1 [ excerpt (with adaptations) from developer's README ]
2 ffmpeg is a hyper fast realtime audio/video encoder, a streaming
3 server and a generic audio and video file converter.
5 It can convert a standard video source into several file formats
6 based on DCT/motion compensation encoding. Sound is compressed in
7 MPEG audio layer 2 or using an AC3 compatible stream.
9 What makes ffmpeg interesting ?
10 - Simple and efficient video encoder: outputs MPEG1, H263, Real
11 Video(tm), MPEG4, DIVX and MJPEG compatible bitstreams using the
13 - Hyper fast MPEG audio layer 2 compression (50 times faster than
14 realtime on a K6 500).
15 [snip -> rest on website below]
17 ffmpeg is made of two programs:
18 * ffmpeg: soft VCR which encodes in real time to several formats.
19 It can also encode from any supported input file format to any
20 input supported format.
21 * ffserver: high performance live broadcast streaming server based
22 on the ffmpeg core encoders.
24 WWW: http://ffmpeg.mplayerhq.hu/