FFmpeg is a library which can be used to build applications that record, convert and stream audio and video. It includes libavcodec, the leading audio/video codec library. FFmpeg is developed under Linux, but it can compiled under most operating systems, including Windows.
The FFmpeg toolkit consists of a number of programs them being :
- ffmpeg - which can be used to convert one video format to another. Say you want to convert a YouTube video in flv format to mpeg format, this tool will help you convert it.
- ffserver - This is a HTTP server which can be used to stream audio and video across the web.
- ffplay - is a simple media player based on SDL and on the FFmpeg libraries.
- libavcodec - a library containing all the FFmpeg audio/video encoders and decoders. Most codecs were developped from scratch to ensure best performances and high code reusability and ...
- libavformat - which is a library containing parsers and generators for all common audio/video formats.
I came across this excellent tutorial on Ffmpeg where the author demonstrates how to develop a video player in less than 1000 lines of code. Just so you know, one of the prerequisites of understanding the tutorial is some knowledge of the C language.
While on the subject of videos, you may also be interested in the different ways of creating screencasts in Linux.
While on the subject of videos, you may also be interested in the different ways of creating screencasts in Linux.
