FFConvert - No-Arch multimedia converter

[mikeslr]

greengeeks' recent post about QWinFF reminded me that in some now old Puppys there was a builtin application named FFConvert. shinobar developed and maintained it. It is still available from here, http://shinobar.server-on.net/puppy/opt/. But, as it's small enough to be included as an attachment under this Forum's more generous size restrictions, I've attached a copy of the last version.

ffconvert-1.4.3.pet

(63.33 KiB) Downloaded 101 times

Examination reveals that the only executables are bash-scripts. Consequently it is "No-Arch" and should run under any Puppy whether 32-bit or 64-bit: e.g. seems to run fine under Bionicpup64.
However, it has not be updated since 2014. So, you can't expect it to be able to handle --make use of or generate-- any codec or container not then current. For example, mkv is not recognized. However, under the "Preset" Tab a choice to select "User Defined" exists. Someone who knows what (s)he is doing may be able to extend its capabilities. Better yet, perhaps someone could publish an updated version.

[greengeek]

. For example, mkv is not recognized.

I think it is happy to use mkv files as input At least its worth a go in my experience. YMMV.

[amethyst]

. For example, mkv is not recognized.

I think it is happy to use mkv files as input At least its worth a go in my experience. YMMV.

Also as output. For instance I have combined mp4 (audio) and VP8/VP9 (video parts) files using the matroska (mkv) container. In older versions of the application it's called matroska. In that case you can change the extension to .mkv. Note that mkv is not really a "conversion" format, it's just a container which combines many formats into a mkv file. Very useful actually.

[greengeek]

Also as output.

How is this done? I don't see it as an option amongst the presets. Is it a simple case of adding .mkv suffix to the output file or is it important what presets are chosen?

[amethyst]

Also as output.

How is this done? I don't see it as an option amongst the presets. Is it a simple case of adding .mkv suffix to the output file?

Ignore the presets tab. Example of combining two files, say an audio only and a video only file > Select the two files to combine in the first screen > click details tab > select copy and same as source for quality (where available) from drop down options. Select matroska or mkv from the file format tab (which will be the output).

[greengeek]

Ignore the presets tab.... > click details tab > select copy and same as source for quality (where available) from drop down options. Select matroska or mkv from the file format tab (which will be the output).

Thanks! Just used this method to convert one file (rather than "combine two files") and it seemed to create the matroska output file without problems. Had to manually change the suffix of the output file from .matroska to .mkv as you suggested before my system would recognise it as playable - but seems like a good outcome.
cheers!

[bigpup]

FFConvert also works on Raspup 8.2.1.
The Puppy for Raspberry Pi computers.

[amethyst]

Ignore the presets tab.... > click details tab > select copy and same as source for quality (where available) from drop down options. Select matroska or mkv from the file format tab (which will be the output).

Thanks! Just used this method to convert one file (rather than "combine two files") and it seemed to create the matroska output file without problems. Had to manually change the suffix of the output file from .matroska to .mkv as you suggested before my system would recognise it as playable - but seems like a good outcome.
cheers!

Good. Your original file has been converted to another convertable format (or is still the original if you haven't converted it to something else). As mentioned, mkv is just a container format which hosts the original or converted files. So, you can for instance convert AVI to MP4 and then host the result in a mkv container (file). So in the latter case your video player actually plays the MP4 file with an mp4 codec although it's hosted as a mkv file. As mentioned, this format is particularly useful to combine files from different formats in one container but you still need the codecs of the original files contained in the container (the mkv) to play it.