FFMPEG on Ubuntu 10.10 (repost for personal use)

HOWTO: Install and use the latest FFmpeg and x264
FFmpeg is a versatile tool to encode and decode a multitude of video and audio formats. x264encodes high-quality H.264 video.Choose your Ubuntu
0.The instructions on the page are for Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat 10.10. Separate instructions are also available for older, supported releases:

Install the Dependencies
1. Uninstall x264, libx264-dev, and ffmpeg if they are already installed. Open a terminal and run the following (you can usually paste into a terminal with shift+ctrl+v). Copy and paste the whole code box for each step.

Code:
sudo apt-get remove ffmpeg x264 libx264-dev

2. Get all of the packages you will need to install FFmpeg and x264 (you may need to enable the universe and multiverse repositories):

Code:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential git-core checkinstall yasm texi2html \
    libfaac-dev libjack-jackd2-dev libmp3lame-dev libopencore-amrnb-dev \
    libopencore-amrwb-dev libsdl1.2-dev libtheora-dev libva-dev libvdpau-dev \
    libvorbis-dev libvpx-dev libx11-dev libxfixes-dev libxvidcore-dev zlib1g-dev

Install x264
3. Get the current source files, compile, and install x264.

Code:
cd
git clone git://git.videolan.org/x264
cd x264
./configure
make
sudo checkinstall --pkgname=x264 --pkgversion="3:$(./version.sh | \
    awk -F'[" ]' '/POINT/{print $4"+git"$5}')" --backup=no --deldoc=yes \
    --fstrans=no --default

Install FFmpeg
4. Get the most current source files, compile, and install FFmpeg.

Code:
cd
git clone git://git.videolan.org/ffmpeg
cd ffmpeg
./configure --enable-gpl --enable-version3 --enable-nonfree --enable-postproc \
    --enable-libfaac --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopencore-amrnb \
    --enable-libopencore-amrwb --enable-libtheora --enable-libvorbis \
    --enable-libvpx --enable-libx264 --enable-libxvid --enable-x11grab
make
sudo checkinstall --pkgname=ffmpeg --pkgversion="5:$(./version.sh)" --backup=no \
    --deldoc=yes --fstrans=no --default
hash x264 ffmpeg ffplay ffprobe

Install qt-faststart (optional)
5. This is a useful tool included with FFmpeg that rearranges a file with H.264 video, “such that the moov atom is in front of the data, thus facilitating network streaming”. Basically, it allows web movies to start playing before they are completely downloaded. Usage: qt-faststart input.foo output.foo.

Code:
cd ~/ffmpeg
make tools/qt-faststart
sudo checkinstall --pkgname=qt-faststart --pkgversion="$(./version.sh)" --backup=no \
    --deldoc=yes --fstrans=no --default install -D -m755 tools/qt-faststart \
    /usr/local/bin/qt-faststart

That’s it for installation. You can keep the ~/x264 and ~/ffmpeg directories if you later want to update the source files to a new revision. See Updating FFmpeg and x264 below for more details.

Using FFmpeg and x264
The easiest method for high quality video encoding is by using the libx264 presets that are included with FFmpeg. I recommend reading the FFmpeg x264 encoding guide before trying these presets so you have a better idea of what to use. You can add options such as frame size (for example: -s 640×480) or tweak my examples to customize your encode. You can see a current list of all libx264 presets (such as ipod or lossless) or after installation look in the /usr/local/share/ffmpeg directory.

One-pass CRF (Constant Rate Factor) using the slow preset. One-pass CRF is good for general encoding and is what I use most often. Adjust -crf to change the quality. Lower numbers mean higher quality and a larger output file size. A sane range is 18 to 28.

Code:
ffmpeg -i input.wmv -acodec libfaac -ab 128k -ac 2 -vcodec libx264 -vpre slow -crf 22 \
    -threads 0 output.mp4

Two-Pass encode using the fast presets. Two-pass encoding is used when you are targeting a specific bitrate and/or final output file size.

Code:
ffmpeg -i input.avi -pass 1 -vcodec libx264 -vpre fast_firstpass -b 512k -threads 0 \
    -f rawvideo -an -y /dev/null && ffmpeg -i input.avi -pass 2 -acodec libfaac -ab 128k \
    -ac 2 -vcodec libx264 -vpre fast -b 512k -threads 0 output.mp4

iPod 640×480 using the slow and ipod640 presets. This example uses -aq to create VBR audio:

Code:
ffmpeg -i input.ogv -acodec libfaac -aq 100 -ac 2 -vcodec libx264 -vpre slow \
    -vpre ipod640 -crf 26 -map_metadata 0:0 -vf scale=640:-1 -threads 0 output.mp4

Lossless H.264 in MKV container

Code:
ffmpeg -i input.foo -vcodec libx264 -vpre lossless_medium -threads 0 -acodec copy output.mkv

Updating FFmpeg and x264
Development of FFmpeg and x264 is active and an occasional update can give you new features and bug fixes. First, remove some packages and then update the dependencies:

Code:
sudo apt-get remove ffmpeg x264 libx264-dev
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential git-core checkinstall yasm texi2html \
  libfaac-dev libjack-jackd2-dev libmp3lame-dev libopencore-amrnb-dev \
  libopencore-amrwb-dev libsdl1.2-dev libtheora-dev libva-dev libvdpau-dev \
  libvorbis-dev libvpx-dev libx11-dev libxfixes-dev libxvidcore-dev zlib1g-dev

Now to update the x264 source code:

Code:
cd ~/x264
make distclean
git pull

Now compile x264 as shown earlier in the guide starting with the x264 ./configure line. Now update FFmpeg:

Code:
cd ~/ffmpeg
make distclean
git pull

Finish the installation starting with the FFmpeg ./configure line.

Reverting Changes Made by This Guide
To remove FFmpeg/x264 and other packages added for this guide:

Code:
sudo apt-get autoremove x264 ffmpeg qt-faststart build-essential git-core checkinstall \
  yasm texi2html libfaac-dev libjack-jackd2-dev libmp3lame-dev libsdl1.2-dev \
  libtheora-dev libva-dev libvdpau-dev libvorbis-dev libvpx-dev libx11-dev libxfixes-dev \
  libxvidcore-dev zlib1g-dev

Lastly, delete the ffmpeg and x264 directories in your home folder.

Additional Resources

If You Need Help
Feel free to ask your questions here and I’ll try to answer you. Helpful information includes your Ubuntu version, names of any third-party repositories or PPAs you are using, FFmpeg command, and the complete FFmpeg output if applicable.

Recent Updates

  • 2011-03-15: Changed the FFmpeg repository to git.videolan.orgdue to the recent and unfortunate bickering in the FFmpeg project. Those of you who often update FFmpeg should run:
    Code:
    cd ~/ffmpeg && git remote set-url origin git://git.videolan.org/ffmpeg

    You’ll only need to do this once.

  • 2011-02-13: (Maverick & Lucid) Shorter x264 checkinstall pkgversion. Thanks to andrew.46.
  • 2011-02-07: (Hardy) Updated Hardy guide to use Git for FFmpeg. Cleaned up the checkinstall commands. Removed subversion as a dependency.

 

Last edited by FakeOutdoorsman; 2 Weeks Ago at 02:32 PM..

 

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