FFmpeg 0.6 adds WebM/VP8 support

The FFmpeg project developers have released version 0.6 of FFmpeg, code named "Works with HTML5". FFmpeg is a free tool and library collection used to record, convert and stream audio and video files in various formats. It is used by several popular open source software projects including the VLC media player, MPlayer, Perian and others.

As the FFmpeg 0.6 code name suggests, the major update features a number of improvements related to HTML5 video and adds support for the latest open WebM / VP8 video format introduced by Google as part of the WebM Project. The developers note that the H.264 and Theora decoders are "significantly faster" and that the Vorbis decoder has also received important updates. Other notable changes include a new ffprobe tool, the removal of the deprecated vhook subsystem and old scaler, RTMP support in libavformat and the addition of decoders for Intel Indeo 5, WMA Pro, WMA Voice and HE-AAC.

More details about the release, including a full list of changes, new features and codec changes, can be found in the release notes and in the change log. FFmpeg is available to download from the project's site and documentation is provided. FFmpeg is released under the LGPL or GPL depending upon the configuration used.

See also:

• WebM project changes to standard open source licence, a report from The H.
• VLC 1.1.0 Release Candidate supports WebM / VP8, a report from The H.
• Miro Video Converter 2.0 supports WebM/VP8, a report from The H.

(crve)