Easiest Way To Install FFmpeg On Mac OS X

Posted By : Anirudh Bhardwaj | 23-Jan-2017

How To Install FFmpeg On Mac

FFmpeg is an open-source multimedia framework which provides powerful multimedia handling capabilities to the developers, content owners and publishers. FFmpeg boasts a full-fledged support for all the major codecs and audio/video format. Besides, it also provides seamless video streaming and web hosting services. The framework uses a library of programming functions for handling multimedia tasks like encoding/decoding, muxing/demuxing, parsing and audio/video conversions. Anyone can try their hands on this tool. However, it is recommended that you go through the documentation provided by FFmpeg before doing that and learn the necessary command line instructions to carry out multimedia tasks. You can download the complete package from ffmpeg.org or github.   

 

Installing FFmpeg on Linux and Windows is comparatively easy but complications arise when you are doing that on Mac OS. While there are plenty of methods available for installing it on Mac, in this blog, you’ll know how it install it through an exclusive linux based software called Homebrew. Homebrew is a free Package Management software which makes it easy to install the third-party softwares and utilities on MacOS systems. If by any chance, you are aware of this software, installing FFmpeg on Mac is going to be a lot easier for you. But in case you don’t, you can watch a short tutorial on youtube or just follow the instructions that I’m going to give.  

 

Also read 8 Useful FFmpeg Commands For Beginners
 

Getting Started: Xcode and Homebrew Installation

Installing Homebrew requires command line instructions. So you can’t directly install the Homebrew package on your Mac. To do that, you will need a command-line tool called Xcode. It is a software development suite developed by Apple for its operating system. Xcode in MacOS is very much comparable to the Terminal in Ubuntu. You can download the Xcode setup wizard from the Mac App Store and it is available for free. After installing, launch the app. Go to Xcode Preferences > Downloads > Install. This is where you need to enter the command line code for installing Homebrew on your Mac.

 

/usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"

Copy the above code and paste it in the Xcode terminal and hit enter to start the installation process.


 

Final Step: Installing FFmpeg

Now that you have Homebrew package installed on your Mac OS X, you are almost halfway there. Now you can easily install the FFmpeg package on your Mac. All you need to do is execute the FFmpeg installation command. You can also get the installation command from this Github page. Just copy the code from the second line, paste it in your Homebrew terminal and hit enter. That’s it! The installation may take several minutes and then you can start using FFmpeg on your Mac to carry out necessary operations.  

About Author

Author Image
Anirudh Bhardwaj

Anirudh is a Content Strategist and Marketing Specialist who possess strong analytical skills and problem solving capabilities to tackle complex project tasks. Having considerable experience in the technology industry, he produces and proofreads insightful content on next-gen technologies like AI, blockchain, ERP, big data, IoT, and immersive AR/VR technologies. In addition to formulating content strategies for successful project execution, he has got ample experience in handling WordPress/PHP-based projects (delivering from scratch with UI/UX design, content, SEO, and quality assurance). Anirudh is proficient at using popular website tools like GTmetrix, Pagespeed Insights, ahrefs, GA3/GA4, Google Search Console, ChatGPT, Jira, Trello, Postman (API testing), and many more. Talking about the professional experience, he has worked on a range of projects including Wethio Blockchain, BlocEdu, NowCast, IT Savanna, Canine Concepts UK, and more.

Request for Proposal

Name is required

Comment is required

Sending message..