Compiling and installing `ffmpeg` with Decklink SDK on Ubuntu 18.04 Server. Check out forks of this gist for more up-to-date info.

install-ffmpeg-with-decklink-support-ubuntu-18.04-server.md

Compiling and installing ffmpeg with Decklink support on Ubuntu 18.04 Server

• Download Desktop Video (driver) & Desktop Video SDK from https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support/family/capture-and-playback
• Install Desktop Video (driver)

  tar -xf Blackmagic_Desktop_Video_Linux_*.tar
  cd Blackmagic_Desktop_Video_Linux_*/deb/x86_64/
  sudo dpkg -i desktopvideo_*.deb
  sudo apt-get install -f
  BlackmagicFirmwareUpdater status
  # if prompted to update, perform an update:
  BlackmagicFirmwareUpdater update 0
  # if prompted to shutdown, reboot the device:
  sudo reboot

• Unzip Desktop Video SDK

  sudo apt install unzip
  unzip Blackmagic_DeckLink_SDK_*.zip
  mkdir -p ~/ffmpeg_sources ~/bin
  cp -r Blackmagic\ DeckLink\ SDK\ */Linux/ ~/ffmpeg_sources/BMD_SDK

• Follow ffmpeg compilation instruction at https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/CompilationGuide/Ubuntu
  • Install dependencies

    sudo apt-get update -qq && sudo apt-get -y install \
      autoconf \
      automake \
      build-essential \
      cmake \
      git-core \
      libass-dev \
      libfreetype6-dev \
      libtool \
      libvorbis-dev \
      pkg-config \
      texinfo \
      wget \
      zlib1g-dev
    sudo apt-get -y install \
      nasm yasm libx264-dev libx265-dev libnuma-dev libvpx-dev \
      libfdk-aac-dev libmp3lame-dev libopus-dev

  • Get ffmpeg source code and configure it.

    cd ~/ffmpeg_sources
    wget https://ffmpeg.org/releases/ffmpeg-4.1.3.tar.bz2
    tar -xvf ffmpeg-*.tar.bz2
    cd ffmpeg-*/
    PATH="$HOME/bin:$PATH" PKG_CONFIG_PATH="$HOME/ffmpeg_build/lib/pkgconfig" ./configure \
      --prefix="$HOME/ffmpeg_build" \
      --pkg-config-flags="--static" \
      --extra-cflags="-I$HOME/ffmpeg_build/include -I$HOME/ffmpeg_sources/BMD_SDK/include" \
      --extra-ldflags="-L$HOME/ffmpeg_build/lib" \
      --extra-libs="-lpthread -lm" \
      --bindir="$HOME/bin" \
      --enable-gpl \
      --enable-libass \
      --enable-libfdk-aac \
      --enable-libfreetype \
      --enable-libmp3lame \
      --enable-libopus \
      --enable-libvorbis \
      --enable-libvpx \
      --enable-libx264 \
      --enable-libx265 \
      --enable-nonfree \
      --enable-decklink

    Note the addition of --enable-decklink and BlackMagicDesign SDK in --extra-cflags.
    There are API changes in BMD SDK 11 onwards so if ffmpeg doesn't compile, compile it with BMD SDK 10.11.4
  • Compile and install it.

    PATH="$HOME/bin:$PATH" make -j `nproc`
    sudo cp ffmpeg ffprobe /usr/local/bin/

I can confirm that ffmpeg 4.2 has compiled without a hitch with BMD SDK 11.4.

It is not working with ffmpeg 4.2 and BMD SDK 11.5

It is not working with ffmpeg 4.2 and BMD SDK 11.5

I can confirm, I'm still trying to find a version that compiles.

@tech-nickel @sandervg did you guys manage to compile the BMD SDK 11.5? I think you need to execute sudo ldconfig after the compilation of the BMD SDK 11.5 otherwise ffmpeg won't be able to find the libraries of Blackmagic.

@tech-nickel @sandervg did you guys manage to compile the BMD SDK 11.5? I think you need to execute sudo ldconfig after the compilation of the BMD SDK 11.5 otherwise ffmpeg won't be able to find the libraries of Blackmagic.

I ended up compiling ffmpeg 4.2 with the 11.4 SDK, that works fine.

@tech-nickel yes, I didn't try to compile 11.5, but glad that you managed to do it!

Compiled with ffmpeg 4.2.3 and Desktop Video 11.5.1 on Ubuntu 20.04, however, I had to use sudo apt install libnuma-dev for x265 support to be enabled.

