This document describes how to build Oak Video Editor from source on Windows, Linux, and macOS.
- CMake 3.20+
- Ninja (recommended)
- Qt 6 (with private headers)
- FFmpeg 8.0+ development libraries (distro packages on Ubuntu/Debian are often too old; see the Linux section below)
- OpenImageIO
- OpenColorIO (2.x)
- OpenEXR
- Expat
- PortAudio
- OpenGL headers
- XKB common (Linux)
This guide uses MSYS2 with the UCRT64 toolchain.
Download and install MSYS2 from https://www.msys2.org/. Then open the MSYS2 UCRT64 terminal.
pacman -Syu
pacman -S --needed \
mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-cmake \
mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-ninja \
mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-qt6-base \
mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-qt6-tools \
mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-ffmpeg \
mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-openimageio \
mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-opencolorio \
mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-openexr \
mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-fmt \
mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-expat \
mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-portaudio \
mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-gccNote: Qt 6 private headers may require additional packages depending on the MSYS2 repository state. If CMake reports missing private headers, install
mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-qt6-base-privateif available.
# Clone the repository
git clone --recursive https://github.com/OakVideoEditorCommunity/oak.git
cd oak
# Configure
cmake -S . -B build -G Ninja \
-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
-DBUILD_QT6=ON
# Build
cmake --build build --config Releasectest --test-dir build --output-on-failure -C ReleaseInstall dependencies (FFmpeg is built from source below because distro packages are often too old):
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y \
cmake ninja-build pkg-config nasm \
qt6-base-dev qt6-base-dev-tools qt6-base-private-dev qt6-tools-dev qt6-tools-dev-tools \
libopencolorio-dev libopenimageio-dev libopenexr-dev libexpat1-dev \
portaudio19-dev libgl1-mesa-dev libxkbcommon-devBuild FFmpeg 8.0+ from source:
git clone --branch n8.1.1 --depth 1 https://git.ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg.git ffmpeg-src
cd ffmpeg-src
./configure \
--prefix="$PWD/../ffmpeg-install" \
--enable-static \
--disable-shared \
--disable-doc \
--disable-programs \
--disable-avdevice \
--disable-network \
--enable-pic \
--enable-gpl \
--enable-version3
make -j$(nproc)
make install
cd ..Configure and build:
cmake -S . -B build -G Ninja \
-DBUILD_TESTS=ON -DBUILD_QT6=ON \
-DFFMPEG_ROOT="$PWD/ffmpeg-install"
cmake --build build --config ReleaseRun tests:
ctest --test-dir build --output-on-failure -C ReleaseInstall dependencies:
sudo dnf install -y \
cmake ninja-build pkgconf-pkg-config \
qt6-qtbase-devel qt6-qtbase-private-devel qt6-qttools-devel \
ffmpeg-devel \
OpenImageIO-devel \
OpenColorIO-devel \
openexr-devel \
expat-devel \
portaudio-devel \
mesa-libGL-devel \
libxkbcommon-devel \
gcc-c++Configure and build:
cmake -S . -B build -G Ninja -DBUILD_TESTS=ON -DBUILD_QT6=ON
cmake --build build --config ReleaseRun tests:
ctest --test-dir build --output-on-failure -C ReleaseInstall dependencies:
sudo pacman -Syu
sudo pacman -S --needed \
cmake ninja pkgconf \
qt6-base qt6-tools \
ffmpeg \
openimageio \
opencolorio \
openexr \
expat \
portaudio \
mesa \
libxkbcommon \
gccNote: On Arch Linux, Qt 6 private headers are included in the
qt6-basepackage.
Configure and build:
cmake -S . -B build -G Ninja -DBUILD_TESTS=ON -DBUILD_QT6=ON
cmake --build build --config ReleaseRun tests:
ctest --test-dir build --output-on-failure -C ReleaseNote: macOS support is non-official. We only run CI automation on macOS and do not perform manual testing.
Install dependencies:
brew update
brew install cmake ninja pkg-config qt@6 ffmpeg openimageio opencolorio openexr portaudio expatBuild OpenTimelineIO (optional, required for OTIO support):
git clone --depth 1 --branch v0.16.0 https://github.com/PixarAnimationStudios/OpenTimelineIO.git
cmake -S OpenTimelineIO -B OpenTimelineIO/build -G Ninja \
-DOTIO_SHARED_LIBS=ON \
-DOTIO_PYTHON_BINDINGS=OFF \
-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="${PWD}/otio-install"
cmake --build OpenTimelineIO/build
cmake --install OpenTimelineIO/buildConfigure and build:
export PATH="$(brew --prefix qt@6)/bin:$PATH"
export CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH="$(brew --prefix qt@6)"
export OTIO_LOCATION="${PWD}/otio-install"
export OCIO_LOCATION="$(brew --prefix opencolorio)"
cmake -S . -B build -G Ninja -DBUILD_TESTS=ON -DBUILD_QT6=ON \
-DOTIO_LOCATION="${OTIO_LOCATION}" \
-DOCIO_LOCATION="${OCIO_LOCATION}"
cmake --build build --config ReleaseRun tests:
ctest --test-dir build --output-on-failure -C Release| Option | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
BUILD_TESTS |
OFF |
Build unit tests |
BUILD_DOXYGEN |
OFF |
Build Doxygen documentation |
USE_WERROR |
OFF |
Treat warnings as errors |
BUILD_QT6 |
ON |
Build with Qt 6 instead of Qt 5 |
OTIO_LOCATION |
- | Path to OpenTimelineIO installation (optional) |
OCIO_LOCATION |
- | Path to OpenColorIO installation |
Ensure Qt 6 is in your PATH and CMake prefix path:
# Linux / macOS
export PATH="/path/to/qt6/bin:$PATH"
export CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH="/path/to/qt6"
# Windows (MSYS2)
export PATH="/ucrt64/bin:$PATH"If you see errors about missing Qt private headers, install the corresponding private development package for your distribution (e.g., qt6-base-private-dev on Debian/Ubuntu, qt6-qtbase-private-devel on Fedora).
Make sure FFmpeg development libraries are installed and pkg-config can locate them:
pkg-config --exists libavcodec && echo "Found" || echo "Not found"If you encounter errors like AV_PIX_FMT_GRAYF16 was not declared in this scope, your FFmpeg is too old (Oak requires 8.0+). Build from source:
git clone --branch n8.1.1 --depth 1 https://git.ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg.git ffmpeg-src
cd ffmpeg-src
./configure \
--prefix="$PWD/../ffmpeg-install" \
--enable-static \
--disable-shared \
--disable-doc \
--disable-programs \
--disable-avdevice \
--disable-network \
--enable-pic \
--enable-gpl \
--enable-version3
make -j$(nproc)
make install
cd ..Then pass -DFFMPEG_ROOT="$PWD/ffmpeg-install" to CMake.