How to Convert FLV Files to MPEG4 in Linux

Flash is the standard for web video today, but many people also want to watch these videos while offline. The answer is to download the FLV file. What if, however, your video player of choice or portable device can't handle FLV files? The solution in Linux is to convert the file with ffmpeg.

Instructions

1. Install ffmpeg. For example, Ubuntu uses a package management application called Synaptic, which can be opened by clicking "System," then "Administration," then "Synaptic Package Manager." Open this program and search for "ffmpeg," right-click it and click "Install." Then choose "Apply all operations."
   How to install programs on other distributions varies widely. Check your distribution's website to find out how package management works, and how to install the package named "ffmpeg."

2. Click "Applications," "Accessories," then choose "Terminal" to open a terminal and steer it toward the video by typing the command "cd" followed by the folder the video is in. For example, if the video is on the desktop, type "cd Desktop" and hit "Enter." If the video is in a folder named "Videos/mpeg," type "cd Videos/mpeg" and hit "Enter."

3. 

   Convert the file by typing "ffmpeg -i," followed by the video you're converting, followed by the wmv video you want to created. For example, in the screen shot shown here, a file named "johnhodgman.flv" is being converted to to "johnhodgman.mp4," so the command to type is "ffmpeg -i johnhodgman.flv johnhodgman.mp4."
   Click "Enter" to start the conversion, and an iPod-ready MPEG4 file is created.

Tips & Warnings

• When typing long file names at the command line, try hitting the tab key. It will often auto-complete the file name for you.

References

• Manual page for ffmpeg

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish