mpv/DOCS/client_api_examples/README.md

Client API examples

All these examples use the mpv client API through libmpv.

Where are the docs?

The libmpv C API is documented directly in the header files (on normal Unix systems, this is in /usr/include/mpv/client.h.

libmpv merely gives you access to mpv's command interface, which is documented here:

• Options (mpv_set_option() and friends): http://mpv.io/manual/master/#options
• Commands (mpv_command() and friends): http://mpv.io/manual/master/#list-of-input-commands
• Properties (mpv_set_property() and friends): http://mpv.io/manual/master/#properties

Essentially everything is done with them, including loading a file, retrieving playback progress, and so on.

Methods of embedding the video window

All of these examples concentrate on how to integrate mpv's video renderers with your own GUI. This is generally the hardest part. libmpv enforces a somewhat efficient video output method, rather than e.g. returning a RGBA surface in memory for each frame. The latter would be prohibitively inefficient, because it would require conversion on the CPU. The goal is also not requiring the API users to reinvent their own video rendering/scaling/presentation mechanisms.

There are currently 2 methods of embedding video.

Native window embedding

This uses the platform's native method of nesting multiple windows. For example, Linux/X11 can nest a window from a completely different process. The nested window can redraw contents on its own, and receive user input if the user interacts with this window.

libmpv lets you specify a parent window for its own video window via the wid option. Then libmpv will create its window with your window as parent, and render its video inside of it.

This method is highly OS-dependent. Some behavior is OS-specific. There are problems with focusing on X11 (the ancient X11 focus policy mismatches with that of modern UI toolkits - it's normally worked around, but this is not easily possible with raw window embedding). It seems to have stability problems on OSX when using the Qt toolkit.

OpenGL embedding

This method lets you use libmpv's OpenGL renderer directly. You create an OpenGL context, and then use mpv_opengl_cb_draw() to render the video on each frame.

This is more complicated, because libmpv will work directly on your own OpenGL state. It's also not possible to have mpv automatically receive user input. You will have to simulate this with the mouse/keypress/keydown/keyup commands.

You also get much more flexibility. For example, you can actually render your own OSD on top of the video, something that is not possible with raw window embedding.

Which one to use?

Due to the various platform-specific behavior and problems (in particular on OSX), OpenGL embedding is recommended. If you're not comfortable with requiring OpenGL, or want to support "direct" video output such as vdpau (which might win when it comes to performance and energy-saving), you should probably support both methods if possible.

List of examples

simple

Very primitive terminal-only example. Shows some most basic API usage.

cocoa

Shows how to embed the mpv video window in Objective-C/Cocoa.

cocoa-openglcb

Similar to the cocoa sample, but shows how to integrate mpv's OpenGL renderer using libmpv's opengl-cb API. Since it does not require complicated interaction with Cocoa elements from different libraries, it's more robust.

qt

Shows how to embed the mpv video window in Qt (using normal desktop widgets).

qt_opengl

Shows how to use mpv's OpenGL video renderer in Qt. This uses the opengl-cb API for video. Since it does not rely on embedding "foreign" native Windows, it's usually more robust, potentially faster, and it's easier to control how your GUI interacts with the video. You can do your own OpenGL rendering on top of the video as well.

qml

Shows how to use mpv's OpenGL video renderer in QtQuick2 with QML. Uses the opengl-cb API for video. Since the video is a normal QML element, it's trivial to create OSD overlays with QML-native graphical elements as well.

qml_direct

Alternative example, which typically avoids a FBO indirection. Might be slightly faster, but is less flexible and harder to use. In particular, the video is not a normal QML element. Uses the opengl-cb API for video.

sdl

Show how to embed the mpv OpenGL renderer in SDL. Uses the opengl-cb API for video.