Can't get FFMPEG buildpack working in Heroku Node.js server (using Fluent-FFMPEG)

Question

I'm using a library called 'fluent-ffmpeg' on my Nodejs server that makes it easier to use an audio/video editing tool called FFmpeg, which is downloaded locally on my computer.

When running on my computer, I point fluent-ffmpeg to the local executable files of FFmpeg and FFprobe on my computer, like so:

import ffmpeg from "fluent-ffmpeg";

// When running locally, set FFmpeg and FFprobe path to the local executable files
ffmpeg.setFfmpegPath("C:/Program Files/FFMPEG/ffmpeg.exe");
ffmpeg.setFfprobePath("C:/Program Files/FFMPEG/ffprobe.exe");

When deploying to Heroku, I must use an FFmpeg 'buildpack'.

I've tried two:

Neither have worked for me. Whenever I use an FFmpeg command, I get the following error in my heroku logs:

2021-07-24T15:22:52.970990+00:00 app[web.1]:   code: 'ENOENT',
2021-07-24T15:22:52.970990+00:00 app[web.1]:   syscall: 'spawn C:/Program Files/FFMPEG/',
2021-07-24T15:22:52.970990+00:00 app[web.1]:   path: 'C:/Program Files/FFMPEG/',
2021-07-24T15:22:52.970991+00:00 app[web.1]:   spawnargs: [
2021-07-24T15:22:52.970991+00:00 app[web.1]:     '-show_streams',
2021-07-24T15:22:52.970991+00:00 app[web.1]:     '-show_format',
2021-07-24T15:22:52.970992+00:00 app[web.1]:     'temp/cf3b5f1ae270df824921364573a4366b'
2021-07-24T15:22:52.970992+00:00 app[web.1]:   ]
2021-07-24T15:22:52.970992+00:00 app[web.1]: }

How can I go about using fluent-ffmpeg in my Nodejs server when deploying to Heroku?

Thank you for the help in advance!

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 30 '21 at 14:08

I wasn't able to get it working with fluent-ffmpeg, but using the buildpack:

https://github.com/jonathanong/heroku-buildpack-ffmpeg-latest

I was able to work with using 'exec' commands in place of fluent-ffmpeg. It requires you to write out ffmpeg commands like you would in the command prompt.

For example:

import { exec } from "child_process";

    exec(`ffmpeg -f concat -safe 0 -i ${filesListPath} -c copy ${mergedFilePath}`, async (error, stdout, stderr) => {
            if (error) {
                console.log(`error: ${error.message}`);
                //Do stuff to handle error
            }
            else {
               //Do stuff to handle success

Can't get FFMPEG buildpack working in Heroku Node.js server (using Fluent-FFMPEG)

1 Answers1