FFmpeg configure options

ffmpeg-build.sh

#!/bin/bash
if [ -z "$ANDROID_NDK" ]; then
  echo "Please set ANDROID_NDK to the Android NDK folder"
  exit 1
fi

#Change to your local machine's architecture
HOST_OS_ARCH=darwin-x86_64

function configure_ffmpeg {

  ABI=$1
  PLATFORM_VERSION=$2
  TOOLCHAIN_PATH=$ANDROID_NDK/toolchains/llvm/prebuilt/${HOST_OS_ARCH}/bin
  local STRIP_COMMAND

  # Determine the architecture specific options to use
  case ${ABI} in
  armeabi-v7a)
    TOOLCHAIN_PREFIX=armv7a-linux-androideabi
    STRIP_COMMAND=arm-linux-androideabi-strip
    ARCH=armv7-a
    ;;
  arm64-v8a)
    TOOLCHAIN_PREFIX=aarch64-linux-android
    ARCH=aarch64
    ;;
  x86)
    TOOLCHAIN_PREFIX=i686-linux-android
    ARCH=x86
    EXTRA_CONFIG="--disable-asm"
    ;;
  x86_64)
    TOOLCHAIN_PREFIX=x86_64-linux-android
    ARCH=x86_64
    EXTRA_CONFIG="--disable-asm"
    ;;
  esac

  if [ -z ${STRIP_COMMAND} ]; then
    STRIP_COMMAND=${TOOLCHAIN_PREFIX}-strip
  fi

  echo "Configuring FFmpeg build for ${ABI}"
  echo "Toolchain path ${TOOLCHAIN_PATH}"
  echo "Command prefix ${TOOLCHAIN_PREFIX}"
  echo "Strip command ${STRIP_COMMAND}"

  ./configure \
  --prefix=build/${ABI} \ # The path where the resulting libraries and headers will be installed after `make install` is run. The resulting directory structure is "build/{armeabi-v7a,arm64-v8a,x86,x86_64}/{include, lib}".
  --target-os=android \ # Target operating system name.
  --arch=${ARCH} \ # Target CPU architecture e.g. armv7-a.
  --enable-cross-compile \ # We are compiling for a different target architecture than the host.
  --cc=${TOOLCHAIN_PATH}/${TOOLCHAIN_PREFIX}${PLATFORM_VERSION}-clang \ # Path to the C compiler. In our case we're using clang. 
  --strip=${TOOLCHAIN_PATH}/${STRIP_COMMAND} \ # Path to the strip binary for our target architecture.
  --enable-small \ # Optimize for size instead of speed.
  --disable-programs \ # Do not build command line programs. We don't need them as our app will be interacting with the FFmpeg API. 
  --disable-doc \ # Do not build documentation.
  --enable-shared \ # Build shared libraries. We'll keep the FFmpeg .so files separate from our main shared library.
  --disable-static \ # Do not build static libraries.
  ${EXTRA_CONFIG} \
  --disable-everything \ # Disable all modules. To keep the library size to a minimum we will explicitly specify the modules to be built below.
  --enable-decoder=mp3 \ # Enable the MP3 decoder. For a list of supported decoders type ./configure --help.
  --enable-demuxer=mp3 # Enable the MP3 demuxer. For a list of supported demuxers type ./configure --help.
  
  return $?
}

function build_ffmpeg {

  configure_ffmpeg $1 $2

  if [ $? -eq 0 ]
  then
          make clean
          make -j12
          make install
  else
          echo "FFmpeg configuration failed, please check the error log."
  fi
}

build_ffmpeg armeabi-v7a 16
build_ffmpeg arm64-v8a 21
build_ffmpeg x86 16
build_ffmpeg x86_64 21

Hi Don. Thank you for this file. I use ffmpeg in my app and it helped me a lot. But I'm a bit concerned about getting into trouble since my app has in app payment and ffmpeg is licensed under LGPL. As far I understood I have to provide information about how my app can be updated with newer versions of ffmpeg.

So I thought about writing a little howto about how to unzip the apk, building ffmpeg, exchange the ffmpeg so files and zipping it all together. Do you think that would do it? Maybe you have a reference or some experience about that.

Kind regards,
Thomas

Hey Thomas, glad it was useful. I'll be honest I was not aware of any requirement to allow the FFmpeg libraries to be upgraded inside an APK. This requirement seems quite strange as any API changes would require that your app also be updated. Where did you read this?

Hi Don. Here is a blog article: https://xebia.com/blog/the-lgpl-on-android/ - see d1. There are also some discussions, for instance here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4916512/using-lgpl-library-in-paid-android-app

Hi Don, I'm getting the following error while executing bash.

./ffmpeg-build.sh: line 59: unexpected EOF while looking for matching `''
./ffmpeg-build.sh: line 87: syntax error: unexpected end of file

@prashan-prajapati Did you edit the script? If so, it could be that you have a \ in the wrong place.

@harthorst That article is referring to LGPL 3.0 whereas FFmpeg is licensed with LGPL 2.1 which does not contain the clause (section 4.1.b) about providing an update mechanism.

@dturner thanks. I did not see that

Hi Don, I'm getting the following error while executing bash.

./ffmpeg-build.sh: line 59: unexpected EOF while looking for matching `''
./ffmpeg-build.sh: line 87: syntax error: unexpected end of file

I had the same problem. Solution: delete all comments from lines 50 - 64