To refer to the FFMPEG community as an active one is a vast understatement, and it not surprising how quickly one can fall down an encoding rabbit hole when trying to search forums for solutions to their challenges. Two articles in Code4Lib Issue 23 touch on the capabilities of FFMPEG in great detail, and given these excellent introductions, the purpose of this article is to tackle some of the common problems users might face, dissecting more complicated commands and suggesting their possible uses.

The source files are easily compiled on all major platforms, and static builds are available for those who prefer to install from an executable. It is a powerful, multi-purpose open-source library that operates from the command-line, and while a basic knowledge of the command-line environment is useful, FFMPEG can be effectively utilized with little to no programming experience. FFMPEG has been an important encoding tool for technologists, preservationists, and hobbyists for well over a decade.

Ffmpeg compress video bit rate