diff --git a/src/COMMON.h b/src/COMMON.h
index 6a598bf..b59741e 100644
--- a/src/COMMON.h
+++ b/src/COMMON.h
@@ -61,10 +61,12 @@ using namespace glm;
   #define POPEN  _popen
   #define PCLOSE _pclose
   #define PWRITE_MODE "wb"
+  #define PREAD_MODE "r"
 #else
   #define POPEN  popen
   #define PCLOSE pclose
   #define PWRITE_MODE "w"
+  #define PREAD_MODE "r"
 #endif
 
 #define UV_VERTICES(uvMin, uvMax) \
diff --git a/src/ffmpeg.cpp b/src/ffmpeg.cpp
index 5a7486f..97a6cac 100644
--- a/src/ffmpeg.cpp
+++ b/src/ffmpeg.cpp
@@ -30,20 +30,33 @@ ffmpeg_render
             break;
     }
 
+    // ffmpeg output will be piped into the log
+    std::string logOutput = " 2>> \"" + log_path_get() + "\"";
+
 #if _WIN32
-    command = string_quote(command);
+    command = string_quote(command) + logOutput;
+#else
+    command += logOutput;
 #endif
 
+    log_command(command);
+
     FILE* fp = POPEN(command.c_str(), PWRITE_MODE);
 
     if (!fp) 
     {
-        log_info(std::format(FFMPEG_POPEN_ERROR, strerror(errno)));
+        log_error(std::format(FFMPEG_POPEN_ERROR, strerror(errno)));
         return false;
     }
 
+    
     size_t frameBytes = size.x * size.y * TEXTURE_CHANNELS;
 
+// supposedly, might help with video corruption issues on windows?
+#if _WIN32
+    _setmode(_fileno(stdout), _O_BINARY);
+#endif
+
     for (const auto& frame : frames) 
     {
         std::vector<u8> rgba = texture_download(&frame);
diff --git a/src/ffmpeg.h b/src/ffmpeg.h
index 2747a57..f96e3c1 100644
--- a/src/ffmpeg.h
+++ b/src/ffmpeg.h
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 #include "texture.h"
 
 #define FFMPEG_POPEN_ERROR "popen() (for FFmpeg) failed!\n{}"
+#define FFMPEG_LOG_BUFFER_SIZE 256
 
 static constexpr const char* FFMPEG_GIF_FORMAT =
 "\"{0}\" -y "
diff --git a/src/log.cpp b/src/log.cpp
index 761c681..537d166 100644
--- a/src/log.cpp
+++ b/src/log.cpp
@@ -2,7 +2,12 @@
 
 inline std::ofstream logFile;
 
-static void _log_write(const std::string& string)
+std::string log_path_get(void)
+{
+    return preferences_path_get() + LOG_PATH;
+}
+
+void log_write(const std::string& string)
 {
     std::println("{}", string);
     
@@ -13,30 +18,36 @@ static void _log_write(const std::string& string)
     }
 }
 
-void log_init(const std::string& file)
+void log_init(void)
 {
-    logFile.open(file, std::ios::out | std::ios::trunc);
-    if (!logFile) std::println("{}", std::format(LOG_INIT_ERROR, file));
+    std::string logFilepath = log_path_get();
+    logFile.open(logFilepath, std::ios::out | std::ios::trunc);
+    if (!logFile) std::println("{}", std::format(LOG_INIT_ERROR, logFilepath));
 }
 
 void log_error(const std::string& error)
 {
-    _log_write(LOG_ERROR_FORMAT + error);
+    log_write(LOG_ERROR_FORMAT + error);
 }
 
 void log_info(const std::string& info)
 {
-    _log_write(LOG_INFO_FORMAT + info);
+    log_write(LOG_INFO_FORMAT + info);
 }
 
 void log_warning(const std::string& warning)
 {
-    _log_write(LOG_WARNING_FORMAT + warning);
+    log_write(LOG_WARNING_FORMAT + warning);
 }
 
 void log_imgui(const std::string& imgui)
 {
-    _log_write(LOG_IMGUI_FORMAT + imgui);
+    log_write(LOG_IMGUI_FORMAT + imgui);
+}
+
+void log_command(const std::string& command)
+{
+    log_write(LOG_COMMAND_FORMAT + command);
 }
 
 void log_free(void)
diff --git a/src/log.h b/src/log.h
index 3ef0fc6..3ac20d9 100644
--- a/src/log.h
+++ b/src/log.h
@@ -7,11 +7,15 @@
 #define LOG_INFO_FORMAT "[INFO] "
 #define LOG_IMGUI_FORMAT "[IMGUI] "
 #define LOG_INIT_ERROR "[ERROR] Failed to open log file: {}"
+#define LOG_COMMAND_FORMAT "[COMMAND] "
 #define LOG_PATH "log.txt"
 
-void log_init(const std::string& file);
+std::string log_path_get(void);
+void log_init(void);
+void log_write(const std::string& file);
 void log_error(const std::string& error);
 void log_info(const std::string& info);
 void log_warning(const std::string& warning);
 void log_imgui(const std::string& imgui);
+void log_command(const std::string& command);
 void log_free(void);
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index faf69f9..124247a 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ main(s32 argc, char* argv[])
 {
 	State state;
 
-	log_init(preferences_path_get() + LOG_PATH);
+	log_init();
 
 	if (argc > 0 && argv[1])
 	{