Lost in FFMPEG (downloading & installing)

terminal

i'm trying to convert some video that many people say can only be done using FFMPEG. so i go to the ffmpeg.org website and am completely confused as to what to download. i go to the downloads page, click on the Apple (since i use Mac) and it gives 2 "OS X Packages" options… "Static builds for OS X Intel 64-bit" & "Builds 32-bit and 64-bit for OS X 10.5 and above"!

if i click on the first option (Static builds for OS X Intel 64-bit), i'm then presented with 2 big green buttons to choose from for "FFmpeg", "FFserver", "FFprobe", & "FFplay" – i've not heard of the last 3 so i'm assuming the "FFmpeg" section is what i need. but then there are 2 big green buttons there: 1) ffmpeg-86281-g2413397 & 2) ffmpeg-3.3.1.

if i click on the second option (Builds 32-bit and 64-bit for OS X 10.5 and above), it takes me to a different website at ffmpegmac.net. here, i'm again given 2 choices to download: 1) "Lion_Mountain_Lion_Mavericks_Yosemite_El-Captain_15.05.2017.zip" & 2) "ffmpeg-3.3.1.tar.bz2". there is a "How To" page but that's just a bunch of gibberish to a non-programmer like me.

there's all these terms i'm not familiar with, like, compile, binary, source, snapshot, builds, etc.

i went ahead & downloaded all 4 of the above mentioned downloads but none of them are apps. one is a folder full of code files & the others are some sort of "exec" files.

so then i started google'ing & am finding seemingly conflicting instructions on how to get this program installed & how to use it…

ericholsinger.com/install-ffmpeg-on-a-mac – has a long & detailed steps on what they say to do.
but then there's,
idiotinside.com/2016/05/01/ffmpeg-mac-os-x – which claims its much easier to use something called "homebrew".
but then there's,
oodlestechnologies.com/blogs/Easiest-Way-To-Install-FFmpeg-On-Mac-OS-X – which also says to use homebrew but says you have to have "Xcode" first.
but then there's,
…take your pick; there's just way too many options & this just seems way more complex than it seems it should be.

so, can anybody boil this down to a simple/easy way to use this program on a Mac?

and yes, i've tried MANY other video converting apps (including handbrake & VLC) but none works to get an m3u8 converted to mp4. and yes, i've learned it's because it's a text file with links to segmented files – but others have said using ffmpeg in terminal with a single line of code will download these & fix them together into a playable mp4.

thanks.

Best Answer

The easiest way to convert video on the Mac is to use Handbrake. It is easily downloaded and installed and includes the same libraries as ffmpeg. (I know you say it doesn't work in your case but I include it here for others who might end up at this question.)

The version of ffmpeg you want is the 64-bit static build, preferably in a DMG as that is the easiest one to install. Using homebrew would be an even easier way to get it installed.

As for homebrew it is fairly well explained on their home page. You don't actually need XCode, just the XCode command line tools which homebrew will download for you the first time you use it to install something.

Once you install ffmpeg then man ffmpeg will get you the manual for it. You might prefer

man -t ffmpeg | open -f -a /Applications/Preview.app/

which will open the man page in Preview where you can read it more easily, or even print it.

Removal

If you installed with HomeBrew, the following Terminal.app command will perform the uninstall:

brew uninstall ffmpeg

If you are not sure how you installed ffmpeg, try running the command alone. The output will include a line containing the binary's location on your Mac:

ffmpeg

Look for output similar to:

ffmpeg version 1.2.4 Copyright (c) 2000-2013 the FFmpeg developers
  built on Nov 21 2013 11:36:01 with Apple LLVM version 5.0 (clang-500.2.79) (based on LLVM 3.3svn)
  configuration: --prefix=/usr/local/Cellar/ffmpeg/1.2.4 …

The key information in this extract is /usr/local/Cellar/ffmpeg/; this provides the location and that ffmpeg was installed as a HomeBrew Cellar.

If you do not see this output or it does not mention Cellar, please expand your question with the output you do see.

Alternative Installations

It is critical to know how you installed ffmpeg in order to know how to remove it. If may just be removing a folder, or it may be hunting around in /usr/local/ and /usr/bin folders for installed binaries.

Easy removal and upgrading is a strong argument for using a package manager for command line tools. Well supported package managers on the Mac include brew and MacPorts.

Re-installation

To install ffmpeg again, after removing the prior version, use brew to handle the entire process with:

brew install ffmpeg

MacOS – Create custom shortcuts and assign them to F keys

First of all, You don't need Karabinier to change F* keys behaviour. It can be done in Preferences -> Keyboard -> Use all F1, F2 etc. as standard function keys.

Then to assign keyboard shortcut to Terminal You have to switch to Shortcuts tab, select Application Shortcuts then click + sign. There You can choose application in which this shortcut will be working. There's also text input to enter Menu Item name (for example: Close, Minimize etc. check how it's named in Your Terminal app).

enter image description here

NOTE: There's no Maximize Menu item, I can find only Close and Minimize. If You want to install 3rd party app for this, I'd recommend Better Touch Tool where You can set a lot more actions to keyboard shortcuts and mouse/trackpad gestures. Here's an example for BTT:

Picture 1 taken from osxdaily.com

Best Answer

Related Solutions

How to remove ffmpeg ? and install again

Removal

Alternative Installations

Re-installation

MacOS – Create custom shortcuts and assign them to F keys

Related Question