Extract audio from video files<\/h4>\n\n- Using Audacity<\/a>\n
\n- Export audio from selection portion using Audacity<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Using Avidemux<\/a>\n
\n- Export audio from selection portion using Avidemux<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Using VLC Media Player<\/a>\n
\n- Export audio from selection portion using VLC<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Using File Converter<\/a><\/li>\n
- Using FFMpeg.exe<\/a>\n
\n- Export audio from selection portion using FFmpeg.exe<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Using NCH’s Switch Audio Converter<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n
How to Convert MP4 or Any Video to MP3<\/h2>\n<\/a>Option 1: Using Audacity<\/h3>\nAudacity is an open-source, multi-track audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac OS X, GNU\/Linux, and other operating systems. Audacity can extract audio from video files into WAV, MP3, FLAC, OGG, MP2, WMA, M4A, and other formats using FFMpeg encoder.<\/p>\n
\n- Download Audacity<\/a> and\u00a0FFmpeg for Audacity<\/a> and install them.<\/li>\n
- Launch Audacity and open the video file from which you want to output the audio.\nNote:<\/strong> If you haven’t installed FFmpeg for Audacity<\/strong>, you’ll see the error Without the optional FFmpeg library, Audacity cannot open this type of file. Otherwise, you need to convert it to a supported audio format, such as WAV or AIFF<\/strong><\/em> when opening video files such as MP4 or MKV in Audacity.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
- Once the input video file is opened, from the File menu, click Export and choose an output format. Export to MP3, WAV, and OGG options are preset choices. If you want to extract the audio to a different format other than MP3, WAV, or OGG, click Export Audio.
\n![\"convert](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/audacity-mp4-to-mp3-1.png\")
<\/li>\n - In the Export Audio dialog, you can choose the quality\/bitrate (constant bitrate or variable bitrate range), speed, channel mode, and the output file name.
\n![\"convert](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/audacity-mp4-to-mp3-2.png\")
<\/li>\n - In the next screen, you can add metadata tags to the output MP3 file if required. Note that the VLC Player (discussed in Option 2<\/a>) doesn’t have this metadata option.
\n![\"convert](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/audacity-mp4-to-mp3-3.png\")
\n![\"convert](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/audacity-mp4-to-mp3-4.png\")
\nThe output MP3 is now ready!
\n![\"convert](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/audacity-mp4-to-mp3-5.png\")
<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nNote:<\/strong> If there are multiple<\/strong> audio tracks (e.g., one audio stream for each language in a movie file) in one media container (.mp4, .mkv, etc), you’re asked to select the audio stream to export, when launching Audacity.<\/p>\n![\"convert](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/extract-multiple-audio-tracks-audacity.png\")
<\/p>\n
Select the audio track you want to import and click OK. Then follow the above instructions to export the audio stream to an MP3 file.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Export selected audio using Audacity<\/h4>\nAfter you open the video, select the portion of the video\/media by using the marker buttons above the waveform, or using the Start and End selection boxes at the bottom of the window.<\/p>\n
![\"export](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/audacity-selected-export.png\")
<\/p>\n
\n- Then, to export the selection, click on the File<\/strong> menu, click Export<\/strong>, and click Export Selected Audio…<\/strong><\/li>\n
- In the Save as dialog, type the output file name and click Save<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n<\/a>Option 2: Using Avidemux<\/h3>\nAvidemux<\/a> is a free and open-source video editing program designed for video editing and video processing. You can extract audio from video files and convert it into MP3 or other format using Avidemux.<\/p>\nLaunch Avidemux and open the video file. In the Audio Output<\/strong> dropdown list box, choose MP3 (lame)<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"convert](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/avidemux-convert-mp4-mp3-1.png\")
<\/p>\n
Click Configure to choose the bitrate and quality. There doesn’t seem to be a way to a variable bitrate in Avidemux.<\/p>\n
![\"convert](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/avidemux-convert-mp4-mp3-3.png\")
<\/p>\n
Once the output format is selected, click the Audio menu, and click Save Audio<\/strong>.<\/p>\n![\"convert](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/avidemux-convert-mp4-mp3-2.png\")
<\/p>\n
Assign a file name in the resulting file dialog box and save the .mp3 in the desired location.<\/p>\n
Avidemux does support command-line\/batch operations using avidemux.exe or avidemux_cli.exe. Check out using:command_line_usage [Avidemux]<\/a><\/p>\nNote:<\/strong> If there are multiple<\/strong> audio tracks (e.g., one audio stream for each language in a movie file) in one media container (.mp4, .mkv, etc), you can choose the appropriate audio track that you want to export. This can be done via the Audio<\/strong> menu, Select Track<\/strong> option in Avidemux.<\/p>\n![\"convert](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/extract-multiple-audio-tracks-avidemux.png\")
<\/p>\n
