VAAPI

VAAPI is the Linux API for GPU video encoding and decoding. Intel GPUs use the intel-media-driver (iHD) backend and AMD GPUs use Mesa’s radeonsi backend. FFmpeg’s wrappers are h264_vaapi, hevc_vaapi, vp9_vaapi, av1_vaapi and a few older codecs. Which of them work depends on the GPU, not on FFmpeg. NVIDIA GPUs have no VAAPI encoder; use NVENC.

Unlike NVENC and AMF, VAAPI is a common API over different hardware, so the same command can behave differently on Intel and AMD. It is the usual Linux route for Intel Quick Sync and for AMD, where AMF is awkward on Linux.

Hardware or software encoder?

Hardware encoders are quick and cheap on power but lose to x264, x265 and SVT-AV1 at slow presets in quality per bit. Use VAAPI for fast transcodes, recording and streaming. Use a software encoder for archival work. More in NVENC: hardware or software.

Check what your GPU can encode

vainfo --display drm --device /dev/dri/renderD128

Look for the profile with VAEntrypointEncSlice, for example VAProfileHEVCMain : VAEntrypointEncSlice. VAEntrypointEncSliceLP is the low-power engine, which is what -low_power 1 selects. A profile listed only as VAEntrypointVLD is decode-only. vainfo ships in libva-utils.

AV1 encode needs an Intel Arc or Meteor Lake-or-newer GPU, or an AMD RDNA 3 or newer GPU (or a Phoenix-or-newer APU). See QSV and AMF for the generation lists.

Quality-oriented encode

ffmpeg -vaapi_device /dev/dri/renderD128 -i input.mkv -vf 'format=nv12,hwupload' -c:v hevc_vaapi -global_quality 24 -c:a copy output.mkv

VAAPI only accepts frames in GPU memory, so hwupload after a format=nv12 conversion is required with software-decoded input. -global_quality alone is enough for constant quality: FFmpeg tries ICQ and falls back to CQP when the driver has no ICQ, as with Mesa on AMD. Lower is better. Do not combine it with -b:v, which asks for QVBR instead. The numbers are not comparable to CRF.

For AV1:

ffmpeg -vaapi_device /dev/dri/renderD128 -i input.mkv -vf 'format=nv12,hwupload' -c:v av1_vaapi -rc_mode CQP -global_quality 100 -c:a copy output.mkv

AV1 uses the 0–255 quantizer, so values run higher than for HEVC, and the explicit -rc_mode CQP stops FFmpeg from picking ICQ, whose scale is 1–51. For 10-bit use format=p010le,hwupload.

Bitrate-targeted

ffmpeg -vaapi_device /dev/dri/renderD128 -i input.mkv -vf 'format=nv12,hwupload' -c:v hevc_vaapi -b:v 6M -maxrate 9M -bufsize 12M -c:a copy output.mkv

-b:v with a larger -maxrate is VBR; equal values give CBR. A bare -b:v with no -bufsize tries AVBR first, which ignores buffer constraints. Force a mode with -rc_mode CQP|CBR|VBR|ICQ|QVBR|AVBR when the automatic choice is wrong. Drivers support only a subset, and FFmpeg errors out if you request an unsupported one.

Full-GPU pipeline

ffmpeg -hwaccel vaapi -hwaccel_output_format vaapi -hwaccel_device /dev/dri/renderD128 -i input.mkv -vf scale_vaapi=w=1920:h=1080 -c:v hevc_vaapi -global_quality 24 output.mkv

Decode, scale and encode stay on the GPU. Filters that are not VAAPI filters need hwdownload,format=nv12 first. The decoder must support the input codec and profile, or the command fails at decode; fall back to the software-decode command above.

Options that matter

Option	What it does
-global_quality	Constant-quality target (ICQ or CQP). h264_vaapi and hevc_vaapi also have -qp, which forces CQP.
-rc_mode	Force CQP, CBR, VBR, ICQ, QVBR or AVBR. Default auto.
-b:v, -maxrate, -bufsize	Bitrate constraints.
-compression_level	Speed/quality trade-off passed to the driver as its quality level; higher is faster and worse. The range is driver-specific.
-bf, -b_depth	B-frames and B-pyramid depth. Some drivers ignore or reject them.
-low_power 1	Use the fixed-function low-power encoder. Fewer features; some other options may be rejected.
-g, -idr_interval	GOP length; -idr_interval N makes only every Nth I-frame an IDR (open GOP).
-async_depth	Frames in flight.

Pitfalls

• A profile with only a decode entry point cannot encode. Check vainfo before blaming FFmpeg.
• hwupload needs a device: use -vaapi_device (or -init_hw_device/-filter_hw_device) when decoding in software.
• Pick the right render node (/dev/dri/renderD128, renderD129, …) on systems with an iGPU and a discrete GPU.
• Behaviour differs across drivers. A command tuned on Intel may need -rc_mode or -global_quality changes on AMD.

Full option reference

Every private option of av1_vaapi in FFmpeg 9.0.2. The driver may support fewer rate-control modes and profiles than FFmpeg can name; vainfo lists them. INT_MAX is 2147483647.

Private options

Parameter	Type	Default	Meaning	Range / named values
-idr_interval	int	0	Number of non-key I-frames between key frames; 0 makes every I-frame a key frame.	0 to INT_MAX
-b_depth	int	1	B-frame reference depth: 1 = flat B-frames, higher builds a hierarchy. Needs -bf.	1 to INT_MAX
-async_depth	int	2	Frames in flight on the GPU; raise it for single-stream throughput.	1 to 64
-low_power	boolean	false	Use the low-power encode entrypoint (VDEnc on Intel). Some GPUs have only this one, and it can lack features.	0 to 1
-max_frame_size	int	0	Largest encoded frame, in bytes; 0 = no limit.	0 to 2.68435e+08
-rc_mode	int	auto	Rate control: CQP, CBR, VBR, ICQ, QVBR, AVBR. auto uses CQP with -q:v, ICQ with -global_quality (QVBR if -b:v is also set), CBR when -b:v equals -maxrate, otherwise AVBR or VBR; with no rate options, ICQ or CQP.	0 to 6; auto=0, CQP=1, CBR=2, VBR=3, ICQ=4, QVBR=5, AVBR=6
-blbrc	boolean	false	Block-level rate control (finer bit allocation within a frame) where the driver supports it.	0 to 1
-profile	int	-99	AV1 profile: main, high, professional. -99 chooses from the input format.	-99 to 255; main=0, high=1, professional=2
-tier	int	main	AV1 tier: main or high.	0 to 1; main=0, high=1
-level	int	-99	AV1 level (seq_level_idx); -99 chooses automatically.	-99 to 31; 2.0=0, 2.1=1, 3.0=4, 3.1=5, 4.0=8, 4.1=9, 5.0=12, 5.1=13, 5.2=14, 5.3=15, 6.0=16, 6.1=17, 6.2=18, 6.3=19
-tiles	image_size	not exposed	Tile layout as columns×rows, e.g. 2x2; unset uses the minimum the resolution needs.	—
-tile_groups	int	1	Number of tile groups per frame.	1 to 4096

Codec-specific generic initialization overrides

The wrapper replaces these generic FFmpeg defaults for this encoder. -b is in bits/s; -g and -bf count frames. -1, and 0 for -b and -refs, leave the value to the preset, driver or rate-control logic.

Generic parameter	Default
-b	0
-bf	2
-g	120
-qmin	1
-qmax	255
-refs	0