How can I convert audio from MP4 or FLV video files to mp3?

Question

Is there an application that allows me to extract the audio from a MP4 or FLV video file and store it as an MP3 file for use in a portable media player?

Solution 1

You can do the same in 12.04 by using several software.

Using WinFF

1. Install winff and libavcodec-extra first

    sudo apt-get install winff libavcodec-extra
   

2. Open Winff from dash

   

3. Then in Winff window, do these

   1. Add file

   2. Select what catagory to convert (select Audio)

   3. Select Audio file format (mp3)

   4. Type the output folder for converted file

   

   5. Then click the Convert button. You can also click Options button to file tune the audio format and other options.

   

   

Using VLC

1. Install VLC and "libavcodec-extra" package first

   sudo apt-get install vlc libavcodec-extra
   

2. Open VLC from dash by pressing Super key and typing "VLC" there

   

3. Then from top panel menu, Select Media → Convert/Save.

   

4. Then Add file to convert in the new window. Then click Convert button.

   

5. In the new window, Select the directory for output file, select the conversion profile (Audio mp3) and click Start button.

   

Using command line

1. First install the tools

   sudo apt-get install ffmpeg libavcodec-extra libav-tools
   

   If you are using

2. Use this simple command to extract the audio file

   avconv -i /input-file-name-with-path output-filename.mp3
   

   For example to convert the "How fast.ogg" video file into how-fast.mp3 use this command:

   avconv -i /usr/share/example-content/Ubuntu_Free_Culture_Showcase/How\ fast.ogg how-fast.mp3
   

   See the manual page for more options and information.

To Just extract audio

Check these answer

• https://askubuntu.com/a/234197/61218
• ffmpeg to extract audio

Solution 2

you can do it using ffmpeg. Install ffmpeg using following command:

sudo apt-get install ffmpeg libavcodec-unstripped-52

The package libavcodec-unstripped-52 is available in Multiverse repo, so you will need to enable it.
After installing these packages, you can use a command like the one below to extract the audio as mp3:

ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -f mp3 -ab 192000 -vn music.mp3

The -i option in the above command is simple: it is the path to the input file. The second option -f mp3 tells ffmpeg that the ouput is in mp3 format. The third option i.e -ab 192000 tells ffmpeg that we want the output to be encoded at 192Kbps and -vn tells ffmpeg that we dont want video. The last param is the name of the output file.

Solution 3

soundconverter is another tool that can convert audio formats and also video to audio only:

or via the terminal:

sudo apt-get install soundconverter

Solution 4

It is very easy to do with WinFF (install it), which is a GUI for ffmpeg.

1. Click add.
2. Select a video file
3. In Convert to, select Audio
4. Select an audio codec
5. Click Convert. (Notice that the Convert button might sometimes disappear if the window is too small. Make the window larger if you don't see it)

Done. Screenshot:

Solution 5

soundconverter is another tool that can convert audio formats and also video to audio only.

It can be installed in the Software Center (by clicking the above link) or by running these commands in a Terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install soundconverter

View more solutions

Comments

[b-ak]

I did some more searching on ffmpeg, I found this wonderful guide catswhocode.com/blog/19-ffmpeg-commands-for-all-needs

[Tojamismis]

Thanks for the tip. I have been using VLC for a while but I didn't know of this feature

[arielf]

I prefer the newer audio/video converter avconv. syntax is similar to ffmpeg: 'avconv -i input.mp4 -vn -qscale 1 output.mp3' ... -qscale 1 ensures maximum quality (and VBR) and the type of the encoder is deduced from the output file extension.

[Arpad Horvath]

I think in the command line the libavcodec-extra-53 package is important. Before I installed it, I do not succeded to convert to mp3.

[Anwar]

@ArpaD wasn't that i said in the answer?

[Arpad Horvath]

Sorry. I have not thought that it seems from my comment, that everything is bad in your description. I was just happy to realize, that with that package it is so easy from the command line. I will moderate myself.

[Anwar]

@ArpaD no problem. I was confused with your comment. Thanks. I know now, it was verifying my answer

[Paweł Łabaj]

have you tested converting flv to mp3 in soundconverter? while converting mp4 video to mp3 works ok, in my case it works endlessly with no result to a flv file that winff converts in seconds

[IcyFlame]

amazing nswer...!! so detailed and clear... thanks a lot... this really took me out from a big fix!!

[Mittenchops]

ffmpeg now comes from libav-tools.

[melmi]

Running this program, it says: *** THIS PROGRAM IS DEPRECATED *** This program is only provided for compatibility and will be removed in a future release. Please use avconv instead.

[kevinarpe]

Outstanding answer. Nice work.

[j0h]

In older versions, of ubuntu, you can use sudo apt-get install winff libavcodec-extra-52 I also want to note, that winff can run from the command line, and for me, required root permissions to do the conversions.

[Vineet Kaushik]

This doesn't work now...sudo apt-get install winff libavcodec-extra53 gives the following output: Package libavcodec-extra-53 is not available, but is referred to by another package. This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or is only available from another source However the following packages replace it: libav-tools:i386 libav-tools E: Package 'libavcodec-extra-53' has no installation candidate

[Hitechcomputergeek]

Now I think it's 56. But why not just install the libavcodec-extra metapackage?

[ttoine]

this answer is great, it just misses Sound Converter, imho the most easy way to do it !

[kelin]

Nice answer, because ffmpeg can be used on mac os, and I don't need to switch to ubuntu :)

[wordsforthewise]

I had to do sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras to enable conversion to mp3s

[wordsforthewise]

also install ubuntu-restricted-extras for mp3 conversion

[HighCommander4]

+1 for avconv. I've been looking for a simple command-line way to do this for a long time!

[Arpad Horvath]

@M.Elmi ffmpeg is not deprecated if this answer is true: stackoverflow.com/a/9477756/813946

[augusto]

Weird how the new mp3 file is even larger than source video: a@a-Inspiron-660 ~/Video $ ll _-M8J8urC_8Jw.mkv music.mp3 -rw-rw-r-- 1 a a 26844523 gen 23 2019 _-M8J8urC_8Jw.mkv -rw-rw-r-- 1 a a 31069582 ott 26 12:02 music.mp3 a@a-Inspiron-660 ~/Video $