How can I use the x264 encoder with avidemux?

[nv22nv]

Hello,

I'm using Avidemux 2.5.4 on Ubuntu Linux. According to the Avidemux Wiki, you need to compile Avidemux with x264 support for yourself if it's unavailable. Since I prefer to install software with a package manager, I thought that maybe my version of Avidemux already has x264 support compiled into the binaries. When I have a look at the plugins, an x264 plugin seems to be included into my version of Avidemux: "x264 video encoder plugin for Avidemux (c) Mean/Gruntster".

On my system, I've got x264 installed and can use it without problems on the command line.

Still, in the list of available video codecs in Avidemux, I can find neither x264 not H.264. The only option that comes close to what I want is MPEG-4 AVC, but that one doesn't use the x264 encoder (AFAIK it uses FFMPEG).

So my question is, do I really need to compile Avidemux myself in order to use x264 on Linux, or is there something else I could try?

Thanks in advance for your help.

PS: I'm rather sure that other people had this question as well and it might have been answered in the forums already. Please excuse me for not searching the forums thoroughly: I got an internal server error each time I did a search. I searched the first pages manually, but couldn't find anything.

[Jan Gruuthuse]

What version of ubuntu do you use? And is it a 32 or 64-bit version? Myself I'm on 12.04.1 LTS amd64 (64-bit).
you can find 12.04 32-bit here: http://avidemux.org/nightly/precise32/ If installation problem then try this one: avidemux 32-bit r8194 12.04.1
or 64-bit here: avidemux Cli/QT/GTK 2.6 64-bit deb download ubuntu 12.04 LTS

[nv22nv]

Thanks for answering, Jan Gruuthuse. I'm using Ubuntu 10.04 (64 bit).

I'm not sure if I understand you correctly. Are you implying that in the version you linked, x264 can be used, but with my version that's not possible? To avoid any misunderstanding: I was able to install avidemux and I'm able to use it, it's just that I can't encode with the x264 encoder.

[Jan Gruuthuse]

Try MPEG-4 AVC option and see if works for you. In avidemux 2.6 MPEG4 AVC (x264) is marked like this. If you want to work with h264 and HD videos you need to switch to 2.6. If you want to stay on 10.04 then compiling yourself is only option to get 2.6. Otherwise consider updating to 12.04 LTS?
10.04 LTS desktop support stops in april 2013, with 12.04 that would go on until april  2017.

If you consider building yourself: Compiling Avidemux 2.6.x
just need to replace cmake. Download source, unpack it and goto in to that folder (cd)

Code Select Expand

./bootstrap && make && sudo make install

[nv22nv]

Try MPEG-4 AVC option and see if works for you. In avidemux 2.6 MPEG4 AVC (x264) is marked like this. If you want to work with h264 and HD videos you need to switch to 2.6.

Alright, thanks. I was confused by the "x264 plugin" I saw above and thought my version already supports x264. I assume that "x264" in this context means "FFMPEG-x264". I did and do use MPEG-4 AVC, but I prefer the x264 encoder. It seems to yield better results and I also like the useful encoding presets it offers. So probably I have to wait until I install Ubuntu 12.04.

Otherwise consider updating to 12.04 LTS?
10.04 LTS desktop support stops in april 2013, with 12.04 that would go on until april  2017.

I would have already installed the latest version of Ubuntu if it wasn't so much hassle. I did some customizations (e.g. manually set up encrypted home directories) and the last time I did a dist-upgrade, it didn't really go well. I spent a lot of time trying to get it to work and ended up doing a complete re-install after I was unable to resolve the issues. That day, I swore to myself to just start over from scratch in the future instead of trying to do a dist-upgrade.

Compiling the program myself wouldn't be a problem, but I prefer using a package manager because that seems to be the only way to uninstall applications cleanly. Of course one can create his one package from source, but I'd prefer not to work myself into that.

So, thanks for taking your time answering my question. I'll upgrade to 12.04 in order to use x264 within Avidemux sooner or later.