mpv functionality broken due to using ffmpeg instead of ffmpeg-full

[RalphORama]

The issue

Due to the recent split of ffmpeg and ffmpeg-full formulae, some functionality in the mpv formulae has broken due to missing dependencies.

From some Googling, it appears mpv must be built against ffmpeg-full to enable this functionality, since Homebrew's ffmpeg formula doesn't provide webp, png, etc. support:

• mpv: cannot take screenshots in AVIF, JXL or WebP NixOS/nixpkgs#330125
• Can't save screenshots as jxl mpv-player/mpv#10714

I am unsure if other functionality from mpv is broken. This is the only example I have run into.

Reproduction

1. brew install mpv
2. Download any given video file
3. Launch mpv:

mpv --screenshot-format=webp '<video file>'

4. Press s
5. mpv will output the following in the terminal:

[screenshot] Could not open libavcodec encoder for saving images
[screenshot] Error writing file '<screenshot filename>'!
Error writing screenshot!

System Information

brew config

HOMEBREW_VERSION: 5.1.11
ORIGIN: https://github.com/Homebrew/brew
HEAD: 6f293daa9f9f5832e13b497976335e90509886d7
Last commit: 3 days ago
Branch: stable
Core tap JSON: 13 May 20:55 UTC
Core cask tap JSON: 13 May 20:55 UTC
HOMEBREW_PREFIX: /opt/homebrew
HOMEBREW_CASK_OPTS: []
HOMEBREW_DOWNLOAD_CONCURRENCY: 20
HOMEBREW_EDITOR: nvim
HOMEBREW_FORBID_PACKAGES_FROM_PATHS: set
HOMEBREW_MAKE_JOBS: 10
HOMEBREW_NO_ANALYTICS: set
HOMEBREW_NO_ENV_HINTS: set
Homebrew Ruby: 4.0.3 => /opt/homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/portable-ruby/4.0.3/bin/ruby
CPU: deca-core 64-bit arm_donan
Clang: 21.0.0 build 2100
Git: 2.54.0 => /opt/homebrew/bin/git
Curl: 8.7.1 => /usr/bin/curl
macOS: 26.4.1-arm64
CLT: 26.4.1.0.1775747724
Xcode: N/A
Rosetta 2: false

brew doctor

Please note that these warnings are just used to help the Homebrew maintainers
with debugging if you file an issue. If everything you use Homebrew for is
working fine: please don't worry or file an issue; just ignore this. Thanks!

Warning: You have unlinked kegs in your Cellar.
Leaving kegs unlinked can lead to build-trouble and cause formulae that depend on
those kegs to fail to run properly once built. Run `brew link` on these:
  ffmpeg

brew info mpv

==> mpv ✔: stable 0.41.0 (bottled), HEAD
Media player based on MPlayer and mplayer2
https://mpv.io
Installed (on request)
/opt/homebrew/Cellar/mpv/0.41.0_4 (35 files, 11.5MB) *
  Poured from bottle using the formulae.brew.sh API on 2026-05-13 at 13:22:18
From: https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/blob/HEAD/Formula/m/mpv.rb
License: GPL-2.0-or-later AND LGPL-2.1-or-later
==> Dependencies
Required (16): ffmpeg ✔, jpeg-turbo ✔, libarchive ✔, libass ✔, libbluray ✔, libplacebo ✔, little-cms2 ✔, luajit ✔, mujs ✔, rubberband ✔, uchardet ✔, vapoursynth ✔, vulkan-loader ✔, yt-dlp ✔, zimg ✔, molten-vk ✔
Recursive Runtime (69): all installed ✔
==> Requirements
Build: Xcode (on macOS) ✘
==> Options
--HEAD
	Install HEAD version

brew info ffmpeg

==> ffmpeg ✔: stable 8.1.1 (bottled), HEAD
Play, record, convert, and stream select audio and video codecs
https://ffmpeg.org/
Installed (on request)
/opt/homebrew/Cellar/ffmpeg/8.1.1 (287 files, 53.5MB)
  Poured from bottle using the formulae.brew.sh API on 2026-05-13 at 13:22:12
From: https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/blob/HEAD/Formula/f/ffmpeg.rb
License: GPL-3.0-or-later
==> Dependencies
Required (10): dav1d ✔, lame ✔, libvmaf ✔, libvpx ✔, openssl@3 ✔, opus ✔, sdl2 ✔, svt-av1 ✔, x264 ✔, x265 ✔
Recursive Runtime (11): all installed ✔
Dependents: 1
==> Options
--HEAD
	Install HEAD version
==> Caveats
ffmpeg-full includes additional tools and libraries that are not included in the regular ffmpeg formula.

