Video Streams

STK Engine provides a robust video reader based on RasterStream. VideoStream supports streaming from various protocols and a large variety of media formats, codecs, frame rates and frame sizes. See below for the complete list.

Subsequent animation steps of a Marker Batch primitive using a texture created from a VideoStream. The video is streamed in real time from the website in the code snippet below.

Both real-time playback of video and synchronization of video with the time in STK Engine is provided by the VideoStream class. When playing in real-time, the video will play at the rate defined by the video stream, or at the frame rate specified with the FrameRate property. If the Loop property is set to true, the video will loop to the first frame when it reaches past the last frame of the video.

The FrameRate and Loop properties are only applicable Playback property is set to RealTime.

Below, a VideoStream is loaded from an HTTP source:

[C#] Copy Code
IAgStkGraphicsSceneManager manager = ((IAgScenario)root.CurrentScenario).SceneManager;
string uri = @"http://www.agi.com/downloads/media-center/multimedia/current-events/us-spy-satellite/US_ASAT.wmv";
IAgStkGraphicsVideoStream videoStream = manager.Initializers.VideoStream.InitializeWithStringUri(uri);
videoStream.Playback = AgEStkGraphicsVideoPlayback.eStkGraphicsVideoPlaybackRealTime;
videoStream.Loop = true;

The StartTime, EndTime, StartFrame, and EndFrame properties can be used to adjust where the video starts playback and where it ends. Since these properties are interrelated, changing the StartTime will also change the StartFrame, and vice versa. The EndTime and EndFrame properties follow the same convention.

Subsequent time steps of a Marker Batch primitive using a texture that was created from a VideoStream. The video is synchronized with a time interval in the code snippet below.

When playback is set to synchronize with a time interval by setting the Playback property to TimeInterval, the video will play synchronized with the time interval specified with the IntervalStartTime and IntervalEndTime properties. The start frame of the video will coincide with the start time of the interval, and the last frame of the video will coincide with the end time of that interval. For example, when the STK Engine animation is played in reverse, or stepped to a specific time, the video will similarly play in reverse or step to the corresponding frame in the video at that time.

For optimal synchronization with STK Engine animation when the Playback property is set to TimeInterval, a video format that supports frame accurate seeking through indexing should be used . Motion JPEG (mjpeg), Digital Video (dvsd), and Quicktime (mov), are among the codecs and formats that provide frame accurate seeking.

Below, a VideoStream is configured to play synchronized over a time interval:

[C#] Copy Code
IAgStkGraphicsSceneManager manager = ((IAgScenario)root.CurrentScenario).SceneManager;
IAgStkGraphicsVideoStream videoReader = manager.Initializers.VideoStream.InitializeWithStringUri(videoPath);
videoReader.Playback = AgEStkGraphicsVideoPlayback.eStkGraphicsVideoPlaybackTimeInterval;
videoReader.IntervalStartTime = root.ConversionUtility.NewDate("UTCG", ((IAgScenario)root.CurrentScenario).StartTime.ToString());
videoReader.IntervalEndTime = root.ConversionUtility.NewDate("UTCG", "30 May 2008 14:11:58.162");

As with any Raster and RasterStream, the VideoStream can be queried for its attributes and data:

[C#] Copy Code
IAgStkGraphicsRaster videoData = videoReader as IAgStkGraphicsRaster;
Console.WriteLine(videoData.Attributes.Width);
Console.WriteLine(videoData.Attributes.Height);
Console.WriteLine(videoData.Attributes.Format);
Console.WriteLine(videoData.Attributes.PixelAspectRatio);

Media streams and formats supported by VideoStream:

Extension Description
3g2 3gp2 format
3gp 3gp format
4xm 4X Technologies format
IFF IFF format
MTV MTV format
RoQ Id RoQ format
aac ADTS AAC
ac3 raw ac3
adts ADTS AAC
aiff Audio IFF
alaw pcm A law format
amr 3gpp amr file format
apc CRYO APC format
ape Monkey's Audio
asf asf format
asf_stream asf format
au SUN AU Format
avi avi format
avm2 Flash 9 (AVM2) format
avs AVISynth
bethsoftvid Bethesda Softworks 'Daggerfall' VID format
c93 Interplay C93
crc crc testing format
daud D-Cinema audio format
dsicin Delphine Software International CIN format
dts raw dts
dv DV video format
dvd MPEG2 PS format (DVD VOB)
dxa dxa
ea Electronic Arts Multimedia Format
ea_cdata Electronic Arts cdata
ffm ffm format
film_cpk Sega FILM/CPK format
flac raw flac
flic FLI/FLC/FLX animation format
flv flv format
framecrc framecrc testing format
gif GIF Animation
gxf GXF format
h261 raw h261
h263 raw h263
h264 raw H264 video format
idcin Id CIN format
image2 image2 sequence
image2pipe piped image2 sequence
ingenient Ingenient MJPEG
ipmovie Interplay MVE format
ipod iPod H.264 mp4 format
libnut nut format
lmlm4 lmlm4 raw format
m4v raw MPEG4 video format
matroska Matroska File Format
mjpeg MJPEG video
mm American Laser Games MM format
mmf mmf format
mov mov format
mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 QuickTime/MPEG4/Motion JPEG 2000 format
mp2 MPEG audio layer 2
mp3 MPEG audio layer 3
mp4 mp4 format
mpc musepack
mpc8 musepack8
mpeg MPEG1 System format
mpeg1video MPEG video
mpeg2video MPEG2 video
mpegts MPEG2 transport stream format
mpegtsraw MPEG2 raw transport stream format
mpegvideo MPEG video
mpjpeg Mime multipart JPEG format
msnwctcp MSN TCP Webcam stream
mulaw pcm mu law format
mxf MXF format
nsv NullSoft Video format
null null video format
nut nut format
nuv NuppelVideo format
ogg Ogg format
psp psp mp4 format
psxstr Sony Playstation STR format
pva pva file and stream format
rawvideo raw video format
redir Redirector format
rl2 rl2 format
rm rm format
rpl RPL/ARMovie format
rtp RTP output format
rtsp RTSP input format
s16be pcm signed 16 bit big endian format
s16le pcm signed 16 bit little endian format
s8 pcm signed 8 bit format
sdp SDP
shn raw shorten
siff Beam Software SIFF
smk Smacker Video
sol Sierra SOL Format
svcd MPEG2 PS format (VOB)
swf Flash format
thp THP
tiertexseq Tiertex Limited SEQ format
tta true-audio
txd txd format
u16be pcm unsigned 16 bit big endian format
u16le pcm unsigned 16 bit little endian format
u8 pcm unsigned 8 bit format
vc1 raw vc1
vc1test VC1 test bitstream format
vcd MPEG1 System format (VCD)
vfwcap VFW video capture
vmd Sierra VMD format
vob MPEG2 PS format (VOB)
voc Creative Voice File format
wav wav format
wc3movie Wing Commander III movie format
wsaud Westwood Studios audio format
wsvqa Westwood Studios VQA format
wv WavPack
yuv4mpegpipe YUV4MPEG pipe format

Media Codecs supported by VideoStream:

4xm 8bps 8svx exponential decoder 8svx fibonacci decoder VMware video aasc
ac3 adpcm_4xm adpcm_adx adpcm_ct adpcm_ea adpcm_ea_r1
adpcm_ea_r2 adpcm_ea_r3 adpcm_ea_xas adpcm_ima_amv adpcm_ima_dk3 adpcm_ima_dk4
adpcm_ima_ea_eacs adpcm_ima_ea_sead adpcm_ima_qt adpcm_ima_smjpeg adpcm_ima_wav adpcm_ima_ws
adpcm_ms adpcm_sbpro_2 adpcm_sbpro_3 adpcm_sbpro_4 adpcm_swf adpcm_thp
adpcm_xa adpcm_yamaha alac amv ape asv1
asv2 atrac 3 avs bethsoftvid bmp c93
camstudio camtasia cavs cinepak cljr cook
cyuv dca dnxhd dsicinaudio dsicinvideo dvbsub
dvdsub dvvideo dxa escape124 ffv1 ffvhuff
flac flashsv flic flv fraps g726
gif h261 h263 h263i h263p h264
huffyuv idcinvideo imc indeo2 indeo3 interplay_dpcm
interplayvideo jpegls kmvc liba52 libfaac libfaad
libgsm libgsm_ms libmp3lame libtheora libvorbis libx264
libxvid ljpeg loco mace3 mace6 mdec
mimic mjpeg mjpegb mmvideo mp2 mp3
mp3adu mp3on4 mpc sv7 mpc sv8 mpeg1video mpeg2video
mpeg4 mpeg4aac mpegvideo msmpeg4 msmpeg4v1 msmpeg4v2
msrle msvideo1 mszh nellymoser nuv pam
pbm pcm_alaw pcm_mulaw pcm_s16be pcm_s16le pcm_s16le_planar
pcm_s24be pcm_s24daud pcm_s24le pcm_s32be pcm_s32le pcm_s8
pcm_u16be pcm_u16le pcm_u24be pcm_u24le pcm_u32be pcm_u32le
pcm_u8 pcm_zork pcx pgm pgmyuv png
ppm ptx qdm2 qdraw qpeg qtrle
rawvideo real_144 real_288 rl2 roq_dpcm roqvideo
rpza rv10 rv20 sgi shorten smackaud
smackvid smc snow sol_dpcm sonic sonicls
sp5x sunrast svq1 svq3 targa theora
thp tiertexseqvideo tiff truemotion1 truemotion2 truespeech
tta txd ultimotion vb vc1 vcr1
vmdaudio vmdvideo vorbis vp3 vp5 vp6
vp6a vp6f vqavideo wavpack wmav1 wmav2
wmv1 wmv2 wmv3 wnv1 ws_snd1 xan_dpcm
xan_wc3 xl xsub zlib zmbv

Protocols supported by VideoStream:

Protocol Description Usage
file: Filesystem file:///C:\video.mpg
http: Hypertext ransfer Protocol http://hostname/video.mpg
rtp: Real-time Transport Protocol rtp://hostname:port
tcp: Transmission Control Protocol tcp://hostname:port
udp: User Datagram Protocol udp://hostname:port[?option=val...]
Options are as follows:
'multicast=1' : Enable multicast
'ttl=n' : Set the ttl value (for multicast only)
'localport=n' : Set the local port
'pkt_size=n' : Set the maximum packet size
'reuse=1' : Enable reusing of the socket

Frame size and frame rate abbreviations supported by VideoStream:

ntsc pal qntsc qpal
sntsc spal film ntsc-film
sqcif qcif cif 4cif