Video playback integration

[javiavid]

I have been reading in some post of 2017 that in order to play videos you have to pay for legal issues.
In 2019 there is no option for this?

I am not a programmer and I don't know about legal issues, but how is it possible that other programs can reproduce videos without problems?

Acdsee - $ 30
Mediamonkey- Free or 22 $ license
I'm sure there are many more cases ..

Would it be possible to develop a plugin to play the videos internally and sell it?

There are many people using video, 400 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, it is the second most visited page on the internet ..
https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/youtube-stats/

I know you can watch a video by pressing CTRL + Enter, but imagine that we would do this every time you see a photo ... it is not practical how much time you spend closing open windows to find the video you need.

I understand that there are many programs that do what I want, but I am knowing imatch and I think it is a very powerful program, I would love to use it with video integration.

[Jingo]

As an aside..... I was working on an app awhile back that would play video for the selected file using some open source JS .... never did get it to work fully but if there is interest, I could try to pick it back up again. 

[javiavid]

Thanks Jingo, it would be great to find a solution to this.

[Jingo]

I'll see what I can do... if I remember correctly, there were some "strange incompatibilities" with the script I was using and Chromimum.... it worked in Firefox launched from IMatch... but wouldn't play inside an app window...  I'll have to revisit the code and see what I can do.. perhaps try a different implementation.

[Mario]

As far as I know, no changes at all in the way the MPEG and other companies collect money for using video tech in software.
ACDSee is a big company with a legal department. I'm sure they have the man power to make deals with the MPEG and other parties. I'm just one person doing all this in my spare time...

But I don't see this as a problem. Why should I try to integrate something mediocre when you can just do a quick Ctrl+Enter to see any video managed in IMatch in your favorite player - be it whatever is in Windows or VLC.
IMatch creates thumbnails, animated previews and cache images for dozens of video formats for you. Only for viewing the actual video you need to open it in an external specialized software. VLC is free and better than anything I could do (no, the license forbids me to embed VLC code in IMatch as a commercial product).

@Jingo

The <video> tag is supported by Chromium. And FF. And Edge. And every browser plays a different subset of video files. And each browser has other issues with video files.
I have many videos which only play correctly in VLC, but in none of the browsers. Other videos open fine in Blender, but crash my video editing software. Other videos play on the Mac but not on Windows, and vice versa. Videos are a real big mess, not only license-wise.

See https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/video for details on which browser in which version can play which subset of video formats.

[javiavid]

I really appreciate what you have achieved with imatch, it is a very complete software.
I understand what you are saying that you will not be able to create a better software than VLC, Potplayer .. but the idea is not to watch movies or files with subtitles and Dolby, it is "just" to be able to see the files quickly which is what you usually need in A multimedia file manager.

I think that if you manage to develop an external window with firefox or chromium it would be fantastic, it may not reproduce all file types, but we will have a very large usability improvement.
As I said before, imagine browsing YouTube to find a video and instead of being integrated the playback will open another browser every time you click on a video .. the experience would be completely different.

Also maybe (I'm not a programmer), if you can do this, it's a good way to integrate it into imatch anywhere.

[Mario]

I played with video support in browsers (to create an app) but I did not continue because there were so many problems.

If you drop your videos onto a browser window and they all play there, there is a good change that they would also play in an IMatch app panel.
BUT (big BUT) Google Chrome, FF, Edge all contain proprietary and licensed video codecs and technology which is not part of Chromium (which is used for IMatch apps and app panels). Chromium is an open source software and hence does not contain patented video technology or technology which requires license fee payments. This tech is added on top by Google Chrome and Edge (and they also pay the fees).

This means that the embedded browser in IMatch (for app panels) plays less video formats and variants than Chrome. Basically only certain MP4 containers. Not nearly enough and adding an app would cause more support questions ("why does my format not play") than I have time for.

I manage tons of videos in IMatch and when I want to play one, I press Ctrl+Enter to open it in my video player...

[Jingo]

I played with video support in browsers (to create an app) but I did not continue because there were so many problems.

This means that the embedded browser in IMatch (for app panels) plays less video formats and variants than Chrome. Basically only certain MP4 containers.