The following ffmpeg executables are shadowed by other commands earlier in your PATH:
  aviocat (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/aviocat)
  bisect-create (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/bisect-create)
  check_arm_indent.sh (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/check_arm_indent.sh)
  clean-diff (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/clean-diff)
  compare-cvelists.sh (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/compare-cvelists.sh)
  crypto_bench (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/crypto_bench)
  cws2fws (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/cws2fws)
  dvd2concat (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/dvd2concat)
  enc_recon_frame_test (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/enc_recon_frame_test)
  enum_options (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/enum_options)
  ffescape (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/ffescape)
  ffeval (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/ffeval)
  ffhash (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/ffhash)
  ffmpeg (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/ffmpeg)
  ffplay (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/ffplay)
  ffprobe (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/ffprobe)
  fourcc2pixfmt (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/fourcc2pixfmt)
  gen-rc (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/gen-rc)
  general_assembly.pl (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/general_assembly.pl)
  graph2dot (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/graph2dot)
  indent_arm_assembly.pl (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/indent_arm_assembly.pl)
  ismindex (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/ismindex)
  loudnorm.rb (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/loudnorm.rb)
  make_chlayout_test (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/make_chlayout_test)
  merge-all-source-plugins (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/merge-all-source-plugins)
  missing_codec_desc (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/missing_codec_desc)
  murge (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/murge)
  normalize.py (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/normalize.py)
  patcheck (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/patcheck)
  pktdumper (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/pktdumper)
  plotframes (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/plotframes)
  probetest (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/probetest)
  qt-faststart (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/qt-faststart)
  scale_slice_test (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/scale_slice_test)
  seek_print (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/seek_print)
  sidxindex (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/sidxindex)
  source2c (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/source2c)
  target_dec_fate.sh (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/target_dec_fate.sh)
  trasher (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/trasher)
  uncoded_frame (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/uncoded_frame)
  unwrap-diff (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/unwrap-diff)
  venc_data_dump (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/venc_data_dump)
  zmqshell.py (shadowed by /opt/homebrew/bin/zmqshell.py)
Running these by name will not invoke the version provided by Homebrew.

brew info ffmpeg-full

==> ffmpeg-full ✔: stable 8.1.1 (bottled), HEAD [keg-only]
Play, record, convert, and stream many audio and video codecs
https://ffmpeg.org/
Installed (on request)
/opt/homebrew/Cellar/ffmpeg-full/8.1.1 (288 files, 57.4MB) *
  Poured from bottle using the formulae.brew.sh API on 2026-05-04 at 22:54:00
From: https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/blob/HEAD/Formula/f/ffmpeg-full.rb
License: GPL-3.0-or-later
==> Dependencies
Required (46): aom ✔, aribb24 ✔, dav1d ✔, fontconfig ✔, freetype ✔, frei0r ✔, ggml ✔, gnutls ✔, harfbuzz ✔, jpeg-xl ✔, lame ✔, libass ✔, libbluray ✔, libplacebo ✔, librist ✔, libsoxr ✔, libssh ✔, libvidstab ✔, libvmaf ✔, libvorbis ✔, libvpx ✔, libx11 ✔, libxcb ✔, opencore-amr ✔, openjpeg ✔, opus ✔, rav1e ✔, rubberband ✔, sdl2 ✔, snappy ✔, speex ✔, srt ✔, svt-av1 ✔, tesseract ✔, theora ✔, webp ✔, whisper-cpp ✔, x264 ✔, x265 ✔, xvid ✔, xz ✔, zeromq ✔, zimg ✔, libarchive ✔, libogg ✔, libsamplerate ✔
Recursive Runtime (102): all installed ✔
==> Options
--HEAD
	Install HEAD version
==> Caveats
ffmpeg-full includes additional tools and libraries that are not included in the regular ffmpeg formula.

ffmpeg -version

ffmpeg version 8.1.1 Copyright (c) 2000-2026 the FFmpeg developers
built with Apple clang version 21.0.0 (clang-2100.0.123.102)
configuration: --prefix=/opt/homebrew/Cellar/ffmpeg-full/8.1.1 --enable-shared --enable-pthreads --enable-version3 --cc=clang --host-cflags= --host-ldflags= --enable-ffplay --enable-gnutls --enable-gpl --enable-libaom --enable-libaribb24 --enable-libbluray --enable-libdav1d --enable-libharfbuzz --enable-libjxl --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopus --enable-libplacebo --enable-librav1e --enable-librist --enable-librubberband --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsrt --enable-libssh --enable-libsvtav1 --enable-libtesseract --enable-libtheora --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvmaf --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwebp --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libxml2 --enable-libxvid --enable-lzma --enable-libfontconfig --enable-libfreetype --enable-frei0r --enable-libass --enable-libopencore-amrnb --enable-libopencore-amrwb --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libspeex --enable-libsoxr --enable-libzmq --enable-libzimg --enable-whisper --disable-libjack --disable-indev=jack --enable-videotoolbox --enable-audiotoolbox --enable-neon
libavutil      60. 26.101 / 60. 26.101
libavcodec     62. 28.101 / 62. 28.101
libavformat    62. 12.101 / 62. 12.101
libavdevice    62.  3.101 / 62.  3.101
libavfilter    11. 14.101 / 11. 14.101
libswscale      9.  5.101 /  9.  5.101
libswresample   6.  3.101 /  6.  3.101

