X-Git-Url: http://git.videolan.org/?p=vlc.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=doc%2Fvlc-howto.sgml;h=a1549e34290e8ce58ae898e8f51f59e1c6e455d7;hp=9fee58a1acdec76cd986e755e8fcc439f888ff5e;hb=8f75e45a8c86a5aee081af5b85a9cdfeedc916bf;hpb=5e0ca6827a863059778d55d35d95c2e722302192;ds=sidebyside
diff --git a/doc/vlc-howto.sgml b/doc/vlc-howto.sgml
index 9fee58a1ac..a1549e3429 100644
--- a/doc/vlc-howto.sgml
+++ b/doc/vlc-howto.sgml
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@
VLC HOWTO
- by the Videolan Team
- v0.0.3, 21 apr 2001
+ Originally written by Henri Fallon, maintained by Johan Bilien
+ v0.0.9, 16 april 2002
- This document describes how to use the vlc (VideoLAN client) to read DVDs and mpeg files and DVDs.
+ This document describes how to use the vlc (VideoLAN client) to read DVDs and mpeg files, locally or from a network.
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@
VideoLAN is a project of sudents of the École Centrale Paris which aims
to broadcast video on the campus, and provide the students with a MPEG2
software-only decoder. VideoLAN is an OpenSource project which will thus
- allow anyone to watch DVD movies under Linux, BeOS, MacOS and most Unix
+ allow anyone to watch DVD movies under Linux, BeOS, MacOS X, Windows
+ and most Unix
systems
@@ -31,14 +32,59 @@
- What is the vlc
+ What is the VideoLAN project ?
- Vlc stands for VideoLAN client. It is the name of the program which is
- capable of decoding MPEG streams, and displaying them onto your screen,
- so you can watch you favourite movies, confortably sit in your armchair
- :-).
+ VideoLAN is a complete software solution for video streaming, developed
+ by students at the and contributors from all over the world, under the General
+ Public License (GPL). It has been designed for streaming MPEG 1 and MPEG
+ 2 videos on local area networks (LAN), but it can be extended to
+ metropolitan or wide area networks (MAN, WAN),
+ thanks to the multicast technology.
+ The VideoLAN solution includes a server, which can stream video from
+ various sources (file, DVD, satellite, camera, ...), a client, which can
+ receive, decode and display MPEG 1 and MPEG 2 streams and, if necessary,
+ a channel server which tells automatically to the client the parameters
+ needed to receive the stream.
+
+
+
+ DVD --->- Unicast/Broadcast/Multicast
+ \ ---
+ File --->-- -------- / \ --------
+ |->-| Server |=====>====| LAN |---->-----| Client |
+ Satellite ->-- | (VLS) | \ / | (VLC) |
+ / -------- --- --------
+ MPEG2 -->- ^
+ encoder |
+ v
+ ----------------
+ | Channel Server |
+ | (VLCS) |
+ ----------------
+
+ More details about the project can be found on the
+ .
+
+
+ The documentation of the project
+
+ There are four main documents :
+
+the ,
+the ,
+the ,
+this VideoLAN Client Howto.
+
+
+The up-to-date version of these documents can be found on the .
Translated versions of this document
@@ -48,12 +94,63 @@
The English version is maintained by Henri Fallon,
- and the VideoLAN team. It can be found at:
- .
+ Johan Bilien, and the VideoLAN team. It can be found at:
+ .
+
+ Requirements
+
+ Operating system
+
+ VLC works under the following systems :
+
+
+
+ Linux (all distributions, including iPAQ Familiar Linux)
+ Windows (all 32bit versions)
+ Mas OS X
+ FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, BSD/OS
+ BeOS
+ QNX RTOS
+ Solaris
+
+
+
+ Please note that the Linux, Windows and MacOS X are generally the most
+ uptodate versions.
+
+
+
+ Software requirements
+
+ Depending on the outputs and inputs you are using, you may need
+ additionnal libraries. Please see .
+
+
+ For playing encrypted DVDs, you will need libdvdcss, which you can found
+ on this page :
+ .
+
+
+
+ Hardware requirements
+
+ The hardware power needed depends a lot of the type of stream.
+ For reading a DVD, a CPU working at around 450 MHz is required.
