Custom FFmpeg Export Options

'Peter 12Aug15: ToDo-1 As far as I can see this has never been documented.

I'm pretty stuck as how to proceed further with this - it's way beyond my envelope of knowledge and experience ...

• Peter 12Aug15: there are a number of open Bugzilla entries associated with this that indicate that all may not be entirely well with this functionality:
  • from back in 2010 Bug 59 P3 Custom FFmpeg Export includes many invalid combinations. This looks pretty serious if it's still true
  • and also from 2010 Bug 135 P3 Custom FFmpeg Export dialogue does not respond to ENTER after clicking in the Formats or Codec selector in Linux
  • Bug 896 P3 Custom FFmpeg Export: Imported presets do not load
  • and one I added today Bug 1140 P4 - trivial, cosmetic, but very easily fixable

The Custom FFmpeg format options dialog appears in response to the Open custom FFmpeg format options button in the Export Audio or Export Multiple dialog Options pane when you have chosen Custom FFmpeg Export in the Save as type dropdown.

Note that it is necessary to supply the full file name and the extension as Audacity does not automatically add the extension when custom FFmpeg is used.

Presets

You can create and retrieve presets with Audacity and you can also export and import your presets to an external file thus allowing you to share presets with other users.

Use the Preset: dropdown menu to select the preset you want to work with by clicking on the black triangle at the right of the white box. You will also then need to use the Load Preset button for the preset to become active.

• Load Preset: loads the selected preset into Audacity for use in the subsequent audio export.
• Save Preset: saves a single preset to Audacity's internal storage. You will need to provide a name for the preset in the box next to Preset:. If you provide a preset name which already exists Audacity will ask if you want to overwrite it.
• Delete Preset: removes any previously created preset from Audacity's internal storage. You first need to select the preset from the Preset dropdown menu.
• Import Presets: imports an existing set of presets from an external file.
• Export Presets: exports a set of presets an external file in a folder and file name of your choice.

Formats

Use the Formats box on the left of the dialog to choose the format you want to use for your custom export by clicking on it from the list. Note that clicking on any particular format may reduce the adjacent list of codecs as not all formats work with all codecs.

Codecs

Use the Codecs box on the left of the dialog next to the Formats box to choose the codec you want to use for your custom export by clicking on it from the list. You can click to select a codec first but note that clicking on any particular codec may reduce the adjacent list of formats as not all formats work with all codecs.

FLAC Options

Known issues from the 2.1.1 Release Notes: Custom FFmpeg Export: many combinations of formats and codecs are incompatible, as are some combinations of general options and codecs. Some files may be exported as zero kb files In the "Custom FFmpeg Export" dialog, imported presets do not load. (Linux) Custom FFmpeg Export dialog does not respond to ENTER after clicking in the Formats or Codec selector.