[FFmpeg-user] Understanding how to use FFmpeg on macOS

Jim DeLaHunt list+ffmpeg-user at jdlh.com
Sat Mar 21 03:41:22 EET 2020


On 2020-03-20 17:14, Tangier Clarke wrote:

…[snip]…

> I sent two sample clips to the developer to test because I got different results for these two Quicktime movies yet they’re the same format. I haven’t heard back yet.

That's a promising avenue. The LTC Convert developer knows what they are 
asking FFmpeg for. On this list, and absent an invocation of ffmpeg, we 
do not.

You obviously have a detailed understanding of the file formats you are 
using, and of what you want LTC Convert to do for you. Unfortunately, 
that's not much help in the context of understanding what you want 
FFmpeg to (indirectly) do for you.

I suggest that you ask the LTC Convert developer to give you the exact 
command line invocation and parameters which LTC Convert uses when 
calling ffmpeg for your sample videos. This invocation might be in an 
LTC Convert log file somewhere. Then try that yourself, calling ffmpeg 
directly. That will be a starting point for quizzing the expertise on 
this list.

> If unsure, get a (static!) binary from here:
>
> https://ffmpeg.zeranoe.com/builds/
…[snip]…
> I downloaded from Zeranoe because my communications with the developer showed me that this is the version he used or at least suggested.  I initially got my installations from https://www.ffmpeg.org <https://www.ffmpeg.org/>   I am not sure of the difference between the two.

<https://www.ffmpeg.org/> is the official website of the FFmpeg project. 
Downloads from there are as trustworthy as this project gets.

I said,

>> On Mar 20, 2020, at 4:39 PM, Jim DeLaHunt <list+ffmpeg-user at jdlh.com> wrote:
>> …[snip]…
>> When you "Downloaded this file ffmpeg-20200315-c467328-macos64-static", from where did you download it?  That filename structure looks different from the filenames linked to from <http://ffmpeg.org/download.html>. This page links to a Mac-specific page, /static FFmpeg binaries for macOS 64-bit/, <https://evermeet.cx/ffmpeg/>. The filename I see look like, *ffmpeg-96999-g1e3d4fa0fb.7z* or *ffmpeg-96999-g1e3d4fa0fb.7z* . This list will be more helpful if you can reproduce your bug with the current snapshot of ffmpeg downloaded from this project's own servers.

You have prompted me to look more closely.  If you click on the "macOS" 
logo on FFmeg.org's download page, there are in fact two links there:

 1. Static builds for macOS 64-bit <https://evermeet.cx/ffmpeg/>
 2. Static and shared builds for macOS 64-bit
    <https://ffmpeg.zeranoe.com/builds/>

So, the source LTC Convert pointed you to seems pretty official. I don't 
know whether these two distribution sites are different in any 
substantive way. They do seem to have file naming differences.

Thank you for helping me learn something new about the FFmpeg project's 
distribution.

And, when you have a command-line invocation from the LTC Convert folks, 
give it a try! Then come here with the invocation and the complete, 
uncut log of execution.

Best regards,
     —Jim DeLaHunt, software engineer, Vancouver, Canada



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