<\/a>Export selected audio using Avidemux<\/h4>\nAvidemux also has the Start marker and End marker buttons which are useful if you want to extract the audio from a specific portion of the video. For instance, you may want to extract the song portion or a dialog in a particular scene from a full movie.<\/p>\n
![\"export](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/avidemux-selected-export.png\")
<\/p>\n
\n- Click on the starting point, and then click the marker button A<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
- Click on the ending point, and then click the marker button B<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
- Follow the rest of the instructions to export the audio. If the markers are active, only the selected portion is exported to MP3.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Note: To reset the markers, click Reset Markers<\/strong> from the Edit menu.<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Option 3: Using VLC Player<\/h3>\nVLC Player is a free and open-source multimedia player that plays most multimedia files as well as DVDs, Audio CDs, and various streaming protocols. It also supports converting videos into different formats — for Android, Youtube, etc., and extract audio from video files. It can extract audio to MP3, Flac, WMA, OGG, and other file formats.<\/p>\n
To extract audio from video files, follow these steps:<\/p>\n
Download VLC Player<\/strong> and run it.\u00a0From the VLC Player’s Media menu, click the Convert \/ Save<\/strong> option.<\/p>\nIn the Open Media dialog that opens, add the media files from which you want to extract the audio.<\/p>\n
![\"convert](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/convert-mp4-mp3-1.png\")
<\/p>\n
Click the Convert \/ Save<\/strong> button.<\/p>\n![\"convert](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/convert-mp4-mp3-2.png\")
<\/p>\n
In the Convert dialog, select the output file format — e.g., Audio – MP3<\/strong> option. You also have WMA, OGG, and other options in the list box.<\/p>\nYou can click the settings button (identified by the wrench icon) and select the Audio codec<\/strong> tab to set the bitrate, sample rate, codec, etc. You can also select the required filters from the Filters tab. Make sure that the Keep original audio track<\/strong> is disabled when extracting audio from a video file.<\/p>\n![\"convert](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/convert-mp4-mp3-3.png\")
<\/p>\n
Click Save.\u00a0Once you’re back to the Convert dialog, select the destination file name and click Start<\/strong>.<\/p>\nThe MP3 file is now ready!<\/p>\n
VLC command-line<\/h4>\n
To extract songs from a video file using VLC command-line, use this syntax:<\/p>\n
vlc.exe -I dummy \"d:\\songs\\mantra.mp4\" --sout=#transcode{acodec=mp3,ab=192,vcodec=dummy}:std{access=\"file\",mux=\"raw\",dst=\"d:\\songs\\mantra.mp3\"} vlc:\/\/quit<\/pre>\nThe above command-line converts MP4 to MP3 using 192 Kbps<\/code> bitrate — saving the output as mantra.mp3 in the D:\\Songs folder.<\/p>\nFor more information on using the VLC Player in command-line mode, see Command-line – VideoLAN Wiki<\/a> and Transcode – VideoLAN Wiki<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\nTo batch encode MP4 to MP3, you can use the following command-line in a Windows Batch file and run it:<\/p>\n
for %%a in (*.mp4) do \"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\VideoLAN\\VLC\\vlc.exe\" -I dummy \"%%a\" --sout=#transcode{acodec=mp3,ab=128,vcodec=dummy}:std{access=\"file\",mux=\"raw\",dst=\"%%a.mp3\"} vlc:\/\/quit<\/pre>\nThe above command, when used in a batch file, extracts the audio from all the MP4 files in the current working directory to MP3 format. The output file will have the same name as the MP4, but with .mp3 extension.<\/p>\n
You can also use the sample batch files from VLC Player documentation. See How To Transcode multiple videos<\/a> to know how to batch convert videos via the Send To menu, PowerShell or command-line.<\/p>\n<\/a>Export selected audio using VLC Player<\/h4>\nTo export the selected portion of the media to MP3, in the convert options dialog, after adding your file(s) to the list, click on the Show more options<\/strong> button.<\/p>\nYou’ll see the Start Time<\/strong> and Stop Time<\/strong> options among other additional settings. Select the starting and ending time, click Convert \/ Save and follow the rest of the instructions above to extract the audio from the media file to MP3.<\/p>\n![\"export](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/vlc-selected-export.png\")
<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Option 4: Using File Converter<\/h3>\nIf you use the excellent File Converter<\/a> program, it adds a context menu which lets you convert files from one format to another. As you can see in the following screenshot, you can configure the presets in the settings page. You can set the output file format (MP3), bitrate (variable or constant), filename template, etc.<\/p>\n![\"convert](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/convert-mp4-mp3-file-converter.png\")
<\/p>\n
File Converter a brilliant piece of software that uses different frameworks (as middleware). Here is the list of middleware software used by the File Converter program.<\/p>\n
\n- FFmpeg for media processing<\/li>\n
- ImageMagick for image processing<\/li>\n
- Ghostscript for PDF output<\/li>\n
- SharpShell for context menu handler<\/li>\n
- Ripper and yeti.mmedia for CD Audio extraction<\/li>\n
- Markdown.XAML for markdown rendering in the WPF application<\/li>\n
