FFmpeg setup

How to set up FFmpeg, which MP4 export and quick playback rely on.

SeqLens uses ffmpeg for MP4 export and Quick Play in Lens. If you use one of these features while FFmpeg is missing, the setup screen appears. When FFmpeg is not detected, the setup screen also opens automatically when the app starts. If you don’t want to set it up now, choose Skip for now and it won’t appear automatically again (you can reopen it later from Preferences).

To set it up manually, open Preferences → FFmpeg. When FFmpeg is not detected, Run setup wizard appears.

Setup methods

TIP

Unless you have a specific reason not to, automatic download is the easiest and most reliable option. A well-tested build for your platform is downloaded and placed for you.

  1. Automatic download (recommended) Downloads the FFmpeg build matching your OS and CPU and places it in the SeqLens data folder. A progress bar is shown while it runs. If it fails, you can Retry. If you already have FFmpeg and want to use it instead, open the settings from Use my own binaries on the setup screen.

  2. Specify a path manually If FFmpeg is already installed, enter its absolute path in the ffmpeg field under Preferences → FFmpeg → Paths. You can also pick it with Browse.

  3. Auto-detection When the ffmpeg field is empty, SeqLens looks for FFmpeg in this order: the custom path in settings → FFmpeg on the system PATH → the automatically downloaded FFmpeg. To use a specific FFmpeg, specify the path manually.

Detection result and re-downloading

When the ffmpeg field is empty, the path currently in use is shown faintly in the input. If the specified path cannot be found, an error message appears. To reinstall FFmpeg, use Download or Re-download.

Notes

If FFmpeg is missing when you run Quick Play or MP4 export, the setup screen opens on the spot. FFmpeg is not used to read frame metadata, so there is no ffprobe setting field.