1 \input texinfo @c -*- texinfo -*-
3 @settitle General Documentation
6 @center @titlefont{General Documentation}
11 @chapter external libraries
13 FFmpeg can be hooked up with a number of external libraries to add support
14 for more formats. None of them are used by default, their use has to be
15 explicitly requested by passing the appropriate flags to @file{./configure}.
19 AMR comes in two different flavors, wideband and narrowband. FFmpeg can make
20 use of the AMR wideband (floating-point mode) and the AMR narrowband
21 (floating-point mode) reference decoders and encoders.
23 Go to @url{http://www.penguin.cz/~utx/amr} and follow the instructions for
24 installing the libraries. Then pass @code{--enable-libamr-nb} and/or
25 @code{--enable-libamr-wb} to configure to enable the libraries.
27 Note that libamr is copyrighted without any sort of license grant. This means
28 that you can use it if you legally obtained it but you are not allowed to
29 redistribute it in any way. @strong{Any FFmpeg binaries with libamr support
30 you create are non-free and unredistributable!}
33 @chapter Supported File Formats and Codecs
35 You can use the @code{-formats} option to have an exhaustive list.
39 FFmpeg supports the following file formats through the @code{libavformat}
42 @multitable @columnfractions .4 .1 .1 .4
43 @item Name @tab Encoding @tab Decoding @tab Comments
45 @tab 4X Technologies format, used in some games.
46 @item ADTS AAC audio @tab X @tab X
47 @item Audio IFF (AIFF) @tab X @tab X
48 @item American Laser Games MM @tab @tab X
49 @tab Multimedia format used in games like Mad Dog McCree.
50 @item 3GPP AMR @tab X @tab X
51 @item ASF @tab X @tab X
52 @item AVI @tab X @tab X
53 @item AVISynth @tab @tab X
55 @tab Multimedia format used by the Creature Shock game.
56 @item Beam Software SIFF @tab @tab X
57 @tab Audio and video format used in some games by Beam Software.
58 @item Bethesda Softworks VID @tab @tab X
59 @tab Used in some games from Bethesda Softworks.
60 @item Brute Force & Ignorance @tab @tab X
61 @tab Used in the game Flash Traffic: City of Angels.
62 @item Interplay C93 @tab @tab X
63 @tab Used in the game Cyberia from Interplay.
64 @item Delphine Software International CIN @tab @tab X
65 @tab Multimedia format used by Delphine Software games.
66 @item CRC testing format @tab X @tab
67 @item Creative Voice @tab X @tab X
68 @tab Created for the Sound Blaster Pro.
69 @item CRYO APC @tab @tab X
70 @tab Audio format used in some games by CRYO Interactive Entertainment.
71 @item D-Cinema audio @tab X @tab X
72 @item DV video @tab X @tab X
74 @tab This format is used in the non-Windows version of the Feeble Files
75 game and different game cutscenes repacked for use with ScummVM.
76 @item Electronic Arts cdata @tab @tab X
77 @item Electronic Arts Multimedia @tab @tab X
78 @tab Used in various EA games; files have extensions like WVE and UV2.
79 @item FFM (FFserver live feed) @tab X @tab X
80 @item Flash (SWF) @tab X @tab X
81 @item Flash 9 (AVM2) @tab X @tab X
82 @tab Only embedded audio is decoded.
83 @item FLI/FLC/FLX animation @tab @tab X
85 @item FLV @tab X @tab X
86 @tab Macromedia Flash video files
87 @item framecrc testing format @tab X @tab
88 @item FunCom ISS @tab @tab X
89 @tab Audio format used in various games from FunCom like The Longest Journey.
90 @item GIF Animation @tab X @tab
91 @item GXF @tab X @tab X
92 @tab General eXchange Format SMPTE 360M, used by Thomson Grass Valley
94 @item id Cinematic @tab @tab X
95 @tab Used in Quake II.
96 @item id RoQ @tab X @tab X
97 @tab Used in Quake III, Jedi Knight 2, other computer games.
99 @tab Interchange File Format
100 @item Interplay MVE @tab @tab X
101 @tab Format used in various Interplay computer games.
102 @item LMLM4 @tab @tab X
103 @tab Used by Linux Media Labs MPEG-4 PCI boards
104 @item Matroska @tab X @tab X
105 @item Matroska audio @tab X @tab
106 @item MAXIS XA @tab @tab X
107 @tab Used in Sim City 3000; file extension .xa.
108 @item Monkey's Audio @tab @tab X
109 @item Motion Pixels MVI @tab @tab X
110 @item MOV/QuickTime/MP4 @tab X @tab X
111 @tab 3GP, 3GP2, PSP, iPod variants supported
112 @item MP2 @tab X @tab
113 @item MP3 @tab X @tab
114 @item MPEG audio @tab X @tab X
115 @item MPEG-1 System @tab X @tab X
116 @tab muxed audio and video, VCD format supported
117 @item MPEG-PS (program stream) @tab X @tab X
118 @tab also known as @code{VOB} file, SVCD and DVD format supported
119 @item MPEG-TS (transport stream) @tab X @tab X
120 @tab also known as DVB Transport Stream
121 @item MPEG-4 @tab X @tab X
122 @tab MPEG-4 is a variant of QuickTime.
123 @item MIME multipart JPEG @tab X @tab
124 @item MSN TCP webcam @tab @tab X
125 @tab Used by MSN Messenger webcam streams.
126 @item MTV @tab @tab X
127 @item Musepack @tab @tab X
128 @item Musepack SV8 @tab @tab X
129 @item Material eXchange Format (MXF) @tab X @tab X
130 @tab SMPTE 377M, used by D-Cinema, broadcast industry.
131 @item NC camera feed @tab @tab X
132 @tab NC (AVIP NC4600) camera streams
133 @item Nullsoft Streaming Video @tab @tab X
134 @item NuppelVideo @tab @tab X
135 @item NUT @tab X @tab X
136 @tab NUT Open Container Format
137 @item Ogg @tab X @tab X
138 @item TechnoTrend PVA @tab @tab X
139 @tab Used by TechnoTrend DVB PCI boards.
