Turns out using the -sameq option works far more reliably. Also, the -t is not reliable when specifing a number of seconds. Only the 00:00:00 format works for me. I'm now able to now get the clips I want with this command format: ffmpeg -i input.avi -sameq -ss 00:00:00 -t 00:02:00 output.avi Thanks to all who helped. -- Martin