I have lots of files with multiple audio and subtitle languages, however the track numbers aren't consistent (the English audio stream isn't always the first) so using a command such as:
ffmpeg -i "input.mkv" -map 0 -map -0:a:1 -c:v copy -c:a copy "output.mkv"
doesn't yield expected results. After searching around I discovered it was possible to map streams based on language with this command:
ffmpeg -i "input.mkv" -map 0 -map -0:m:language:eng -c:v copy -c:a copy "output.mkv"
However -map -0:m:language:eng will remove all tracks with the English language flag. To keep the subtitle tracks you can use -map 0:s this is a good solution however, I want to know if it's possible to only map audio streams based on language. I.e.,
I want to remove English audio while retaining all other streams without using stream IDs.
As far as I can tell this is the best way to remove English audio while retaining all other streams without using stream IDs which I find to be more inconsistent then language flags. Generally people use correct language flags however audio languages are less likely to keep the same ID.
ffmpeg -i "in.mkv" -map a -map -m:language:eng -map v -map s -map d? -map t -c:v copy -c:a copy "out.mkv"
The command will map every audio stream then remove audio with the English language flag. It will then map all video, subtitle and attachment streams. You can add -disposition:a:0 default to give the first audio stream the [default] flag if needed. Note: Only use when you are removing audio that has the default flag already. Change -disposition:a:0 to -disposition:a:1 and so on if you want to set a different audio track to default.