140 @item raw AC-3 @tab X @tab X
141 @item raw CRI ADX audio @tab X @tab X
142 @item raw MJPEG @tab X @tab X
143 @item raw MPEG video @tab X @tab X
144 @item raw MPEG-4 video @tab X @tab X
145 @item raw PCM 8/16/32 bits, 32/64-bit floating point, mu-law/A-law @tab X @tab X
146 @item raw Shorten audio @tab @tab X
147 @item RDT @tab @tab X
148 @item REDCODE R3D @tab @tab X
149 @tab File format used by RED Digital cameras, contains JPEG 2000 frames and PCM audio.
150 @item RealMedia @tab X @tab X
151 @item Redirector @tab @tab X
152 @item Renderware TeXture Dictionary @tab @tab X
153 @item RL2 @tab @tab X
154 @tab Audio and video format used in some games by Entertainment Software Partners.
155 @item RPL/ARMovie @tab @tab X
156 @item RTP @tab @tab X
157 @item RTSP @tab @tab X
158 @item SDP @tab @tab X
159 @item Sega FILM/CPK @tab @tab X
160 @tab Used in many Sega Saturn console games.
161 @item Sierra SOL @tab @tab X
162 @tab .sol files used in Sierra Online games.
163 @item Sierra VMD @tab @tab X
164 @tab Used in Sierra CD-ROM games.
165 @item Smacker @tab @tab X
166 @tab Multimedia format used by many games.
167 @item Sony OpenMG (OMA) @tab @tab X
168 @tab Audio format used in Sony Sonic Stage and Sony Vegas.
169 @item Sony PlayStation STR @tab @tab X
170 @item SUN AU format @tab X @tab X
171 @item THP @tab @tab X
172 @tab Used on the Nintendo GameCube.
173 @item Tiertex Limited SEQ @tab @tab X
174 @tab Tiertex .seq files used in the DOS CD-ROM version of the game Flashback.
175 @item True Audio @tab @tab X
176 @item VC-1 test bitstream @tab X @tab X
177 @item WAV @tab X @tab X
178 @item WavPack @tab @tab X
179 @item Wing Commander III movie @tab @tab X
180 @tab Multimedia format used in Origin's Wing Commander III computer game.
181 @item Westwood Studios audio @tab @tab X
182 @tab Multimedia format used in Westwood Studios games.
183 @item Westwood Studios VQA @tab @tab X
184 @tab Multimedia format used in Westwood Studios games.
185 @item YUV4MPEG pipe @tab X @tab X
188 @code{X} means that encoding (resp. decoding) is supported.
190 @section Image Formats
192 FFmpeg can read and write images for each frame of a video sequence. The
193 following image formats are supported:
195 @multitable @columnfractions .4 .1 .1 .4
196 @item Name @tab Encoding @tab Decoding @tab Comments
197 @item .Y.U.V @tab X @tab X @tab one raw file per component
198 @item animated GIF @tab X @tab X @tab Only uncompressed GIFs are generated.
199 @item JPEG @tab X @tab X @tab Progressive JPEG is not supported.
200 @item JPEG 2000 @tab @tab E @tab decoding supported through external library libopenjpeg
201 @item PAM @tab X @tab X @tab PAM is a PNM extension with alpha support.
202 @item PCX @tab @tab X @tab PC Paintbrush
203 @item PGM, PPM @tab X @tab X
204 @item PGMYUV @tab X @tab X @tab PGM with U and V components in YUV 4:2:0
205 @item PNG @tab X @tab X @tab 2/4 bpp not supported yet
206 @item PTX @tab @tab X @tab V.Flash PTX format
207 @item RAS @tab @tab X @tab Sun Rasterfile
208 @item SGI @tab X @tab X @tab SGI RGB image format
209 @item Targa @tab @tab X @tab Targa (.TGA) image format
210 @item TIFF @tab X @tab X @tab YUV, JPEG and some extension is not supported yet.
213 @code{X} means that encoding (resp. decoding) is supported.
215 @code{E} means that support is provided through an external library.
217 @section Video Codecs
219 @multitable @columnfractions .4 .1 .1 .4
220 @item Name @tab Encoding @tab Decoding @tab Comments
221 @item 4X Video @tab @tab X
222 @tab Used in certain computer games.
223 @item American Laser Games MM @tab @tab X
224 @tab Used in games like Mad Dog McCree.
225 @item AMV @tab @tab X
226 @tab Used in Chinese MP3 players.
227 @item Apple Animation @tab X @tab X
229 @item Apple Graphics @tab @tab X
231 @item Apple MJPEG-B @tab @tab X
232 @item Apple QuickDraw @tab @tab X
234 @item Apple Video @tab @tab X
236 @item Asus v1 @tab X @tab X
238 @item Asus v2 @tab X @tab X
240 @item ATI VCR1 @tab @tab X
242 @item ATI VCR2 @tab @tab X
244 @item Autodesk RLE @tab @tab X
246 @item AVID DNxHD @tab X @tab X
248 @item AVS video @tab @tab X
249 @tab Video encoding used by the Creature Shock game.
250 @item Bethsoft VID @tab @tab X
251 @tab Used in some games from Bethesda Softworks.
252 @item C93 video @tab @tab X
253 @tab Codec used in Cyberia game.
254 @item CamStudio @tab @tab X
256 @item Cin video @tab @tab X
257 @tab Codec used in Delphine Software games.
258 @item Cinepak @tab @tab X
259 @item Cirrus Logic AccuPak @tab @tab X
261 @item Creative YUV @tab @tab X
263 @item Dirac @tab E @tab E
264 @tab supported through external libdirac/libschroedinger libraries
265 @item Duck TrueMotion v1 @tab @tab X
267 @item Duck TrueMotion v2 @tab @tab X
269 @item DV @tab X @tab X
270 @item DXA Video @tab @tab X
271 @tab Codec originally used in Feeble Files game.
