FFmpeg on Audacity for Big Sur 11.0 M1 chip

Hello - I’m trying to add FFmpeg to Audacity 2.4.2. I’ve followed all the instructions, but I am now in a loop. The FFmpeg library ended up in Library/ApplicationSupport/audacity/libs. No squiggle in front of the path. So I guess it’s in the wrong place. And so Audacity keeps looking. The screenshots below will show the loop. How do I get the FFmpeg installed? Thanks.
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Look at your third screen-shot. That’s the LAME library, not the FFmpeg library. Try again to install the FFmpeg library.
– Bill

Thanks. It works now :slight_smile:

Where did you find the FFMPEG library compiled for arm64? I am able to build an FFMPEG binary for arm64, but I’m not able to created a dynamically link-able library as required by Audacity to convert file formats.

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Thanks

I assume that this is so that you can use it on an M1 Mac?
Does this not work? Installing and updating Audacity on Mac - Audacity Manual

I tryed to install FFmpeg on Audacity 3.2.2 in my Mac with arm64 chip (Silicon Apple M1 chip), but I was no able to do it.

I try to find the file FFmpeg_for_Audacity_3.2_on_macOS.pkg as is indicated in the page https://support.audacityteam.org/basics/downloading-and-installing-audacity/installing-ffmpeg but I can’t.

Anyone can help me.

Thank you.

You want the file ffmpeg_64bit_osx.pkg
– Bill

It doesn’t work with arm86 version of Audacity. It seems to work with x86_64 version of Audacity.

May be is it a bug?

No, it doesn’t work. It installs:
ffmpeg_codecs.55.64bit.dylib
ffmpeg_utils.52.64bit.dylib
ffmpeg.55.64bit.dylib

If I clear my audacity/libs folder and install these (on my M1 MacBook), Audacity won’t load them.

What Audacity wants, apparently, is libavformat.59.16.100.dylib (et al). I don’t recall where I got it (and the other “.59” files from.

– Bill

@Bill does this need logging as a GitHub issue ?

Peter.

Someone who understands the variations here should confirm that the installer currently offered doesn’t work with the M1 chip. Then, yes, log it as a bug.

– Bill

Well that someone ain’t me I’m afraid:
a) my forte is Windows (I’m only a casual Mac user for some QA testing)
b) FFmpeg works on my Mac …
c) my Macbook Pro is now so old at just over 5 years that it won’t support the latest macOS - nor does it have an M1 chip!

So, sorry I will have to leave logging that to someone else with much better Mac expertise.
BUT: a question: is it just the somewhat messy layout of Buanzo’s site that makes the correct FFmpeg hard to find, or is the problem deeper than that?
Peter

It appears to be a known issue:

I don’t know much about Mac’s, but this looks like it’s probably the easiest workaround: Mac M1 version · Issue #2223 · audacity/audacity · GitHub

This is what you find on Buanzo’s site:

64-bit FFMPEG for Mac OS X
Mac OSX 64 bit FFmpeg library for Audacity 3.2.2 and below, including 2.3.1 :
RECOMMENDED download:ffmpeg_64bit_osx.pkg
Alternative zip download:FFmpeg64bit_MAC_OSX_for_Audacity_2.3.1_and_above.zip

Both the .PKG installer and the .ZIP contain the same three FFmpeg .DYLIB files, and those are not recognized by Audacity 3.2.2 on an M1 Mac.

Look at this page (click the “MacOS” tab)

Recommended installer
This is a universal binary installer. It automatically matches your system architecture.
Download FFmpeg (FFmpeg_for_Audacity_3.2_on_macOS.pkg)

No wonder people are confused: the file we tell them to look for doesn’t exist.

BTW, the installer file currently provided appears work on an Intel Mac - at least Audacity recognizes them (I haven’t tested importing or exporting any exotic file formats). But the FFmpeg files appear to be quite old: I see a “date modified” of Feb 13 2019.

– Bill



Re: FFmpeg on Audacity for Big Sur 11.0 M1 chip
Quote
Post by billw58 » Fri Jan 08, 2021 9:07 pm

Look at your third screen-shot. That’s the LAME library, not the FFmpeg library. Try again to install the FFmpeg library.
– Bill


I also get this at this page. The top reads “Lame MP3 Export Library”. The bottom reads, “FFmpeg Import/Export Library”. Thats where the “Locate” button is that we use right?