What is the problem with this python 3 script

Question

I made a script for compressing videos

import ffmpeg
import subprocess

result = subprocess.run("C:\\ffmpeg\\bin\\ffmpeg.exe"['ffmpeg -i output.mp4 -b 800k output.mp4'])
print(result)

When I run this an error will come like this-

    result = subprocess.run("C:\\ffmpeg\\bin\\ffmpeg.exe"['ffmpeg -i output.mp4 -b 800k output.mp4'])
TypeError: string indices must be integers

What is the solution?

```['ffmpeg -i output.mp4 -b 800k output.mp4']``` why is this inside square brackets? — Abhinav Mathur, Oct 21 '20 at 05:15
I put that because I want to add the path `"C:\\ffmpeg\\bin\\ffmpeg.exe"` — , Oct 21 '20 at 05:19
How does the edited question even related to the original question? Stop editing question post answers. This is not a prank site. — Rahul Bharadwaj, Oct 22 '20 at 04:26

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 21 '20 at 05:22

This appears to be malformed:

subprocess.run("C:\\ffmpeg\\bin\\ffmpeg.exe"['ffmpeg -i output.mp4 -b 800k output.mp4'])

I'm pretty sure you just want this:

result = subprocess.run(["C:\\ffmpeg\\bin\\ffmpeg.exe", "-i", "output.mp4", "-b", "800k",  "output.mp4"])

Or perhaps just this:

result = subprocess.run("C:\\ffmpeg\\bin\\ffmpeg.exe -i output.mp4 -b 800k output.mp4")

Also, not sure if it's a good idea to have your input file and output file, output.mp4 be the same.

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 21 '20 at 05:19

0

Well, look at the argument you tried to pass. I've insert a line feed to help reading:

"C:\\ffmpeg\\bin\\ffmpeg.exe"
    ['ffmpeg -i output.mp4 -b 800k output.mp4']

The first line is a string. You followed that with a bracket. What comes next must be a subscript for the string. What did you think you were doing?

answered Oct 21 '20 at 05:19

Prune

76,765
14
60
81

I can't; I don't know what you think this is supposed to be. Two separate arguments, perhaps? If so, a comma corrects the problem -- and we close the question as a typo. – Prune Oct 21 '20 at 05:27
Then also it is showing - `result = subprocess.run("C:\\ffmpeg\\bin\\ffmpeg.exe"['ffmpeg -i output.mp4 -b 800k output.mp4']) TypeError: string indices must be integers` – Oct 21 '20 at 05:33
"Then" what? The code in your comment is essentially identical to the one in your post. Did you try the separate arguments I suggested? – Prune Oct 21 '20 at 05:42

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 21 '20 at 05:39

0

"C:\\ffmpeg\\bin\\ffmpeg.exe"['ffmpeg -i output.mp4 -b 800k output.mp4'] As @Prune has pointed out, the error occurs as you're indexing the string using another string, which is incorrect. The correct way to pass arguments to subprocess.run is

result = subprocess.run("[C:\\ffmpeg\\bin\\ffmpeg.exe", 'ffmpeg -i output.mp4 -b 800k output.mp4']) If you want to add more arguments, you can do so using positional arguments.

answered Oct 21 '20 at 05:39

Abhinav Mathur

7,791
3
10
24

Please read the official documentation in such cases, they'll almost always help you out – Abhinav Mathur Oct 21 '20 at 06:02

What is the problem with this python 3 script

3 Answers3