+
+
+ VLC can benefits from hardware acceleration from modern video cards
+ for YUV transformation and window rescaling. it also uses MMX, MMX EXT,
+ SSE, 3Dnow! optimizations if available.
+
+
+
+
+
Disclaimer
@@ -62,41 +159,42 @@
- In this HOWTO, we consider you already have a little knowledge about Linux, and you
- know how to use a DVD. If not, good howtos can be found on the Linux Documentation
- Projet.
-
- This is certainly the simplest way to intsall the vlc on your system,
- especially if you're using a packaged OS.
+ Quick start
+
+
This section will help you get, install and use vlc without giving you
+ much details.
+
+ Get and install vlc from binary packages
The first thing to do is to get an archive, on our web site
-
- Linux/Unix usersWhich package to chose ?
- There are different packages because vlc has "plugins" which provide features
- but also enlarge the executable and require external libs.
+ There are different packages because vlc has "plugins" which provide
+ features but also enlarge the executable and require external libraries.
SDL is a lib which allows you to have an accelerated video output.
@@ -107,26 +205,11 @@
the esd-aware vlc.
- Generally, when you don't know what a module name is, you don't need/use it :-)
+ Generally, when you don't know what a module name is, you don't
+ need/use it :-)
-
- Binary archive
-
- Untar it typing
-
- tar xvzf vlc-x.x.x.tar.gz
-
- Go in the vlc directory and get to the 'How to play movies' section If
- you wish not to keep vlc in this single directory but install it fully
- on your system, you may, as root, type
-
- make install
-
-
-
-
Debian package
@@ -137,7 +220,7 @@
Depending on the package you have downloaded, you may have dependency
- problems. You have to solve them, by installing the required libs.
+ problems. You have to solve them, by installing the required libraries.
@@ -150,165 +233,453 @@
- You may have to install external libs to meet dependencies, depending on
+ You may have to install external libraries to meet dependencies, depending on
the package you downloaded (gnome, gtk, esd, ...).
-
+
+ BeOS users
+
+ Double-click on the archive. It should open your favorite archive extracter.
+ You can then execute the vlc from there, or extract the archive to a
+ directory and run it from there.
+
+
+
+
+ MacOS X users
+
+ To be completed
+
+
+
+ Windows users
+
+ Launch the installer by double-clicking on it, and follow the installation
+ instructions. Please note that in most cases you will need administrator
+ rights to install it under Windows NT, 2000 and XP
+
+
+
+
- BeOS users
+ Get libdvdcss
- Double-click on the archive. It should open your favorite archive extracter.
- You can then execute the vlc from there, or extract the archive to a
- diretory and run it from there.
+ In order to read CSSsrambled DVDs, you will need libdvdcss.
+ You can find binary
+ packages for your distribution here :
+
+
+ For Windows users, libdvdcss is statically linked in the
+ Windows binary, so you don't have to install it.
- MacOS X users
+ Use the vlc for DVD reading
- To be completed
+ Launch the application simply by typing vlc in a terminal (or by
+ double-clicking on its icon in a graphical shell). You should see
+ the graphical interface appear.
-
+
+
+ For reading a DVD (or a VCD), click on the "Disc" button. The new window
+ you must then enter the path to your DVD or VCD drive :
+
+
+ Linux users
+
+ Usually, you dvd device is /dev/hd? (if you have an ide drive).
+ For instance, if you DVD player is master on the second IDE device,
+ it will be /dev/hdc.
+
+
+ It is very useful to create a symlink to this file, called /dev/dvd.
+ To do this, as root, type (if your dvd device is /dev/hdc for example) :
+
+ ln -s /dev/hdc /dev/dvd
+
+ Also make sure you have read AND write permission to the device
+ (otherwise dvd decryption won't work).
+
+
+
+ Windows users
+
+ The path to your DVD drive usually is D:\ or E:\. You may have a look
+ in "My Computer" and look to which letter your DVD drive is assigned.
+
+
+
+ BeOS users
+
+ Under BeOS, the dvd device looks like
+ "/dev/disk/ide/atapi/1/slave/0/raw" for example, if your dvd device is
+ slave on your first (not sure) ide device.
