How to install FFmpeg and check which codecs your build has

Nothing else works until the ffmpeg binary is on your system — and not every build ships the same encoders.

brew install ffmpeg          # macOS
sudo apt install ffmpeg     # Debian/Ubuntu
winget install ffmpeg       # Windows (winget)
ffmpeg -version                  # show version
ffmpeg -encoders | grep libx264  # is H.264 encoding available?
ffmpeg -encoders | grep libvpx   # is VP9 encoding available?

FFmpeg Cheatsheet one-page card — 28 commands that actually work — The full one-page card — FFmpeg Cheatsheet. Get the complete cheatsheet on GitHub