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[Stucki]

i think it would be great ( for me ) if it is possible to play .swf-files from within the wintermute-engine.
maybe in a window or even better in a sprite-entity

it would be ideal for me to create cutscenes or some animations like computerscreens ....

greets
stucki

[odnorf]

Another option is to export the flash animation to an avi.  It would be bigger ofcourse but it should work just fine.

[Mnemonic]

Another option is to export the flash animation to an avi.  It would be bigger ofcourse but it should work just fine.

I'm afraid it's the only option. I can't think of any feasible way of integrating flash playback into WME

[McCoy]

Or you could make it executable, and run it when needed... but maybe you'll need metamorphium's ugly hack for mplayer... (ask him if you want to know about that).

[Stucki]

as always thanks for answering

okay so i will export the flash file to avi.format.
but what about the ugly hack for mplayer ? what does it and why

greets
stucki
 

[odnorf]

but what about the ugly hack for mplayer ? what does it and why

Metamorphium did this. He calls mplayer.exe (it's a movie player) from inside wme to play a movie. It's not really elegant and I wouldn't suggest it to anyone.

[metamorphium]

but what about the ugly hack for mplayer ? what does it and why

Metamorphium did this. He calls mplayer.exe (it's a movie player) from inside wme to play a movie. It's not really elegant and I wouldn't suggest it to anyone.

There is no ugly hack anymore. It doesn't work even with it. Problem is that if you run your game in the same resolution as your desktop is (including bpp) sometimes WME is not able to minimize itself. Unless Microsoft repairs it, I don't suggest this to anyone.

I disagree with odnorf though - it was the only solution without paying $2000 for commercial codecs. If Microsoft ever fix this (looks like DirectX issue to me) I am going to use it, because it gives many posibilities including multi language subtitles and whatever. And dll itself was very elegant. It is sufficient to call one function with video file as a parameter. That's all.

Also my brother wrote a mplayer patch which makes it decode data into network socket, so maybe this would be the way how to get this directly into WME without need of minimalization.

But ... of course any better solutions would be greatly appreciated. *wink* at odnorf...

[odnorf]

I disagree with odnorf though - it was the only solution without paying $2000 for commercial codecs. If Microsoft ever fix this (looks like DirectX issue to me) I am going to use it, because it gives many posibilities including multi language subtitles and whatever. And dll itself was very elegant. It is sufficient to call one function with video file as a parameter. That's all.

Good to know it's working now. But the most serious problem is that it is actually illegal to distribute an executable of mplayer, especially if you want to sell your game. Mplayer's code is covered by MANY patents (mpeg ones for example) and you can't really use it except for personnal use.

But ... of course any better solutions would be greatly appreciated. *wink* at odnorf...

I'm afraid that the only solution right now that is elegant and 100% legal is to wait for theora codec to reach status 1.0 so that Mnemonic can add it to the wme just like he did with vorbis.

[metamorphium]

I disagree with odnorf though - it was the only solution without paying $2000 for commercial codecs. If Microsoft ever fix this (looks like DirectX issue to me) I am going to use it, because it gives many posibilities including multi language subtitles and whatever. And dll itself was very elegant. It is sufficient to call one function with video file as a parameter. That's all.

Good to know it's working now. But the most serious problem is that it is actually illegal to distribute an executable of mplayer, especially if you want to sell your game. Mplayer's code is covered by MANY patents (mpeg ones for example) and you can't really use it except for personnal use.

But ... of course any better solutions would be greatly appreciated. *wink* at odnorf...

I'm afraid that the only solution right now that is elegant and 100% legal is to wait for theora codec to reach status 1.0 so that Mnemonic can add it to the wme just like he did with vorbis.

Again you are not completely correct. Mplayer has its own MPEG4 codec which is not under patents. I forgot to mention though that you must recompile mplayer WITHOUT all licensed codecs. (So put away DivX and MPEG 2) And also you need to add your modified source of mplayer to your product so you won't violate GPL. I have this confirmed by lawyers so I trust them in this issue. Otherwise I won't even bother with writing that dll. We used this codec for our software which ran during World Ice Hockey Championship in Sazka Arena and therefore we have confirmed its legality of usage.

[odnorf]

Again you are not completely correct. Mplayer has its own MPEG4 codec which is not under patents. I forgot to mention though that you must recompile mplayer WITHOUT all licensed codecs. (So put away DivX and MPEG 2) And also you need to add your modified source of mplayer to your product so you won't violate GPL. I have this confirmed by lawyers so I trust them in this issue. Otherwise I won't even bother with writing that dll. We used this codec for our software which ran during World Ice Hockey Championship in Sazka Arena and therefore we have confirmed its legality of usage.

I hope you are right but... as far as I know you can't develop a MPEG4 codec without using patents. That's why you won't find any executables at the xvid site. It's like trying to write an MP3 codec without using patents. Impossible. Is the lawyer you ask specialized in the patent area? Because the problem here is not about licenced codecs BUT the patents. Has your laywers run a patent search on the specific codecs you want to use?

