How to Build FFmpeg from Source on Linux

FFmpeg is a powerful, open-source multimedia processing library that allows developers to manipulate audio and video files with ease. In this article, we will explore the process of building FFmpeg from source on Linux.

Before we begin, it's essential to note that there are several ways to install FFmpeg on Android, including using pre-built executables or installing it as a package through the AUR (Arch User Repository). However, if you need more control over the build process or want to use the latest version of FFmpeg, building from source is a great option.

To get started, replace all instances of `av_log()` with Android's LogCat calls. This will allow us to debug and monitor our application more effectively. Next, we'll tweak some of the FFmpeg executable source files (ffmpeg.c) to remove exit() calls and adapt the main() function to a simple function that can be used in our Android project.

Once we have modified these files, we can use them as part of a JNI (Java Native Interface) module that allows us to integrate FFmpeg with our Android application. This will enable us to use FFmpeg's powerful audio and video processing capabilities within our app.

To build the FFmpeg library, we'll need to create a series of makefiles that specify the dependencies and compilation options for each component of the library. We'll also need to include some additional headers and libraries to ensure that everything compiles correctly.

Here's an example of how we might do this:

```

LOCAL_PATH := $(call my-dir)

include $(CLEAR_VARS)

LOCAL_MODULE := libswresample

Ffmpeg linux build from source