+
+
+
+ Other OS
+
+ To do ...
+
+
+
+ Use the vlc for network streaming
+
+ This is the vlc original usage.
+
+
+
+ Launch the vlc as you would have for DVD reading. Then click on the
+ "Network" button.
+
+
+ If using a VideoLAN Channel Server
+
+ The only thing you have to do is to check the "Channel server" box
+ and to enter the IP address and port
+ of this channel
+ server. Ask your administrator if you don't have it. Then click on OK.
+
+
+ You will see a new "Channel" field in the interface. You may now
+ enter the selected channel and click on OK. After a few seconds,
+ if a program is being sent in this channel, you should see the program
+ start.
+
+
+ If nothing appears and you are sure that a program is streamed in
+ this channel, you may try once again, because a problem of communication
+ with the channel server could have occured (in you launched vlc from
+ a terminal, you should see "Network error: no answer from vlcs").
+
+
+
+ Without VideoLAN Channel Server
+
+ Simply choose clicking on the network button, then on ok should be
+ sufficient in most cases.
+
+
+ After clicking on OK, and if a program is being sent, you should see
+ a window open with your program.
+
+
- Using the vlc
+ The graphical interface
- Good job, you have installed the vlc on your system. Now, it's time to
- use it. Don't worry, it's not that difficult.
+ Please note that the gnome, gtk and win32 interfaces are currently the most
+ advanced. The following descriptions refer to them.
- Lauching
-
- The graphical interface
-
- Basically, double clicking on the vlc icon, or typing 'vlc' in a
- console should launch a graphical interface On Linux/Unix, you may want
- to specify gnome or gtk interface, with the "--intf" option.
-
-
-
-
- In case it doesn't work
-
- In case this does not work, you'll have to use command line options.
- Usually, to play a file, you'll use :
-
- vlc [file name]
-
- To play a dvd, if your dvd device is "/dev/dvd", you'll type :
-
- vlc dvd:/dev/dvd
-
- On BeOS, the dvd device looks like "/dev/disk/ide/atapi/1/slave/0/raw"
-
-
-
+ Opening a stream
+
+ For opening streams through the graphical interface, click on either
+ "File" for opening a file stored on your hard drive, "Disc" for
+ opening a DVD or a VCD, "Network" for reading a stream from a vls
+ or through http input, or "Satellite" for reading directly
+ from a satellite card.
+
- Using the interface
+ Basic stream control
- By now you should see a beautiful interface, with buttons and menus.
- The text should be quite self-explaining : "Open file", "Open Disc", ...
+ You have at your disposal all the classical control of a video player.
+ For example when playing local streams, you can do pauses, speed up or
+ slow down the stream ... Just use the corresponding buttons.
+
+ DVD and VCD navigation
- For Dvd's you can choose directly from the "open" box the title & chapter
- you want to play.
+ When reading a DVD or a VCD, you can change chapter and title either
+ by using the
+ right-click menu or by using the dedicated bar that appears when reading
+ from a disc.
+
- Fullscreen - chapters - features
+ Programs, audio and subtitles
+
+ When reading a multiprogram stream, you can change the current program
+ by selecting it in the "View/Programs" submenu, or using the "right click"
+ menu from the video output window.
+
- Some of the following features don't work yet on some platforms.
- We're doing our best to get the ports in sync.
+ In DVDs, if different angles are availables, they will be treated as
+ different programs.
At any time you can change the audio/subtitles channel using either the
"setting" menu from the interface or using the "right click" menu from
the video output window.
-
- To change chapter, you can use the right-click menu or the interface.
- Please note that the gnome interface is more advanced than the gtk or
- qt ones.
-
-
- Using the 'f' key when using SDL or XVideo output toggles the
- fullscreen mode. Be warned that "right click" menus are a bit
- unstable.
-
-
- User help
+ Preferences window
- First of all, it something seems to go wrong, read and try try to
- understand the error messages. If you are a confirmed user, you
- may try the "-vvv" option which makes the vlc very verbose.
+ By choosing "Preferences" in the "Settings" menu, you will open
+ the preferences window. This window is generated dynamically according
+ to the modules that were compiled.
- There is a FAQ page on our website :
- .
