🎬 ZeroFFmpeg - Optimized FFmpeg for Raspberry Pi Zero

Ultra-optimized FFmpeg build for Raspberry Pi Zero (ARMv6) with hardware acceleration support. Features clean Docker-based build system with configurable options.

🚀 Features

• ARMv6 Optimized: Specifically compiled for Raspberry Pi Zero architecture
• Hardware Acceleration: V4L2 M2M support for hardware-accelerated H.264 encoding/decoding
• Static Binary: No external dependencies required
• Multi-Configuration: Choose between minimal, normal, or full builds
• Fast Docker Build: Multi-stage Docker build with optimal caching
• GitHub Actions: Automated builds with configurable options

📦 Available Configurations

🔧 Minimal (~ 3-8 MB)

• Basic video operations
• H.264 and MJPEG support
• V4L2 camera input/output
• Essential filters (scale, format)
• Protocols: file, pipe

⚙️ Normal (~ 15-25 MB) - Default

• Comprehensive multimedia support
• H.264 hardware acceleration (V4L2 M2M)
• Streaming protocols (RTSP, HTTP/HTTPS, RTP)
• Audio codecs (AAC, MP3, Opus, Vorbis)
• Advanced filters and processing
• OpenSSL and x264 support

🔥 Full (~ 35-50 MB)

• Complete FFmpeg capabilities
• All codecs, filters, and protocols
• Maximum compatibility
• Post-processing and resampling
• All input/output devices

🛠️ Building

Using Docker (Recommended)

# Build with default (normal) configuration
docker build --build-arg OPTION=normal -t zeroffmpeg .

# Build minimal version
docker build --build-arg OPTION=minimal -t zeroffmpeg-minimal .

# Build full version
docker build --build-arg OPTION=full -t zeroffmpeg-full .

# Extract binaries
docker build --build-arg OPTION=normal --target output --output type=local,dest=./output .

Using GitHub Actions

1. Go to Actions tab in your repository
2. Select "Build FFmpeg" workflow
3. Click "Run workflow"
4. Choose configuration: minimal, normal, or full
5. Download artifacts from completed build

📋 Usage Examples

Camera Streaming

# Stream from Pi Camera to RTSP
./ffmpeg -f v4l2 -i /dev/video0 -c:v h264_v4l2m2m -f rtsp rtsp://localhost:8554/stream

# Capture MJPEG snapshots
./ffmpeg -f v4l2 -i /dev/video0 -vframes 1 -f image2 snapshot.jpg

Hardware Acceleration

# Hardware-accelerated H.264 encoding
./ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v h264_v4l2m2m -preset slow output.mp4

# Hardware-accelerated streaming
./ffmpeg -f v4l2 -i /dev/video0 -c:v h264_v4l2m2m -f rtp rtp://192.168.1.100:5004

🏗️ Architecture

┌─────────────────────┐
│   GitHub Actions   │ ← UI for selecting build options
└─────────┬───────────┘
          │
          ▼
┌─────────────────────┐
│ ffmpeg-configs.sh   │ ← Configuration definitions
└─────────┬───────────┘
          │
          ▼
┌─────────────────────┐
│    Dockerfile      │ ← Multi-stage Docker build
└─────────┬───────────┘
          │
          ▼
┌─────────────────────┐
│  Static Binaries   │ ← ARMv6 optimized output
└─────────────────────┘

🔧 Configuration Details

All configurations are defined in ffmpeg-configs.sh:

• Base Configuration: Common ARM cross-compilation settings
• Minimal: Essential video processing only
• Normal: Balanced feature set for most applications
• Full: Complete FFmpeg functionality

🎯 Performance Optimization

• ARMv6 Specific: Optimized for Pi Zero's CPU architecture
• Hardware Acceleration: V4L2 M2M for GPU-accelerated encoding
• Static Linking: No runtime dependencies
• Size Optimization: -Os compiler flags
• Multi-Stage Build: Efficient Docker layer caching

📊 Size Comparison

Configuration	FFmpeg Size	Features
Minimal	~3-8 MB	Basic video operations
Normal	~15-25 MB	Full multimedia support
Full	~35-50 MB	Complete FFmpeg

🐛 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. No hardware acceleration: Ensure V4L2 M2M drivers are loaded
2. Permission denied: Check camera device permissions (/dev/video*)
3. Out of memory: Use minimal configuration for very limited systems

Debug Mode

# Check available encoders
./ffmpeg -encoders | grep h264

# List V4L2 devices
./ffmpeg -f v4l2 -list_devices true -i dummy

# Verbose output
./ffmpeg -loglevel debug -i input.mp4 output.mp4

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🤝 Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

🙏 Acknowledgments

• FFmpeg project for the amazing multimedia framework
• Dockcross project for ARM cross-compilation toolchain
• Raspberry Pi Foundation for the Pi Zero platform