Jean-Baptiste Kempf is lead developer of VLC and president of VideoLAN. Kieran Kunhya is a longtime FFmpeg contributor, codec engineer, and the person behind the now-infamous FFmpeg account on X.
Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep496-sb
See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc.
*Transcript:*
*CONTACT LEX:*
*Feedback* – give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey
*AMA* – submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama
*Hiring* – join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring
*Other* – other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact
*EPISODE LINKS:*
FFmpeg on X: https://x.com/FFmpeg
FFmpeg: https://ffmpeg.org/
VideoLAN (VLC): https://www.videolan.org/
VideoLAN on X: https://x.com/videolan
Jean-Baptiste’s Website: https://jbkempf.com/
Jean-Baptiste’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbkempf/
Jean-Baptiste’s GitHub: https://github.com/jbkempf
Kieran’s X: https://x.com/kierank_
Kieran’s LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3OORhmC
Kieran’s GitHub: https://github.com/kierank
*SPONSORS:*
To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts:
*Larridin:* Measure AI adoption in your business.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/larridin-ep496-sb
*Blitzy:* AI agent for large enterprise codebases.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/blitzy-ep496-sb
*BetterHelp:* Online therapy and counseling.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/betterhelp-ep496-sb
*Fin:* AI agent for customer service.
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*LMNT:* Zero-sugar electrolyte drink mix.
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*Perplexity:* AI-powered answer engine.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/perplexity-ep496-sb
*OUTLINE:*
0:00 – Episode highlight
2:17 – Introduction
5:35 – Weirdest things VLC opens
9:59 – How video playback works
19:20 – Video codecs and containers
30:07 – FFmpeg explained
51:07 – Linus Torvalds
55:46 – Turning down millions to keep VLC ad-free
1:10:04 – FFmpeg & Google drama
1:29:18 – FFmpeg developers
1:35:55 – VLC and FFmpeg
1:40:29 – History of FFmpeg
1:43:46 – Reverse engineering codecs
1:57:01 – FFmpeg testing
2:01:08 – Assembly code (handwritten)
2:25:26 – Rust programming language
2:34:42 – FFmpeg and Libav fork
2:43:04 – Open source burnout
2:50:51 – x264 and internet video
3:04:07 – Video compression basics
3:11:04 – CIA and fake VLC
3:21:39 – Ultra low latency streaming
3:39:07 – AV2 codec and video patents
3:48:59 – VLC backdoors
3:59:14 – Video archiving
4:05:51 – Future of FFmpeg and VLC
*PODCAST LINKS:*
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*SOCIAL LINKS:*
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source
Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep496-sa
See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc.
0:00 – Episode highlight
2:17 – Introduction
5:35 – Weirdest things VLC opens
9:59 – How video playback works
19:20 – Video codecs and containers
30:07 – FFmpeg explained
51:07 – Linus Torvalds
55:46 – Turning down millions to keep VLC ad-free
1:10:04 – FFmpeg & Google drama
1:29:18 – FFmpeg developers
1:35:55 – VLC and FFmpeg
1:40:29 – History of FFmpeg
1:43:46 – Reverse engineering codecs
1:57:01 – FFmpeg testing
2:01:08 – Assembly code (handwritten)
2:25:26 – Rust programming language
2:34:42 – FFmpeg and Libav fork
2:43:04 – Open source burnout
2:50:51 – x264 and internet video
3:04:07 – Video compression basics
3:11:04 – CIA and fake VLC
3:21:39 – Ultra low latency streaming
3:39:07 – AV2 codec and video patents
3:48:59 – VLC backdoors
3:59:14 – Video archiving
4:05:51 – Future of FFmpeg and VLC
Transcript:
https://lexfridman.com/ffmpeg-transcript
CONTACT LEX:
Feedback – give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey
AMA – submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama
Hiring – join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring
Other – other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact
EPISODE LINKS:
FFmpeg on X: https://x.com/FFmpeg
FFmpeg: https://ffmpeg.org/
VideoLAN (VLC): https://www.videolan.org/
VideoLAN on X: https://x.com/videolan
Jean-Baptiste's Website: https://jbkempf.com/
Jean-Baptiste's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbkempf/
Jean-Baptiste's GitHub: https://github.com/jbkempf
Kieran's X: https://x.com/kierank_
Kieran's LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3OORhmC
Kieran's GitHub: https://github.com/kierank
SPONSORS:
To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts:
Larridin: Measure AI adoption in your business.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/larridin-ep496-sa
Blitzy: AI agent for large enterprise codebases.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/blitzy-ep496-sa
BetterHelp: Online therapy and counseling.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/betterhelp-ep496-sa
Fin: AI agent for customer service.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/fin-ep496-sa
LMNT: Zero-sugar electrolyte drink mix.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/lmnt-ep496-sa
Perplexity: AI-powered answer engine.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/perplexity-ep496-sa
Kieran Kunhya is my hero, not just for FFMpeg, but for probaly the best X account ever.
https://youtube.com/shorts/5O4qPNocGIA?feature=shared
VLC is the greatest player despite it's dated and awful UI that looks like it was conceived BC 😅 It has a ton of options and no search, but yes, nothing is perfect.
A principled leader in tech, a rare sighting.
No preview st beginning, please.
Lex with his best Glasgow costume on – IYKYK
Thank you for your service
welcome back lex
Good stuff! Thanks for the great software gentlemen 🌺
media player classic > vlc
2:17:09 "You cannot get always harder"
yep i agree
Is it Halloween 🎃? 😬
So when are we getting Khabib episode?
When they talked about Rust, I was wondering if they would talk about Zig too
Legends
Dude stupidest fucking questions
Lex is reaching to save his abominished reputation
Good to see people not part of the epstein class.
Is it easy for AI to reverse engineer now?
not very fair to rust
LEX!!! You did it again man. Bringing the Hidden Living Legends to the surface.
Gods ? GOATs.
why cant these corporation support the open source projects they use better – it would cost them 0.00001% of their bottom line
Thank you to all who has worked and is still working on these softwares! And for making it open source for the benefit of humanity. Heroes all of you
Great episode. I used VLC since middle school and it's one of the best programs out there. Just learned how to use ffmpeg in the last year and it's truly a godsend. If you're on Mac I'd recommend IINA as a VLC alternative, it also uses ffmpeg and has a much cleaner UI.
I hope these guys provide consulting with NeuraLink sometimes!
"Very complex" "A lot of mathematics"… 😂 But I won't think it is more complicated than 3D rendering pipeline
IT's the cone for me. HAHAHAH nice
7:54 I never thought that people search for "cone player" 😂😂😂 this is wild
More intro please, I can't get enough!!! next time make a whole episode of intros!!! 2 minutes is not enough!