View source for SoC 2009

'''Google Summer of Code 2009.'''

This wiki page covers the attempt by the [[VideoLAN]] project to act as a mentoring organization for [http://code.google.com/soc/ Google Summer of Code], in order to improve {{VLC}} and [[x264]], the H.264 video encoder.

The projects that are being done in GSoC 2009 can be found [[SoC_2009_projects|here]].

== Introduction & Information ==

This wiki page covers the attempt by the [[VideoLAN]] project to act as a mentoring organization for [http://code.google.com/soc/ Google Summer of Code], in order to improve {{VLC}} and [[x264]], the H.264 video encoder.

* This page list the ideas for VLC.
* There is also a separate page for project ideas for the [[x264]]: '''[[SoC x264 2009]]'''.

If you are a '''student''', please read [[SoC_2009_Rules|the rules and advice]].

=== VLC media player ===
{{VLC}} is a cross-platform multimedia player, encoder and streamer application.
It is one of the most successful open-source projects without any professional structure underneath.

{{VLC}} is downloaded at an approximate monthly rate of 5 millions from the main website and that's not including third-party distributions (Linux)!

You can find more information on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VLC_media_player VLC on Wikipedia] or on this [[Main_Page|wiki]].

=== Summer of Code ===

If selected and developed, SoC projects for VLC will be included in the VLC 1.1 or any later version release.

SoC projects for x264 will be included in the main tree of the project.

All projects are covered by the GPL licence. (v2+)

=== Ideas for VLC ===

'''''Read this'''''

This page is split in three lists of ideas:
# The ''main ideas'' are what seem to be ''key projects'' for VLC and should be more ''thrilling'' than the other ones; we have assigned a potential mentor to each of these.
# The other ideas are less detailed but could be good ideas too.
# [[Mini_Projects]] has some ideas too.

* '''Original good ideas will be valued'''. Last year, half of the ideas were given by students.  We don't want to impose anything. This is free and Open Source software.

If you don't want to apply for SoC but want other ideas to develop on, check the [[Mini Projects]] page!

And on the IRC channel, you can have even more ideas.

===Ideas for x264===
For x264 ideas, please see [[SoC x264 2009]].

== Main ideas ==

=== Qt pimping ===

Improve Qt interface, used on linux and windows with use of Qt-Kinetic or plasma.

The basic, primary interface is reasonable but it could be improved in many ways. The (sub)menus and popups need a lot of (re)design, evaluation, Q&A, tinkering, and so on. For example, adding files is cumbersome and repeated adding even more so. Sorting and other displaying options in the playlist would be nice. Error reporting, presentation, and resolution needs improving. For example, import a few audio streams (one or more m3u/pls playlists, perhaps), try to use them, and see what happens when some urls are not available.

Try to borrow the best ideas from amarok, iTunes, WMP, winamp, freeamp and integrate them into VLC.

Look at other Qt applications or KDE applications.

* You need some Qt and C++ knowlegde and a lot of creativity.

''Proposed mentor: [[User:J-b|jb]]''

=== QuickTimeVR Playback ===
This project deals with integration QuickTimeVR inside VLC using work from [http://freepv.sf.net FreePV] (SoC 2007).

Other panoramic data inputs include video surveillance cameras with a 360° lens, regular images, etc.

This project is likely to require some modification of the VLC image handling code.

* Interests in photography is strongly suggested.

''Proposed mentor: [[User:Dionoea|Dionoea]]''

''Interested student: [[User:Leonox|Leonox]]''

[[SoC 2009/QuickTimeVR Playback|Project proposal]]

=== Assembly optimizations in VLC ===

If you are fond of writing ASM and you are fluent in MMX/SSE2, there are many interesting things in VLC to speed up.
* Profiling VLC.
* memcpy implementations in SSE* and MMX (see modules/misc/memcpy/fastmemcpy.h)
* video filters ASM speedups (see modules/video_filter/blend.c)
* audio filters ASM speedups (see modules/audio_filter/equalizer.c)
* Porting other ASM video filters to VLC.

This project needs some good ASM knowledge and good C experience.

* Stuff to read: http://www.agner.org/optimize/

''Proposed mentor: [[User:J-b|jb]]''

=== Audio Filters ===

We are looking for a skilled audiophile that knows a lot about audio theory and practice:
* to create or implement new algorithms, like SRS WoW or other 3D effects
* to work on channels mixing,
* to work on tracks mixing,
* to create scriptable new audio filters in lua and enable users to create whatever audio filtering function they want in a Lua script.

This project needs some good audio knowledge and good C experience.

''Proposed mentor: [[User:Geal|geal]]''

=== Test Suite ===
This project aims at making automatic tests to improve VLC quality.

* Write a series of tests for vlc-internal
* Integrate a framework for automated plugins testing with the automake build system
* Automate the different codec playback/mux/etc tests
* Automate the subtitles tests
* Write tests for the different bindings: Mac OS X Framework/Python Bindings... etc.

