BJcomm

FFmpeg is a versatile tool to encode and decode a multitude of video and audio formats. x264 encodes high-quality H.264 video.

Although FFmpeg and x264 are available in the Ubuntu repositories, you may need to compile from source. For example, the ffmpeg-user mailing list requires that you use the latest FFmpeg before asking for help. You may also like to have the bleeding-edge for encoding videos. Also, FFmpeg in the Ubuntu repository may not support necessary encoders, decoders, and formats.


Choose your Ubuntu
0.The instructions on the page are for Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat 10.10. Separate instructions are also available for older releases.

• Install FFmpeg and x264 on Ubuntu Lucid Lynx 10.04
• Install FFmpeg and x264 on Ubuntu Karmic Koala 9.10
• Install FFmpeg and x264 on Ubuntu Jaunty Jackalope 9.04
• Install FFmpeg and x264 on Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex 8.10
• Install FFmpeg and x264 on Ubuntu Hardy Heron 8.04 LTS

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

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

Install FFmpeg
4. Get the most current source files, compile, and install. Run "./configure --help" to see what other features you can enable/disable. Nightly FFmpeg snapshots are also available.

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.
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 640x480) 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.
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.
iPod 640x480 using the slow and ipod640 presets:


Updating FFmpeg and x264
Development of FFmpeg and x264 is active and an occasional update can give you new features and bug fixes. To update FFmpeg and x264 you will need to remove the packages, make distclean, update the source, recompile, and install. To update x264:
Now compile x264 as shown earlier in the guide starting with the x264 ./configure line. Now update FFmpeg:
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:
Lastly, delete the ffmpeg and x264 directories in your home folder.


Additional Resources

• HOWTO: Proper Screencasting on Linux
• x264-ffmpeg-up-to-date - bash script to update x264 and ffmpeg
• FFmpeg x264 encoding guide
• x264 - a free h264/avc encoder
• x264 revision log
• FFmpeg.org
• FFmpeg revision log
• HOWTO: Easily enable MP3, MPEG4, AAC, and other restricted encoders in FFmpeg

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

2010-10-21: Added libxext-dev dependency to Hardy. x11grab was not being enabled because this dependency was missing.

2010-09-20: Added Meerkat and archived Lucid instructions. Removed Dapper link. Added LANG=C to qt-faststart checkinstall.

2010-09-16: Added LAME instructions (more info). Broke up the code boxes on the Lucid guide to make them possibly easier to read. Tried making some parts of the guide less verbose. Added --deldoc=yes to the checkinstalls so the source directories can be deleted without sudo.