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98 lines
4.3 KiB
XML
98 lines
4.3 KiB
XML
<chapter id="chapter-gstreamer">
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<title>What is &GStreamer;?</title>
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<!-- ############ sect1 ############# -->
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<!-- <sect1 id="section-intro-what"> --><!-- synchronize with PWG -->
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<para>
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&GStreamer; is a framework for creating streaming media applications.
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The fundamental design comes from the video pipeline at Oregon Graduate
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Institute, as well as some ideas from DirectShow.
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</para>
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<para>
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&GStreamer;'s development framework makes it possible to write any
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type of streaming multimedia application. The &GStreamer; framework
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is designed to make it easy to write applications that handle audio
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or video or both. It isn't restricted to audio and video, and can
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process any kind of data flow.
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The pipeline design is made to have little overhead above what the
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applied filters induce. This makes &GStreamer; a good framework for
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designing even high-end audio applications which put high demands on
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latency.
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</para>
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<para>
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One of the most obvious uses of &GStreamer; is using it to build
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a media player. &GStreamer; already includes components for building a
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media player that can support a very wide variety of formats, including
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MP3, Ogg/Vorbis, MPEG-1/2, AVI, Quicktime, mod, and more. &GStreamer;,
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however, is much more than just another media player. Its main advantages
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are that the pluggable components can be mixed and matched into arbitrary
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pipelines so that it's possible to write a full-fledged video or audio
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editing application.
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</para>
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<para>
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The framework is based on plugins that will provide the various codec
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and other functionality. The plugins can be linked and arranged in
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a pipeline. This pipeline defines the flow of the data. Pipelines can
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also be edited with a GUI editor and saved as XML so that pipeline
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libraries can be made with a minimum of effort.
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</para>
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<para>
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The &GStreamer; core function is to provide a framework for plugins,
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data flow and media type handling/negotiation. It also provides an
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API to write applications using the various plugins.
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</para>
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<para>
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Specifically, &GStreamer; provides
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem><para>an API for multimedia applications</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>a plugin architecture</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>a pipeline architecture</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>a mechanism for media type handling/negotiation</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>over 150 plug-ins</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>a set of tools</para></listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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</para>
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<para>
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&GStreamer; plug-ins could be classified into
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem><para>protocols handling</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>sources: for audio and video (involves protocol plugins)</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>formats: parsers, formaters, muxers, demuxers, metadata, subtitles</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>codecs: coders and decoders</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>filters: converters, mixers, effects, ...</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>sinks: for audio and video (involves protocol plugins)</para></listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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</para>
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<figure float="1" id="section-gstreamer-img">
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<title>Gstreamer overview</title>
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<mediaobject>
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<imageobject>
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<imagedata scale="75" fileref="images/gstreamer-overview.ℑ" format="&IMAGE;" />
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</imageobject>
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</mediaobject>
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</figure>
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<para>
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&GStreamer; is packaged into
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem><para>gstreamer: the core package</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>gst-plugins-base: an essential exemplary set of elements</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>gst-plugins-good: a set of good-quality plug-ins under LGPL</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>gst-plugins-ugly: a set of good-quality plug-ins that might pose distribution problems</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>gst-plugins-bad: a set of plug-ins that need more quality</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>gst-python: the python bindings</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>a few others packages</para></listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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</para>
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</chapter>
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