# Installation

Installing Spacer is relatively straightforward, as it is designed to be used cross-platform.

Spacer version 1.1.2 and later require Python 3.13. Please use version 1.1.1 if you are on an older version of Python.

# Prerequisites

Spacer currently does not check that these requirements are met, but may fail if they are not. Make sure they are before proceeding.

Python 3.13
A recent-enough version of FFmpeg (the ffmpeg and ffprobe commands must be in PATH)
SoX (the sox command must be in PATH)
A fair amount of free disk space (4 GB should be enough)
git to download Spacer itself
At least one song to convert to surround
Optionally, a graphics processor that supports NVIDIA CUDA or AMD ROCm to accelerate processing

# Downloading Spacer from the first time

To download Spacer, use the following command:

git clone --branch 1.1.3 https://github.com/kammyfur/spacer.git

This will create a new folder named "spacer" with the source code inside. Then use:

cd spacer

To switch to this directory.

# Upgrading from an older version of Spacer

If you are upgrading from an older version of Spacer, first go to the folder where Spacer is installed:

cd spacer

(or wherever you have installed Spacer) and run the following command:

git checkout 1.1.3

# Installing the dependencies

To make it easier to install dependencies, we will use a virtual environment. Use the following command to proceed:

python3.13 -m venv .venv

On Windows, you might need to use the python3, python or py command instead. You can use python3 -V (or python -V, or py -V) to make sure you are running Python 3.13.

Once the virtual environment is installed, you can start it by using the following command (depending on your platform):

Shell	Command
bash, zsh	`source ./.venv/bin/activate`
fish	`source ./.venv/bin/activate.fish`
csh, tcsh	`source ./.venv/bin/activate.csh`
PowerShell	`source ./.venv/bin/Activate.ps1`

Shell	Command
cmd.exe	`.venv\Scripts\activate.bat`
PowerShell	`.\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1`

Once in the virtual environment, you can use the following command to install the required dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

You now have everything you need to run Spacer, congratulations!