Decoding then re-encoding frames in reverse order with ffmpeg - c

Question

I am pretty new to ffmpeg, and now I want to decode the frames and encode it back in reverse order. I have used this tutorial for decoding the video and this example to encode it back. I can decode the frames properly, but when I re-encode it, I get a dummy image rather than clear video. How can I get the actual reversed video?
static void video_encode_example(const char *filename, int codec_id)
{
AVCodec *codec;
AVCodecContext *c= NULL;
int i, ret, x, y, got_output;
FILE *f;
struct SwsContext *sws_ctx = NULL;
AVFrame *frame;
AVFrame *frameRGB = NULL;
AVPacket pkt;
uint8_t endcode[] = { 0, 0, 1, 0xb7 };
printf("Encode video file %s\n", filename);
/* find the mpeg1 video encoder */
codec = avcodec_find_encoder(codec_id);
if (!codec) {
fprintf(stderr, "Codec not found\n");
exit(1);
}
c = avcodec_alloc_context3(codec);
if (!c) {
fprintf(stderr, "Could not allocate video codec context\n");
exit(1);
}
/* put sample parameters */
c->bit_rate = 400000;
/* resolution must be a multiple of two */
c->width = 352;
c->height = 288;
/* frames per second */
c->time_base = (AVRational){1,25};
/* emit one intra frame every ten frames
* check frame pict_type before passing frame
* to encoder, if frame->pict_type is AV_PICTURE_TYPE_I
* then gop_size is ignored and the output of encoder
* will always be I frame irrespective to gop_size
*/
c->gop_size = 10;
c->max_b_frames = 1;
c->pix_fmt = AV_PIX_FMT_YUV420P;
if (codec_id == AV_CODEC_ID_H264)
av_opt_set(c->priv_data, "preset", "slow", 0);
/* open it */
if (avcodec_open2(c, codec, NULL) < 0) {
fprintf(stderr, "Could not open codec\n");
exit(1);
}
f = fopen(filename, "wb");
if (!f) {
fprintf(stderr, "Could not open %s\n", filename);
exit(1);
}
frame = av_frame_alloc();
if (!frame) {
fprintf(stderr, "Could not allocate video frame\n");
exit(1);
}
frame->format = c->pix_fmt;
frame->width = c->width;
frame->height = c->height;
/* the image can be allocated by any means and av_image_alloc() is
* just the most convenient way if av_malloc() is to be used */
ret = av_image_alloc(frame->data, frame->linesize, c->width, c->height,
c->pix_fmt, 32);
if (ret < 0) {
fprintf(stderr, "Could not allocate raw picture buffer\n");
exit(1);
}
/* encode 1 second of video */
for (i = 0; i < 25; i++) {
av_init_packet(&pkt);
pkt.data = NULL; // packet data will be allocated by the encoder
pkt.size = 0;
fflush(stdout);
/* prepare a dummy image */
/* Y */
for (y = 0; y < c->height; y++) {
for (x = 0; x < c->width; x++) {
frame->data[0][y * frame->linesize[0] + x] = x + y + i * 3;
}
}
/* Cb and Cr */
for (y = 0; y < c->height/2; y++) {
for (x = 0; x < c->width/2; x++) {
frame->data[1][y * frame->linesize[1] + x] = 128 + y + i * 2;
frame->data[2][y * frame->linesize[2] + x] = 64 + x + i * 5;
}
}
frame->pts = i;
/* encode the image */
ret = avcodec_encode_video2(c, &pkt, frame, &got_output);
if (ret < 0) {
fprintf(stderr, "Error encoding frame\n");
exit(1);
}
if (got_output) {
// Convert the image from its native format to RGB
sws_scale
(
sws_ctx,
(uint8_t const * const *)frame->data,
frame->linesize,
0,
c->height,
frameRGB->data,
frameRGB->linesize
);
printf("Write frame %3d (size=%5d)\n", i, pkt.size);
fwrite(pkt.data, 1, pkt.size, f);
av_free_packet(&pkt);
}
}
/* get the delayed frames */
for (got_output = 1; got_output; i++) {
fflush(stdout);
ret = avcodec_encode_video2(c, &pkt, NULL, &got_output);
if (ret < 0) {
fprintf(stderr, "Error encoding frame\n");
exit(1);
}
if (got_output) {
printf("Write frame %3d (size=%5d)\n", i, pkt.size);
fwrite(pkt.data, 1, pkt.size, f);
av_free_packet(&pkt);
}
}
/* add sequence end code to have a real mpeg file */
fwrite(endcode, 1, sizeof(endcode), f);
fclose(f);
avcodec_close(c);
av_free(c);
av_freep(&frame->data[0]);
av_frame_free(&frame);
printf("\n");
}

Answer 1

Assuming that your code sample have nothing to do with a video input nor a reverse encoding, but is only an "encode sample".
A video file is made of severa parts.
First, you have a container format (for example mkv, or avi). It contains various informations on which streams are in this file (subtiles? how many video? multiple audio stream? stuff like that).
Then you have the data streams.
A video stream inside this file is a list of packets, encoded by a specific codec (h264 or mpeg4 for example) from frames.
In your code sample, you have a list of frames, and your are encoding them with a codec, giving you a list of packets (I suppose it works, since it is a tutorial code).
But these packets are dumped into a file, without container. So if a video player wants to read them, I will have a hard time to guess what is the format.
It is stated as the first line in your link
Instead of dumping your packets in a file directly, you want to use FFmpeg to embed your packets in a container, and save your container.
You have an example of all this process here
Last thing: if you want to have your video in reverse order, you must encode frames in the reverse order, not only mux packets in reverse order.