Support AAC de- and encoding on Linux

I run this one-liner script to ffmpeg convert the files. I've separated the two sections so prevent copy/paste accidents when running the script as the second half IS destructive.

```
for i in *.mp4; do ffmpeg -i "$i" -c:v copy -c:a pcm_s16le -f mov "${i%.*}.mov"; done
```

I run it all in the same directory as the source files that ALL have audio that needs to be converted. You can update the file extensions as you see fit.

In my script, I also remove and rename the resultant files

```
rm *.mp4

for i in *.mov; do mv "$i" "${i%.*}.mp4"; done
```

So, before and after the script run it looks like nothing has changed, except the audio stream has been converted.

This works for me as I need, but can be changed to suit your needs, file structure, and workflow.

Thanks I'll give it a shot and see what I can mess up lol

I run this one-liner script to ffmpeg convert the files. I've separated the two sections so prevent copy/paste accidents when running the script as the second half IS destructive.

Thanks that worked like a charm! Now my Linux Distro is working the way I want!!

So ffmpeg can't be distributed with DR, I guess that's the licensing issue? But it doesn't seem that big a deal, like said earlier it's already included in most distros and it's fairly trivial to obtain it yourself. Lots of other software deals with this issue (ie Reaper) or similar when exporting MP3s with LAME.

I installed ffmpeg and a separate AC3 encoder on my Linux Mint 22. I still can't get audio from anything with AAC or AC3 in it. I've been trying Handbrake to re encode but I can't seem to change the available audio codec manually. Only what is in a preset and none of the presets I've tried will work.

I'm trying to ditch windows for good and having to boot up windows to re encode all my clips or clients clips defeats the purpose.

Resolve doesn't care about system codecs, so it doesn't matter what you will install.
You need to transcode audio to PCM upfront like explained in the post above.

I'm trying to add my vote here.

After decades with Adobe suite I cancelled it for a variety of reasons, only some of which are the commonly talked about. I don't need to go there. I am doing my editing on a machine I built for that, not Apple, yet I'm also fed up of Windows, again for more reasons than commonly talked about. The third option, Linux, is a natural one for me as I am a software engineer too and I use it daily. I am not claiming that Linux is perfect but it can be made to work and I am beginning to believe that many people unhappy with the other two (Microsoft, Apple) have good reasons but only one choice - Linux... and we should take the opportunity to make it work (better than it does).

Setting up BMDDVR (Studio) on Linux is major pain in the behind for anyone wanting to use the same computer for other things too and won't use the same Linux distribution. I tried a few things in the free version to make my decision and purchased the license last night to gain access to more codecs, among other things. It didn't even occur to me that the absolute majority of my recordings would be treated as silent movies that require me to jump through hoops and/or (potentially) lose quality (in some alternatives) because AAC doesn't work in it even though every other app I use in Linux is handling them just fine

This is a foundational, basic functionality. It must be made present, it is inexcusable at this point that it isn't there.

With the Windows 10 support going away in 11 months and Windows 11 requiring older system hardware refresh, this issue of not support industry pervasive AAC on linux is the the top issue for us that is driving our future plans.

Is AAC support on the development roadmap, and what would be the timeframe?

If you need to batch extract and convert audio in Linux, you can do it with a certain piece of software that you probably already have.

VLC

Simply go to Media -> Convert/Save, and the GUI will guide you. Oddly enough, to start the conversion you must press the play button. Weird but it works.

PS: I created an account here just for this comment, and boy were those anti-bots questions hard! I actually did ask ChatGPT for the answer. And it worked.

So ffmpeg can't be distributed with DR, I guess that's the licensing issue? But it doesn't seem that big a deal, like said earlier it's already included in most distros and it's fairly trivial to obtain it yourself. Lots of other software deals with this issue (ie Reaper) or similar when exporting MP3s with LAME.

I installed ffmpeg and a separate AC3 encoder on my Linux Mint 22. I still can't get audio from anything with AAC or AC3 in it. I've been trying Handbrake to re encode but I can't seem to change the available audio codec manually. Only what is in a preset and none of the presets I've tried will work.

I'm trying to ditch windows for good and having to boot up windows to re encode all my clips or clients clips defeats the purpose.

I have exactly the same issue and I am on LinuxMint 22 as well. It feels counter-productive when you have to use third party software to encode first especially when you have to deal with lots of them. I wish paid studio deals with this at least.

The install is very easy to install and the plugin is very well documented.
No. It does not do ingest; only exports. There is not much you can change on AAC codec parameters ... but it is great for my needs. Also, the pack comes with other exotic codecs.

So are you saying... we still need to export a wav file from the mp4 source file as a separate track to work with, then we need this plugin to export the final product in mp4 with aac as audio? What happens now if we don't use the plugin? What format are you guys exporting? I just bought it yesterday so I don't know how things work yet.

If you need to export an mp4, you can set the audio codec to FLAC. That will work for most software players and for YouTube. Might not work with old hardware playback devices.

Or export to QuickTime .mov, where you'll have other options (LPCM for audio and tons of options for video).

If you need to export an mp4, you can set the audio codec to FLAC. That will work for most software players and for YouTube. Might not work with old hardware playback devices.

Or export to QuickTime .mov, where you'll have other options (LPCM for audio and tons of options for video).

Thanks for the tips. I will try it out!

I asked Peter Chamberlain in an email chain "why AAC is not an acceptable CODEC on Linux" and he replied that "the simple answer is due to licensing".

This really makes zero sense if you think about the catch-22 of the logic behind it. If AAC's too expensive to fit into the price of Resolve, then how is it licensed for Windows and macOS? Oh, they use the decoder built into the OS-- so why can't the Linux version do that? Well it can't use the OS's decoder-- so why can't it be licensed on Linux the same as on Windows/macOS? And so on.

And no, if the problem is "distributing ffmpeg would be illegal," Resolve doesn't need to do that because it's already available on the officially supported distributions (and many more). But then "we can't just use what the OS distributes, we'd need to ship it ourselves" -> "you're able to do that with the other OS's" -> keep repeating.

AAC is not free and you have to pay licensing. Answer to all your questions is simple- money
Apple and MS (MS is part of the licensing group, so probably pays way less) paid a lot of money to have it included into OS. You can use it in other apps, like Resolve does.
Linux is not MS or Apple and have no such a money or need to include AAC decoder and pay huge licensing fees.
Ffmepg route also won't work (as you described). You would need to obtain libraries yourself and then Resolve could link into it, but this is also grey area and BM simply doesn't want to do it to upset industry partners or face some legal actions.
Whole licensing crap is complex and even uses of free ffmpeg libraries in paid software has rules and limitations. Resolve already uses "ffmpeg" code. If it was 'easy' then AAC decoder would be in Resolve years ago.

Yes please! AAC on Linux would be greatly helpful!

But before that, I would definitely like either official Ubuntu support or a universal installer version of Resolve, like Flatpak or AppImage