Windows 10 Pro
Audacity 3.1.3
How do I download FFmpeg?
There are two buttons in Preferences to ‘Download’ the FFmpeg library:
Preferences > Library > Download
Preferences > Library > Locate > Download
Why is it that and neither of them links to an FFmpeg download? They both go here: file:///C:/PortableApps/audacity/help/manual/man/faq_installing_the_ffmpeg_import_export_library.html which has no direct download links and no links to anywhere else to download.
This link is where you eventually end up if you follow the trail…
https://alphamanual.audacityteam.org/man/Installing_FFmpeg_for_Windows
Thanks but would you care to show the trail, please? I clicked links and more links and even more links and the trail is more like an unplanned wander through unknown territory. Even the page I referenced has no link that says anything like ‘click here to download’. I eventually got to the actual download but only because I resorted to a Google search. What’s more, the buttons say ‘Download’ so, in my opinion, they should go to where the download is, not to some unclear “trail” to be followed. Either that or the buttons need to be renamed.
Clicking that button should take you to this page: FAQ:Installing the FFmpeg Import/Export Library - Audacity Manual
If you are using the recommended “.EXE” version of Audacity, you should get a locally installed copy of that page. If you don’t have the manual installed you should get that actual (remote) web page.
(or the page that roadsterUK said if you’re using a pre-release version of Audacity).
The link I provided would take you to the proper instructions and on that page is a recommended link to a third party download. As ever with Audacity this software is free and written and managed by volunteers so it can be a little obscure at times but speaking personally I am grateful for their continued efforts.
goes to the “alpha manual”.
The alpha manual is the development version of the manual, and may be ahead of the release version of Audacity.
Currently, the “Installing FFmpeg for Windows” page is the same in both the release version of the manual, and the alpha version, but that could change at any time without notice. Some pages in the alpha manual are different from the release version (for example, compare this page in the release manual: Plugin Manager - Add / Remove Effects, Generators and Analyzers - Audacity Manual with this page in the alpha manual: https://alphamanual.audacityteam.org/man/Manage_Effects,_Generators_and_Analyzers)