Convert video from .mp4 to .ogg

Question

I am using ffmpeg version 0.11.1 Copyright (c) 2000-2012 the FFmpeg developers . I need to convert a file .mp4, to .ogg format. I am on Mac OS X, and I have tried this so far:

ffmpeg -i sample_mpeg4.mp4 -acodec vorbis -vcodec libtheora -f ogg output.ogv

I am getting: Unknown encoder 'libtheora'

ffmpeg -i sample_mpeg4.mp4 -acodec libvorbis -vcodec --enable-libtheora output.ogv

I am getting: Unknown encoder '--enable-libtheora'

ffmpeg -i sample_mpeg4.mp4 -acodec libvorbis -vcodec libtheora -f ogv output.ogv

I am getting:

[NULL @ 0x7f81bb00f800] Requested output format 'ogv' is not a suitable output format
output.ogv: Invalid argument

ffmpegtheora is not an option as it can not be install on the server.

Answer 1

Your FFmpeg version is missing the required encoders, libtheora for Theora video and libvorbis for Vorbis audio.

You can only add these encoders by either

• compiling them with FFmpeg, or
• installing an executable that bundles them already.

For you the easiest choice would be to download a static version from the FFmpeg download page. They all come with libtheora and libvorbis, regardless of the operating system they were built for.

What you then need to do is extract the download archive and simply run the ffmpeg binary that was included. The correct syntax would be:

ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -c:v libtheora -c:a libvorbis out.ogv

If you want to change the quality for either audio or video, IIRC the only option you have is to change the bit rate, e.g. with -b:v 1M or -b:a 192k. Play with those values and use a higher or lower bitrate depending on the quality or file size constraints you have.

_{Note that --enable-libtheora is a configuration option and doesn't work when calling ffmpeg.}

Answer 2

--enable-libtheora should be used when building ffmpeg from source, not while trying to run the program. You should try rebuilding ffmpeg (using the latest source of course ) and adding support for libtheora during configure (./configure --enable-libtheora etc....)

If you need help on building from source, there's lots of stuff on google, but it boils down (for you) enabling the libraries you need, you can see here and _http://jungels.net/articles/ffmpeg-howto.html for starters.