Replace libav with ffmpeg in LM16 / Ubuntu 13.10 (and Ubuntu 12.04 as well)

I prefer ffmpeg.  I think their compilation instructions are good, but wish to completely replace libav on my system and use ffmpeg exclusively (not just limited to a single user).  This isn't a post about why I make that choice, just a how I made it happen.

I have used the following pages in putting this how-to together:

• https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/UbuntuCompilationGuide
• https://github.com/avxsynth/avxsynth/wiki/System-Setup
• http://www.crucialp.com/resources/tutorials/server-administration/how-to-install-ffmpeg-centos-rhel-redhat-enterprise-easy-way.php

I would love suggestions if there are ways to improve this process.

Compiling and Installation

Preparation

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get -y install checkinstall autoconf automake build-essential libass-dev libgpac-dev libsdl1.2-dev libtheora-dev libtool libva-dev libvdpau-dev libvorbis-dev libx11-dev libxext-dev libxfixes-dev pkg-config texi2html zlib1g-dev libmp3lame-dev yasm

mkdir ~/Downloads/ffmpeg

cd ~/Downloads/ffmpeg

wget http://download.videolan.org/pub/x264/snapshots/last_x264.tar.bz2 && tar xjvf last_x264.tar.bz2

wget -O fdk-aac.zip https://github.com/mstorsjo/fdk-aac/zipball/master && unzip fdk-aac.zip

wget http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/lame/lame/3.99/lame-3.99.5.tar.gz && tar xzvf lame-3.99.5.tar.gz

wget http://downloads.xiph.org/releases/opus/opus-1.1.tar.gz && tar xzvf opus-1.1.tar.gz

wget http://webm.googlecode.com/files/libvpx-v1.3.0.tar.bz2 && tar xjvf libvpx-v1.3.0.tar.bz2

wget http://ffmpeg.org/releases/ffmpeg-snapshot.tar.bz2 && tar xjvf ffmpeg-snapshot.tar.bz2

sudo apt-get --purge remove libav-tools

Ubuntu 12.04 ONLY, Installation: yasm 1.2

On Ubuntu 12.04 you need to compile the latest yasm, as the one in the repository is too old to work properly for the rest of the software compilations.

wget http://www.tortall.net/projects/yasm/releases/yasm-1.2.0.tar.gz && tar xzvf yasm-1.2.0.tar.gz

cd ./yasm-1.2.0

sudo apt-get remove yasm

./configure

make

sudo checkinstall --pkgname=yasm --pkgversion="2:1.2.0" --backup=no --deldoc=yes --fstrans=no --default

cd ../

Installing: libx264

cd ./x264-snapshot*

./configure --enable-static

make

sudo checkinstall --pkgname=libx264 --pkgversion="20140323-2245" --backup=no --deldoc=yes --fstrans=no --default

cd ../

Installing: libfdk-aac

cd mstorsjo-fdk-aac*

autoreconf -fiv

./configure --disable-shared

make

sudo checkinstall --pkgname=libfdk-aac --pkgversion="1.3" --backup=no --deldoc=yes --fstrans=no --default

cd ../

Installing: libopus

cd opus-1.1

./configure --disable-shared

make

sudo checkinstall --pkgname=libopus --pkgversion="1.1" --backup=no --deldoc=yes --fstrans=no --default

cd ../

Installing: libvpx

cd libvpx-v1.3.0

./configure --disable-examples

make

sudo checkinstall --pkgname=libvpx --pkgversion="1.3" --backup=no --deldoc=yes --fstrans=no --default

cd ../

Installing: ffmpeg

cd ffmpeg

./configure --extra-cflags="-I/usr/local/include" --extra-ldflags="-L/usr/local/lib" --extra-libs="-ldl" --enable-gpl --enable-libass --enable-libfdk-aac --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopus --enable-libtheora --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libx264 --enable-nonfree --enable-x11grab --enable-version3 --enable-postproc --enable-avresample --enable-pic --enable-avisynth

make

sudo checkinstall --pkgname=ffmpeg --pkgversion="7:2.1" --backup=no --deldoc=yes --fstrans=no --default

cd ../

Final Adjustments

There is one thing left to do. We need to tell Linux that there are some library files located in /usr/local/lib

1. sudo gedit /etc/ld.so.conf

2. Add the text "/usr/local/lib" on a new line at the bottom of the document.
3. Save changes and close gedit

4. sudo ldconfig -v

Testing

ffmpeg -version

ffmpeg version 2.2.git
built on Mar 24 2014 15:22:19 with gcc 4.8 (Ubuntu/Linaro 4.8.1-10ubuntu9)
configuration: --extra-cflags=-I/usr/local/include --extra-ldflags=-L/usr/local/lib --extra-libs=-ldl --enable-gpl --enable-libass --enable-libfdk-aac --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopus --enable-libtheora --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libx264 --enable-nonfree --enable-x11grab --enable-version3 --enable-postproc
libavutil      52. 69.100 / 52. 69.100
libavcodec     55. 54.100 / 55. 54.100
libavformat    55. 35.100 / 55. 35.100
libavdevice    55. 11.100 / 55. 11.100
libavfilter     4.  3.100 /  4.  3.100
libswscale      2.  5.102 /  2.  5.102
libswresample   0. 18.100 /  0. 18.100
libpostproc    52.  3.100 / 52.  3.100

Success!

Un-install

To Un-install any changes made from this how-to, simply remove the packages like this:

sudo apt-get --purge remove libx264 libfdk-aac libopus libvpx ffmpeg

You may at that point re-install libav-tools if you choose to, like this:

sudo apt-get install libav-tools

End Thoughts

My larger goal is to get avxsynth to install and function. With stability. The options "--enable-avresample --enable-pic --enable-avisynth" is for ffms2 and avxsynth to work properly.

I will be posting a how to when I have got that installation ironed out correctly.