FFmpeg presets

Frigate ships with a set of FFmpeg presets to keep your configuration short and readable. Each preset expands to a longer list of FFmpeg arguments at runtime. You can see exactly what every preset expands to in this file.

In the config file you reference a preset by its name (for example, preset-vaapi). In the UI, the same preset is shown with a friendly label (for example, VAAPI (Intel/AMD GPU)). Both refer to the same thing: the tables below list the config name alongside the label you'll see in the UI.

Hwaccel (Hardware Acceleration) Presets

Hardware acceleration arguments tell FFmpeg to decode your camera's video stream on a GPU or integrated graphics chip instead of the CPU, which dramatically lowers CPU usage. Using a preset is highly recommended. Beyond replacing a long list of arguments, each preset also tells Frigate what hardware is available so it can offload additional work to the GPU, for example, encoding the Birdseye restream or scaling a stream whose resolution differs from the camera's native size.

See the hardware acceleration docs for details on setting up hardware acceleration for your GPU / iGPU, then select the preset that matches your hardware.

Preset (YAML config)	UI Label	Usage	Notes
preset-rpi-64-h264	Raspberry Pi (H.264)	64-bit Raspberry Pi, H.264 stream
preset-rpi-64-h265	Raspberry Pi (H.265)	64-bit Raspberry Pi, H.265 stream
preset-vaapi	VAAPI (Intel/AMD GPU)	Intel or AMD GPU via VAAPI	Check the hwaccel docs to ensure the correct driver is selected
preset-intel-qsv-h264	Intel QuickSync (H.264)	Intel QuickSync, H.264 stream	If you have issues, use the VAAPI preset instead
preset-intel-qsv-h265	Intel QuickSync (H.265)	Intel QuickSync, H.265 stream	If you have issues, use the VAAPI preset instead
preset-nvidia	NVIDIA GPU	NVIDIA GPU
preset-jetson-h264	NVIDIA Jetson (H.264)	NVIDIA Jetson, H.264 stream
preset-jetson-h265	NVIDIA Jetson (H.265)	NVIDIA Jetson, H.265 stream
preset-rkmpp	Rockchip RKMPP	Rockchip MPP	Use an image with the -rk suffix and run in privileged mode

Frigate UI

1. Navigate to Settings→Global configuration→FFmpeg and set Hardware acceleration arguments to the appropriate preset for your hardware.
2. To override for a specific camera, navigate to Settings→Camera configuration→Streams (FFmpeg) and set Hardware acceleration arguments for that camera.

YAML

ffmpeg:
  hwaccel_args: preset-vaapi

cameras:
  front_door:
    ffmpeg:
      hwaccel_args: preset-nvidia

Input Args Presets

Input arguments are passed to FFmpeg before your camera source and control how Frigate connects to and reads the stream: the transport protocol, timeouts, reconnection behavior, and how the stream is probed. The right input args ensure a reliable connection and maximum compatibility for each type of stream.

See the camera-specific docs for more on non-standard cameras and recommendations for using them in Frigate.

Preset (config)	UI Label	Usage	Notes
preset-http-jpeg-generic	HTTP JPEG (Generic)	HTTP live JPEG	Restreaming the live JPEG is recommended instead
preset-http-mjpeg-generic	HTTP MJPEG (Generic)	HTTP MJPEG stream	Restreaming the MJPEG stream is recommended instead
preset-http-reolink	HTTP - Reolink Cameras	Reolink HTTP-FLV stream	Only for Reolink HTTP, not when restreaming as RTSP
preset-rtmp-generic	RTMP (Generic)	RTMP stream
preset-rtsp-generic	RTSP (Generic)	RTSP stream	The default when no input args are specified
preset-rtsp-restream	RTSP - Restream from go2rtc	RTSP stream from a restream	Use when a go2rtc restream is the source for Frigate
preset-rtsp-restream-low-latency	RTSP - Restream from go2rtc (Low Latency)	RTSP stream from a restream	Lowers latency for a go2rtc restream source; may cause issues with some cameras
preset-rtsp-udp	RTSP - UDP	RTSP stream over UDP	Use when the camera only supports UDP
preset-rtsp-blue-iris	RTSP - Blue Iris	Blue Iris RTSP stream	Use when consuming a stream from Blue Iris

warning

Be mindful of input arguments when restreaming, because you can end up with a mix of protocols. The http and rtmp presets cannot be used with rtsp streams. For example, using a Reolink camera with an RTSP restream as the recording source while preset-http-reolink is applied will cause a crash. In cases like this, set the preset at the stream level instead. See the example below.

go2rtc:
  streams:
    reolink_cam: http://192.168.0.139/flv?port=1935&app=bcs&stream=channel0_main.bcs&user=admin&password=password

cameras:
  reolink_cam:
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: http://192.168.0.139/flv?port=1935&app=bcs&stream=channel0_ext.bcs&user=admin&password=password
          input_args: preset-http-reolink
          roles:
            - detect
        - path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/reolink_cam
          input_args: preset-rtsp-generic
          roles:
            - record

Output Args Presets

Output arguments are passed to FFmpeg after your camera source and control how recordings are written: which codecs are used and whether audio and video are copied as-is or re-encoded. The right output args ensure consistent, playable recordings for each type of stream.

Preset (config)	UI Label	Usage	Notes
preset-record-generic	Record (Generic, no audio)	Record without audio	Use this if your camera has no audio, or if you don't want to record audio
preset-record-generic-audio-copy	Record (Generic + Copy Audio)	Record with the original audio	Use this to keep the camera's audio in recordings without re-encoding
preset-record-generic-audio-aac	Record (Generic + Audio to AAC)	Record with audio transcoded to AAC	The default when no output args are specified. Transcodes audio to AAC. If the source is already AAC, use preset-record-generic-audio-copy to avoid re-encoding
preset-record-mjpeg	Record - MJPEG Cameras	Record an MJPEG stream	Restreaming the MJPEG stream is recommended instead
preset-record-jpeg	Record - JPEG Cameras	Record a live JPEG	Restreaming the live JPEG is recommended instead
preset-record-ubiquiti	Record - Ubiquiti Cameras	Record a Ubiquiti stream with audio	Handles Ubiquiti's non-standard audio format