How to get started in ffmpeg

Getting started with FFmpeg can be exciting but also very complex, as it’s a powerful command-line tool for handling multimedia data. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

What is FFmpeg?

FFmpeg is an open-source multimedia framework for recording, converting, streaming, and playing multimedia files. It supports a vast range of formats and codecs. It’s used in many applications all across the Internet today.

It's main uses are to manipulate video files in a way to prepare them for viewing interactions in a plethora of web devices as well as some broadcast applications.

Install FFmpeg

Windows

The easiest way to install in Windows is to:

Download the latest static build from FFmpeg’s website.
Extract the zip file.
Add the bin folder to your system’s PATH.

MacOS

If you have Homebrew installed, you can install FFmpeg by this one command.

bash


brew install ffmpeg

Alternatively, you can download the binaries for Mac as well from FFmpeg’s website and then add the ffmpeg binary to your desired location/path.

Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)

bash


sudo apt update
sudo apt install ffmpeg

Build from source

Building FFmpeg from source allows for customization of codecs, formats, and features, which can be essential for specific use cases. Or if you simply want to learn how it all comes together. Here’s how to build FFmpeg step-by-step.

Download the FFmpeg Source Code

Clone the repository:

bash


git clone https://git.ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg.git ffmpeg
cd ffmpeg

Alternatively, download a release tarball:

bash


wget https://ffmpeg.org/releases/ffmpeg-<version>.tar.bz2
tar xjf ffmpeg-<version>.tar.bz2
cd ffmpeg-<version>

Configure FFmpeg

The configure script lets you customize your build. Common configuration options include enabling or disabling libraries, setting installation paths, and optimizing the build. There are some libraries that are not installed by default when using Homebrew or other package managers. This way gives you a ton more control.

Example configuration:

bash


./configure \
--prefix=/usr/local \
--enable-gpl \
--enable-nonfree \
--enable-libx264 \
--enable-libx265 \
--enable-libvpx \
--enable-libfdk-aac \
--enable-libopus \
--enable-libmp3lame \
--enable-libass \
--enable-shared \
--disable-static

Key Options:

• --prefix: Sets the installation directory (default is /usr/local).

• --enable-gpl: Enables GPL-licensed libraries (e.g., libx264).

• --enable-nonfree: Required for proprietary libraries (e.g., libfdk-aac).

• --enable-lib<name>: Enables specific libraries for encoding/decoding.

• --disable-static: Builds shared libraries only (useful for runtime linking).

• --enable-shared: Builds dynamic libraries for easier linking.

Run ./configure --help to see all available options.

Compile the Source

Start the build process:

bash


make

Install

Install the compiled binaries:

bash


sudo make install

Verify the Installation

Check if FFmpeg is installed correctly:

bash


ffmpeg -version

The output should display the compiled version and enabled features.

Optional Steps

a. Add FFmpeg to the PATH

If FFmpeg isn’t accessible globally, add its location to your PATH:

bash


export PATH="/usr/local/bin:$PATH"

Make this change permanent by adding the line to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc.

b. Example for Minimal Build

If you only need basic features (e.g., H.264 support):

bash


./configure --prefix=/usr/local --enable-gpl --enable-libx264
make
sudo make install

Understand Basic Syntax

Since FFmpeg is a command line interface, commands can get quite lengthy very quickly. When supplying options and arguments, it's best to refer to the ffmpeg documentation if you're ever unsure.

General syntax

bash


ffmpeg [global options] [input options] -i [input file] [output options] [output file]

Example:

bash


ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 output.mov

One thing to note here is that options supplied before the input file are input options so they mostly either time related (start time) or could be for raw video files and tell the decoder certain information that the auto detect wouldn't capture.