WinFF GUI for the command line video converter, FFMPEG: Instructions for install on Ubuntu.

WinFF is a GUI for the command line video converter, FFMPEG. It will convert most any video file that FFmpeg will convert. WinFF does multiple files in multiple formats at one time. You can for example convert mpeg's, flv's, and mov's, all into avi's all at once. WinFF is available for Debian, Ubuntu and Redhat based GNU/Linux distributions.

WinFF is available in Brazilian Portuguese, Bulgarian, Chinese Traditional, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian, Slovenian, Spanish and Turkish.

WinFF is open source and cross platform written in Free Pascal and Lazarus. WinFF is published under the GNU public license. WinFF is published without any warranty or suitability for any purpose.

Until the packages are completely accepted (and after that for faster updates) Ubuntu packages are available at http://winff.org/ and at my Personal Package Archive (PPA) provided by Launchpad.

Also a fuller featured ffmpeg is available via Medibuntu for Hardy and Lucid users.

Details Winff.

The Ubuntu repositories come in two flavors. We provide our repository at http://winff.org or you can use the repository at Launchpad. We have not received any complains about our prive repo, so that is recommended, but for redundancy we mention Launchpad as well (however the later one might contain experimental packages).

I describe two procedures, one using the command line, the other using synaptic. First the command line.

Command line.

If you use the winff.org repository you need to accept the key AAFE086A. To get that installed you can run:

<big><i><span class="pln">wget </span><span class="pun">--</span><span class="pln">quiet </span><span class="pun">--</span><span class="pln">output</span><span class="pun">-</span><span class="pln">document</span><span class="pun">=-</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="str">"http://winff.org/ubuntu/AAFE086A.gpg"</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="pun">|</span><span class="pln"> sudo apt</span><span class="pun">-</span><span class="pln">key add </span><span class="pun">-</span></i></big>

After that you need to add the repository to apt. You can do that by entering the line marked (1) below in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/winff.list. You will have to create that file, which can be done with the following command:

<big><i><span class="pln">echo </span><span class="str">"deb http://winff.org/ubuntu lucid universe"</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="pun">|</span><span class="pln"> sudo tee </span><span class="pun">/</span><span class="pln">etc</span><span class="pun">/</span><span class="pln">apt</span><span class="pun">/</span><span class="pln">sources</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="pln">list</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="pln">d</span><span class="pun">/</span><span class="pln">winff</span><span class="pun">.</span><span class="pln">list</span></i></big>

Of course you need to change lucide to karmic or hardy or intrepid or jaunty if you have that. (You can also just add the line to /etc/apt/sources.list .)

You can now install WinFF directly by running:

<i><big><span class="pln">sudo apt</span><span class="pun">-</span><span class="kwd">get</span><span class="pln"> update </span><span class="pun">&&</span><span class="pln"> sudo apt</span><span class="pun">-</span><span class="kwd">get</span><span class="pln"> install winff</span></big></i>

interpid users also want to run:

<big><i><span class="pln">sudo apt</span><span class="pun">-</span><span class="kwd">get</span><span class="pln"> install libavcodec</span><span class="pun">-</span><span class="pln">unstripped</span><span class="pun">-</span><span class="lit">51</span><span class="pln"> </span></i></big>

jaunty users also want to run:

<big><i><span class="pln">sudo apt</span><span class="pun">-</span><span class="kwd">get</span><span class="pln"> install libavcodec</span><span class="pun">-</span><span class="pln">unstripped</span><span class="pun">-</span><span class="lit">52</span><span class="pln"> </span></i></big>

karmic and lucid users also want to run:

<big><big><i><small><span class="pln">sudo apt</span><span class="pun">-</span><span class="kwd">get</span><span class="pln"> install libavcodec</span><span class="pun">-</span><span class="pln">extra</span><span class="pun">-</span><span class="lit">52</span></small><span class="pln"> </span></i></big></big>

---

If you are having problems with the described procedure, please file a bug in bug tracker. Please include in the bug the output of

cat /etc/apt/sources.list.d/winff.list

<big><span class="com"># and</span></big><span class="pln">
</span>

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install winff

---

(1) deb http://winff.org/ubuntu lucid universe (or if you prefer the PPA:) deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/paul-climbing/ubuntu lucid main (replace lucid with your release)

Synaptic.

