<p>FourCCs are Microsoft's ID tags for <strong>streams</strong> e.g. <code>avc1</code> for H.264/AVC or <code>mp4a</code> for an AAC audio stream. The container doesn't really matter.</p>

<p>If you want to change the FourCC, use ffmpeg like so</p>

<pre><code>ffmpeg -i input.mov -strict -2 -c copy -vtag ABCD new.mov
</code></pre>

<p>where <code>ABCD</code> is your new 4CC/tag.</p>

<p>You current file already shows <code>avc1</code> for the video stream, which is default and expected.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-05T19:12:37.377Z
I'm not looking to change the fourcc I actually want to know for sure I use the right value when I pass them as a argument to an OpenCV VideoWriter function call to split the original file into smaller segments. Does .avi or .mov matter if I have the fourcc set correctly?
Michael
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-05T19:23:08.767Z
Ah, don't know about OpenCV but there's broadly two steps involved - calling a demuxer so that OpenCV can locate and extract the video track. FourCC isn't involved here. And once the video track is being read, calling a H.264 bitstream reader/decoder to correctly split the video - FourCC is required to call the correct library or module. `avc1` is good for the 2nd part. Don't know OpenCV, so can't help with first. Maybe, based on extension, it auto-selects?
Gyan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-08T15:49:52.173Z
Found this property value in OpenCV `current_vid.get(cv2.CAP_PROP_FOURCC) `which might do the trick for me but
Michael
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-05T04:53:16.963Z
2016-05-05T04:53:16.963Z
Gyan
<p>I'm trying to figure out what fourcc value I need to use but I'm a bit confused between file formats and codecs. 
I have a .mov file and MediaInfo reports it as shown below</p>

<p>I need to specify the fourcc value but can't see it explicitly listed. Is it the Color Space and Chroma subsampling values?
If it is the text I'm using suggests I call the file a .avi but does it matter if I call it a .mov? </p>

<pre><code>Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : Main@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames                : 2 frames
Format settings, GOP                     : M=2, N=5
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 1h 8mn
Source duration                          : 1h 8mn
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 3 224 Kbps
Maximum bit rate                         : 768 Kbps
Width                                    : 1 024 pixels
Height                                   : 576 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 1.942
Original display aspect ratio            : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Variable
Frame rate                               : 25.000 fps
Minimum frame rate                       : 3.125 fps
Maximum frame rate                       : 25.000 fps
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.219
Stream size                              : 1.53 GiB (100%)
Source stream size                       : 1.54 GiB (100%)
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : UTC 2016-01-16 15:40:20
Tagged date                              : UTC 2016-03-09 18:41:42
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.601 PAL
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.601
</code></pre>

<video><codec><quicktime>
MediaInfo Fourcc Values
Michael
# MediaInfo Fourcc Values

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-05-04)

I'm trying to figure out what fourcc value I need to use but I'm a bit confused between file formats and codecs. 
I have a .mov file and MediaInfo reports it as shown below
I need to specify the fourcc value but can't see it explicitly listed. Is it the Color Space and Chroma subsampling values?
If it is the text I'm using suggests I call the file a .avi but does it matter if I call it a .mov? 
Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : Main@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames                : 2 frames
Format settings, GOP                     : M=2, N=5
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 1h 8mn
Source duration                          : 1h 8mn
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 3 224 Kbps
Maximum bit rate                         : 768 Kbps
Width                                    : 1 024 pixels
Height                                   : 576 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 1.942
Original display aspect ratio            : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Variable
Frame rate                               : 25.000 fps
Minimum frame rate                       : 3.125 fps
Maximum frame rate                       : 25.000 fps
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.219
Stream size                              : 1.53 GiB (100%)
Source stream size                       : 1.54 GiB (100%)
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : UTC 2016-01-16 15:40:20
Tagged date                              : UTC 2016-03-09 18:41:42
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.601 PAL
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.601

**Tags:** video, codec, quicktime


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2016-05-05. Score: 1

FourCCs are Microsoft's ID tags for streams e.g. avc1 for H.264/AVC or mp4a for an AAC audio stream. The container doesn't really matter.
If you want to change the FourCC, use ffmpeg like so
ffmpeg -i input.mov -strict -2 -c copy -vtag ABCD new.mov

where ABCD is your new 4CC/tag.
You current file already shows avc1 for the video stream, which is default and expected.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I'm not looking to change the fourcc I actually want to know for sure I use the right value when I pass them as a argument to an OpenCV VideoWriter function call to split the original file into smaller segments. Does .avi or .mov matter if I have the fourcc set correctly?  
> **username_1**: Ah, don't know about OpenCV but there's broadly two steps involved - calling a demuxer so that OpenCV can locate and extract the video track. FourCC isn't involved here. And once the video track is being read, calling a H.264 bitstream reader/decoder to correctly split the video - FourCC is required to call the correct library or module. `avc1` is good for the 2nd part. Don't know OpenCV, so can't help with first. Maybe, based on extension, it auto-selects?  
> **username_0**: Found this property value in OpenCV `current_vid.get(cv2.CAP_PROP_FOURCC) `which might do the trick for me but  

---