272 @item Electronic Arts CMV @tab @tab X
273 @tab Used in NHL 95 game.
274 @item Electronic Arts TGV @tab @tab X
275 @item Electronic Arts TGQ @tab @tab X
276 @item Electronic Arts TQI @tab @tab X
277 @item FFmpeg Video 1 @tab X @tab X
278 @tab experimental lossless codec (fourcc: FFV1)
279 @item Flash Screen Video @tab X @tab X
281 @item FLIC video @tab @tab X
282 @item FLV @tab X @tab X
283 @tab Sorenson H.263 used in Flash
284 @item Fraps FPS1 @tab @tab X
285 @item H.261 @tab X @tab X
286 @item H.263(+) @tab X @tab X
287 @tab also known as RealVideo 1.0
288 @item H.264 @tab E @tab X
289 @tab encoding supported through external library libx264
290 @item HuffYUV @tab X @tab X
291 @item IBM Ultimotion @tab @tab X
293 @item id Cinematic video @tab @tab X
294 @tab Used in Quake II.
295 @item id RoQ @tab X @tab X
296 @tab Used in Quake III, Jedi Knight 2, other computer games.
297 @item Intel Indeo 3 @tab @tab X
298 @item Interplay Video @tab @tab X
299 @tab Used in Interplay .MVE files.
300 @item JPEG-LS @tab X @tab X
301 @tab fourcc: MJLS, lossless and near-lossless is supported.
302 @item KMVC @tab @tab X
303 @tab Codec used in Worms games.
304 @item LOCO @tab @tab X
305 @item lossless MJPEG @tab X @tab X
306 @item Microsoft RLE @tab @tab X
307 @item Microsoft Video-1 @tab @tab X
308 @item Mimic @tab @tab X
309 @tab Used in MSN Messenger Webcam streams.
310 @item Miro VideoXL @tab @tab X
312 @item MJPEG @tab X @tab X
313 @item Motion Pixels Video @tab @tab X
314 @item MPEG-1 @tab X @tab X
315 @item MPEG-2 @tab X @tab X
316 @item MPEG-4 @tab X @tab X
317 @item MSMPEG4 V1 @tab X @tab X
318 @item MSMPEG4 V2 @tab X @tab X
319 @item MSMPEG4 V3 @tab X @tab X
320 @item MSZH @tab @tab X
322 @item On2 VP3 @tab @tab X
323 @tab still experimental
324 @item On2 VP5 @tab @tab X
326 @item On2 VP6 @tab @tab X
327 @tab fourcc: VP60,VP61,VP62
328 @item planar RGB @tab @tab X
330 @item QPEG @tab @tab X
331 @tab fourccs: QPEG, Q1.0, Q1.1
332 @item RealVideo 1.0 @tab X @tab X
333 @item RealVideo 2.0 @tab X @tab X
334 @item RealVideo 3.0 @tab @tab X
335 @tab still far from ideal
336 @item RealVideo 4.0 @tab @tab X
337 @item Renderware TXD @tab @tab X
338 @tab Texture dictionaries used by the Renderware Engine.
339 @item RTjpeg @tab @tab X
340 @tab Video encoding used in NuppelVideo files.
341 @item Smacker video @tab @tab X
342 @tab Video encoding used in Smacker.
343 @item Snow @tab X @tab X
344 @tab experimental wavelet codec (fourcc: SNOW)
345 @item Sony PlayStation MDEC @tab @tab X
346 @item Sorenson Video 1 @tab X @tab X
348 @item Sorenson Video 3 @tab @tab X
350 @item Sunplus MJPEG @tab @tab X
352 @item TechSmith Camtasia @tab @tab X
354 @item Theora @tab E @tab X
355 @tab encoding supported through external library libtheora
356 @item THP @tab @tab X
357 @tab Used on the Nintendo GameCube.
358 @item Tiertex Seq video @tab @tab X
359 @tab Codec used in DOS CD-ROM FlashBack game.
360 @item VC-1 @tab @tab X
361 @item VMD Video @tab @tab X
362 @tab Used in Sierra VMD files.
363 @item VMware Video @tab @tab X
364 @tab Codec used in videos captured by VMware.
365 @item Westwood VQA @tab @tab X
366 @item Winnov WNV1 @tab @tab X
367 @item WMV7 @tab X @tab X
368 @item WMV8 @tab X @tab X
369 @item WMV9 @tab @tab X
370 @tab not completely working
371 @item Xan/WC3 @tab @tab X
372 @tab Used in Wing Commander III .MVE files.
373 @item YAMAHA SMAF @tab X @tab X
374 @item ZLIB @tab X @tab X
375 @tab part of LCL, encoder experimental
376 @item ZMBV @tab X @tab X
377 @tab Encoder works only in PAL8.
380 @code{X} means that encoding (resp. decoding) is supported.
382 @code{E} means that support is provided through an external library.
384 @section Audio Codecs
386 @multitable @columnfractions .4 .1 .1 .4
387 @item Name @tab Encoding @tab Decoding @tab Comments
388 @item 4X IMA ADPCM @tab @tab X
389 @item 8SVX audio @tab @tab X
390 @item AAC @tab E @tab X
391 @tab encoding supported through external library libfaac
392 @item AC-3 @tab IX @tab IX
393 @item AMR-NB @tab E @tab E
394 @tab supported through external library libamrnb
395 @item AMR-WB @tab E @tab E
396 @tab supported through external library libamrwb
397 @item AMV IMA ADPCM @tab @tab X
398 @tab Used in AMV files
399 @item Apple lossless audio @tab X @tab X
400 @tab QuickTime fourcc 'alac'
401 @item Apple MACE 3 @tab @tab X
402 @item Apple MACE 6 @tab @tab X
403 @item ATRAC 3 @tab @tab X
404 @item CD-ROM XA ADPCM @tab @tab X
405 @item Cin audio @tab @tab X
406 @tab Codec used in Delphine Software International games.