- If you think one question should be in the FAQ, please contact
-
+ In every tab, you may click on "Save" to store your settings in your
+ ~/.videolan/vlcrc file.
-
- Finally, there's a users mailing list (English speaking). To subscribe, send a mail to
- containing
- "subscribe vlc" as message body.
-
-
-
+
+ Interface tab
+
+ In that tab, you can select which interface you would like to use on next
+ start. Click on the choosen interface, click on "Select" then on "Save".
+
+
+
+ Audio tab
+
+ In this tab, you can select the audio output you would like to use on
+ next start. You may also specify some other settings such as the output
+ level, the audio frequency, ...
+
+
+
+ Video tab
+
+ In this tab, you can select which video output will be used on next start,
+ and add a video filter module. You may also specify some video settings,
+ such as the window size or if you would like fullscreen display.
+
+
+
+ Input tab
+
+ In this tab, you can enter the input method with options (for example
+ udp:@239.255.255.42) that will be used on next start. You can
+ also add some settings, such as the channel server address ...
+
+
+
+ Decoders tab
+
+ In this tab, you can select which decoder you want to use for MPEG audio
+ and AC3 streams.
+
+
+
+ CPU tab
+
+ In this tab, you may disable the use of some CPU extensions such as
+ MMX or SSE.
+
+
+
+ Playlist tab
+
+ In this tab, you can select some playlist options, such as looping the
+ playlist.
+
+
+
+ Miscellanous tab
+
+ In this tab, you can select which memcpy version you want to use. Some
+ of them uses MMX 3Dnow! extensions.
+
+
+
+
- Advanced use of the vlc
+ Command line options
+
+ Many options are only available through command line. They are detailled here.
+
- Command line options
+ Opening streams
+
+ The following commands start vlc and add a first element to the playlist.
+
- Choosing the video output
+ Opening a file
- You have to use the "-V" otpion. For example :
-
- vlc -V xvideo
-
+ Simply start vlc with vlc my_file.mpg.
+
+
+ You may tell vlc what input to use, for example add --input ts
+ when playing a ts MPEG, although vlc should be able to recognize the type
+ of MPEG.
-
- Choosing the audio output
+ Opening a DVD or VCD
- Use the "-A" option. For example :
-
- vlc -A alsa
-
+ Simply start vlc with vlc dvd:DVDDRIVE or vlc vcd:CDROMDRIVE
+ , where DVDDRIVE/CDROMDRIVE is the complete
+ path to your dvd/cdrom drive.
+
+
+ You may add -t X -T Y to start directly from the Xth chapter, Yth
+ title.
-
- Specifying a file
+ Start a network stream
- Simply put the file name at the end of the command line, you won't need then
- to click "open" when the interface launches :
-
- vlc myfile.mpeg
-
+ To receive an UDP stream (being sent from a VLS), start vlc with
+ vlc udpstream:[@<bind address>[:<server port>]] .
+
+
+ Please note that bind address refers to the destination address, for
+ example your broadcast address. If the stream is being broadcasted,
+ vlc udpstream: should be sufficient. If the stream
+ is multicasted, you must specify the multicast address, for example
+ vlc udpstream:@239.255.255.42
+
+ To receive a http stream, start vlc with vlc <your URL>.
+
+
+
+
+
+ Modules selection
+
+ The vlc tries to select the most appropriate interface, input and output
+ modules, among the ones available on the system, according to
+ the stream he is given to read. However, you may wish to force
+ the use of a specific module with the following options:
+
+
--intf <interface module>
+ allows you to select the interface module
+
+
--input <input module>
+ allows you to select the input module.
+
+
--vout <video output module>
+ allows you to select the video output.
+
+
--aout <audio output module>
+ allows you to select the audio output.
+
+
--filter <video filter module>
+ allows you to add a video filter module.
+
+
--mpeg_adec <MPEG audio decoder module>
+ allows you to select the audio MPEG decoder.
+
+
--ac3_adec <AC3 audio decoder module>
+ allows you to select the audio AC3 decoder.
+
+
+ Other options
- Specifying the title and chapter where to start
-
- Use the "-t" and "-T" to specify title and chapter. For example, to go to the 12th
- chapter of the 2nd title, you'll type :
-
- vlc -t 2 -T 12
-
-
+ Help options:
+
+
--help
+ gives you all the available options.
