All distributions, recommended: How to install the transcoding tools? (VIMP 3.6.x+)

As of VIMP 3.6.x we can use the static builds of FFmpeg (and FFprobe). Instead of installing, we just have to download and extract an archive that includes a running FFmpeg and FFprobe with all requirements.

Download and extract:

The download links for FFmpeg static builds are provided at ffmpeg.org.
The direct URL to the FFmpeg static builds is https://www.johnvansickle.com/ffmpeg/.

cd /opt/
wget https://johnvansickle.com/ffmpeg/builds/ffmpeg-git-amd64-static.tar.xz
tar --xz -xvf  ffmpeg-git-amd64-static.tar.xz
mv ffmpeg-git-XXXXXXXX-amd64-static/ ffmpeg

(Replace XXXXXXXX in the filename)

FFmpeg and FFprobe are already installed now.

Path to FFmpeg: /opt/ffmpeg/ffmpeg

Path to FFprobe: /opt/ffmpeg/ffprobe

Important:
Set Backend -> Configuration -> Transcoding OpenSource Settings -> AAC Encoder to Native FFmpeg AAC encoder. Additional information at: https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/Encode/AAC

Exiftool installation

Depending on whether the Debian or Redhat packet manager is used you can install "exiftool"

- with apt-get:

apt-get install libimage-exiftool-perl

- with yum:

yum install perl-Image-ExifTool

For the transcoding of 360-degree videos (VIMP 4.2 and higher), please check whether the exiftool version is at least 10.8. If this is not the case, please install exiftool as described here: https://sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/install.html

After the update, please update the path to exiftool in the configuration under Transcoding OpenSource -> exiftool path (e.g. /opt/exiftool/exiftool), if it has changed.