Error: Missing Argument for Option '-i' When Using ros2 run ffmpeg_image_transport_tools bag_to_file

[luigicampanaro]

Hi,

I recorded a ROS bag containing joint information and a camera stream compressed with FFMPEG (Type: ffmpeg_image_transport_msgs/msg/FFMPEGPacket), as shown below.

root@Minerva:/colcon_ws#   ros2 bag info /colcon_ws/data/default_task/trajectory_1/trajectory_1_0.db3

closing.

closing.
[INFO] [1755790423.358078619] [rosbag2_storage]: Opened database '/colcon_ws/data/default_task/trajectory_1/trajectory_1_0.db3' for READ_ONLY.

Files:             /colcon_ws/data/default_task/trajectory_1/trajectory_1_0.db3
Bag size:          69.0 MiB
Storage id:        sqlite3
Duration:          38.624818217s
Start:             Aug 21 2025 13:54:40.812579199 (1755784480.812579199)
End:               Aug 21 2025 13:55:19.437397416 (1755784519.437397416)
Messages:          2046
Topic information: Topic: /piper/joint_states | Type: sensor_msgs/msg/JointState | Count: 773 | Serialization Format: cdr
                   Topic: /leader_arm/joint_states | Type: sensor_msgs/msg/JointState | Count: 345 | Serialization Format: cdr
                   Topic: /camera1/image_raw/ffmpeg | Type: ffmpeg_image_transport_msgs/msg/FFMPEGPacket | Count: 928 | Serialization Format: cdr

I’m trying to convert the compressed data to an .mp4 file, but I encounter the following error:

root@Minerva:/colcon_ws# ros2 run ffmpeg_image_transport_tools bag_to_file -b /colcon_ws/data/default_task/trajectory_1/trajectory_1_0.db3 -t /camera1/image_raw/ffmpeg -r
 10 -o /colcon_ws/data/default_task/trajectory_1/output.mp4

opening bag: /colcon_ws/data/default_task/trajectory_1/trajectory_1_0.db3
topic:       /camera1/image_raw/ffmpeg

closing.

closing.
[INFO] [1755790403.425892824] [rosbag2_storage]: Opened database '/colcon_ws/data/default_task/trajectory_1/trajectory_1_0.db3' for READ_ONLY.
writing to raw file: .h264
messages processed: 928
total time for processing: 0.05703
ffmpeg version 4.4.2-0ubuntu0.22.04.1 Copyright (c) 2000-2021 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 11 (Ubuntu 11.2.0-19ubuntu1)
  configuration: --prefix=/usr --extra-version=0ubuntu0.22.04.1 --toolchain=hardened --libdir=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu --incdir=/usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu --arch=amd64 --enable-gpl --disable-stripping --enable-gnutls --enable-ladspa --enable-libaom --enable-libass --enable-libbluray --enable-libbs2b --enable-libcaca --enable-libcdio --enable-libcodec2 --enable-libdav1d --enable-libflite --enable-libfontconfig --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libgme --enable-libgsm --enable-libjack --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libmysofa --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopenmpt --enable-libopus --enable-libpulse --enable-librabbitmq --enable-librubberband --enable-libshine --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsoxr --enable-libspeex --enable-libsrt --enable-libssh --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwebp --enable-libx265 --enable-libxml2 --enable-libxvid --enable-libzimg --enable-libzmq --enable-libzvbi --enable-lv2 --enable-omx --enable-openal --enable-opencl --enable-opengl --enable-sdl2 --enable-pocketsphinx --enable-librsvg --enable-libmfx --enable-libdc1394 --enable-libdrm --enable-libiec61883 --enable-chromaprint --enable-frei0r --enable-libx264 --enable-shared
  libavutil      56. 70.100 / 56. 70.100
  libavcodec     58.134.100 / 58.134.100
  libavformat    58. 76.100 / 58. 76.100
  libavdevice    58. 13.100 / 58. 13.100
  libavfilter     7.110.100 /  7.110.100
  libswscale      5.  9.100 /  5.  9.100
  libswresample   3.  9.100 /  3.  9.100
  libpostproc    55.  9.100 / 55.  9.100
Missing argument for option 'i'.
Error splitting the argument list: Invalid argument
rm: missing operand
Try 'rm --help' for more information.

Did I make any mistake in using the library? What would be the correct way to fix this?

For context, the data stream is saved correctly; after decompressing it, I can visualize the recorded data and confirm it is not corrupted.

