Video Streaming in vlcj

Question

I want to stream a video from server to the client. I have found the code for streaming the video from the server to the client side but get an error when running it:

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Answer 1

I think you are working from and old example, well actually I think you are working from an old test case. The vlcj project has moved to github from googlecode. So more than likely you are using an older version of the library.

Secondly, if you check out Part 2 by the guy who wrote the library, I think it will clear some things up for you. Essentially you should be using EmbeddedMediaPlayerComponent in most instances, in which case you can either pass in the url to a stream or a file path to a local file to be played.

I am including the Part 2 source code below:

import uk.co.caprica.vlcj.binding.LibVlc;
import uk.co.caprica.vlcj.component.EmbeddedMediaPlayerComponent;
import uk.co.caprica.vlcj.runtime.RuntimeUtil;

import com.sun.jna.NativeLibrary;
public class Tutorial2B {

  private final EmbeddedMediaPlayerComponent mediaPlayerComponent;

  public static void main(String[] args) {
    SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
      @Override
      public void run() {
        new Tutorial2B(args);
      }
    });
  }

  private Tutorial2B(String[] args) {
    JFrame frame = new JFrame("vlcj Tutorial");

    mediaPlayerComponent = new EmbeddedMediaPlayerComponent();

    frame.setContentPane(mediaPlayerComponent);

    frame.setLocation(100, 100);
    frame.setSize(1050, 600);
    frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
    frame.setVisible(true);

    mediaPlayerComponent.getMediaPlayer().playMedia(args[0]);
  }
}

---

Explanation of StreamHttp.java

import uk.co.caprica.vlcj.player.MediaPlayerFactory;
import uk.co.caprica.vlcj.player.headless.HeadlessMediaPlayer;
import uk.co.caprica.vlcj.test.VlcjTest;

/**
* An example of how to stream a media file over HTTP.
* <p>
* The client specifies an MRL of <code>http://127.0.0.1:5555</code>
*/
public class StreamHttp extends VlcjTest {

    //when running this it requires an MRL (Media Resource Locator)
    //fancy term for saying the file you want to stream. This could be a url to another
    //location that streams media or a filepath to a media file you want to stream
    //on the system you are running this code on.
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        if(args.length != 1) {
            System.out.println("Specify a single MRL to stream");
            System.exit(1);
        }

        //the media you are wanting to stream
        String media = args[0];
        //this is the IP address and port you are wanting to stream at
        //this means clients will connect to http://127.0.0.1:5555
        //to watch the stream
        String options = formatHttpStream("127.0.0.1", 5555);

        System.out.println("Streaming '" + media + "' to '" + options + "'");

        //this creates a the actual media player that will make calls into the native
        //vlc libraries to actually play the media you supplied. It does it in
        //a headless fashion, as you are going to stream it over http to be watched
        //instead of playing it locally to be watched.    
        MediaPlayerFactory mediaPlayerFactory = new MediaPlayerFactory(args);
        HeadlessMediaPlayer mediaPlayer = mediaPlayerFactory.newHeadlessMediaPlayer();

        //this simply starts the player playing the media you gave it
        mediaPlayer.playMedia(media, options);

        // Don't exit
        //basically you don't want the thread to end and kill the player, 
        //so it just hangs around and waits for it to end.
        Thread.currentThread().join();
    }

    private static String formatHttpStream(String serverAddress, int serverPort) {
        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(60);
        sb.append(":sout=#duplicate{dst=std{access=http,mux=ts,");
        sb.append("dst=");
        sb.append(serverAddress);
        sb.append(':');
        sb.append(serverPort);
        sb.append("}}");
        return sb.toString();
    }
}