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How to install x264 on Debian 8.3

How to install x264 on Debian 8.3

The x264 is a free software library developed by VideoLAN for encoding videos streams into the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC format. It provides a command line interface as well as API. It has lossless mode and also supports parallel encoding on multiple CPU’ s. This tutorial will explain the installation process of x264 on Debian 8.3

Installation procedure

To start the installation procedure, first execute the nano command to open the sources.list file. 

root@linuxhelp:~# nano /etc/apt/sources.list

The sources.list file is opened successfully. Now add these lines at end of the file. Save and exit from the file. 

deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ stable main contrib non-free
deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian jessie main

Next execute the apt-get update command to update the apt sources-list in the target system. 

root@linuxhelp:~# apt-get update
Get:1 http://ftp.debian.org jessie-updates InRelease [145 kB]
Ign http://ftp.de.debian.org jessie InRelease          
Get:2 http://ftp.de.debian.org jessie Release.gpg [2,373 B]
Get:3 http://ftp.de.debian.org jessie Release [148 kB]                 
Ign http://ftp.debian.org stable InRelease                                        
Get:4 http://ftp.debian.org jessie-updates/main Sources [15.5 kB]
Get:5 http://ftp.debian.org jessie-updates/contrib Sources [32 B]         
Get:6 http://ftp.debian.org jessie-updates/main amd64 Packages/DiffIndex [7,900 B]
Get:7 http://ftp.debian.org jessie-updates/contrib amd64 Packages [32 B]
Get:8 http://ftp.debian.org jessie-updates/contrib Translation-en [14 B]   
Get:9 http://ftp.debian.org jessie-updates/main Translation-en/DiffIndex [2,704 B]  
Get:10 http://ftp.debian.org stable Release.gpg [2,373 B]               
Get:11 http://ftp.debian.org jessie-updates/main amd64 2017-03-14-2025.02.pdiff [526 B]
Get:12 http://ftp.debian.org jessie-updates/main amd64 2017-04-15-2027.16.pdiff [528 B]
Get:13 http://ftp.debian.org jessie-updates/main amd64 2017-04-15-2027.16.pdiff [528 B]
Get:14 http://ftp.debian.org stable Release [148 kB]                 
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Fetched 23.4 MB in 6min 45s (57.7 kB/s)                                                        
Reading package lists... Done

Now install the x264 package by running the following command. 

root@linuxhelp:~# apt-get install x264
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree      
Reading state information... Done
The following extra packages will be installed:
  libffms2-3 libgpac3
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  libffms2-3 libgpac3 x264
0 upgraded, 3 newly installed, 0 to remove and 264 not upgraded.
Need to get 1,664 kB of archives.
After this operation, 4,512 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
.
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Setting up x264 (2:0.142.2431+gita5831aa-1+b2) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.19-18+deb8u2) ...

Once the x254 package is installed, execute the following command to know more options that can be used with x264. 

root@linuxhelp:~# x264 --help
x264 core:142 r2431 a5831aa
Syntax: x264 [options] -o outfile infile
Infile can be raw (in which case resolution is required),
  or YUV4MPEG (*.y4m),
  or Avisynth if compiled with support (yes).
  or libav* formats if compiled with lavf support (yes) or ffms support (yes).
Outfile type is selected by filename:
 .264 ->  Raw bytestream
 .mkv ->  Matroska
 .flv ->  Flash Video
 .mp4 ->  MP4 if compiled with GPAC or L-SMASH support (gpac)
Output bit depth: 8 (configured at compile time)
Options:
  -h, --help                  List basic options
      --longhelp              List more options
      --fullhelp              List all options
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Filtering:
      --vf, --video-filter < filter0> /< filter1> /... Apply video filtering to the input file
      Filter options may be specified in < filter> :< option> =< value>  format.
      Available filters:
      crop:left,top,right,bottom
      resize:[width,height][,sar][,fittobox][,csp][,method]
      select_every:step,offset1[,...]

Wasn' t that an easy installation procedure? The x264 contains psychovisual enhancements which aim to increase the subjective video quality of the encoded video.

Tag : debian x264
FAQ
Q
where to get the options for x264 in debian?
A
execute the following command to know more options that can be used with x264
# x264 --help
Q
I want to latest x264 source code can always be found by anonymous git repository?
A
use the following command to get the source code # git clone http://git.videolan.org/git/x264.git
Q
what is meant by x264 limitations?
A
x264 doesn't yet support the error-resilience features of baseline and extended profile, not the alternative colorspaces of high profile.
There are a few other features not supported.
Q
Can i use x264 for commercial purposes?
A
Yes you can use x264 but you need to contact MPEG-LA or Via for licensing the commercial use of a h.264 encoder since h.264 (also known as AVC or MPEG-4v10) is patented.
Q
Where i can find more general info about h.264 and related standards?
A
use the below link to find x264
 http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=96059