FFmpeg 64-bit installer file doesn't install FFmpeg.exe

Hi Audacity developers.
As I have written elsewhere on this forum and Discord, I had to reinstall Audacity and FFmpeg last week. I was then unable to export Apple Lossless .m4a files, a process which had worked perfectly before.
The recommended installer file for FFmpeg is “FFmpeg_v2.2.2_for_Audacity_on_Windows_64bit.exe”, but this only installs library (.lib) files to the folder it creates and an uninstall.exe file. See screenshot attached.
The work around is to go to the FFmpeg website and download one of the packages there, unzip it, and copy the contents of the “bin” folder to the folder that the Audacity recommended installer created. Although this also adds later versions of the .lib files, FFmpeg exports now work.
Please update the installer package to include the ffmpeg.exe file.
Alan
Audacity FFMpeg folder.png

This forum is “end user support”. The developers rarely come here.


Yes. Audacity uses the FFmpeg library to support import / export of several non-free file formats.

The “external program” export option does not (can not) use encoder libraries. This option can use any audio format converter binary / executable that supports PCM data and has a command-line interface. This includes FFmpeg, LAME, Ogg Encoder, and many others.

It’s a bit confusing because FFmpeg is available as either a library (which Audacity’s code can access directly), or as an executable (which Audacity cannot access directly, but can use via the “external program” interface.

A “library” is compiled code that can be used by other code. It can’t be used directly. (See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_(computing))

A “binary” / “executable” is a standalone app.


That’s not really a “work around”, that’s just what you need to do to get the FFmpeg binary. Similarly, if you want the LAME, or OGG Encoder executables you could get them from here: RareWares


The Audacity team do not make FFmpeg. The executable version is a third party app and not related to Audacity at all (other than that Audacity can use it).

Is it possible that a user manual will become available? Particularly of the topic just discussed!
Thanks in advance for the answer!

The Audacity user manual is here: https://manual.audacityteam.org/
It can also be accessed via the Audacity “Help” menu.

The user manual is likely to be discontinued soon and replace with a new “Help Center”, which is here: https://support.audacityteam.org/
Note that the Help Center is currently a work in progress.


Installation instructions vary according to which OS you use, so see here: How do I download and install the FFmpeg Import/Export Library?

One and all question marks! Please read my question again? On the right side you can see which operating system I’m using!

Would you like a clear explanation about this action to install the most recent FFMPEG codec to take advantage of the latest improvements?

Thanks!

This is Muse’s FFmpeg installation page in their GitBook “Help Center”:
https://support.audacityteam.org/basics/downloading-and-installing-audacity/installing-ffmpeg

So this should be the most up to date information. The alpha Manual pages now also link to this “Help Center” page for FFmpeg installation.

Peter

Yes I can, but this forum board is not OS specific. Other people reading this thread may not be using the same OS as you, so I posted a link to the page that covers all OS’s.