407 @item Creative ADPCM @tab @tab X
408 @tab 16 -> 4, 8 -> 4, 8 -> 3, 8 -> 2
409 @item CRI ADX ADPCM @tab X @tab X
410 @tab Used in Sega Dreamcast games.
411 @item DSP Group TrueSpeech @tab @tab X
412 @item DTS Coherent Audio @tab @tab X
413 @item Duck DK3 IMA ADPCM @tab @tab X
414 @tab Used in some Sega Saturn console games.
415 @item Duck DK4 IMA ADPCM @tab @tab X
416 @tab Used in some Sega Saturn console games.
417 @item DV audio @tab @tab X
418 @item Electronic Arts ADPCM @tab @tab X
419 @tab Used in various EA titles.
420 @item Enhanced AC-3 @tab @tab X
421 @item FLAC lossless audio @tab IX @tab X
422 @item G.726 ADPCM @tab X @tab X
423 @item GSM @tab E @tab E
424 @tab supported through external library libgsm
425 @item GSM_MS @tab E @tab E
426 @tab supported through external library libgsm
427 @item id RoQ DPCM @tab X @tab X
428 @tab Used in Quake III, Jedi Knight 2, other computer games.
429 @item Intel Music Coder @tab @tab X
430 @item Interplay MVE DPCM @tab @tab X
431 @tab Used in various Interplay computer games.
432 @item ISS IMA ADPCM @tab @tab X
433 @tab Used in FunCom games.
434 @item MAXIS EA ADPCM @tab @tab X
435 @tab Used in Sim City 3000.
436 @item Microsoft ADPCM @tab X @tab X
437 @item MLP/TrueHD @tab @tab X
438 @tab Used in DVD-Audio and Blu-Ray discs.
439 @item Monkey's Audio @tab @tab X
440 @tab Only versions 3.97-3.99 are supported.
441 @item MPEG audio layer 3 @tab E @tab IX
442 @tab encoding supported through external library LAME
443 @item MPEG audio layer 2 @tab IX @tab IX
444 @item MS IMA ADPCM @tab X @tab X
445 @item Musepack @tab @tab X
446 @tab SV7 and SV8 are supported.
447 @item Nellymoser ASAO @tab X @tab X
448 @item QCELP / PureVoice @tab @tab X
449 @item Qdesign QDM2 @tab @tab X
450 @tab There are still some distortions.
451 @item QT IMA ADPCM @tab X @tab X
452 @item RA144 @tab @tab X
453 @tab Real 14400 bit/s codec
454 @item RA288 @tab @tab X
455 @tab Real 28800 bit/s codec
456 @item RADnet @tab IX @tab IX
457 @tab Real low bitrate AC-3 codec
458 @item Real COOK @tab @tab X
459 @tab All versions except 5.1 are supported.
460 @item Shorten @tab @tab X
461 @item Sierra Online DPCM @tab @tab X
462 @tab Used in Sierra Online game audio files.
463 @item Smacker audio @tab @tab X
464 @item SMJPEG IMA ADPCM @tab @tab X
465 @tab Used in certain Loki game ports.
466 @item Sonic @tab X @tab X
467 @tab experimental codec
468 @item Sonic lossless @tab X @tab X
469 @tab experimental codec
470 @item Speex @tab @tab E
471 @tab supported through external library libspeex
472 @item THP ADPCM @tab @tab X
473 @tab Used on the Nintendo GameCube.
474 @item True Audio (TTA) @tab @tab X
475 @item Vorbis @tab X @tab X
476 @item WavPack @tab @tab X
477 @item Westwood Studios IMA ADPCM @tab @tab X
478 @tab Used in Westwood Studios games like Command and Conquer.
479 @item WMA v1/v2 @tab X @tab X
480 @item Xan DPCM @tab @tab X
481 @tab Used in Origin's Wing Commander IV AVI files.
484 @code{X} means that encoding (resp. decoding) is supported.
486 @code{E} means that support is provided through an external library.
488 @code{I} means that an integer-only version is available, too (ensures high
489 performance on systems without hardware floating point support).
491 @section Subtitle Formats
493 @multitable @columnfractions .4 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1
494 @item Name @tab Muxing @tab Demuxing @tab Encoding @tab Decoding
495 @item SSA/ASS @tab X @tab X
496 @item DVB @tab X @tab X @tab X @tab X
497 @item DVD @tab X @tab X @tab X @tab X
498 @item XSUB @tab @tab @tab @tab X
501 @code{X} means that the feature is supported.
503 @chapter Platform Specific information
507 BSD make will not build FFmpeg, you need to install and use GNU Make
512 To get help and instructions for building FFmpeg under Windows, check out
513 the FFmpeg Windows Help Forum at
514 @url{http://ffmpeg.arrozcru.org/}.
516 @subsection Native Windows compilation
518 FFmpeg can be built to run natively on Windows using the MinGW tools. Install
519 the latest versions of MSYS and MinGW from @url{http://www.mingw.org/}.
520 You can find detailed installation
521 instructions in the download section and the FAQ.
523 FFmpeg does not build out-of-the-box with the packages the automated MinGW
524 installer provides. It also requires coreutils to be installed and many other
525 packages updated to the latest version. The minimum version for some packages
530 @item msys-make 3.81-2 (note: not mingw32-make)
532 @item mingw-runtime 3.15
535 You will also need to pass @code{-fno-common} to the compiler to work around
536 a GCC bug (see @url{http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=37216}).
538 Within the MSYS shell, configure and make with:
541 ./configure --enable-memalign-hack --extra-cflags=-fno-common
546 This will install @file{ffmpeg.exe} along with many other development files
547 to @file{/usr/local}. You may specify another install path using the
548 @code{--prefix} option in @file{configure}.