If you are using synaptic to install packages you have to download and save the key (right click here). Then go in the synaptic menu to Setting -> Repositories.

Now go to the tab "Authentication", press "Import Key File" and select the just downloaded file.

Now go to the "Third-party Software" tab and select "add"

In the next field type (or copy/paste) deb http://winff.org/ubuntu lucid universe (change lucid to your release) and press "Add source".

Now, after you press "Reload" you can just choose winff from the list. If you have winff installed from a very old version of Matt's package file, you should uninstall that first.

Warning non standard ffmpeg.

If you don't run the standard Ubuntu ffmpeg and want to make use of the more extended original set of presets, please read the README.Debian (3) after installation. If you find that your presets don't work, try the other presets files that are available here.

In order to use an other presets file than supplied with the package you might need to remove the old preset file in ~/.winff/presets.xml , but by doing that you will also remove self-made presets. So if you made or edited the presets, you want to compare the files manually.

(3) /usr/share/doc/winff/README.Debian

Details extended ffmpeg in Ubuntu.

For a fuller ffmpeg than the standard on in your flavor of Ubuntu I refer to the excellent guide in the Ubuntuforums: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1117283 If you want to compile your own ffmpeg (it is not so hard) you can follow the instructions here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=786095

Details ffmpeg for Lucid.

Lucid contains a pretty complete ffmpeg already, but you probably want to have the 'unstripped' versions of several libraries. You can install them directly: libavcodec-extra-52, libavutil-extra-49 and libavformat-extra-52 from the multiverse repository. For AAC support you should install the Medibuntu version of ffmpeg, (see the Medibuntu wiki). The full explanation is available at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Medibuntu, and in short below the Hardy details.

Details ffmpeg for Karmic and Jaunty.

Karmic and Jaunty contain a pretty complete ffmpeg already, but you probably want to have the 'unstripped' versions of several libraries. You can look for them directly: libavcodec-unstripped-52, libavutil-unstripped-49 and libavformat-unstripped-52 from the multiverse repository.

Details ffmpeg for Interpid.

Intrepid contains a pretty complete ffmpeg already, but you probably want to have ubuntu-restricted-extras installed which should pull in the 'unstripped' versions of several libraries. You can also look for them directly: libavcodec-unstripped-51, libavutil-unstripped-49 and libavformat-unstripped-52 from the multiverse repository.

Details ffmpeg for Hardy.

Because of legal and copyright issues not all codec are standard available in ffmpeg from Ubuntu. If you don't mind these issues (see the Medibuntu wiki) you can install the fuller featured ffmpeg from Medibuntu. The full explanation is available at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Medibuntu. In short the procedure is as follows:

• add the medibuntu repository to your sources, for instance using the following command:

<i><span class="pln">  <big>sudo wget http</big></span><big><span class="pun">:</span><span class="com">//www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/hardy.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list</span></big></i>

If you are running Gutsy or... replace the string "hardy" by that version of ubuntu.

• After that you should add the GPG Key via:

<big><i><span class="pln">  sudo apt</span><span class="pun">-</span><span class="kwd">get</span><span class="pln"> update </span><span class="pun">&&</span><span class="pln"> sudo apt</span><span class="pun">-</span><span class="kwd">get</span><span class="pln"> install medibuntu</span><span class="pun">-</span><span class="pln">keyring </span><span class="pun">&&</span><span class="pln"> sudo apt</span><span class="pun">-</span><span class="kwd">get</span><span class="pln"> update</span></i></big>

You may be asked to accept this package even though it cannot be authenticated. This is normal; typing "Yes" means you trust Medibuntu. If you want to import the gpg key of medibuntu directly, it has number: 0C5A2783 The contains you can find for instance at pgp.net.

Now you are ready to install the medibuntu version of ffmpeg.

If you liked this article, subscribe to the feed by clicking the image below to keep informed about new contents of the blog:

Do you consider this article interesting? Share it on your network of Twitter contacts, on your Facebook wall or simply press "+1" to suggest this result in searches in Google, Linkedin, Instagram or Pinterest. Spreading content that you find relevant helps this blog to grow. Thank you!

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Google Plus

About Hugo

Ubuntu is a Linux distribution that offers an operating system predominantly focused on desktop computers but also provides support for servers. Based on Debian GNU / Linux, Ubuntu focuses on ease of use, freedom in usage restriction, regular releases (every 6 months) and ease of installation.