FFmpeg is a complete solution to record, convert and stream audio and video. It includes libavcodec, the leading audio/video codec library. FFmpeg is developed under Linux, but it can compiled under most operating systems, including Windows.

The project is made of several components:

• ffmpeg is a command line tool to convert one video file format to another. It also supports grabbing and encoding in real time from a TV card.
• ffserver is an HTTP (RTSP is being developed) multimedia streaming server for live broadcasts. Time shifting of live broadcast is also supported.
• ffplay is a simple media player based on SDL and on the FFmpeg libraries.
• libavcodec is a library containing all the FFmpeg audio/video encoders and decoders. Most codecs were developed from scratch to ensure best performances and high code reusability.
• libavformat is a library containing parsers and generators for all common audio/video formats.

All major media sharing websites i.e. YouTube use this technology for media sharing. Any video format can be converted and streamed to flv output.

Project FFmpeg

19 ffmpeg commands for all needs