get metadata for video start time with ffmpeg

Question

I need to get the start time of some videoclips (very precise, ideally precise at 0.1 sec). I have been told that I may be able to do so using ffmpeg. I managed to install it but am not sure how to obtain this information.

I tried with

path > ffmpeg -i test.mp4 -f ffmetadata test_metadata.txt

But then the test_metadata.txt file just contains the following

;FFMETADATA1
major_brand=mp42
minor_version=0
compatible_brands=mp42isom
encoder=Lavf58.77.100

Any suggestion? Also I am happy to use other commands/software. Can't use online services as video are sensible and I must adhere to GDPR

Answer 1

You can use the companion ffprobe tool, which really is meant for machine-parseable text.

ffprobe -v 0 -show_entries format=start_time -of compact=p=0:nk=1 "input"

This will print a value with the form x.yyyyyy or N/A for formats without timestamps.