Live wallpaper for Linux XFCE

A simple script that allows you to play a GIF, video or image sequence on your desktop wallpaper!

IMPORTANT NOTE: I'm not sure this will work on every machine. I wrote that script especially for myself. If you discover a bug or know how to improve it, create an issue
Make sure you have these programs installed:

• python
• ffmpeg
• imagemagick

Note

I highly recommend to use performance CPU governor or the desktop may lag. You can change the governor by using:

sudo cpupower frequency-set -g performance

You can permanently change the governor by editing file /etc/default/cpupower. Replace #governor='powersave' with:

governor='performance'

Make sure to remove the #!

Demonstation

Preview quality may not be accurate with actual wallpaper quality.

See also https://youtu.be/RJ0nsBiiqEY

Usage

IMPORTANT NOTE: Paths must be global, example: /home/username/Pictures/file not ./file
python main.py <type> <path> <frame update wait time (optional, default 0.05)>

• GIF (Best quality)

python main.py -gif /home/username/Pictures/mygif.gif

• Video (Worst quality)

python main.py -video /home/username/Videos/myvideo.mp4

• Image sequence (slideshow)

python main.py -sequence /home/username/Pictures/wallpapers/

• Last cached animation

python main.py -cache

How does it work?

First it takes the GIF/video and then converts it to frames.

• Video

os.system("ffmpeg -i "+path+" -vf fps=30 -vf scale=1280:720 cache/frame-%d.png")

• GIF

os.system("convert "+path+" -coalesce cache/frame.png")

1. The frames are being saved in folder cahce that is located in the same directory as the script. (If you use -sequence or -cache nothing is being converted)
2. Next, it runs the 2nd script that is used for changing the wallpaper, with path and wait time arguments.

def runFromCache():
    os.system("python " + os.path.abspath("./wallpaper.py") + " " + os.path.abspath("./cache") + " " + str(wait_time))

3. Then the wallpaper.py keeps changing wallpaper to each frame.

while True:
    time.sleep(wait_time)
    for i in range(len(sequence_files)):
        setWallpaper(path+"/"+"frame-"+str(i)+".png")
        time.sleep(wait_time)

(See also setWallpaper(path) inside code.)

Made by Wolfyxon

Enjoy :)