Managing FFMPEG

I have the use of FFMPEG related to several applications. I'd like to know if there is a method, other that manually, for keeping it up to date. For instance, there is an open codec setup for Potplayer, which includes FFMPEG, still being offered on their website, Download | PotPlayer, but it's over 4 years old.

Also, these seem to be the main sources. Is one preferred over the other?

Download FFmpeg, Builds - CODEX FFMPEG @ gyan.dev , Releases . BtbN/FFmpeg-Builds . GitHub

I think that, if anybody knows, it is @Bree


Best of luck,
Denis

kitpzyxmsir said:

I have the use of FFMPEG related to several applications. I'd like to know if there is a method, other that manually, for keeping it up to date. For instance, there is an open codec setup for Potplayer, which includes FFMPEG, still being offered on their website, Download | PotPlayer, but it's over 4 years old.

Also, these seem to be the main sources. Is one preferred over the other?

Download FFmpeg, Builds - CODEX FFMPEG @ gyan.dev , Releases . BtbN/FFmpeg-Builds . GitHub

Try3 said:

I think that, if anybody knows, it is @Bree

TBH, although I use FFMpeg extensively, I'm not that bothered about keeping it up to date. As long as it works and has no obvious bugs I'll stick with what I've got. Seems I've been doing that for quite some time now...



But if you want the latest executables, then gyan and BtbN are the two that everyone seems to list as the 'go to' source, Audacity for example:



I cannot find anyone recommending one over the other.

Bree said:

TBH, although I use FFMpeg extensively, I'm not that bothered about keeping it up to date. As long as it works and has no obvious bugs I'll stick with what I've got. Seems I've been doing that for quite some time now...



But if you want the latest executables, then gyan and BtbN are the two that everyone seems to list as the 'go to' source, Audacity for example:



I cannot find anyone recommending one over the other.

I suppose this has been asked and answered, but is there anyway or anywhere you can get a notification when an update becomes available?

kitpzyxmsir said:

I suppose this has been asked and answered, but is there anyway or anywhere you can get a notification when an update becomes available?

FFMpeg is in continual development, so it's a bit of a moving target. The Master build can change daily, the Release builds are a snapshot of the Master build at a fixed point in time. To find out what is the latest release build you could check here....

FFMpeg.org said:

Releases
Approximately every 6 months the FFmpeg project makes a new major release. Between major releases point releases will appear that add important bug fixes but no new features. Note that these releases are intended for distributors and system integrators. Users that wish to compile from source themselves are strongly encouraged to consider using the development branch (see above), this is the only version on which FFmpeg developers actively work. The release branches only cherry pick selected changes from the development branch, which therefore receives much more and much faster bug fixes such as additional features and security patches.

Download FFmpeg - Releases

Both gyan and BtbN give you a choice of downloading the master builds (in continual development) or the release builds (static).

gyan said:

FFmpeg's source code is maintained using a version control system called git. The git master builds are built from the master branch of the repository, which is where all development occurs whereas the release builds are built from the latest release branch.

Builds - CODEX FFMPEG @ gyan.dev

BtbN automatically rebuild their master and release builds once a day.

FFmpeg Static Auto-Builds
Static Windows (x86_64) and Linux (x86_64) Builds of ffmpeg master and latest release branch.....

Auto-Builds
Builds run daily at 12:00 UTC (or GitHubs idea of that time) and are automatically released on success.

GitHub - BtbN/FFmpeg-Builds

RE: PotPlayer OpenCodec Pack.

The PotPlayer (OpenCodec) pack doesn't install "system" codecs, so it's not a "codec pack" in the traditional sense. It only copies a few extra dlls for Potplayer to use.

I have PotPlayer including OpenCodec Pack. I don't have ffmpeg installed.

ffmpeg dll search:

Then other apps I have use their own localised versions of ffmpeg and updating is taken care of by individual program updates.

Callender said:

RE: PotPlayer OpenCodec Pack.

The PotPlayer (OpenCodec) pack doesn't install "system" codecs, so it's not a "codec pack" in the traditional sense. It only copies a few extra dlls for Potplayer to use.

I have PotPlayer including OpenCodec Pack. I don't have ffmpeg installed.

ffmpeg dll search:

Then other apps I have use their own localised versions of ffmpeg and updating is taken care of by individual program updates.

My folder is FFmpeg, not FFmpeg60. Is this where you got it Download | PotPlayer or is there a later release? Do you think it might be worth finding later versions of those dll's and replace them?

Don't bother with PotPlayer OpenCodec pack if you want to update ffmpeg.

It only provides files for use with PotPlayer and I'm reasonably sure that you should not copy/ replace those in some other program.

Like I said - I don't have ffmpeg installed. All programs shown in my earlier screenshot use their own localised ffmpeg files so there's nothing to update.

As far as I can work out in simple terms you don't need to worry about updating ffmpeg (program) unless you actually use it or have other programs that require it to be installed.

For example some sort of ffmpeg GUI for video conversions.

Edit Multimedia Files Using FFmpeg - Sherif's musings

Anyway there's no need to have it installed unless you are actually using it to convert, add a filter to or adjust a video in some way.

If you have other video editing/ playing/ programs installed that make use of ffmpeg they'd use their own localised versions. You can see that by looking at the file paths in my earlier screenshots. I repeat, I do not have ffmpeg installed and it's not required to install it for any of those programs to work (including PotPlayer).

LTSnow said:

With regards to Open Codec, it is not used anymore by PotPlayer. It is now built in and I believe is in the ffcodec64.dll file.

I just download the exe file and extract the PotPlayer64.dll and ffcodec64.dll files and put them in my PotPlayer folder. By just using a folder you have a default portable player and no need to mess around with paf files.

BTW, those two files are usually the only ones to get updated on a regular basis.

Thanks for that. So I just updated PotPlayer (over the top install rather than check for and download updates). I do it that way after backing up the folder containing custom applied settings:

C:\Users\Chris\AppData\Roaming\PotPlayerMini64

Anyway on install I get this:

It offers to install OpenCodec. In the past I seem to remember that it was a separate download that got installed.

Anyway there's no separate download now and if the option is selected it just drops a dll.

C:\Program Files\DAUM\PotPlayer\Module\FFmpeg60\FFmpegMininum64.dll

Research reveals (from Non English website using Google Translate)

   Note

Installing Open Codec codecs in PotPlayer
How to use

Open Codec is an additional package of codecs for PotPlayer, which is optionally offered at the last step of installing the program (download separately). We strongly recommend downloading and installing it, as without it you will not be able to play audio encoded using AC3, DTS, AAC, etc. with some reservations.

Open Codec component selection window for PotPlayer

So, when you launch the Open Codec installer, we see 4 points:

Core Files (FFmpegMininum.dll)
OpenCodec Files (OpenCodecUnity.dll)
FFmpeg Files (FFmpeg.dll or FFmpeg64.dll)
Intel H.264 MVC Decoder (libmfxsw.dll)

For normal operation, the player only needs the first “Core Files”, i.e. FFmpegMininum.dll (it may be called FFmpegMininum64.dll for the 64-bit version). The rest of the libraries in steps 2-4 are just a bunch and will not play any role if you install them. In rare cases, you may only need the “FFmpeg Files” item if there are problems with the h.265 codec.

A completely logical question arises - why not build support for the previously mentioned audio formats directly into PotPlayer? There is already support, but it won't work without the FFmpegMininum library. All these strange manipulations are made with only one purpose - to circumvent possible problems with copyright holders.