@brendandower90 and others: I'm getting a compilation error

I'm running into an error with ffmpeg 4.2.3 and Desktop Video 11.7 and 11.5.1 on Ubuntu 20.04.
I'm getitng the following errors when I run this command: PATH="$HOME/bin:$PATH" make -j nprocC

Any thoughts or suggestion?

Error:
libavdevice/decklink_common.cpp: In function ‘int ff_decklink_set_format(AVFormatContext*, int, int, int, int, AVFieldOrder, decklink_direction_t, int)’: libavdevice/decklink_common.cpp:277:52: error: no matching function for call to ‘IDeckLinkInput::DoesSupportVideoMode(BMDVideoConnection&, BMDDisplayMode&, BMDPixelFormat, _BMDSupportedVideoModeFlags, bool*)’ 277 | &support) != S_OK) | ^ In file included from libavdevice/decklink_common.cpp:28: /home/otg/ffmpeg_sources/BMD_SDK/include/DeckLinkAPI.h:815:21: note: candidate: ‘virtual HRESULT IDeckLinkInput::DoesSupportVideoMode(BMDVideoConnection, BMDDisplayMode, BMDPixelFormat, BMDVideoInputConversionMode, BMDSupportedVideoModeFlags, BMDDisplayMode*, bool*)’ 815 | virtual HRESULT DoesSupportVideoMode (/* in */ BMDVideoConnection connection /* If a value of bmdVideoConnectionUnspecified is specified, the caller does not care about the connection */, /* in */ BMDDisplayMode requestedMode, /* in */ BMDPixelFormat requestedPixelFormat, /* in */ BMDVideoInputConversionMode conversionMode, /* in */ BMDSupportedVideoModeFlags flags, /* out */ BMDDisplayMode* actualMode, /* out */ bool* supported) = 0; | ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ /home/otg/ffmpeg_sources/BMD_SDK/include/DeckLinkAPI.h:815:21: note: candidate expects 7 arguments, 5 provided libavdevice/decklink_common.cpp:283:65: error: no matching function for call to ‘IDeckLinkOutput::DoesSupportVideoMode(_BMDVideoConnection, BMDDisplayMode&, BMDPixelFormat&, _BMDSupportedVideoModeFlags, BMDDisplayMode*, bool*)’

@brendandower90 and others: I'm getting a compilation error

I'm running into an error with ffmpeg 4.2.3 and Desktop Video 11.7 and 11.5.1 on Ubuntu 20.04.
I'm getitng the following errors when I run this command: PATH="$HOME/bin:$PATH" make -j nprocC

Any thoughts or suggestion?

Error:
libavdevice/decklink_common.cpp: In function ‘int ff_decklink_set_format(AVFormatContext*, int, int, int, int, AVFieldOrder, decklink_direction_t, int)’: libavdevice/decklink_common.cpp:277:52: error: no matching function for call to ‘IDeckLinkInput::DoesSupportVideoMode(BMDVideoConnection&, BMDDisplayMode&, BMDPixelFormat, _BMDSupportedVideoModeFlags, bool*)’ 277 | &support) != S_OK) | ^ In file included from libavdevice/decklink_common.cpp:28: /home/otg/ffmpeg_sources/BMD_SDK/include/DeckLinkAPI.h:815:21: note: candidate: ‘virtual HRESULT IDeckLinkInput::DoesSupportVideoMode(BMDVideoConnection, BMDDisplayMode, BMDPixelFormat, BMDVideoInputConversionMode, BMDSupportedVideoModeFlags, BMDDisplayMode*, bool*)’ 815 | virtual HRESULT DoesSupportVideoMode (/* in */ BMDVideoConnection connection /* If a value of bmdVideoConnectionUnspecified is specified, the caller does not care about the connection */, /* in */ BMDDisplayMode requestedMode, /* in */ BMDPixelFormat requestedPixelFormat, /* in */ BMDVideoInputConversionMode conversionMode, /* in */ BMDSupportedVideoModeFlags flags, /* out */ BMDDisplayMode* actualMode, /* out */ bool* supported) = 0; | ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ /home/otg/ffmpeg_sources/BMD_SDK/include/DeckLinkAPI.h:815:21: note: candidate expects 7 arguments, 5 provided libavdevice/decklink_common.cpp:283:65: error: no matching function for call to ‘IDeckLinkOutput::DoesSupportVideoMode(_BMDVideoConnection, BMDDisplayMode&, BMDPixelFormat&, _BMDSupportedVideoModeFlags, BMDDisplayMode*, bool*)’

I have exact same situation:
Trying to build 4.1.6 debian sources-package
Tried both 11.7 and 11.5.1 with same results

I previously managed to build 4.1.3 debian sources-package along with 11.4 by patching as suggested https://trac.ffmpeg.org/ticket/7789 .... But now I'm getting this one.
Hope someone could help...