554 @item In order to compile vhooks, you must have a POSIX-compliant libdl in
555 your MinGW system. Get dlfcn-win32 from
556 @url{http://code.google.com/p/dlfcn-win32}.
558 @item In order to compile FFplay, you must have the MinGW development library
559 of SDL. Get it from @url{http://www.libsdl.org}.
560 Edit the @file{bin/sdl-config} script so that it points to the correct prefix
561 where SDL was installed. Verify that @file{sdl-config} can be launched from
562 the MSYS command line.
564 @item By using @code{./configure --enable-shared} when configuring FFmpeg,
565 you can build libavutil, libavcodec and libavformat as DLLs.
569 @subsection Microsoft Visual C++ compatibility
571 As stated in the FAQ, FFmpeg will not compile under MSVC++. However, if you
572 want to use the libav* libraries in your own applications, you can still
573 compile those applications using MSVC++. But the libav* libraries you link
574 to @emph{must} be built with MinGW. However, you will not be able to debug
575 inside the libav* libraries, since MSVC++ does not recognize the debug
576 symbols generated by GCC.
577 We strongly recommend you to move over from MSVC++ to MinGW tools.
579 This description of how to use the FFmpeg libraries with MSVC++ is based on
580 Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition. If you have a different version,
581 you might have to modify the procedures slightly.
583 @subsubsection Using static libraries
585 Assuming you have just built and installed FFmpeg in @file{/usr/local}.
589 @item Create a new console application ("File / New / Project") and then
590 select "Win32 Console Application". On the appropriate page of the
591 Application Wizard, uncheck the "Precompiled headers" option.
593 @item Write the source code for your application, or, for testing, just
594 copy the code from an existing sample application into the source file
595 that MSVC++ has already created for you. For example, you can copy
596 @file{output_example.c} from the FFmpeg distribution.
598 @item Open the "Project / Properties" dialog box. In the "Configuration"
599 combo box, select "All Configurations" so that the changes you make will
600 affect both debug and release builds. In the tree view on the left hand
601 side, select "C/C++ / General", then edit the "Additional Include
602 Directories" setting to contain the path where the FFmpeg includes were
603 installed (i.e. @file{c:\msys\1.0\local\include}).
604 Do not add MinGW's include directory here, or the include files will
605 conflict with MSVC's.
607 @item Still in the "Project / Properties" dialog box, select
608 "Linker / General" from the tree view and edit the
609 "Additional Library Directories" setting to contain the @file{lib}
610 directory where FFmpeg was installed (i.e. @file{c:\msys\1.0\local\lib}),
611 the directory where MinGW libs are installed (i.e. @file{c:\mingw\lib}),
612 and the directory where MinGW's GCC libs are installed
613 (i.e. @file{C:\mingw\lib\gcc\mingw32\4.2.1-sjlj}). Then select
614 "Linker / Input" from the tree view, and add the files @file{libavformat.a},
615 @file{libavcodec.a}, @file{libavutil.a}, @file{libmingwex.a},
616 @file{libgcc.a}, and any other libraries you used (i.e. @file{libz.a})
617 to the end of "Additional Dependencies".
619 @item Now, select "C/C++ / Code Generation" from the tree view. Select
620 "Debug" in the "Configuration" combo box. Make sure that "Runtime
621 Library" is set to "Multi-threaded Debug DLL". Then, select "Release" in
622 the "Configuration" combo box and make sure that "Runtime Library" is
623 set to "Multi-threaded DLL".
625 @item Click "OK" to close the "Project / Properties" dialog box.
627 @item MSVC++ lacks some C99 header files that are fundamental for FFmpeg.
628 Get msinttypes from @url{http://code.google.com/p/msinttypes/downloads/list}
629 and install it in MSVC++'s include directory
630 (i.e. @file{C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\VC\include}).
632 @item MSVC++ also does not understand the @code{inline} keyword used by
633 FFmpeg, so you must add this line before @code{#include}ing libav*:
635 #define inline _inline
638 @item Build your application, everything should work.
642 @subsubsection Using shared libraries
644 This is how to create DLL and LIB files that are compatible with MSVC++:
648 @item Add a call to @file{vcvars32.bat} (which sets up the environment
649 variables for the Visual C++ tools) as the first line of @file{msys.bat}.
650 The standard location for @file{vcvars32.bat} is
651 @file{C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\VC\bin\vcvars32.bat},
652 and the standard location for @file{msys.bat} is @file{C:\msys\1.0\msys.bat}.
653 If this corresponds to your setup, add the following line as the first line
657 call "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\VC\bin\vcvars32.bat"
660 Alternatively, you may start the @file{Visual Studio 2005 Command Prompt},
661 and run @file{c:\msys\1.0\msys.bat} from there.
663 @item Within the MSYS shell, run @code{lib.exe}. If you get a help message
664 from @file{Microsoft (R) Library Manager}, this means your environment
665 variables are set up correctly, the @file{Microsoft (R) Library Manager}
666 is on the path and will be used by FFmpeg to create
667 MSVC++-compatible import libraries.
669 @item Build FFmpeg with
672 ./configure --enable-shared --enable-memalign-hack
677 Your install path (@file{/usr/local/} by default) should now have the
678 necessary DLL and LIB files under the @file{bin} directory.
682 To use those files with MSVC++, do the same as you would do with
683 the static libraries, as described above. But in Step 4,
684 you should only need to add the directory where the LIB files are installed
685 (i.e. @file{c:\msys\usr\local\bin}). This is not a typo, the LIB files are
686 installed in the @file{bin} directory. And instead of adding @file{libxx.a}
687 files, you should add @file{avcodec.lib}, @file{avformat.lib}, and
688 @file{avutil.lib}. There should be no need for @file{libmingwex.a},
689 @file{libgcc.a}, and @file{wsock32.lib}, nor any other external library
690 statically linked into the DLLs. The @file{bin} directory contains a bunch
691 of DLL files, but the ones that are actually used to run your application
692 are the ones with a major version number in their filenames
693 (i.e. @file{avcodec-51.dll}).
