FFmpeg: The Incredible Technology Behind Video on the Internet | Lex Fridman Podcast #496

"If we have to compromise our software, we will shut it down. That is clear." Made me proud hearing someone say that. Not a lot of people left with ethics that strong.

FFmpeg is the epitome of brutally honest hardcore software engineering. More of this please! Lots of us are sick and tired of the *constant* LLM grifting.

Linux and FFmpeg run this world. Hope you get to get Linus Torvalds on board for an interview soon!

Hmm, hard choice between Rogan talking to flying pyramid people, or Fridman talking to the guys who made the most important piece of open source software ever

YES absolutely love episodes like this, more of this please, less vapid celebrities

love these geek out history shows

the focus on code quality is so awesome to see

I only recently found out what ffmpeg does and my goodness, without that open-source project, absolutely nothing would work. Curl next please 😁

Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep496-sa See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc. 0:00 - Episode highlight 2:17 - Introduction 5:35 - Weirdest things VLC opens 9:59 - How video playback works 19:20 - Video codecs and containers 30:07 - FFmpeg explained 51:07 - Linus Torvalds 55:46 - Turning down millions to keep VLC ad-free 1:10:04 - FFmpeg & Google drama 1:29:18 - FFmpeg developers 1:35:55 - VLC and FFmpeg 1:40:29 - History of FFmpeg 1:43:46 - Reverse engineering codecs 1:57:01 - FFmpeg testing 2:01:08 - Assembly code (handwritten) 2:25:26 - Rust programming language 2:34:42 - FFmpeg and Libav fork 2:43:04 - Open source burnout 2:50:51 - x264 and internet video 3:04:07 - Video compression basics 3:11:04 - CIA and fake VLC 3:21:39 - Ultra low latency streaming 3:39:07 - AV2 codec and video patents 3:48:59 - VLC backdoors 3:59:14 - Video archiving 4:05:51 - Future of FFmpeg and VLC *Transcript:* https://lexfridman.com/ffmpeg-transcript *CONTACT LEX:* *Feedback* - give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey *AMA* - submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama *Hiring* - join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring *Other* - other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact *EPISODE LINKS:* FFmpeg on X: https://x.com/FFmpeg FFmpeg: https://ffmpeg.org/ VideoLAN (VLC): https://www.videolan.org/ VideoLAN on X: https://x.com/videolan Jean-Baptiste's Website: https://jbkempf.com/ Jean-Baptiste's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbkempf/ Jean-Baptiste's GitHub: https://github.com/jbkempf Kieran's X: https://x.com/kierank_ Kieran's LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3OORhmC Kieran's GitHub: https://github.com/kierank *SPONSORS:* To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts: *Larridin:* Measure AI adoption in your business. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/larridin-ep496-sa *Blitzy:* AI agent for large enterprise codebases. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/blitzy-ep496-sa *BetterHelp:* Online therapy and counseling. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/betterhelp-ep496-sa *Fin:* AI agent for customer service. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/fin-ep496-sa *LMNT:* Zero-sugar electrolyte drink mix. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/lmnt-ep496-sa *Perplexity:* AI-powered answer engine. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/perplexity-ep496-sa

That's how much we care about these things! 4+ hrs - done! Thanks Lex, long live FFmpeg!