Title: FFMPEG as php extension Last modified: September 1, 2016 --- # FFMPEG as php extension * [Stephdotnet](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stephdotnet/) * (@stephdotnet) * [10 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/ffmpeg-as-php-extension/) * Hi everyone, * I am a webdeveloper and have a WP site with a lot of videos on a shared hosting( o2switch). * Of course they don’t allow me to install ffmpeg as a standalone application, bug I can activate FFMPEG as a PHP extension (it’s activated, and GD too). * The problem is that it doesn’t seem to work. (Let’s say it doesn’t work). I think that the plugin doesn’t find the FFMPEG in the repertory /usr/local/bin/ … I guess it is because the extension is not installed in standalone. * My questions is the following : I just want to generate a thumbnail for my 3000 videos, without Libav or FFMPEG (standlone) so how can i do that since i have FFMPEG-PHP5 and the generation works with “browser” technology (when i do from the media with the solo thumbnail generator)? * Meanwhile i’ll start scripting something working with ffmpeg_php5 extension. * Thanks for your time. * Have a good day. * [https://wordpress.org/plugins/video-embed-thumbnail-generator/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/video-embed-thumbnail-generator/) Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total) * Plugin Author [Kyle Gilman](https://wordpress.org/support/users/kylegilman/) * (@kylegilman) * [10 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/ffmpeg-as-php-extension/#post-7474838) * When I first started developing this plugin I looked in to FFMPEG PHP libraries, and it seemed like the main one hadn’t been updated in several years. Ultimately I decided that it was an unnecessary middleman because any PHP library designed to work with FFMPEG still requires FFMPEG to be installed on the server. It’s hard enough to require FFMPEG, requiring a particular PHP library on top of it that wasn’t being maintained and required an ancient version of FFMPEG was too much to ask. * Now there seem to be some newer ones, but I’m not sure if many hosts allow them and which one is most popular. Do you have a link to the documentation for the one you’re using? As far as I know FFMPEG PHP libraries don’t actually contain FFMPEG within them. They’re just an API for accessing FFMPEG. I don’t know how your server is setup, but it sounds like your host doesn’t allow EXEC, but does allow activating FFMPEG through this particular PHP library. Or it just doesn’t give you access to the FFMPEG binaries? I’m just guessing, because this is the first I’ve heard of this kind of configuration. I might be able to add an option to use this PHP library, but I suspect it will be a few months before I could accomplish it. * Thread Starter [Stephdotnet](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stephdotnet/) * (@stephdotnet) * [9 years, 12 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/ffmpeg-as-php-extension/#post-7474934) * Yes, my host doesn’t have the ffmpeg binary installed on, so the php extension is useless. That’s why i’m looking for an another tool to parse the video frame, either in Php or in javascript … Isn’t the manual generation (in single media admin page) done with browser technologies? * Thank’s for your answer, if you think in a tool that can help me do this i’ll have to code it anyway so i’ll share it there. * Have a good day. * Plugin Author [Kyle Gilman](https://wordpress.org/support/users/kylegilman/) * (@kylegilman) * [9 years, 12 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/ffmpeg-as-php-extension/#post-7474977) * From what I can tell my plugin is unique in its use of browser decoding to make thumbnails, but it’s not particularly difficult. The basic idea is to load a video element, draw it onto a canvas, then save the canvas as a file. Batch processing thumbnails using the browser is on my list of features for a premium add-on but I’m constantly pushing that premium idea into the future. * You might be able to modify my JS script to automatically swap out the video source and post ID on an attachment page, generate a thumbnail, save it and continue to loop through all the available videos, but you might find it’s more trouble to figure out the specifics of my code than it’s worth. * Thread Starter [Stephdotnet](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stephdotnet/) * (@stephdotnet) * [9 years, 12 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/ffmpeg-as-php-extension/#post-7474980) * Ok i’ve found it, thanks for your informations. * The canvas capture code will do the trick since i have no other option ^^. I’ll post the result here. * [Michael Allen](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mridanddawg/) * (@mridanddawg) * [9 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/ffmpeg-as-php-extension/#post-7475163) * The FFMPEG is just for thumbnails right? It’s not keeping my video from working is it? I’m trying to find out why this plugin doesn’t seem to be working on my site. * I tried it here: [http://michaelallenonline.com/betty-gilpin-clip-in-elementary/](http://michaelallenonline.com/betty-gilpin-clip-in-elementary/) * Plugin Author [Kyle Gilman](https://wordpress.org/support/users/kylegilman/) * (@kylegilman) * [9 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/ffmpeg-as-php-extension/#post-7475164) * [@michael](https://wordpress.org/support/users/michael/) Allen, you are correct that FFMPEG is not necessary for embedding videos. It appears that you’re not using my plugin on that page, but if you want to troubleshoot, please start a new thread for your issue and post a link to a page that is using my plugin. Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total) The topic ‘FFMPEG as php extension’ is closed to new replies. * ![](https://ps.w.org/video-embed-thumbnail-generator/assets/icon.svg?rev=2965979) * [Videopack](https://wordpress.org/plugins/video-embed-thumbnail-generator/) * [Frequently Asked Questions](https://wordpress.org/plugins/video-embed-thumbnail-generator/#faq) * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/video-embed-thumbnail-generator/) * [Active Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/video-embed-thumbnail-generator/active/) * [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/video-embed-thumbnail-generator/unresolved/) * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/video-embed-thumbnail-generator/reviews/) ## Tags * [ffmpeg](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/ffmpeg/) * [video](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/video/) * 6 replies * 3 participants * Last reply from: [Kyle Gilman](https://wordpress.org/support/users/kylegilman/) * Last activity: [9 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/ffmpeg-as-php-extension/#post-7475164) * Status: not resolved