[metamorphium]

Again you are not completely correct. Mplayer has its own MPEG4 codec which is not under patents. I forgot to mention though that you must recompile mplayer WITHOUT all licensed codecs. (So put away DivX and MPEG 2) And also you need to add your modified source of mplayer to your product so you won't violate GPL. I have this confirmed by lawyers so I trust them in this issue. Otherwise I won't even bother with writing that dll. We used this codec for our software which ran during World Ice Hockey Championship in Sazka Arena and therefore we have confirmed its legality of usage.

I hope you are right but... as far as I know you can't develop a MPEG4 codec without using patents. That's why you won't find any executables at the xvid site. It's like trying to write an MP3 codec without using patents. Impossible. Is the lawyer you ask specialized in the patent area? Because the problem here is not about licenced codecs BUT the patents. Has your laywers run a patent search on the specific codecs you want to use?

Well, I am not a lawyer and this was, what I've been told. But from what I've just read it seems that you're right and I have finally some reason to hate you. On the other hand this issue is problem only in USA now. I wonder when our sweet EU copies this though.

So I am now pretty depressed and will do just this: 

Hey and what about VP3? http://www.theora.org/theorafaq.html#24

[odnorf]

Well, I am not a lawyer and this was, what I've been told. But from what I've just read it seems that you're right and I have finally some reason to hate you. On the other hand this issue is problem only in USA now. I wonder when our sweet EU copies this though.

So I am now pretty depressed and will do just this: 

Hey and what about VP3? http://www.theora.org/theorafaq.html#24

Oops... I'm sorry about that 
If you don't plan to release your game in the next months then you can still wait for theora to reach v1.0 and release some libraries that could make the job of adding theora support to wme much easier.

It's perfectly legal to use the VP3 codec in any application you want, even if you plan to sell it. Thank the xiph.org guys for this 

But... there is an obvious solution for your mplayer method. Just use theora and remove ALL the other codecs. 

[metamorphium]

Well, I am not a lawyer and this was, what I've been told. But from what I've just read it seems that you're right and I have finally some reason to hate you. On the other hand this issue is problem only in USA now. I wonder when our sweet EU copies this though.

So I am now pretty depressed and will do just this: 

Hey and what about VP3? http://www.theora.org/theorafaq.html#24

Oops... I'm sorry about that 
If you don't plan to release your game in the next months then you can still wait for theora to reach v1.0 and release some libraries that could make the job of adding theora support to wme much easier.

It's perfectly legal to use the VP3 codec in any application you want, even if you plan to sell it. Thank the xiph.org guys for this 

But... there is an obvious solution for your mplayer method. Just use theora and remove ALL the other codecs. 

But if I added VP3 codec to my game installation package, I can obviously use PlayVideo of WME. So there's not reason to use mplayer anymore. Or am I missing something? The only reason I went with mplayer was the lagal issue. Our problem was different though. You can use those codecs commercially OUTSIDE US. So this way our lawyer was right because our product never crossed US borders...

[odnorf]

But if I added VP3 codec to my game installation package, I can obviously use PlayVideo of WME. So there's not reason to use mplayer anymore. Or am I missing something? The only reason I went with mplayer was the lagal issue. Our problem was different though. You can use those codecs commercially OUTSIDE US. So this way our lawyer was right because our product never crossed US borders...

This should work just fine. The only minor issue I'm thinking is that some people might not want to install another DirectShow filter... Not important imo.

I'm not so sure about the legality of using those codecs inside europe... I don't know anything about this matter but the fact that many servers in europe refuse to store such executables might say something (or not). There are different laws in each country.

PS. It seems like you think I'm from US (maybe it's just my opinion). Well, I'm not. Europe is my home-land. 

[metamorphium]

But if I added VP3 codec to my game installation package, I can obviously use PlayVideo of WME. So there's not reason to use mplayer anymore. Or am I missing something? The only reason I went with mplayer was the lagal issue. Our problem was different though. You can use those codecs commercially OUTSIDE US. So this way our lawyer was right because our product never crossed US borders...

This should work just fine. The only minor issue I'm thinking is that some people might not want to install another DirectShow filter... Not important imo.

I'm not so sure about the legality of using those codecs inside europe... I don't know anything about this matter but the fact that many servers in europe refuse to store such executables might say something (or not). There are different laws in each country.

PS. It seems like you think I'm from US (maybe it's just my opinion). Well, I'm not. Europe is my home-land. 

  Funny, but I know where are you from. Where did you get this impression from?  DShow filter will be installed by installer automatically. I was speaking about US because the patent madness is there unlike in Europe in full range. We here in Europe (especially in EU) will unfortunately soon keep in line with this. This is the main reason why even in Europe some servers refuse to store datas like this. Anyway since my problem is somehow solved for now with VP3, I can safely erase my dll library with this ugly hack from my computer.

  and one for odnorf: