#496 – FFmpeg: The Incredible Technology Behind Video on the Internet

Show notes

Jean-Baptiste Kempf is lead developer of VLC and president of VideoLAN. Kieran Kunhya is a longtime FFmpeg contributor, codec engineer, and the person behind the now-infamous FFmpeg account on X. Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: [https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep496-sc]( https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep496-sc">https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep496-sc See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc. **Transcript:** [https://lexfridman.com/ffmpeg-transcript]( https://lexfridman.com/ffmpeg-transcript">https://lexfridman.com/ffmpeg-transcript **CONTACT LEX:** **Feedback** – give feedback to Lex: [https://lexfridman.com/survey]( https://lexfridman.com/survey">https://lexfridman.com/survey **AMA** – submit questions, videos or call-in: [https://lexfridman.com/ama]( https://lexfridman.com/ama">https://lexfridman.com/ama **Hiring** – join our team: [https://lexfridman.com/hiring]( https://lexfridman.com/hiring">https://lexfridman.com/hiring **Other** – other ways to get in touch: [https://lexfridman.com/contact]( https://lexfridman.com/contact">https://lexfridman.com/contact **EPISODE LINKS:** FFmpeg on X: [https://x.com/FFmpeg]( https://x.com/FFmpeg">https://x.com/FFmpeg FFmpeg: [https://ffmpeg.org/]( https://ffmpeg.org/">https://ffmpeg.org/ VideoLAN (VLC): [https://www.videolan.org/]( https://www.videolan.org/">https://www.videolan.org/ VideoLAN on X: [https://x.com/videolan]( https://x.com/videolan">https://x.com/videolan Jean-Baptiste’s Website: [https://jbkempf.com/]( https://jbkempf.com/">https://jbkempf.com/ Jean-Baptiste’s LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbkempf/]( https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbkempf/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbkempf/ Jean-Baptiste’s GitHub: [https://github.com/jbkempf]( https://github.com/jbkempf">https://github.com/jbkempf Kieran’s X: [https://x.com/kierank\_]( https://x.com/kierank\_">https://x.com/kierank\_ Kieran’s LinkedIn: [https://bit.ly/3OORhmC]( https://bit.ly/3OORhmC">https://bit.ly/3OORhmC Kieran’s GitHub: [https://github.com/kierank]( https://github.com/kierank">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://larridin.com]( https://lexfridman.com/s/larridin-ep496-sc">https://larridin.com **Blitzy:** AI agent for large enterprise codebases. Go to [https://blitzy.com/lex]( https://lexfridman.com/s/blitzy-ep496-sc">https://blitzy.com/lex **BetterHelp:** Online therapy and counseling. Go to [https://betterhelp.com/lex]( https://lexfridman.com/s/betterhelp-ep496-sc">https://betterhelp.com/lex **Fin:** AI agent for customer service. Go to [https://fin.ai/lex]( https://lexfridman.com/s/fin-ep496-sc">https://fin.ai/lex **LMNT:** Zero-sugar electrolyte drink mix. Go to [https://drinkLMNT.com/lex]( https://lexfridman.com/s/lmnt-ep496-sc">https://drinkLMNT.com/lex **Perplexity:** AI-powered answer engine. Go to [https://perplexity.ai/]( https://lexfridman.com/s/perplexity-ep496-sc">https://perplexity.ai/ **OUTLINE:** (00:00) – Introduction (03:00) – Sponsors, Comments, and Reflections (10:48) – Weirdest things VLC opens (15:12) – How video playback works (24:33) – Video codecs and containers (35:20) – FFmpeg explained (56:20) – Linus Torvalds (1:00:59) – Turning down millions to keep VLC ad-free (1:15:17) – FFmpeg & Google drama (1:34:31) – FFmpeg developers (1:41:08) – VLC and FFmpeg (1:45:42) – History of FFmpeg (1:48:59) – Reverse engineering codecs (2:02:14) – FFmpeg testing (2:06:21) – Assembly code (handwritten) (2:30:39) – Rust programming language (2:39:55) – FFmpeg and Libav fork (2:48:17) – Open source burnout (2:56:04) – x264 and internet video (3:09:20) – Video compression basics (3:16:17) – CIA and fake VLC (3:26:52) – Ultra low latency streaming (3:44:20) – AV2 codec and video patents (3:54:12) – VLC backdoors (4:04:27) – Video archiving (4:11:04) – Future of FFmpeg and VLC