695 @subsection Cross compilation for Windows with Linux
697 You must use the MinGW cross compilation tools available at
698 @url{http://www.mingw.org/}.
700 Then configure FFmpeg with the following options:
702 ./configure --target-os=mingw32 --cross-prefix=i386-mingw32msvc-
704 (you can change the cross-prefix according to the prefix chosen for the
707 Then you can easily test FFmpeg with Wine
708 (@url{http://www.winehq.com/}).
710 @subsection Compilation under Cygwin
712 The main issue with the 1.5.x Cygwin versions is that newlib, its C library,
713 does not contain llrint(). You need to upgrade to the unstable 1.7.x versions,
714 or leverage the implementation in MinGW (as explained below).
716 Just install your Cygwin with all the "Base" packages, plus the
717 following "Devel" ones:
719 binutils, gcc-core, make, subversion, mingw-runtime, diffutils
722 The experimental gcc4 package is still buggy, hence please
723 use the official gcc 3.4.4 or a 4.2.x compiled from source by yourself.
725 Install the current binutils-20080624-2 as they work fine (the old
726 binutils-20060709-1 proved buggy on shared builds).
728 Then create a small library that just contains llrint():
731 ar x /usr/lib/mingw/libmingwex.a llrint.o
732 ar cq /usr/local/lib/libllrint.a llrint.o
738 ./configure --enable-static --disable-shared --extra-ldflags='-L /usr/local/lib' --extra-libs='-l llrint'
741 to make a static build or
744 ./configure --enable-shared --disable-static --extra-ldflags='-L /usr/local/lib' --extra-libs='-l llrint'
747 to build shared libraries.
749 If you want to build FFmpeg with additional libraries, download Cygwin
750 "Devel" packages for Ogg and Vorbis from any Cygwin packages repository:
752 libogg-devel, libvorbis-devel
755 These library packages are only available from Cygwin Ports
756 (@url{http://sourceware.org/cygwinports/}) :
759 yasm, libSDL-devel, libdirac-devel, libfaac-devel, libfaad-devel, libgsm-devel,
760 libmp3lame-devel, libschroedinger1.0-devel, speex-devel, libtheora-devel,
764 The recommendation for libnut and x264 is to build them from source by
765 yourself, as they evolve too quickly for Cygwin Ports to be up to date.
767 Cygwin 1.7.x has IPv6 support. You can add IPv6 to Cygwin 1.5.x by means
768 of the @code{libgetaddrinfo-devel} package, available at Cygwin Ports.
770 @subsection Crosscompilation for Windows under Cygwin
772 With Cygwin you can create Windows binaries that do not need the cygwin1.dll.
774 Just install your Cygwin as explained before, plus these additional
777 gcc-mingw-core, mingw-runtime, mingw-zlib
780 and add some special flags to your configure invocation.
782 For a static build run
784 ./configure --target-os=mingw32 --enable-memalign-hack --enable-static --disable-shared --extra-cflags=-mno-cygwin --extra-libs=-mno-cygwin
787 and for a build with shared libraries
789 ./configure --target-os=mingw32 --enable-memalign-hack --enable-shared --disable-static --extra-cflags=-mno-cygwin --extra-libs=-mno-cygwin
794 BeOS support is broken in mysterious ways.
798 For information about compiling FFmpeg on OS/2 see
799 @url{http://www.edm2.com/index.php/FFmpeg}.
801 @chapter Developers Guide
805 @item libavcodec is the library containing the codecs (both encoding and
806 decoding). Look at @file{libavcodec/apiexample.c} to see how to use it.
808 @item libavformat is the library containing the file format handling (mux and
809 demux code for several formats). Look at @file{ffplay.c} to use it in a
810 player. See @file{output_example.c} to use it to generate audio or video
815 @section Integrating libavcodec or libavformat in your program
817 You can integrate all the source code of the libraries to link them
818 statically to avoid any version problem. All you need is to provide a
819 'config.mak' and a 'config.h' in the parent directory. See the defines
820 generated by ./configure to understand what is needed.
822 You can use libavcodec or libavformat in your commercial program, but
823 @emph{any patch you make must be published}. The best way to proceed is
824 to send your patches to the FFmpeg mailing list.
827 @section Coding Rules
829 FFmpeg is programmed in the ISO C90 language with a few additional
830 features from ISO C99, namely:
833 the @samp{inline} keyword;
837 designated struct initializers (@samp{struct s x = @{ .i = 17 @};})
839 compound literals (@samp{x = (struct s) @{ 17, 23 @};})
842 These features are supported by all compilers we care about, so we will not
843 accept patches to remove their use unless they absolutely do not impair
844 clarity and performance.
846 All code must compile with GCC 2.95 and GCC 3.3. Currently, FFmpeg also
847 compiles with several other compilers, such as the Compaq ccc compiler
848 or Sun Studio 9, and we would like to keep it that way unless it would
849 be exceedingly involved. To ensure compatibility, please do not use any
850 additional C99 features or GCC extensions. Especially watch out for:
853 mixing statements and declarations;
855 @samp{long long} (use @samp{int64_t} instead);
857 @samp{__attribute__} not protected by @samp{#ifdef __GNUC__} or similar;
859 GCC statement expressions (@samp{(x = (@{ int y = 4; y; @})}).
863 The presentation is the one specified by 'indent -i4 -kr -nut'.
864 The TAB character is forbidden outside of Makefiles as is any
865 form of trailing whitespace. Commits containing either will be
866 rejected by the Subversion repository.
868 The main priority in FFmpeg is simplicity and small code size in order to
869 minimize the bug count.
871 Comments: Use the JavaDoc/Doxygen
872 format (see examples below) so that code documentation
873 can be generated automatically. All nontrivial functions should have a comment
874 above them explaining what the function does, even if it is just one sentence.