This project is a code project, require good knowledge of C

''Proposed mentor: Rémi''

=== Media Library work ===
This project is about working on the media library in SQL.

Modern media applications deal with a lot of huge quantity of data, and it can be difficult to deal with it.
This can mean:
* Smart Folders
* Smart Playlists
* IMDB integration
* Integrated and saved bookmarks
* MetaData searching and editing
* Voting and external data integration

See http://jpeg.dinauz.org/VideoLAN/gsoc/

Proposed mentor: ''jpeg''


=== Services Discovery, like Jamendo integration ===

Jamendo, Last.fm and other online music and video services would be great to integrate into VLC.

This project deals with this integration.

* This needs lua, C and C++ programming skills.

''Proposed mentor: ?''

=== Flash Streaming ===

RTMP implementation for streaming to Flash10.

''Proposed mentor: jpsaman''

=== Qt embedded interface ===

VLC uses Qt for its main interfaces on desktop systems. It would be nice to have the same type of UI on systems like Maemo or Windows Mobile.

''Proposed mentor: ILEoo''

== More Ideas ==

=== QTKit access ===
Build a QTKit-based access module for OS X (allowing input from USB / FireWire cameras, audio devices, camcorders, tape recorders [, ...your favourite here] ). This access module will also need a nice component GUI.

This project requires knowlege of C and preferably also Objective C, and interest in video/audio capture devices. Obviously, the student is required to own at a least a Mac with a (embedded) webcam and an audio input facility for development. Knowledge of the QuickTime APIs and previous experience with Cocoa are strong pluses.

''Proposed mentor: thedj''

===  GUI interfaces for the browsers plug-ins ===
This project focuses on adding interfaces to our browser plug-ins, in order to have, in the web pages embedded mode, buttons to control {{VLC}} as in WMP or Youtube player. These buttons need to be cross-platform and cross-browsers. A right-click context menu with basic commands might be a nice way to get started.

The second part of this project aims to provide a replacement for all preconfigured media players embedded in web pages, if possible. For example, when a webpage asks for WMP embedded plugin, youtube player, quicktime player or any other, VLC would detect the stream and display it. This would mean less CPU needed than Flash based players.

This project may need to work in concert with some improvements on the cache handling module access.

The look of the interface should not be a problem. There is a proof of concept and a better design can be added later on.

''Proposed mentor: jpsaman and jpd''

=== OpenMAX AL bindings for LibVLC ===

OpenMAX is a portable framework for handling audio, video and pictures.

OpenMAX AL is an API designed to create and control media players, and make them communicate with devices such as audio inputs and outputs, cameras, LEDs, etc. In this project, the student would integrate LibVLC, the VLC framework with OpenMAX.

''Proposed mentor: Rémi''

=== DXVA Integration ===
Since Windows Vista, some nice APIs are available, and you can do fun things like GPU-based decoding. Some good work could be done here.

''Proposed mentor: geal''

=== Linux GPU Acceleration Integration ===
Some nice APIs are available like VAAPI and like XvBA, and you can do fun things like GPU-based decoding.

''Proposed mentor: jpsaman''

=== Automated threading error detection ===
VLC is heavily multithreaded.

This project would involve extending the VLC threading APIs to provide better run-time consistency checks, and possibly proof of correctness.

This could be similar to the lock consistency checking in the Linux kernel, albeit more simple - VLC does not have to deal with interruptions neither atomic operation and has fewer thread and synchronisation constructs.

This project requires working knowledge of the C programming language and POSIX threads.

''proposed mentor: ?''

=== Skins improvements ===

Better video output integration.

Better skin support.

''Proposed mentor: ?''

=== SVCD handling ===

Make SVCD's work. Menu selection, navigation and hot spots. 

''Proposed mentor: ?''

== Mini Projects - More ideas ==

'''Original''' ideas will be '''rewarded.'''

We have a more general page for ideas for Project in {{VLC}}, that could give you ideas: [[Mini_Projects]].

* Visualisation improvements (libprojectM implementation ? )
* Quick Look plug-in for Mac OS X (Uses VLC to play videos in the Quick Look preview rather than, for example, Flip4Mac WMV via QuickTime)

== Questions? Contact us? ==
If you need to contact us for any questions, you can:
* use this [[Talk:SoC_2009| Talk page]], 
* use the [http://www.videolan.org/developers/lists.html vlc-devel] mailing list,
* come on IRC irc://irc.videolan.org #videolan
* contact one of the mentors or the backup mentors,
* or contact [[User:J-b| Jean-Baptiste Kempf]]

=== Mentors ===
The proposed mentors are:
* jpeg
* remi
* xtophe
* jb
* dionoea
* jpsaman
* jpd

=== Administrators ===
* jb
* xtophe

{{GSoC}}