# Video Containers/Extensions

- mkv: supports almost anything (subtitles, chapters, codecs, etc.), but doesn't play in browsers. Best choice overall.
- webm: can play in any modern browser, high-quality compression (vp9) but lacks some features. Most suited for web.
- mp4: Anything can play it, but supports less codecs, + no subtitle support. Most general out of all, use it if unsure.
- avi: Not the best compression and lacks some features (like mp4). Used for old films and not much else.

I just realized that you can use `:` or `true` to create an empty file:
```
: > file.txt
true > file.txt
```
The reason this works is because neither command outputs anything in stdout and just exits, thus, shell creates a file but doesn't have anything to put inside it. The same effect can achieved using `echo` too:
```
echo -n > file.txt
```

As a bonus, here's a Bash-only solution:
```
> file.txt
```
But in Zsh, the above is equivalent to
```
cat > file.txt
```

Very confusion 

I have made a script some while back, it converts any video into high-quality GIF using ffmpeg and gifski.
https://gitlab.com/alexmozaidze/dotfiles/-/blob/main/scripts/.local/scripts/gifski-video

#script #scripting #ffmpeg #gifski #gif