[FFmpeg-user] Command line to show channel label/position

[Huspnet]

> On Jan 26, 2025, at 11:24 AM, MrNice <wxcvbn2006 at iol.ie> wrote:
> 
> Hello there,
> 
> What is the best command line to get details about channels position/label in a multichannel audio file ?
> 


I think that rather than using ffmpeg for this, the "mediainfo" executable might provide an easier way. Once I have "mediainfo" correctly installed for my system, I can simply run the command,
"mediainfo mymediafile", and see this list of audio channels and their disposition among the results for a movie file containing a 5.1 audio stream:

Channel layout      : L R C LFE Ls Rs

More descriptive labels for those might be (relatively): front left, front right, front center, low frequency effect, side left, side right (in case that is helpful).

The output of "mediainfo" that you would need to examine would likely be much shorter if you pointed it toward an audio file. And there are lots of ways to limit that output, although I haven't explored that too much.

You can use ffmpeg to manipulate the output as illustrated here (if it helps):
https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/AudioChannelManipulation#a5.1stereo

L. Lee