Extracting Audio From Video Is a One-Line FFmpeg Command

Every video file is a container holding separate audio and video streams. Extracting the audio does not require re-encoding. You are just copying one stream out of the container. The operation is nearly instantaneous. The container vs. codec distinction A MOV file is a container format developed by Apple. It can hold video encoded in H.264, H.265, ProRes, or other codecs, along with audio encoded in AAC, PCM, or other formats. The container holds the streams. The codecs compress the data within each stream. When you "convert" MOV to MP3, you are: Opening the MOV container Finding the audio stream Either copying the audio stream as-is (if it's already in a compatible format) or re-encoding it to MP3 Writing the result as an MP3 file The FFmpeg command # Extract audio without re-encoding (fastest, preserves quality) ffmpeg -i input.mov -vn -acodec copy output.aac # Convert to MP3 at high quality ffmpeg -i input.mov -vn -acodec libmp3lame -q :a 2 output.mp3 # Convert to MP3 at specific bi