Literally, this program just doesn't work. I followed the steps on the download page exactly. I downloaded both files. I copied the CONTENTS of the bin folder inside the kdenlive root directory. And then I copied the presets FOLDER into the kdenlive directory. Still the MP4 rendering option has a red X by it and won't let me render. Oh, as an added bonus, the webM format will crash whenever I try rendering in it.

Any solutions or workarounds would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

Test with this version of ffmpeg :
https://ffmpeg.zeranoe.com/builds/win64 ... shared.zip
and let us know ...

The windows steps on the website are outdated.

Try this:
viewtopic.php?f=265&t=151516&p=396245&hilit=windows+mp4#p396245

Basically you have to install ffmpeg 3.2.4