- WpfAnimatedGif for animated gif rendering in the WPF application<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Here are the input and output format combinations supported by this tool.<\/p>\n
- \n
- Export audio from selection portion using Audacity<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Using Avidemux<\/a>\n
- \n
- Export audio from selection portion using Avidemux<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Using VLC Media Player<\/a>\n
- \n
- Export audio from selection portion using VLC<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Using File Converter<\/a><\/li>\n
- Using FFMpeg.exe<\/a>\n
- \n
- Export audio from selection portion using FFmpeg.exe<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Using NCH’s Switch Audio Converter<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n
How to Convert MP4 or Any Video to MP3<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Option 1: Using Audacity<\/h3>\n
Audacity is an open-source, multi-track audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac OS X, GNU\/Linux, and other operating systems. Audacity can extract audio from video files into WAV, MP3, FLAC, OGG, MP2, WMA, M4A, and other formats using FFMpeg encoder.<\/p>\n
- \n
- Download Audacity<\/a> and\u00a0FFmpeg for Audacity<\/a> and install them.<\/li>\n
- Launch Audacity and open the video file from which you want to output the audio.\n
Note:<\/strong> If you haven’t installed FFmpeg for Audacity<\/strong>, you’ll see the error Without the optional FFmpeg library, Audacity cannot open this type of file. Otherwise, you need to convert it to a supported audio format, such as WAV or AIFF<\/strong><\/em> when opening video files such as MP4 or MKV in Audacity.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n- Once the input video file is opened, from the File menu, click Export and choose an output format. Export to MP3, WAV, and OGG options are preset choices. If you want to extract the audio to a different format other than MP3, WAV, or OGG, click Export Audio.
\n<\/li>\n- In the Export Audio dialog, you can choose the quality\/bitrate (constant bitrate or variable bitrate range), speed, channel mode, and the output file name.
\n<\/li>\n- In the next screen, you can add metadata tags to the output MP3 file if required. Note that the VLC Player (discussed in Option 2<\/a>) doesn’t have this metadata option.
\n
\n
\nThe output MP3 is now ready!
\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nNote:<\/strong> If there are multiple<\/strong> audio tracks (e.g., one audio stream for each language in a movie file) in one media container (.mp4, .mkv, etc), you’re asked to select the audio stream to export, when launching Audacity.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nSelect the audio track you want to import and click OK. Then follow the above instructions to export the audio stream to an MP3 file.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Export selected audio using Audacity<\/h4>\n
After you open the video, select the portion of the video\/media by using the marker buttons above the waveform, or using the Start and End selection boxes at the bottom of the window.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n- \n
- Then, to export the selection, click on the File<\/strong> menu, click Export<\/strong>, and click Export Selected Audio…<\/strong><\/li>\n
- In the Save as dialog, type the output file name and click Save<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n<\/a>Option 2: Using Avidemux<\/h3>\n
Avidemux<\/a> is a free and open-source video editing program designed for video editing and video processing. You can extract audio from video files and convert it into MP3 or other format using Avidemux.<\/p>\n
Launch Avidemux and open the video file. In the Audio Output<\/strong> dropdown list box, choose MP3 (lame)<\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/p>\nClick Configure to choose the bitrate and quality. There doesn’t seem to be a way to a variable bitrate in Avidemux.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nOnce the output format is selected, click the Audio menu, and click Save Audio<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nAssign a file name in the resulting file dialog box and save the .mp3 in the desired location.<\/p>\n
Avidemux does support command-line\/batch operations using avidemux.exe or avidemux_cli.exe. Check out using:command_line_usage [Avidemux]<\/a><\/p>\n
Note:<\/strong> If there are multiple<\/strong> audio tracks (e.g., one audio stream for each language in a movie file) in one media container (.mp4, .mkv, etc), you can choose the appropriate audio track that you want to export. This can be done via the Audio<\/strong> menu, Select Track<\/strong> option in Avidemux.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/a>Export selected audio using Avidemux<\/h4>\n
Avidemux also has the Start marker and End marker buttons which are useful if you want to extract the audio from a specific portion of the video. For instance, you may want to extract the song portion or a dialog in a particular scene from a full movie.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n- \n
- Click on the starting point, and then click the marker button A<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
- Click on the ending point, and then click the marker button B<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
- Follow the rest of the instructions to export the audio. If the markers are active, only the selected portion is exported to MP3.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Note: To reset the markers, click Reset Markers<\/strong> from the Edit menu.<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Option 3: Using VLC Player<\/h3>\n
