announce... new vlc plugin for node-webkit

[smolleyes]

hi

just to say that a new vlc plugin is coming 100% compatible with node-webkit (and app:// protocol)
might solve all issue with codecs in node-webkit multimedia apps

please support here:

RSATom/WebChimera#75 (comment)

windows and osx builds are already working just need linux and we re done (next release will fix all issues with node-webkit i think)

can read my discution with the devs yesterday too (very cool!) here

RSATom/WebChimera#76 (comment)

thanks !

++

Want to back this issue? Post a bounty on it! We accept bounties via Bountysource.

[endorama]

+1

[brandonpapworth]

+1 so awesome

[mscreenie]

How well does it work and does the repository come with any tests

Would be excellent to have network streaming inside nwjs. Does it work well with CSS like any other HTML element..?

VLC plugins work strangely if there is an overlay or if the element is display:none or visibility: hidden. Can't see any docs just yet either to get it working officially with node web-kit.

edit: I remember using VLC browser plugin about 6 years ago. It seems very little has been fixed or developed to get it working properly as a proper element. doesn't work as you would expect a flash element to work for example.

edit2: tried out vlc plugin inside chrome and unfortunately i can't get vlc to even show with dev tools. vlc disappears as dev tools are opened.

I think vlc is excellent but as far as a browser plugin goes it still feels its limited to just a desktop application and after 6 years it would seem things are the same

[Wortex17]

I would like to know webchimeras css capabilities too. Is it possible to add menus/overlay with web-tech too, although it uses QtQuick?
I guess the chacnes aren't high, because of rendering order of the plugins viewport and the blink viewport

[smolleyes]

hi

do not compare vlc plugins with this one, not the same thing at all

i don t know for css capabilities but i don t think we can skin it thru css if it s the question since all the ui is done thru qml, but feel free to ask on their github :)

i just reported the availability of this plugin

++

[jaruba]

@mscreenie @Wortex17 The HTML limitations are mostly related to the object tag and the way the browser is displaying/handling the plugin. Still, WebChimera offers many alternatives to the old problems relating to plugin integration in the page.

• Embedding in Node-Webkit requires no special task, any of the embedding methods described on the Wiki will work with Node-Webkit too.
• Using display: none on the object will stop the plugin entirely, as NPAPI plugins can only be active while visible on the page.
• overflow: hidden and visibility: hidden work to hide the plugin while also keeping it active in the page. Although from my experience, visibility:hidden may sometimes give a visual error, while overflow: hidden works great for this task
• Overlaying html elements would require the usage of the Iframe Shim technique, hiding part of the video (with overflow: hidden) or using FBVLC mode.

You can call FBVLC mode (backward compatibility to WebChimera's ancestor) as explained in the Plugin Documentation. It has a windowless parameter, which will let HTML elements overlay above the video, but this side of WebChimera does not support QtQML, so you will have to build the entire UI yourself in HTML (as WebChimera Player is built in QML).

The main reasons why WebChimera was made are to solve the overlaying issues and try to incorporate most web developer needs into one web player. The best possible solution is to build the elements that you want on top of the video with QtQML (as part of the UI), and you can make them interact with the On Page JavaScript by sending events from one side or the other. But as mentioned above, it also offers a wide range of alternatives for this situation.

[RSATom]

a) If you need overlay NPAPI plugin window from html - you have to use windowless mode, and you will have very bad perfomance (except on Mac OS X maybe);
b) If you need good perfomance - you have to use windowed mode, but then you will have problems with placing visual elements over plugin window from html.

This are the main reasons why WebChimera was developed. It uses hardware acceleration (OpenGL or DirectX, depend on platform) to display all content inside plugin window, and use Qml for UI customization. But you have to use Qml for it, due to windowed mode limitations mentioned above. Btw, you even could use JS inside...

[RSATom]

@mscreenie, what tests do you need? WebChimera is just very tiny layer of glue between Qt 5 / libvlc / browser...

[LukasBombach]

This is ace. I have been searching for a solution to play videos in nw for so long. I found WebChimera some time ago but it did not work then. Having a nerd-boner.

+1

[RSATom]

@LukasBombach, yea, it was a long way :)

[RSATom]

FYI, #3293

[RSATom]

According to coming NPAPI deprecation using WebChimera plugin is not good idea anymore. Better use https://www.npmjs.com/package/webchimera.js instead since it's not use NPAPI at all.
And this issue could be closed, I think, by that reason.