875 All structures and their member variables should be documented, too.
888 typedef struct Foobar@{
889 int var1; /**< var1 description */
890 int var2; ///< var2 description
891 /** var3 description */
899 * @@param my_parameter description of my_parameter
900 * @@return return value description
902 int myfunc(int my_parameter)
906 fprintf and printf are forbidden in libavformat and libavcodec,
907 please use av_log() instead.
909 Casts should be used only when necessary. Unneeded parentheses
910 should also be avoided if they don't make the code easier to understand.
912 @section Development Policy
916 Contributions should be licensed under the LGPL 2.1, including an
917 "or any later version" clause, or the MIT license. GPL 2 including
918 an "or any later version" clause is also acceptable, but LGPL is
921 You must not commit code which breaks FFmpeg! (Meaning unfinished but
922 enabled code which breaks compilation or compiles but does not work or
923 breaks the regression tests)
924 You can commit unfinished stuff (for testing etc), but it must be disabled
925 (#ifdef etc) by default so it does not interfere with other developers'
928 You do not have to over-test things. If it works for you, and you think it
929 should work for others, then commit. If your code has problems
930 (portability, triggers compiler bugs, unusual environment etc) they will be
931 reported and eventually fixed.
933 Do not commit unrelated changes together, split them into self-contained
934 pieces. Also do not forget that if part B depends on part A, but A does not
935 depend on B, then A can and should be committed first and separate from B.
936 Keeping changes well split into self-contained parts makes reviewing and
937 understanding them on the commit log mailing list easier. This also helps
938 in case of debugging later on.
939 Also if you have doubts about splitting or not splitting, do not hesitate to
940 ask/discuss it on the developer mailing list.
942 Do not change behavior of the program (renaming options etc) without
943 first discussing it on the ffmpeg-devel mailing list. Do not remove
944 functionality from the code. Just improve!
946 Note: Redundant code can be removed.
948 Do not commit changes to the build system (Makefiles, configure script)
949 which change behavior, defaults etc, without asking first. The same
950 applies to compiler warning fixes, trivial looking fixes and to code
951 maintained by other developers. We usually have a reason for doing things
952 the way we do. Send your changes as patches to the ffmpeg-devel mailing
953 list, and if the code maintainers say OK, you may commit. This does not
954 apply to files you wrote and/or maintain.
956 We refuse source indentation and other cosmetic changes if they are mixed
957 with functional changes, such commits will be rejected and removed. Every
958 developer has his own indentation style, you should not change it. Of course
959 if you (re)write something, you can use your own style, even though we would
960 prefer if the indentation throughout FFmpeg was consistent (Many projects
961 force a given indentation style - we do not.). If you really need to make
962 indentation changes (try to avoid this), separate them strictly from real
965 NOTE: If you had to put if()@{ .. @} over a large (> 5 lines) chunk of code,
966 then either do NOT change the indentation of the inner part within (do not
967 move it to the right)! or do so in a separate commit
969 Always fill out the commit log message. Describe in a few lines what you
970 changed and why. You can refer to mailing list postings if you fix a
971 particular bug. Comments such as "fixed!" or "Changed it." are unacceptable.
973 If you apply a patch by someone else, include the name and email address in
974 the log message. Since the ffmpeg-cvslog mailing list is publicly
975 archived you should add some SPAM protection to the email address. Send an
976 answer to ffmpeg-devel (or wherever you got the patch from) saying that
977 you applied the patch.
979 When applying patches that have been discussed (at length) on the mailing
980 list, reference the thread in the log message.
982 Do NOT commit to code actively maintained by others without permission.
983 Send a patch to ffmpeg-devel instead. If no one answers within a reasonable
984 timeframe (12h for build failures and security fixes, 3 days small changes,
985 1 week for big patches) then commit your patch if you think it is OK.
986 Also note, the maintainer can simply ask for more time to review!
988 Subscribe to the ffmpeg-cvslog mailing list. The diffs of all commits
989 are sent there and reviewed by all the other developers. Bugs and possible
990 improvements or general questions regarding commits are discussed there. We
991 expect you to react if problems with your code are uncovered.
993 Update the documentation if you change behavior or add features. If you are
994 unsure how best to do this, send a patch to ffmpeg-devel, the documentation
995 maintainer(s) will review and commit your stuff.
997 Try to keep important discussions and requests (also) on the public
998 developer mailing list, so that all developers can benefit from them.
1000 Never write to unallocated memory, never write over the end of arrays,
1001 always check values read from some untrusted source before using them
1002 as array index or other risky things.
1004 Remember to check if you need to bump versions for the specific libav
1005 parts (libavutil, libavcodec, libavformat) you are changing. You need
1006 to change the version integer.
1007 Incrementing the first component means no backward compatibility to
1008 previous versions (e.g. removal of a function from the public API).
1009 Incrementing the second component means backward compatible change
1010 (e.g. addition of a function to the public API or extension of an
1011 existing data structure).
1012 Incrementing the third component means a noteworthy binary compatible
1013 change (e.g. encoder bug fix that matters for the decoder).
1015 Compiler warnings indicate potential bugs or code with bad style. If a type of
1016 warning always points to correct and clean code, that warning should
1017 be disabled, not the code changed.
1018 Thus the remaining warnings can either be bugs or correct code.
1019 If it is a bug, the bug has to be fixed. If it is not, the code should
1020 be changed to not generate a warning unless that causes a slowdown
1021 or obfuscates the code.
1023 If you add a new file, give it a proper license header. Do not copy and
1024 paste it from a random place, use an existing file as template.
1027 We think our rules are not too hard. If you have comments, contact us.
1029 Note, these rules are mostly borrowed from the MPlayer project.
1031 @section Submitting patches
1033 First, (@pxref{Coding Rules}) above if you did not yet.
1035 When you submit your patch, try to send a unified diff (diff '-up'
1036 option). We cannot read other diffs :-)
1038 Also please do not submit a patch which contains several unrelated changes.
1039 Split it into separate, self-contained pieces. This does not mean splitting
1040 file by file. Instead, make the patch as small as possible while still
1041 keeping it as a logical unit that contains an individual change, even
1042 if it spans multiple files. This makes reviewing your patches much easier
1043 for us and greatly increases your chances of getting your patch applied.
1045 Run the regression tests before submitting a patch so that you can
1046 verify that there are no big problems.
1048 Patches should be posted as base64 encoded attachments (or any other
1049 encoding which ensures that the patch will not be trashed during
1050 transmission) to the ffmpeg-devel mailing list, see
1051 @url{http://lists.mplayerhq.hu/mailman/listinfo/ffmpeg-devel}
1053 It also helps quite a bit if you tell us what the patch does (for example
1054 'replaces lrint by lrintf'), and why (for example '*BSD isn't C99 compliant
1055 and has no lrint()')
1057 Also please if you send several patches, send each patch as a separate mail,
1058 do not attach several unrelated patches to the same mail.
1060 @section New codecs or formats checklist
1064 Did you use av_cold for codec initialization and close functions?
1066 Did you add a long_name under NULL_IF_CONFIG_SMALL to the AVCodec or
1067 AVInputFormat/AVOutputFormat struct?
1069 Did you bump the minor version number in @file{avcodec.h} or
1072 Did you register it in @file{allcodecs.c} or @file{allformats.c}?
1074 Did you add the CodecID to @file{avcodec.h}?
1076 If it has a fourcc, did you add it to @file{libavformat/riff.c},
1077 even if it is only a decoder?
1079 Did you add a rule to compile the appropriate files in the Makefile?
1080 Remember to do this even if you're just adding a format to a file that is
1081 already being compiled by some other rule, like a raw demuxer.
1083 Did you add an entry to the table of supported formats or codecs in the
1086 Did you add an entry in the Changelog?
1088 If it depends on a parser or a library, did you add that dependency in
1091 Did you "svn add" the appropriate files before commiting?
1094 @section patch submission checklist
1098 Do the regression tests pass with the patch applied?
1100 Does @code{make checkheaders} pass with the patch applied?
1102 Is the patch a unified diff?
1104 Is the patch against latest FFmpeg SVN?
1106 Are you subscribed to ffmpeg-dev?
1107 (the list is subscribers only due to spam)
1109 Have you checked that the changes are minimal, so that the same cannot be
1110 achieved with a smaller patch and/or simpler final code?
1112 If the change is to speed critical code, did you benchmark it?
1114 If you did any benchmarks, did you provide them in the mail?
1116 Have you checked that the patch does not introduce buffer overflows or
1117 other security issues?
1119 Did you test your decoder or demuxer against damaged data? If no, see
1120 tools/trasher and the noise bitstream filter. Your decoder or demuxer
1121 should not crash or end in a (near) infinite loop when fed damaged data.
1123 Is the patch created from the root of the source tree, so it can be
1124 applied with @code{patch -p0}?
1126 Does the patch not mix functional and cosmetic changes?
1128 Did you add tabs or trailing whitespace to the code? Both are forbidden.
1130 Is the patch attached to the email you send?
1132 Is the mime type of the patch correct? It should be text/x-diff or
1133 text/x-patch or at least text/plain and not application/octet-stream.
1135 If the patch fixes a bug, did you provide a verbose analysis of the bug?
1137 If the patch fixes a bug, did you provide enough information, including
1138 a sample, so the bug can be reproduced and the fix can be verified?
1139 Note please do not attach samples >100k to mails but rather provide a
1140 URL, you can upload to ftp://upload.ffmpeg.org
1142 Did you provide a verbose summary about what the patch does change?
1144 Did you provide a verbose explanation why it changes things like it does?
1146 Did you provide a verbose summary of the user visible advantages and
1147 disadvantages if the patch is applied?
1149 Did you provide an example so we can verify the new feature added by the
1152 If you added a new file, did you insert a license header? It should be
1153 taken from FFmpeg, not randomly copied and pasted from somewhere else.
1155 You should maintain alphabetical order in alphabetically ordered lists as
1156 long as doing so does not break API/ABI compatibility.
1158 Lines with similar content should be aligned vertically when doing so
1159 improves readability.
1161 Did you provide a suggestion for a clear commit log message?
1164 @section Patch review process
1166 All patches posted to ffmpeg-devel will be reviewed, unless they contain a
1167 clear note that the patch is not for SVN.
1168 Reviews and comments will be posted as replies to the patch on the
1169 mailing list. The patch submitter then has to take care of every comment,
1170 that can be by resubmitting a changed patch or by discussion. Resubmitted
1171 patches will themselves be reviewed like any other patch. If at some point
1172 a patch passes review with no comments then it is approved, that can for
1173 simple and small patches happen immediately while large patches will generally
1174 have to be changed and reviewed many times before they are approved.
1175 After a patch is approved it will be committed to the repository.
1177 We will review all submitted patches, but sometimes we are quite busy so
1178 especially for large patches this can take several weeks.
1180 When resubmitting patches, please do not make any significant changes
1181 not related to the comments received during review. Such patches will
1182 be rejected. Instead, submit significant changes or new features as
1185 @section Regression tests
1187 Before submitting a patch (or committing to the repository), you should at least
1188 test that you did not break anything.
1190 The regression tests build a synthetic video stream and a synthetic
1191 audio stream. These are then encoded and decoded with all codecs or
1192 formats. The CRC (or MD5) of each generated file is recorded in a
1193 result file. A 'diff' is launched to compare the reference results and
1196 The regression tests then go on to test the FFserver code with a
1197 limited set of streams. It is important that this step runs correctly
1200 Run 'make test' to test all the codecs and formats.
1202 Run 'make fulltest' to test all the codecs, formats and FFserver.
1204 [Of course, some patches may change the results of the regression tests. In
1205 this case, the reference results of the regression tests shall be modified