FFmpeg FAQ

Table of Contents

• 1. General Problems
  • 1.1 ffserver doesn't not work.
  • 1.2 I cannot read this file although this format seems to be suppored by ffmpeg.
  • 1.3 I get audio/video synchro problems when grabbing.
  • 1.4 How do I encode jpegs to another format ?
  • 1.5 FFmpeg does not support codec XXX. Can you include a Windows DLL loader to support it ?
  • 1.6 How can I read from the standard input or write to the standard output ?
• 2. Development
  • 2.1 Can you support my C compiler XXX ?
  • 2.2 I want to use ffmpeg or libavcodec under Windows. Can you support my proprietary C compiler XXX ?
  • 2.3 Can you add automake, libtool or autoconf support ?

FFmpeg FAQ

1. General Problems

1.1 ffserver doesn't not work.

ffmpeg development is now concentrated on the codec and format handling. New developments broke ffserver, so don't expect it to work correctly. It is planned to fix it ASAP.

1.2 I cannot read this file although this format seems to be suppored by ffmpeg.

Even if ffmpeg can read the file format, it may not support all its codecs. Please consult the supported codec list in the ffmpeg documentation.

1.3 I get audio/video synchro problems when grabbing.

Currently, the grabbing stuff does not handle synchronisation correctly. You are free to correct it. It is planned to fix it ASAP.

1.4 How do I encode jpegs to another format ?

If the jpegs are named img1.jpg, img2.jpg, img3.jpg,..., use:

  ffmpeg -i img%d.jpg /tmp/a.mpg

`%d' is replaced by the image number.

`img%03d.jpg' generates `img001.jpg', `img002.jpg', etc...

The same system is used for the other image formats.

1.5 FFmpeg does not support codec XXX. Can you include a Windows DLL loader to support it ?

No. FFmpeg only supports open source codecs. Windows DLLs are not portable, bloated and often slow.

1.6 How can I read from the standard input or write to the standard output ?

Use `-' as filename.

2. Development

2.1 Can you support my C compiler XXX ?

No. Only GCC is supported. GCC is ported on most systems available and I don't see the need to pollute the source code with #ifdefs related to the compiler.

2.2 I want to use ffmpeg or libavcodec under Windows. Can you support my proprietary C compiler XXX ?

No. Use mingw-gcc available at http://www.mingw.org/ to compile the code. It generates object files fully compatible with other windows compilers.

2.3 Can you add automake, libtool or autoconf support ?

No. These tools are too blowted and they complicate the build. Moreover, since only `gcc' is supported they would add little advantages in terms of portability.

This document was generated on 19 November 2002 using texi2html 1.56k.