Managed to compile using Ubuntu 20.04, ffmpeg 4.4, Blackmagic v12 packages.
Thanks a lot for this!

I can confirm, if you change the line:

wget https://ffmpeg.org/releases/ffmpeg-4.1.3.tar.bz2

to

wget https://ffmpeg.org/releases/ffmpeg-4.4.tar.bz2

it compiles for the black magic SDK 12 on my Ubuntu 18.04 System

can anyone help me to compile ffmpeg with decklink in docker container.

Fahad

can anyone help me to compile ffmpeg with decklink in docker container.

Fahad

Hi, Dockerfile to create a docker image with ffmpeg 5.1 and BMD 12.4 based on jrottenberg/ffmpeg
https://github.com/cHunter789/ffmpeg-decklink

i can confirm that http://ffmpeg.org/releases/ffmpeg-6.0.tar.bz2 and bmd 12.4.2 compiles on ubuntu 22.04.2

I have managed to compile ffmpeg version N-118305-g8eb1d76e14 with Blackmagic Desktop Video 14.0

For those wondering, I needed a combination of drivers 14.4 and SDK 12.9 to work with the upcomming debian trixie (supplying ffmpeg-7.1).

From the 14.4 driver package, I needed desktopvideo_*.deb and desktopvideo-gui_*.deb. But mediaexpress*.deb failed to work with the rest of the OS due to some renamed libegl1-meta and libegl1-x11 libraries. ffmpeg 7.1 also fails to build with the 14.4 SDK with:

$ dpkg-buildpackage -uc -us
...
src/libavdevice/decklink_dec.cpp: In member function ‘virtual HRESULT decklink_input_callback::VideoInputFrameArrived(IDeckLinkVideoInputFrame*, IDeckLinkAudioInputPacket*)’:
src/libavdevice/decklink_dec.cpp:778:21: error: ‘class IDeckLinkVideoInputFrame’ has no member named ‘GetBytes’; did you mean ‘GetRowBytes’?
  778 |         videoFrame->GetBytes(&frameBytes);
      |                     ^~~~~~~~
      |                     GetRowBytes
src/libavdevice/decklink_dec.cpp:797:29: error: ‘class IDeckLinkVideoInputFrame’ has no member named ‘GetBytes’; did you mean ‘GetRowBytes’?
  797 |                 videoFrame->GetBytes(&frameBytes);
      |                             ^~~~~~~~
      |                             GetRowBytes
src/libavdevice/decklink_dec.cpp: In function ‘int ff_decklink_read_header(AVFormatContext*)’:
src/libavdevice/decklink_dec.cpp:1173:22: error: ‘class IDeckLinkInput’ has no member named ‘SetVideoInputFrameMemoryAllocator’
 1173 |     ret = (ctx->dli->SetVideoInputFrameMemoryAllocator(allocator) == S_OK ? 0 : AVERROR_EXTERNAL);
      |   

The 12.9 is the latest SDK I found that compiles. Here are the simpler instructions I used:

# Unpack Blackmagic's zipfile
unzip Blackmagic\ DeckLink\ SDK\ 12.9.zip

# Download ffmpeg and install dependencies
sudo apt build-dep ffmpeg
apt source ffmpeg

# Setup the build
cd ffmpeg-7.1
cp -r ../Blackmagic\ DeckLink\ SDK\ 12.9/Linux/include blackmagic_include
dpkg-source --commit
nano debian/rules
# add the following anywhere between the `CONFIG :=` line and the `%:` rule.
# CONFIG += --enable-decklink \
#           --extra-cflags="-Iblackmagic_include" \
#           --enable-nonfree

# Build
dpkg-buildpackage -uc -us

# Install the packages:
sudo apt install ../*deb

I did try to run the 12.9 drivers to avoid this hybrid, but they failed to compile for kernel 6.12. I suspect it's something with the MOX secure-boot stuff.

Leaving this here in case it helps someone: I was able to get this working on Debian 13 using FFmpeg 7.1.1 and SDK 14.2.