FFmpeg for video previews and editing
Portman2 uses FFmpeg, a separate free program, for video hover previews, trimming, grading, compressing and combining, and can download it for you.
What works without it
Portman2's installer includes a decoder of its own, so on most computers the videos' poster frames are made even without FFmpeg. What is missing without FFmpeg is the short hover preview in the grid, and the editing: Edit video, Convert… and Combine… then offer to get FFmpeg instead.
Getting it
When FFmpeg is missing, Settings ▸ Library ▸ Thumbnails & video says what that costs and offers it:
- Download FFmpeg — shows the size, where it comes from and its licence first. Nothing downloads until you press it. It unpacks into your own user folder, so it needs no administrator rights.
- Or install it yourself — the command for your system's package manager, and the address of FFmpeg's own site, with copy buttons.
A computer that sees the library but has no FFmpeg will be short of the library's films. The Replicas pane says so when that is the case.