View source for VLCKit

This page provides a brief overview on the [[LibVLC]] binding for Objective-C.

== Introduction ==
VLCKit is an Objective-C wrapper for libvlc's external interface, on '''Mac OS X''' and '''iOS'''.

It includes basic classes for playlists, streaming and transcoding. However, this is only a limited set. Doing simple media players (comparable to QuickTime Player or MPlayer OS X) is as hard as doing a QuickTime-based one; thus, it is really easy. However, you'll lack most of the cool things such as running multiple 
interfaces within one instance (remember that hotkeys is an interface, too). Still, you get da überfeature: playing multiple streams within one instance of VLC side by side.

== Build the framework ==

* Clone git://git.videolan.org/vlc-bindings/VLCKit.git
* open <code>.VLCKit.xcodeproj</code> 
* make sure the VLCKit target is selected 
* build the project

This should automatically build VLC itself.

== Basic usage in your application ==
The code should speak by itself
   // Set up a videoView by hand. You can also do that in the nib file
    videoView = [[VLCVideoView alloc] initWithFrame:[[window contentView] bounds]];
    [[window contentView] addSubview:videoView];
    [videoView setAutoresizingMask: NSViewHeightSizable|NSViewWidthSizable];
   
    // Init the player object
    player = [[VLCMediaPlayer alloc] initWithVideoView:videoView];
  
    [player setMedia:[VLCMedia mediaWithPath:@"/to/my/movie"]];
    [player play];

== Sample code ==
We offer sample code both for iOS and OS X.

<code>Examples_OSX</code> includes 3 different projects.
* ''BasicPlayerWithPlaylist'': this sum's it up pretty well. drag and drop files, hit play / pause, see them play in the same window in the order you want them to.
[[File:List based vlckit player sample.png|center|Basic Player with Playlist]]
* ''FlashVideoDownloader'': this exemplifies the basics on how to deploy VLC's URL parsing mechanisms to gain access to the actually played media and how to store it.
[[File:Flash video downloader vlckit sample project.png|center|Flash Video Downloader]]
* ''iPodConverter'': VLCKit includes streaming and transcoding features including a few pre-defined profiles. In this sample, you see how to use them. Drop a file in the designated area. Hit convert. See the file being converted including a progress bar.
[[File:Convert for ipad osx sample project.png|center|iPodConverter]]

<code>Examples_iOS</code> includes 2 different projects developed using Xcode 5 and with iOS 7 in mind. With minor modifications, they will also work on iOS 5 and 6.
* ''SimplePlayback'': it's as simple as it sounds. Launch the app to watch a file being streamed live over http from one of our servers to your iOS Simulator or device.
[[File:Simple playback iOS sample project.png|center|Simple Playback]]
* ''DropIn-Player'': this is a more advanced sample project implementing a basic view controller, which could be embedded in your own app. It allows any kind of media playback, subtitles handling, multiple audio track handling, aspect ratio customizations, playback position manipulation and display, volume. All of that, implemented in a self-contained class and a single xib file.
[[File:Drop-in player sample project ios.png|center|Drop-In player]]

== What applications use VLCKit? ==
* [http://imagneto.sourceforge.net/ iMagneto]
* [[Lunettes]] by the VideoLAN team
* [[iOS|VLC for iOS]] by the VideoLAN team
* [http://www.rotapp.com/app/blackbox/ Blackbox] by Rotapp
* [http://www.rotapp.com/app/dreambox-live/ Dreambox-Live] by Rotapp (discontinued)

Feel free to add your application above in alphabetical order.

== Related ==
* [[OSXCompile|Compiling VLC on MacOS X]]

==External Links==

* [http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/ObjectiveC/Introduction/introObjectiveC.html Introduction to The Objective-C 2.0 Programming Language]
* [http://developer.apple.com/documentation/developertools/Conceptual/IB_UserGuide/Introduction/Introduction.html Interface Builder]

[[Category:LibVLC]]
[[Category:Mac OS X]]