why isn't ffmpeg current? How do I get the current one?

[SeijiSensei]

"Static" binaries include all the required dependencies built into the compiled output. They operate in a stand-alone fashion and don't require any other software to be installed on the machine. (ffmpeg has a ton of dependencies.) Storing in /opt is just one possibility; I usually put local binaries in /usr/local/bin and /usr/local/sbin. Those directories are in the standard path.

I've both compiled ffmpeg from scratch and also used McMahon's PPA. If you've never compiled software before, I'd stick with the PPA route.

[mc4man]

The "test" part of that was about providing a newer ffmpeg version without conflicting or removing the ffmpeg package in 16.04.
In this case it's only for the use of the ffmpeg binaries so no shared ffmpeg libs are built. (hence "static" in the name, ffmpeg binaries are statically built. It is not a portable build..

The method chosen was to use new binary names, i.e, ffmpeg2, ffprobe2, ffplay2.
The reason to install to /opt was to insure the headers would not be used if someone built a source that used ffmpeg libraries.

I've kept it up because there are a number of users of that ppa who want a reasonably current ffmpeg binary for encoding and decoding. At times requests are fulfilled, last was to provide a newer vpx, also added vp9-highbitdepth support.

Alternatives were an actual 'portable' ffmpeg build here - https://johnvansickle.com/ffmpeg/ though atm suspended as he wants $$
(these builds were never full featured..

It's probable I'll provide a shared ffmpeg 4.0 release for 16.04 here in near future or so as the shared libs can now co-exist with 16.04's current ones. Currently it's at 3.4.1
https://launchpad.net/~mc3man/+archi...tu/xerus-media
This build does replace the repo's ffmpeg package & can be used to build off of.

[NotQuiteSU]

Thank you guys for the response. And sorry for the delay. Last stupid question - how do i tell a script to use the /opt/ version of ffmpeg if ffmpeg is installed and in my path? Do I specify it as a variable, pointing to /opt?

[mc4man]

Thank you guys for the response. And sorry for the delay. Last stupid question - how do i tell a script to use the /opt/ version of ffmpeg if ffmpeg is installed and in my path? Do I specify it as a variable, pointing to /opt?

If you're referring to those builds I put in the ffmpeg-test ppa,
1. Did you read the ppa page?
2. While the actual binaries are installed to /opt/ffmpeg/bin there are symlinks in /usr/bin named ffmpeg2, ffplay2, ffprobe2
3. So command to use that ffmpeg binary is ffmpeg2

[NotQuiteSU]

No, I didn't I apologize. I'm working on a script and trying to make it portable. Just have to make some custom changes on my end.

[mc4man]

No, I didn't I apologize. I'm working on a script and trying to make it portable. Just have to make some custom changes on my end.

If you're installing a self build to /opt/ then in your script you'd need to full path the ffmpeg binary or you'd need to add that /opt/whatever/bin to your $PATH and have it before /usr/bin

The best way for self builds is shown here (installs to your $HOME dir.
https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/CompilationGuide/Ubuntu