourcc = cv2.cv.CV_FOURCC(*'H264')
#or 
#fourcc = cv2.cv.CV_FOURCC(*'X264')

However, I should warn you that you'll probably need to have ffmpeg and the x264 libraries installed so since you are in Ubuntu, try doing this command in the terminal:

$ sudo apt-get install ffmpeg x264 libx264-dev

Also, check out this link from OpenCV tutorials for more details as to the kinds of FourCC codes available for your platform: http://opencv-python-tutroals.readthedocs.org/en/latest/py_tutorials/py_gui/py_video_display/py_video_display.html#saving-a-video

In the above link, it says X264 is the FourCC code you should use, but switch between them until you get it to work.

Answer 2

This is an old question. But, if anyone is facing an issue lately using the codec who can't get a saved video. They can use 0X00000021 as the codec value for OpenCV 3 and later.