How-to Guide: Compiling and Installing the FFmpeg Suite and Audio Video Codecs from Source on the Raspberry Pi
 

The goals of the following guide are two-fold: Firstly, to install a software package called FFmpeg, which contains numerous tools to facilitate the recording and manipulation of audio-video materials, along with several optional packages known as codecs.

Secondly, I aim not only to present a series of steps and commands, but also to provide a little illumination into the process, providing an overview of some of the key tools and concepts behind obtaining, building, and installing software on a Linux platform.

For those eager to get up and running as quickly as possible, please see the related page: Compiling FFmpeg and Codecs from Source Code: All-in-One Script

• A Little Background Information
• Linux Software Installation
• FFmpeg Compilation and Installation
• Compiling Shared Libraries
• Compiling From Source: The Make Command
• A Note Before Proceeding
• Installing Prerequisite Build Tools
• Installing the YASM Assembler
• Compiling and Installing FFmpeg Codecs
  • X264 Codec
  • Libfdk-aac Codec
  • Libmp3lame Codec
  • Libopus Codec
  • Libvpx Codec
• The FFmpeg Suite
• Compiling and Installing FFmpeg
  • Checking the FFmpeg Build
• All-in-One FFmpeg Build and Installation Script
• Using FFmpeg to Transcode Files: Examples
• Related Posts
• External Links

My primary motivation for installing FFmpeg was to be able to capture real-time footage of gameplay from various console systems available in the RetroPie emulator suite, a number of which utilise the RetroArch framework that provides a facility to make live audio-video recordings.

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