To install ffmpeg on a Mac, the easiest way - and what I do - is to first install Homebrew and then type in a command into the Terminal (see below) wait a little while and then ffmpeg is installed. The Windows install may feel a bit complex if you're not used to it but it really doesn't take long. I've covered each install method below, so you can just skip straight to the bit that matches your operating system. I mostly work on Windows but when it comes to ffmpeg the syntax we'll use for entering commands is the same. I have ffmpeg installed on my Mac, on Linux (I use Ubuntu) and on Windows. We're going to fly from London to New York today, and also from London to Rome. But you don't need to know anything about QGIS to complete this tutorial - I've already exported all the individual map frames for you and shared them down below. To begin with, here's a video I made using ffmpeg, from a series of map frames I exported from QGIS Atlas. I'll try to demystify the mysterious and show you how to do some interesting things without too much pain. If you're somewhere in the middle, also hi. If you're already a Jedi-level coder but maybe haven't used ffmpeg, welcome too.

Part of my sneaky plan here is to lure you in with enticing visuals so that you overlook a little bit of the complexity - which is really not that complex, I promise. If you're scared of code, command line stuff and weird computer language in general then this post is for you. This post is about how to create video animations from a sequence of individual images, using a simple but extremely powerful command line tool called FFmpeg.

Ffmpeg install mac terminal