# FFMPEG / MPEG2 support cross-platform
**URL:** https://discourse.vtk.org/t/ffmpeg-mpeg2-support-cross-platform/4125
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [September 2, 2020, 8:46am UTC](https://discourse.vtk.org/t/ffmpeg-mpeg2-support-cross-platform/4125 "2020-09-02T08:46:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Mathilde](https://discourse.vtk.org/u/Mathilde)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2020, 8:46am UTC](https://discourse.vtk.org/t/ffmpeg-mpeg2-support-cross-platform/4125/1 "2020-09-02T08:46:24Z")
Hello,
We are using VTK export video modules for a project.
On VTK \< 8 we were using [vtkMPEG2Writer](https://vtk.org/doc/release/5.10/html/classvtkMPEG2Writer.html) on Windows and [vtkFFMPEGWriter](https://vtk.org/doc/release/5.10/html/classvtkFFMPEGWriter.html) on Linux and OSX.
However, since VTK 8.2 vtkMPEG2Writer seems to be removed.
On the VTK website ([https://vtk.org/download/](https://vtk.org/download/) paragraph “Download additional components”), or the documentation, it’s not mentioned. The “additional components” still link to MPEG2.
Is the normal behavior on Windows to compile FFMPEG too for VTK 8 and above ? Is there any documentation about the changes?
Best regards
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### Author:  [@lassoan](https://discourse.vtk.org/u/lassoan)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2020, 11:42pm UTC](https://discourse.vtk.org/t/ffmpeg-mpeg2-support-cross-platform/4125/2 "2020-09-03T23:42:38Z")
ffmpeg is bloated and messy, and has complicated licensing situation - depending on what components you enable, you may be able to use it without paying, but for example you would need to get a license for MPEG encoding; and you need to make sure you disable all GPL licensed parts if you want to ever consider commercial use.
If you want to do things legally and clearly, then I would recommend to use an open, cross-platform container, such as mkv, and a royalty-free codec, such as Google’s VP9. We have implemented all this and made it available in a small, freely usable library, IGSIO - see some more details here: [How do I write animation video files in VP9 (libvpx) codec format using vtk ?](https://discourse.vtk.org/t/how-do-i-write-animation-video-files-in-vp9-libvpx-codec-format-using-vtk/1478/2)