DirectCapture

C# library aimed at capturing AVI files playable in DirectShow as Bitmap.
Includes a few simple utility classes.

Note: If you want to perform frame capture against modern, general-purpose video codecs, do not hesitate to consider OpenCV or ffmpeg. This is for niche purposes and experimental. I would do so if I could.

Install

Legacy Windows Media Player must be available and configured to play the AVI files you wish to target.

Packages are distributed through Github Packages. Check the packages page for details.
Personal Access Token configuration is required to install the package. Please check the following page:
Working with the NuGet registry

Use dotnet nuget add source or add feeds with Nuget.Config.
Please add https://nuget.pkg.github.com/kawana77b/index.json to the package source and set your personal token.

For example:

dotnet nuget add source "https://nuget.pkg.github.com/kawana77b/index.json" --name "kawana77b" --username "YourName" --password <personal-token>

Or clone the repository and include the project.

Currently I am not willing to host this project in NuGet.

Usage

using DirectCapture;

// Use "using" to discard resources.
// The file path must be an AVI file with an .avi extension.
using var capture = new VideoCapture("test.avi");

// You can get basic various information about video from VideoInfo.
// VideoInfo class can also be instantiated and used by itself.
var info = capture.VideoInfo;
capture.CurrentPosition = 1.0; // set 1 second

// .GetBitmap() captures the frame in the current position as is.
using var bmp = capture.GetBitmap();
bmp.Save("test.png");

Environment

For Windows only.
Target framework is currently configured with .NET 8 (Windows) and .NET Framework 481.
And PlatformTarget is x64.

Why did you create this?

DirectShow is a very legacy API, but it may be necessary for organizations that deal with some specialized video codecs. This library helps to analyze frames by capturing images from video of such codecs and allowing them to be handled as Bitmap.

Also, information about this legacy API is becoming less and less available every day. While there are many examples of libraries related to camera devices, there seem to be few examples that handle AVI files. This is intended to be one of the use cases and that many people can use as a code reference.

Credits

This project uses, borrows, and references the following libraries.

• Extract Frames from Video Files by JockerSoft - CPOL
  • Copyright (c) 2006 Jocker

This program uses code developed by Jocker.
http://www.jockersoft.com

• DirectShowLib.Standard by luthfiampas - LGPL-2.1
  • Original Link
  • Copyright (c) DirectShow .NET Team

TestData:

• VJ Clip Collection One by Briareus - Public Domain