Although I have covered the wonderful AAC códec (the one that essentially replaced MP3 back in 1997, even though many people still don’t know it), I usually cover AAC in an audio final distribution context. Today, I’m talking about AAC in a video recording and editing context. I’ll explain about an unusual licensing situation which was privately resolved in the past on both macOS and Windows, but not with Linux distributions. Most of Linux «distros» are FOSS (free and open source software). Although there is no public record of the transaction, it appears that sometime in the past Apple and Microsoft privately negotiated with the predecessor of what is now Via-LA (Via Licensing Corp) to receive a license for decoding AAC audio on its platforms, be it from audio-only files or AAC audio embedded within H.264 and H.265 video files. Even though the DaVinci Resolve (free) and DaVinci Resolve Studio (paid, currently US$295) programs exist for Linux, macOS and Windows (and the licensing of AAC decoding was already taken care of by Apple and Microsoft on a system level), the situation is quite different on Linux.

As a result of this weird situation, H.264 and H.265 video files with embedded AAC audio (the most common way audio is embedded there) are initially silent when played within DaVinci Resolve (Studio) on Linux. The suggested workaround is to use a free third-party tool to extract and transcode those AAC recordings into separate audio files, either WAV or separate FLAC (compressed yet lossless) and import them into DaVinci Resolve (Studio) to accompany the essentially «muted» H.264 or H.265 files. This means extra steps before editing this H.264 or H.265 footage, which is very common in many camcorders and mobile phone recordings.

Kdenlive (a competing product which is also available for the same three operating systems) solved this on Linux. Kdenlive is FOSS (free and open source software) on all platforms. Kdenlive decodes AAC on-the-fly on Linux by leveraging the FFmpeg libraries, which are a core part of Kdenlive0s functionality. FFmpeg handles the decoding of AAC audio, allowing Kdenlive to use the audio directly without needing separate conversion steps for most standard AAC-encoded files. FFmpeg is also FOSS (Free and Open-Source Software). As a result, when using Kdenlive on Linux, you just import the file and go, without any prior transcoding required. Online forums are filled with DaVinci Resolve (Studio) users on Linux who are complaining about this situation.

For editors who must frequently receive material from H.264 and H.265 video files with embedded AAC audio (the most common way with those files) this makes Kdenlive a hassle free solution, which is also cash-free, unless they decide to donate to Kdenlive’s develepors. There are certainly stronger features in DaVinci Resolve (Studio), but that goes beyond this targeted article about decoding AAC audio on Linux.

I will also comment that AAC decoding comes with most modern Linux distributions nowadays, although it may require installing extra packages depending on the specific distribution. Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Fedora, and Arch Linux are among those that provide easy access to the necessary códecs through their repositories. In the case of Linux Mint (which I have installed and tested recently), an option is offered during setup to include additional multimedia códecs, where I always say Yes (or Sí). Then I visit my most active audio podcast page using the included or any other browser on Linux at CapicúaFM.com and make sure that the AAC audio from my show plays, which it does 🙂

If Blackmagic is listening/reading…

If Blackmagic is listening or reading, please consider improving your Linux versions of DaVinci Resolve Studio by leveraging the FFmpeg libraries at least for AAC decoding. This is something which has been done by Kdenlive and all of the web browsers and media players I have tested on Linux so far, so it should be feasible for Blackmagic’s programmers to do with the Linux versions of DaVinci Resolve. I know you have heard this before, but we will keep reminding you about it until it’s solved, one way or another. Offering a premium program for Linux for US$295 without feature parity (when so many browsers, editors and media players on Linux have solved it) isn’t right.

Lee este artículo en buen castellano

Audio AAC: Kdenlive le gana a DaVinci Resolve en Linux…

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