HOWTO: Install and use the latest FFmpeg and x264

01:46 AM

This guide has been moved to the official FFmpeg wiki:

How to Compile FFmpeg and x264 on Ubuntu

The guide will be kept up to date and all supported Ubuntu versions will be included.

Great guide. Thanks a lot. One problem:

When I configure x264 I get the error:

Code:

./configure --enable-pthread --enable-mp4-output --enable-shared
No suitable assembler found.  x264 will be several times slower.
Please install 'yasm' to get MMX/SSE optimized code.

I tried nasm and yasm from the repos but they didn't work

But I figured it out!

All I had to do was go to:
www.tortall.net/projects/yasm/wiki/Download

Grab the 0.7.0 tarball, then ./configure, make, sudo checkinstall, then build x264, then ffmpeg. Now I can encode much faster.

A note to those who are interested:

I used the ffmpeg encoding script:

Code:

#!/bin/sh
ffmpeg -i $1 -y -an -pass 1 -vcodec libx264 -threads 4 -b 1024kbps -flags +loop -cmp +chroma -partitions +parti4x4+partp8x8+partb8x8 -me epzs -subq 1 -trellis 0 -refs 1 -bf 3 -b_strategy 1 -coder 1 -me_range 16 -g 250 -keyint_min 25 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71 -rc_eq 'blurCplx^(1-qComp)' -qcomp 0.6 -qmin 10 -qmax 51 -qdiff 4 $2

ffmpeg -i $1 -y -acodec libfaac -ab 128k -pass 2 -vcodec libx264 -threads 4 -b 1024kbps -flags +loop -cmp +chroma -partitions +parti4x4+partp8x8+partb8x8 -flags2 +mixed_refs -me umh -subq 5 -trellis 1 -refs 5 -bf 3 -b_strategy 1 -coder 1 -me_range 16 -g 250 -keyint_min 25 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71 -rc_eq 'blurCplx^(1-qComp)' -qcomp 0.6 -qmin 10 -qmax 51 -qdiff 4 $2

Which can be run:

Code:

./scriptname myfile.avi myfile.mp4

And the result plays in Flash 9 using their h264 playback stuff. Pretty neat and high quality too.

07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paerez

Great guide. Thanks a lot. One problem:

When I configure x264 I get the error:

Code:

./configure --enable-pthread --enable-mp4-output --enable-shared
No suitable assembler found.  x264 will be several times slower.
Please install 'yasm' to get MMX/SSE optimized code.

I tried nasm and yasm from the repos but they didn't work

...

Thanks for pointing that out. I'll update it with a section on yasm compilation. Was the error the same if you tried using just nasm?

As of March 14, '08 (I think), x264 requires a newer yasm >= 0.6.0 than what is in the Ubuntu universe repository (yasm 0.5.0). x264 should fallback to nasm if yasm isn't detected and worked for me just fine despite the following error:

Code:

./configure: 330: yasm: not found

If I omitted nasm, I got the same error as you. I'm not sure why nasm worked for me and not for you.

Before I wrote this tutorial I tested the speed of x264 either using a compiled yasm 0.7.0, nasm from the repository, or no assembler. The speed differences were very small between compiled yasm and nasm from the repo:
x264/mencoder/ffmpeg on a dual quad core.

Edit: Tutorial updated with yasm compilation.

I tried using both nasm and yasm from the repos, and x264 would compile but it would say it was building without support for yasm and nasm.

Then, when I used it to convert a file it would say that it was using no cpu extensions, as opposed to saying "MMX SSE ...". It would also take significantly longer (like 2-5 times as long).

But just installing the yasm from source fixed it, and it wasn't very difficult to do.

May 7th, 2008	#1
FakeOutdoorsman Skinny Extra Sweet Ubuntu Join Date: Sep 2006 Beans: 3,013	HOWTO: Install and use the latest FFmpeg and x264 This guide has been moved to the official FFmpeg wiki: How to Compile FFmpeg and x264 on Ubuntu The guide will be kept up to date and all supported Ubuntu versions will be included. Last edited by sandyd; 1 Week Ago at 01:46 AM.. Reason: Change requested -see reported thread

May 14th, 2008	#4
Paerez 100% Pure Ubuntu Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Baltimore, MD, USA Beans: 873 Ubuntu Development Release	Re: HOWTO: Compile the latest ffmpeg and x264 from source I tried using both nasm and yasm from the repos, and x264 would compile but it would say it was building without support for yasm and nasm. Then, when I used it to convert a file it would say that it was using no cpu extensions, as opposed to saying "MMX SSE ...". It would also take significantly longer (like 2-5 times as long). But just installing the yasm from source fixed it, and it wasn't very difficult to do. __________________ Knowledge is half the battle. The other half is violence!