VLC Player is a free and open-source multimedia player that plays most multimedia files as well as DVDs, Audio CDs, and various streaming protocols. It also supports converting videos into different formats — for Android, Youtube, etc., and extract audio from video files. It can extract audio to MP3, Flac, WMA, OGG, and other file formats.<\/p>\n
To extract audio from video files, follow these steps:<\/p>\n
Download VLC Player<\/strong> and run it.\u00a0From the VLC Player’s Media menu, click the Convert \/ Save<\/strong> option.<\/p>\n
In the Open Media dialog that opens, add the media files from which you want to extract the audio.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nClick the Convert \/ Save<\/strong> button.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nIn the Convert dialog, select the output file format — e.g., Audio – MP3<\/strong> option. You also have WMA, OGG, and other options in the list box.<\/p>\n
You can click the settings button (identified by the wrench icon) and select the Audio codec<\/strong> tab to set the bitrate, sample rate, codec, etc. You can also select the required filters from the Filters tab. Make sure that the Keep original audio track<\/strong> is disabled when extracting audio from a video file.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nClick Save.\u00a0Once you’re back to the Convert dialog, select the destination file name and click Start<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
The MP3 file is now ready!<\/p>\n
VLC command-line<\/h4>\n
To extract songs from a video file using VLC command-line, use this syntax:<\/p>\n
vlc.exe -I dummy \"d:\\songs\\mantra.mp4\" --sout=#transcode{acodec=mp3,ab=192,vcodec=dummy}:std{access=\"file\",mux=\"raw\",dst=\"d:\\songs\\mantra.mp3\"} vlc:\/\/quit<\/pre>\nThe above command-line converts MP4 to MP3 using
192 Kbps<\/code> bitrate — saving the output as mantra.mp3 in the D:\\Songs folder.<\/p>\nFor more information on using the VLC Player in command-line mode, see Command-line – VideoLAN Wiki<\/a> and Transcode – VideoLAN Wiki<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n
To batch encode MP4 to MP3, you can use the following command-line in a Windows Batch file and run it:<\/p>\n
for %%a in (*.mp4) do \"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\VideoLAN\\VLC\\vlc.exe\" -I dummy \"%%a\" --sout=#transcode{acodec=mp3,ab=128,vcodec=dummy}:std{access=\"file\",mux=\"raw\",dst=\"%%a.mp3\"} vlc:\/\/quit<\/pre>\nThe above command, when used in a batch file, extracts the audio from all the MP4 files in the current working directory to MP3 format. The output file will have the same name as the MP4, but with .mp3 extension.<\/p>\n
You can also use the sample batch files from VLC Player documentation. See How To Transcode multiple videos<\/a> to know how to batch convert videos via the Send To menu, PowerShell or command-line.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Export selected audio using VLC Player<\/h4>\n
To export the selected portion of the media to MP3, in the convert options dialog, after adding your file(s) to the list, click on the Show more options<\/strong> button.<\/p>\n
You’ll see the Start Time<\/strong> and Stop Time<\/strong> options among other additional settings. Select the starting and ending time, click Convert \/ Save and follow the rest of the instructions above to extract the audio from the media file to MP3.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Option 4: Using File Converter<\/h3>\n
If you use the excellent File Converter<\/a> program, it adds a context menu which lets you convert files from one format to another. As you can see in the following screenshot, you can configure the presets in the settings page. You can set the output file format (MP3), bitrate (variable or constant), filename template, etc.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nFile Converter a brilliant piece of software that uses different frameworks (as middleware). Here is the list of middleware software used by the File Converter program.<\/p>\n
- \n
- FFmpeg for media processing<\/li>\n
- ImageMagick for image processing<\/li>\n
- Ghostscript for PDF output<\/li>\n
- SharpShell for context menu handler<\/li>\n
- Ripper and yeti.mmedia for CD Audio extraction<\/li>\n
- Markdown.XAML for markdown rendering in the WPF application<\/li>\n
- WpfAnimatedGif for animated gif rendering in the WPF application<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Here are the input and output format combinations supported by this tool.<\/p>\n
- Click on the ending point, and then click the marker button B<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
- In the Save as dialog, type the output file name and click Save<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Launch Audacity and open the video file from which you want to output the audio.\n
- Using NCH’s Switch Audio Converter<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n
- Using File Converter<\/a><\/li>\n
- Using VLC Media Player<\/a>\n
- Using Avidemux<\/a>\n
![\"convert](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/convert-mp4-mp3-4.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"convert](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/extract-multiple-audio-tracks-ffmpeg.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"export](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/ffmpeg-selected-export.png\")
<\/p>\n