Exiting with exit code 0

mpv -v

[cplayer] Command line options: '-v'
[cplayer] mpv v0.41.0 Copyright © 2000-2025 mpv/MPlayer/mplayer2 projects
[cplayer] libplacebo version: v7.360.1
[cplayer] FFmpeg version: 8.1 (runtime 8.1.1)
[cplayer] FFmpeg library versions:
[cplayer]    libavcodec      62.28.100 (runtime 62.28.101)
[cplayer]    libavdevice     62.3.100 (runtime 62.3.101)
[cplayer]    libavfilter     11.14.100 (runtime 11.14.101)
[cplayer]    libavformat     62.12.100 (runtime 62.12.101)
[cplayer]    libavutil       60.26.100 (runtime 60.26.101)
[cplayer]    libswresample   6.3.100 (runtime 6.3.101)
[cplayer]    libswscale      9.5.100 (runtime 9.5.101)
[cplayer] Configuration: -Dbuild-date=false -Dhtml-build=enabled -Djavascript=enabled -Dlibmpv=true -Dlua=luajit -Dlibarchive=enabled -Duchardet=enabled -Dvulkan=enabled -Dprefix=/opt/homebrew/Cellar/mpv/0.41.0_4 -Ddatadir=/opt/homebrew/Cellar/mpv/0.41.0_4/share/mpv -Dlibdir=/opt/homebrew/Cellar/mpv/0.41.0_4/lib -Dmandir=/opt/homebrew/Cellar/mpv/0.41.0_4/share/man -Dsysconfdir=/opt/homebrew/etc/mpv -Dbuildtype=release -Dwrap_mode=nofallback
[cplayer] List of enabled features: avfoundation bsd-fstatfs cocoa coreaudio cplugins darwin ffmpeg gl gl-cocoa glob glob-posix gpl iconv javascript jpeg lcms2 libarchive libass libavdevice libbluray libdl libplacebo luajit mac-thread-name macos-10-15-4-features macos-11-3-features macos-11-features macos-12-features macos-cocoa-cb macos-media-player macos-touchbar posix posix-shm rubberband rubberband-3 swift uchardet vapoursynth vector videotoolbox-gl videotoolbox-pl vk-khr-display vulkan zimg zimg-st428 zlib
[cplayer] Setting option 'v' = '' (flags = 8)
[clipboard] Initialized mac clipboard backend.
[cplayer] mpv v0.41.0 Copyright © 2000-2025 mpv/MPlayer/mplayer2 projects
[cplayer] libplacebo version: v7.360.1
[cplayer] FFmpeg version: 8.1 (runtime 8.1.1)
[cplayer] FFmpeg library versions:
[cplayer]    libavcodec      62.28.100 (runtime 62.28.101)
[cplayer]    libavdevice     62.3.100 (runtime 62.3.101)
[cplayer]    libavfilter     11.14.100 (runtime 11.14.101)
[cplayer]    libavformat     62.12.100 (runtime 62.12.101)
[cplayer]    libavutil       60.26.100 (runtime 60.26.101)
[cplayer]    libswresample   6.3.100 (runtime 6.3.101)
[cplayer]    libswscale      9.5.100 (runtime 9.5.101)
[cplayer] Usage:   mpv [options] [url|path/]filename
[cplayer]
[cplayer] Basic options:
[cplayer]  --start=<time>    seek to given (percent, seconds, or hh:mm:ss) position
[cplayer]  --no-audio        do not play sound
[cplayer]  --no-video        do not play video
[cplayer]  --fs              fullscreen playback
[cplayer]  --sub-file=<file> specify subtitle file to use
[cplayer]  --playlist=<file> specify playlist file
[cplayer]
[cplayer]  --list-options    list all mpv options
[cplayer]  --h=<string>      print options which contain the given string in their name
[cplayer] Set property: user-data/osc/visibility="auto" -> 1
[cplayer] Set property: user-data/osc/margins={"b":0,"r":0,"t":0,"l":0} -> 1

[SMillerDev]

Have you tried just putting ffmpeg-full first in your path if you want it to have priority?

[RalphORama]

I have using brew link ffmpeg-full, but the issue is that the mpv binary is linked against the stripped down version of libavcodec (I think) provided by ffmpeg. It doesn't invoke ffmpeg based upon what's in $PATH

[SMillerDev]

The answer is here Homebrew/homebrew-core#263348 (comment)

[RalphORama]

For posterity I'll comment my workaround until someone creates an mpv-full tap/formulae.

ffmpeg \
  -ss 00:05:37 \
  -i "<filename>" \
  -an \
  -map_metadata -1 \
  -map 0:v:0 \
  -vframes 1 -r 1 \
  -codec libwebp -lossless 1 -quality 100 \
  "<screenshot name>.webp"

-an, -map_metadata -1, and -map 0:v:0 remove excess streams/info
-vframes 1 and -r 1 select a single frame from the timecode defined by -ss
-lossless 1 and -quality 100 creates a lossless webp with the best possible compression but can be exchanged for lossy compression (see the ffmpeg Codecs Documentation for libwebp)