The state of an element can be changed with the following code: GstElement *bin; // create a bin, put elements in it and link them ... gst_element_set_state (bin, GST_STATE_PLAYING); ... You can set the following states on an element: GST_STATE_NULL Reset the state of an element. GST_STATE_READY will make the element ready to start processing data. GST_STATE_PAUSED temporary stops the data flow. GST_STATE_PLAYING means there really is data flowing through the graph.