When comparing ffmpeg vs FormatFactory, the Slant community recommends ffmpeg for most people. In the question“What are the best combined audio & video transcoders?” ffmpeg is ranked 1st while FormatFactory is ranked 3rd. The most important reason people chose ffmpeg is:
Works on Linux, OS X and Windows.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Cross-platform
Works on Linux, OS X and Windows.
Pro Powerful
In addition to having great flexibility over demuxer, decoder, processer, encoder, muxer choice and settings, ffmpeg can crop, stream, merge audio and video from different sources and perform many other tasks.
Pro Free and open source
Licensed under LGPL.
Pro Screen capture
You can use ffmpeg to record your desktop along with audio.
Pro Extensive list of formats supported
Among the more common formats ffmpeg can handle are h.264, HEVC(h.265), mp3, AAC, mpeg-4, wmv3, ProRes, QuickTime, SWF, Speex, FLAC, VP9 and many more. To get a full list in terminal type: ffmpeg-formats
Pro Excellent streaming support
Because ffmpeg allows transcoding on the fly and supports multiple streaming protocols such as rtmp, rtsp, http, ftp, hls, you can use it to stream to services such as twitch.tv or set up your own streaming solution.
You can use both local realtime recordings or another stream as a source, transcode it if necessary, and output it to a different stream.
ffmpeg -i rtmp://server/live/originalStream -c:a copy -c:v libx264 -vpre slow -f flv rtmp://server/live/h264Stream
Pro Easy to use GUI
Uncluttered, intuitive interface.
Pro Good variety of formats and media types supported
In addition to DVDs, BluRays, CDs and disk images, FormatFactory can handle mp4, 3gp, mpg, avi, wmv, flv, swf, mp3, wma, amr, ogg, aac, wav, jpg, bmp, png, tif, ico, gif and tga.
Pro Free
Proprietary code that you can use in whatever way you want, even for commerce.
Pro Supports batch converting
You can convert multiple files at a time.
Pro Lightweight
It is designed to convert, no added bloat.
Cons
Con Steep learning curve
Unless you use a front-end (that has reduced functionality), ffmpeg might be intimidating at first.