+
--longhelp
+ gives you a more detailled version of the available options.
+
--version
+ gives you information about the current version.
+
--list
+ gives you the list of all available plugins.
+
--warning X or -vvvv (X times)
+ set the level of warning messages.
+
--stat
+ gives statistic outputs.
+
+
+
+ Audio options:
+
+
+
--noaudio
+ disables the audio output
+
--mono
+ forces the vlc to treat the stream in mono audio.
+
--volume <integer>
+ set the level of audio output.
+
--rate <integer>
+ set the audio output frequency (Hz)
+
--desync <integer>
+ compensates desynchronization of audio (ms)
+
+
+
+ Video options:
+
+
--novideo
+ disables the video output
+
--width <integer>
+ --height <integer>
+ set the video window dimensions.
+
--grayscale
+ turns video output into grayscale mode.
+
--fullscreen
+ set fullscreen video.
+
--nooverlay
+ disables hardware acceleration for the video output
+
--spumargin <integer>
+ force subtitles position.
+
+
+
+ Input options:
+
+
+
--network-channel
+ Start with channel server enabled.
+
--channel_server <string>
+ Specify the channel server address.
+
--channel_port <integer>
+ Specify the channel server port.
+
--iface <string>
+ Select the network interface to use.
+
--input_program <integer>
+ Select the program to use (for streams with
+ several programs, as those coming from satellite).
+
--input_audio <integer>
+ Select the audio channel to use.
+
--input_subtitle <integer>
+ Select the subtitle.
+
--input_channel <integer>
+ Select the channel number.
+
--dvd_device <string>
+ Specify the default dvd device.
+
--vcd_device <string>
+ Specify the default vcd device.
+
--ipv4
+ Force IPv4.
+
--ipv6
+ Force IPv6.
+
+
+
+ CPU options
+
--nommx
+ disable the use of mmx CPU extensions.
+
--no3dn
+ disable the use of 3D Now! CPU extensions.
+
--nommxext
+ disable the use of mmx ext CPU extensions.
+
--noaltivec
+ disable the use of AltiVec CPU extensions.
-
+
+
+
+
+
+
- For real men : building your vlc :-)
+ Building the vlc from sources
You can choose either to take the latest release, or a CVS source. Note that
CVS snapshots may be broken, although we do our best to prevent this from
@@ -344,7 +715,7 @@
Directly from CVS
-
+
+
+ libdvdcss
+
+ To compile vlc with dvd support, you need to get and install libdvdcss.
+
+
+ It is available for download here :
+
+
+ Decompress the tarball in a directory of your choice and build it :
+
+ tar -xvzf libdvdcss-x.x.x.tar.gz
+ cd libdvdcss-x.x.x
+ ./configure
+ make
+ [as root] make install
+
+
+ You can also find binaries packages for many distributions.
Building the program
-
+
+
+ Also have a look on the .
+
+
+ A very typical installation, on a XFree 4.1 system, recent video card, with
+ gnome, is :
- ./configure --enable-xvideo --enable-esd --enable-gnome
+ ./configure --enable-esd --enable-gnome
@@ -389,15 +790,17 @@
If you build a feature as a plugin, it can lead to a little loss of performance.
- It you build it inside the code, i'll enlarge a bit the size of the executable.
+ It you build it inside the code, it'll enlarge a bit the size of the executable.
- When you're done with Makefile.opts (which also works if you leave it untouched), just
+ When you're done with Makefile.opts (which also works if you leave it
+ untouched), just
type:
make
- It should compile without any error. If there are, please check you have the required libs
+ It should compile without any error. If there are, please check you
+ have the required libraries
installed on your system, as the configure script can't check them all.
@@ -405,41 +808,457 @@
make install
- if you wish to have vlc fully installed on your system. If you prefer to keep in in the
- current directory, you may skip the "make install". You'll then have to cd into the vlc
+ if you wish to have vlc fully installed on your system. If you prefer
+ to keep in in the
+ current directory, you may skip the "make install". You'll then have
+ to cd into the vlc
directory and type "./vlc" instead of just typing vlc.