Thank you very much for your help! :)

Environment Information

Operating System:
**-** Distro: Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS

• Release: 22.04

Kernel Version:

• Linux Minerva 6.14.0-27-generic #27~24.04.1-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Tue Jul 22 17:38:49 UTC 2 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

ROS 2 Distribution:

• ROS 2 Humble

Image Transport Plugins:

• image_transport/compressed
• image_transport/compressedDepth
• image_transport/ffmpeg
• image_transport/raw
• image_transport/theora

FFmpeg Version:

• ffmpeg version 4.4.2-0ubuntu0.22.04.1

[berndpfrommer]

Are you running this from a binary (.deb) package, or did you build from source?
Would you mind trying the master branch of this repo? I updated it with some fixes that could address your problem. Note that the name of the options has changed.

[luigicampanaro]

Hi,

Thanks for the quick response! :) To clarify, I installed the tools via the Debian package using:

sudo apt-get install ros-humble-ffmpeg-image-transport-tools

I’ve also cloned the repository and verified I’m on the master branch, fully up to date:

root@Minerva:/colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools# git status
On branch master
Your branch is up to date with 'origin/master'.

nothing to commit, working tree clean

Despite following all instructions, I encounter build errors when running colcon build:

root@Minerva:/colcon_ws# colcon build --symlink-install --cmake-args -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RelWithDebInfo  # (optionally add -DCMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS=1)
Starting >>> ffmpeg_image_transport_msgs
Finished <<< ffmpeg_image_transport_msgs [3.52s]                                                                                                                                          
Starting >>> ffmpeg_encoder_decoder
Finished <<< ffmpeg_encoder_decoder [0.46s]                                                                                                                         
Starting >>> ffmpeg_image_transport
Starting >>> ffmpeg_image_transport_tools
Finished <<< ffmpeg_image_transport [0.57s]                                                                                                                                                                       
--- stderr: ffmpeg_image_transport_tools                               
/colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/uncompress_bag.cpp: In constructor ‘Decoder::Decoder(UnCompressor*, const string&, const std::unordered_map<std::__cxx11::basic_string<char>, std::__cxx11::basic_string<char> >&)’:
/colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/uncompress_bag.cpp:75:18: error: ‘class ffmpeg_encoder_decoder::Decoder’ has no member named ‘setOutputMessageEncoding’
   75 |         decoder_.setOutputMessageEncoding(v);
      |                  ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/uncompress_bag.cpp:77:18: error: ‘class ffmpeg_encoder_decoder::Decoder’ has no member named ‘addAVOption’
   77 |         decoder_.addAVOption(n, v);
      |                  ^~~~~~~~~~~
/colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/uncompress_bag.cpp: In member function ‘void Decoder::decode(bag_time_t, bag_time_t, const ConstSharedPtr&)’:
/colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/uncompress_bag.cpp:88:35: error: cannot convert ‘std::_Bind_helper<false, void (Decoder::*)(const std::shared_ptr<const sensor_msgs::msg::Image_<std::allocator<void> > >&, bool, const std::__cxx11::basic_string<char>&), Decoder*, const std::_Placeholder<1>&, const std::_Placeholder<2>&, const std::_Placeholder<3>&>::type’ to ‘ffmpeg_encoder_decoder::Decoder::Callback’ {aka ‘std::function<void(const std::shared_ptr<const sensor_msgs::msg::Image_<std::allocator<void> > >&, bool)>’}
   88 |             m->encoding, std::bind(&Decoder::frameReady, this, _1, _2, _3), decoder_name_)) {
      |                          ~~~~~~~~~^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      |                                   |
      |                                   std::_Bind_helper<false, void (Decoder::*)(const std::shared_ptr<const sensor_msgs::msg::Image_<std::allocator<void> > >&, bool, const std::__cxx11::basic_string<char>&), Decoder*, const std::_Placeholder<1>&, const std::_Placeholder<2>&, const std::_Placeholder<3>&>::type
In file included from /colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/uncompress_bag.cpp:19:
/opt/ros/humble/include/ffmpeg_encoder_decoder/decoder.hpp:51:58: note:   initializing argument 2 of ‘bool ffmpeg_encoder_decoder::Decoder::initialize(const string&, ffmpeg_encoder_decoder::Decoder::Callback, const string&)’
   51 |   bool initialize(const std::string & encoding, Callback callback, const std::string & dec);
      |                                                 ~~~~~~~~~^~~~~~~~
/colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/uncompress_bag.cpp: In member function ‘void Decoder::flush()’:
/colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/uncompress_bag.cpp:126:14: error: ‘class ffmpeg_encoder_decoder::Decoder’ has no member named ‘flush’
  126 |     decoder_.flush();
      |              ^~~~~
/colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/bag_to_file.cpp: In member function ‘virtual void FileWriter::process(rcutils_time_point_value_t, rcutils_time_point_value_t, const string&, const ConstSharedPtr&)’:
/colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/bag_to_file.cpp:71:57: error: ‘split_encoding’ is not a member of ‘ffmpeg_encoder_decoder::utils’
   71 |       const auto codec = ffmpeg_encoder_decoder::utils::split_encoding(m->encoding)[0];
      |                                                         ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/bag_to_frames.cpp:58:38: error: ‘split_by_char’ has not been declared in ‘ffmpeg_encoder_decoder::utils’
   58 | using ffmpeg_encoder_decoder::utils::split_by_char;
      |                                      ^~~~~~~~~~~~~
/colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/bag_to_frames.cpp: In constructor ‘FrameWriter::FrameWriter(const std::vector<std::__cxx11::basic_string<char> >&, const string&, const string&, const string&, const string&)’:
/colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/bag_to_frames.cpp:83:16: error: ‘class ffmpeg_encoder_decoder::Decoder’ has no member named ‘setOutputMessageEncoding’
   83 |       decoder_.setOutputMessageEncoding(output_format);
      |                ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/bag_to_frames.cpp: In member function ‘virtual void FrameWriter::process(rcutils_time_point_value_t, rcutils_time_point_value_t, const string&, const ConstSharedPtr&)’:
/colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/bag_to_frames.cpp:97:36: error: ‘findDecoders’ is not a member of ‘ffmpeg_encoder_decoder::Decoder’
   97 |             split_by_char(Decoder::findDecoders(split_by_char(m->encoding, ';')[0]), ',');
      |                                    ^~~~~~~~~~~~
/colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/bag_to_frames.cpp:97:49: error: ‘split_by_char’ was not declared in this scope
   97 |             split_by_char(Decoder::findDecoders(split_by_char(m->encoding, ';')[0]), ',');
      |                                                 ^~~~~~~~~~~~~
/colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/bag_to_frames.cpp:97:13: error: ‘split_by_char’ was not declared in this scope
   97 |             split_by_char(Decoder::findDecoders(split_by_char(m->encoding, ';')[0]), ',');
      |             ^~~~~~~~~~~~~
/colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/bag_to_frames.cpp:104:37: error: cannot convert ‘std::_Bind_helper<false, void (FrameWriter::*)(const std::shared_ptr<const sensor_msgs::msg::Image_<std::allocator<void> > >&, bool, const std::__cxx11::basic_string<char>&), FrameWriter*, const std::_Placeholder<1>&, const std::_Placeholder<2>&, const std::_Placeholder<3>&>::type’ to ‘ffmpeg_encoder_decoder::Decoder::Callback’ {aka ‘std::function<void(const std::shared_ptr<const sensor_msgs::msg::Image_<std::allocator<void> > >&, bool)>’}
  104 |               m->encoding, std::bind(&FrameWriter::callback, this, _1, _2, _3), name)) {
      |                            ~~~~~~~~~^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      |                                     |
      |                                     std::_Bind_helper<false, void (FrameWriter::*)(const std::shared_ptr<const sensor_msgs::msg::Image_<std::allocator<void> > >&, bool, const std::__cxx11::basic_string<char>&), FrameWriter*, const std::_Placeholder<1>&, const std::_Placeholder<2>&, const std::_Placeholder<3>&>::type
In file included from /colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/bag_to_frames.cpp:24:
/opt/ros/humble/include/ffmpeg_encoder_decoder/decoder.hpp:51:58: note:   initializing argument 2 of ‘bool ffmpeg_encoder_decoder::Decoder::initialize(const string&, ffmpeg_encoder_decoder::Decoder::Callback, const string&)’
   51 |   bool initialize(const std::string & encoding, Callback callback, const std::string & dec);
      |                                                 ~~~~~~~~~^~~~~~~~
/colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/compress_bag.cpp: In constructor ‘EncoderDecoder::EncoderDecoder(Compressor*, const string&, bool, size_t, const std::unordered_map<std::__cxx11::basic_string<char>, std::__cxx11::basic_string<char> >&)’:
/colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/compress_bag.cpp:109:18: error: ‘class ffmpeg_encoder_decoder::Encoder’ has no member named ‘setAVSourcePixelFormat’; did you mean ‘setPixelFormat’?
  109 |         encoder_.setAVSourcePixelFormat(v);
      |                  ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      |                  setPixelFormat
/colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/compress_bag.cpp:111:18: error: ‘class ffmpeg_encoder_decoder::Encoder’ has no member named ‘setCVBridgeTargetFormat’
  111 |         encoder_.setCVBridgeTargetFormat(v);
      |                  ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/compress_bag.cpp:114:18: error: ‘class ffmpeg_encoder_decoder::Decoder’ has no member named ‘setOutputMessageEncoding’
  114 |         decoder_.setOutputMessageEncoding(v);
      |                  ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/compress_bag.cpp:120:18: error: ‘class ffmpeg_encoder_decoder::Encoder’ has no member named ‘setMaxBFrames’
  120 |         encoder_.setMaxBFrames(std::stoi(v));
      |                  ^~~~~~~~~~~~~
/colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/compress_bag.cpp:128:18: error: ‘class ffmpeg_encoder_decoder::Encoder’ has no member named ‘addAVOption’; did you mean ‘setAVOption’?
  128 |         encoder_.addAVOption(n, v);
      |                  ^~~~~~~~~~~
      |                  setAVOption
/colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/compress_bag.cpp: In member function ‘void EncoderDecoder::encode(rcutils_time_point_value_t, rcutils_time_point_value_t, const ConstSharedPtr&)’:
/colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/compress_bag.cpp:152:31: error: no matching function for call to ‘ffmpeg_encoder_decoder::Encoder::initialize(const _width_type&, const _height_type&, std::_Bind_helper<false, void (EncoderDecoder::*)(const std::__cxx11::basic_string<char>&, const rclcpp::Time&, const std::__cxx11::basic_string<char>&, unsigned int, unsigned int, long unsigned int, unsigned char, unsigned char*, long unsigned int), EncoderDecoder*, const std::_Placeholder<1>&, const std::_Placeholder<2>&, const std::_Placeholder<3>&, const std::_Placeholder<4>&, const std::_Placeholder<5>&, const std::_Placeholder<6>&, const std::_Placeholder<7>&, const std::_Placeholder<8>&, const std::_Placeholder<9>&>::type, const _encoding_type&)’
  152 |       if (!encoder_.initialize(
      |            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^
  153 |             msg.width, msg.height,
      |             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  154 |             std::bind(&EncoderDecoder::packetReady, this, _1, _2, _3, _4, _5, _6, _7, _8, _9),
      |             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  155 |             m->encoding)) {
      |             ~~~~~~~~~~~~       
In file included from /colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/compress_bag.cpp:20:
/opt/ros/humble/include/ffmpeg_encoder_decoder/encoder.hpp:127:8: note: candidate: ‘bool ffmpeg_encoder_decoder::Encoder::initialize(int, int, ffmpeg_encoder_decoder::Encoder::Callback)’
  127 |   bool initialize(int width, int height, Callback callback);
      |        ^~~~~~~~~~
/opt/ros/humble/include/ffmpeg_encoder_decoder/encoder.hpp:127:8: note:   candidate expects 3 arguments, 4 provided
/colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/compress_bag.cpp: In member function ‘void EncoderDecoder::flush()’:
/colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/compress_bag.cpp:265:19: error: no matching function for call to ‘ffmpeg_encoder_decoder::Encoder::flush()’
  265 |     encoder_.flush();
      |     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^~
In file included from /colcon_ws/src/ffmpeg_image_transport_tools/src/compress_bag.cpp:20:
/opt/ros/humble/include/ffmpeg_encoder_decoder/encoder.hpp:134:8: note: candidate: ‘void ffmpeg_encoder_decoder::Encoder::flush(const Header&)’
  134 |   void flush(const Header & header);
      |        ^~~~~
/opt/ros/humble/include/ffmpeg_encoder_decoder/encoder.hpp:134:8: note:   candidate expects 1 argument, 0 provided
gmake[2]: *** [CMakeFiles/bag_to_file.dir/build.make:76: CMakeFiles/bag_to_file.dir/src/bag_to_file.cpp.o] Error 1
gmake[1]: *** [CMakeFiles/Makefile2:163: CMakeFiles/bag_to_file.dir/all] Error 2
gmake[1]: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....
gmake[2]: *** [CMakeFiles/uncompress_bag.dir/build.make:76: CMakeFiles/uncompress_bag.dir/src/uncompress_bag.cpp.o] Error 1
gmake[1]: *** [CMakeFiles/Makefile2:241: CMakeFiles/uncompress_bag.dir/all] Error 2
gmake[2]: *** [CMakeFiles/bag_to_frames.dir/build.make:76: CMakeFiles/bag_to_frames.dir/src/bag_to_frames.cpp.o] Error 1
gmake[1]: *** [CMakeFiles/Makefile2:189: CMakeFiles/bag_to_frames.dir/all] Error 2
gmake[2]: *** [CMakeFiles/compress_bag.dir/build.make:76: CMakeFiles/compress_bag.dir/src/compress_bag.cpp.o] Error 1
gmake[1]: *** [CMakeFiles/Makefile2:215: CMakeFiles/compress_bag.dir/all] Error 2
gmake: *** [Makefile:146: all] Error 2
---
Failed   <<< ffmpeg_image_transport_tools [7.66s, exited with code 2]

These errors suggest that the API has changed significantly, likely around renamed or removed options.

Would it be possible to publish an updated packaged version? A new release would help streamline installs and avoid manual builds.

Thanks a lot, I’d be happy to help test it once updated package names or a new release are available.

[berndpfrommer]

Yes, you would need the updated ffmpeg_encoder_decoder repo in your workspace. It should build against that.
I will try and release the packages, but it usually takes several months from the time I release until the next sync happens and the packages actually become available on rosdistro.