Yup... I just tried my app again... I can get a sample video to play in Firefox via the "show app in browser" command... but not directly in IM via an app window... my guess too is chromium which is the problem I ran into originally.  For fun, I just tried a 2nd JS implementation of it... same issue... run in Firefox ok.... but not in IM.

[Mario]

1. FF does support more video formats because Mozilla Foundation licenses video patents.
2. Google Chrome is based on Chromium and supports additional video formats because Google licenses the patents.
3. The new Microsoft Edge browser is also based on Chromium and supports additional video formats because Microsoft licenses the patents.

These are all big companies with legal departments and specialized patent lawyers. And deep pockets.

Naturally, all browsers support different sets of videos / video container formats.  Videos which play in FF may not play in Chrome and vice-versa.
Google re-encodes all videos uploaded to YouTube to a Google standard video format for good reasons.

One of the major design principles in each new video and audio format are the patents companies can accumulate for them. This is also true for the dreaded HEIC/HEIF formats which have heaps of patents attached from companies like Nokia or Apple. Not even Microsoft supports these formats out-of-the-box, you need to explicitly install a WIC codec. And Microsoft then pays license fees for each installed codec (they save money that way, it would be much more expensive to get a license for one billion Windows users).

IMatch's app panels are based on Chromium, which is an open source software. Very powerful open source software!
Certain patented or royalty-based technologies are not part of Chromium, which includes certain video formats and/or audio codecs.
This means IMatch does not support these technologies either. A <video> tag playing a video in a certain format in FF or Chrome may not work when you try to run the same video in an IMatch app panel.
That's why IMatch has no video player app - it just does not work for many formats and would be pretty much useless.

[javiavid]

What video formats would be compatible?
Mp4 with h264 codec?

If you at least reproduce this codec it would be a good option to include it, even if optionally or with an "experimental" label.
MP4 (h264) is very standard

Currently imatch does not support MXF which in my profession is very common, but I understand it .. the most popular format is MP4, MOV ...
So if I decide to use iMatch, I can convert the files or create a low version so I can use them within iMatch.

That is why it seems to me a good idea that it is integrated if it supports at least this format. Virtually all file converters are compatible and almost all smartphones record on this system.

[Jingo]

What video formats would be compatible?
Mp4 with h264 codec?

If you at least reproduce this codec it would be a good option to include it, even if optionally or with an "experimental" label.
MP4 (h264) is very standard

I cannot get the MP4 video to play in Chromium using 2 different scripts that both run fine in Firefox (and also now that I've tested it - in Chrome).  Oh well... now I remember why I scrapped the idea months ago!   

[Mario]

h264 is covered by many software patents and requires royalty payments to display legally.
Chromium does not play many MP4 files because of patented file formats and algorithms patented by the MPEG.

[javiavid]

Is it not possible to use it to play it x264 or something similar?
I think it's free.

I have been trying to configure the external player (potplayer) so that it will always be the same size, just one instance and always stay on top. It is quite similar to having it on an imatch panel in floating windows.
The only problem I see when you are watching photos and videos in full screen.

[Mario]

https://www.mpegla.com/programs/avc-h-264/patent-list/

[javiavid]

Openh264?

http://www.openh264.org/

[thrinn]

Openh264?

http://www.openh264.org/

Please have a look at Q3 and Q4 of the FAQ. To me, it sounds as if someone using it in a commercial product may still be liable for paying license fees.

[Mario]

Openh264?

http://www.openh264.org/

MPEG license fees still apply, as is explained in the FAQ.

Besides, having only support for one video codec will not be terribly helpful because most users will have a mix of video containers and video formats to handle/play and they probably don't like to have to re-encode all their videos just to be able to play them "in" a window inside IMatch instead of launching their video player.

Videos formats are pretty much nailed shut by the MPEG and other patent holders and they want to see money if these technologies are used in a commercial product (like IMatch).
Which is of course totally OK. I just cannot pay them (I cannot even afford the specialized lawyer who would work out the contracts with all involved parties) and hence I don't embed their technologies in IMatch.

Just use Ctrl+Enter to open your videos in your standard video player, or one of the many other ways to open files in external applications: Opening Files in Other Applications