Bugzilla – Bug 2449
Mac: Attempting to export as M4A(AAC) yields an FFmpeg error message
Last modified: 2020-06-03 04:52:14 UTC
Attempting to export as M4A(AAC) on a Mac yields an FFmpeg error message >FFmpeg error >Can't open audio codec "aac" (0x15002) >Experimental feature. This is a regression on 2.3.3 and affects 2.4.2 alpha as well as 2.4.1 It is a serious regression as AAC is a native format for Mac computers. This does not affect Windows
We did this on purpos...reference: https://bugzilla.audacityteam.org/show_bug.cgi?id=2378#c30 See comment 20 for a resolution: https://bugzilla.audacityteam.org/show_bug.cgi?id=2378#c20 So, the gist is that this IS a problem, but one that is "solvable" in two ways: 1) On Windows and Mac, don't use the "aac" codec, use "libvo_aacenc" instead. 2) Upgrade to a newer version of FFmpeg on Windows and Mac.
(In reply to Leland Lucius from comment #1) >the gist is that this IS a problem, but one that is "solvable" in two ways: > 1) On Windows and Mac, don't use the "aac" codec, use "libvo_aacenc" instead. > 2) Upgrade to a newer version of FFmpeg on Windows and Mac. what is your advice here Leland? I am somewhat loath to opt for option 2 as there will mean that 2.4.2 upgraders on those platforms will need to reload the newer FFmpeg Plus Buanzo would have to host the newer FFmpeg AND the existing one (at least for a while - for those users who have not upgraded to 2.4.2) This would be a much easier call if we could bundle FFmpeg with Audacity - at least for the FFmpeg formats we have in Export Audio: M4a(AAC), AC3 and WMA
(In reply to Peter Sampson from comment #2) > (In reply to Leland Lucius from comment #1) > >the gist is that this IS a problem, but one that is "solvable" in two ways: > > 1) On Windows and Mac, don't use the "aac" codec, use "libvo_aacenc" instead. > > 2) Upgrade to a newer version of FFmpeg on Windows and Mac. > > what is your advice here Leland? > > I am somewhat loath to opt for option 2 as there will mean that 2.4.2 > upgraders on those platforms will need to reload the newer FFmpeg > > Plus Buanzo would have to host the newer FFmpeg AND the existing one (at > least for a while - for those users who have not upgraded to 2.4.2) > I could rebuild FFmpeg using the exact same version, but with the missing bits. But, that would make it even more confusing. :-( I think the only option at this point is to allow experimental codecs. This means that the silenced export we encountered in: https://bugzilla.audacityteam.org/show_bug.cgi?id=2378 Will again be possible.
Experimental codecs reinstated in: https://github.com/audacity/audacity/commit/722da17 https://github.com/audacity/audacity/actions/runs/122701554 This is really the only solution available to us until we can create a new FFmpeg package or adjust our support to accommodate "official" packages.
This really only needs testing on Mac and it just puts a flag back to the way it was before: https://bugzilla.audacityteam.org/show_bug.cgi?id=2378
Testing on macOS 10.15.5 with Audacity 2.4.2 8e6c5c0 There is no error message and the file is exported. -------------------------------- I do note that, like we used to have with MP3 export, there is a small amount of silence padding at the beginning of the exported AAC file
