FFmpegVideoPlayer.Avalonia 2.0.0

FFmpegVideoPlayer.Avalonia

An FFmpeg-based video player control for Avalonia UI with full cross-platform support including ARM64 macOS (Apple Silicon).

Features

• 🎬 Full-featured video player control for Avalonia
• 🖥️ True cross-platform (Windows, macOS Intel, macOS ARM64, Linux)
• 🍎 Native Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3) support via FFmpeg
• 🎨 Clean, modern UI with Material Design icons
• ⚡ Uses FFmpeg.AutoGen for maximum codec support
• 🎛️ Built-in controls: Play/Pause, Stop, Seek bar, Volume slider, Mute
• 🔊 OpenAL-based audio playback

Installation

dotnet add package FFmpegVideoPlayer.Avalonia

FFmpeg Installation

macOS: FFmpeg is automatically installed via Homebrew if not found! No manual setup needed! 🎉

Windows & Linux: FFmpeg must be installed on your system.

Platform Support

Note: On macOS, FFmpeg and Homebrew are automatically installed if not present!

Quick Start

Step 1: Add Material Icons to App.axaml

Important: The video player uses Material Icons for its controls. You must add the MaterialIconStyles to your App.axaml:

<Application xmlns="https://github.com/avaloniaui"
             xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
             xmlns:materialIcons="clr-namespace:Material.Icons.Avalonia;assembly=Material.Icons.Avalonia"
             x:Class="YourApp.App">
    <Application.Styles>
        <FluentTheme />
        
        <materialIcons:MaterialIconStyles />
    </Application.Styles>
</Application>

Step 2: Initialize FFmpeg at Startup

In your Program.cs or App.axaml.cs, initialize FFmpeg before creating any windows.

On macOS, FFmpeg is automatically installed via Homebrew if not found!

using Avalonia.VlcVideoPlayer;

public class Program
{
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        // Initialize FFmpeg - on macOS, auto-installs via Homebrew if needed!
        // Set autoInstall: false to disable automatic installation
        FFmpegInitializer.Initialize();
        
        BuildAvaloniaApp().StartWithClassicDesktopLifetime(args);
    }

    public static AppBuilder BuildAvaloniaApp()
        => AppBuilder.Configure<App>()
            .UsePlatformDetect()
            .WithInterFont()
            .LogToTrace();
}

Optional: Subscribe to status updates during initialization:

FFmpegInitializer.StatusChanged += (message) => Console.WriteLine(message);
FFmpegInitializer.Initialize();
// Output on macOS without FFmpeg:
// "Initializing FFmpeg for macos-arm64..."
// "FFmpeg not found. Installing via Homebrew (this may take a few minutes)..."
// "FFmpeg installed successfully!"
// "FFmpeg initialized successfully (libavcodec: 61.3.100)"

Step 3: Add the VideoPlayerControl to your Window

<Window xmlns="https://github.com/avaloniaui"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        xmlns:ffmpeg="clr-namespace:Avalonia.VlcVideoPlayer;assembly=Avalonia.VlcVideoPlayer"
        Title="My Video Player" Width="800" Height="600">
    
    <ffmpeg:VideoPlayerControl x:Name="VideoPlayer" />
    
</Window>

Step 4: Play a Video

Use the built-in "Open" button, or load programmatically:

// Play a local file
VideoPlayer.Open(@"C:\Videos\movie.mp4");

// Or play from URL
VideoPlayer.OpenUri(new Uri("https://example.com/video.mp4"));

Complete Example

Here's a minimal working example:

MyApp.csproj:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <OutputType>WinExe</OutputType>
    <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
    <AllowUnsafeBlocks>true</AllowUnsafeBlocks>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="Avalonia" Version="11.3.6" />
    <PackageReference Include="Avalonia.Desktop" Version="11.3.6" />
    <PackageReference Include="Avalonia.Themes.Fluent" Version="11.3.6" />
    <PackageReference Include="FFmpegVideoPlayer.Avalonia" Version="2.0.0" />
  </ItemGroup>
</Project>

App.axaml:

<Application xmlns="https://github.com/avaloniaui"
             xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
             xmlns:materialIcons="clr-namespace:Material.Icons.Avalonia;assembly=Material.Icons.Avalonia"
             x:Class="MyApp.App">
    <Application.Styles>
        <FluentTheme />
        <materialIcons:MaterialIconStyles />
    </Application.Styles>
</Application>

Program.cs:

using Avalonia;
using Avalonia.VlcVideoPlayer;

namespace MyApp;

class Program
{
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        FFmpegInitializer.Initialize();
        BuildAvaloniaApp().StartWithClassicDesktopLifetime(args);
    }

    public static AppBuilder BuildAvaloniaApp()
        => AppBuilder.Configure<App>()
            .UsePlatformDetect()
            .LogToTrace();
}

Embedded Player (No Open Button)

For scenarios where you want to play a specific video without the file browser, use the Source property and hide the Open button:

<ffmpeg:VideoPlayerControl 
    Source="C:\Videos\intro.mp4"
    AutoPlay="True"
    ShowOpenButton="False"
    ControlPanelBackground="#2d2d2d" />

Or set programmatically:

// Hide the Open button and set source
VideoPlayer.ShowOpenButton = false;
VideoPlayer.AutoPlay = true;
VideoPlayer.Source = @"C:\Videos\movie.mp4";

// Customize the control panel background
VideoPlayer.ControlPanelBackground = new SolidColorBrush(Color.Parse("#1a1a1a"));

Custom Control Panel Colors

The control panel background can be customized to match your app's theme:

<ffmpeg:VideoPlayerControl ControlPanelBackground="#1a1a1a" />


<ffmpeg:VideoPlayerControl ControlPanelBackground="{DynamicResource SystemAccentColor}" />


<ffmpeg:VideoPlayerControl ControlPanelBackground="Transparent" />

API Reference

VideoPlayerControl Properties

VideoPlayerControl Methods

VideoPlayerControl Events

FFmpegInitializer Static Methods

FFmpegInitializer Properties

FFmpegInitializer Events

Migration from VLC Version

If you're migrating from the VLC-based version (v1.x):

1. Update the package: dotnet add package FFmpegVideoPlayer.Avalonia
2. macOS users: No setup needed! FFmpeg auto-installs via Homebrew
3. Windows/Linux users: Install FFmpeg (see Installation section)
4. Change VlcInitializer.Initialize() to FFmpegInitializer.Initialize() in your Program.cs
5. The rest of the API remains the same!

Troubleshooting

FFmpeg not found

On macOS, FFmpeg should auto-install. If it fails, run FFmpegInitializer.GetInstallationInstructions() for manual steps.

No audio playback

Ensure OpenAL is installed:

• Windows: Usually included with graphics drivers
• macOS: Included with the system
• Linux: sudo apt install libopenal1

Video plays but no picture

This can happen with certain codecs. Ensure you have a complete FFmpeg installation with all codecs enabled.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

Credits

• FFmpeg - The leading multimedia framework
• FFmpeg.AutoGen - FFmpeg bindings for .NET
• OpenTK - OpenAL bindings for audio playback
• Material.Icons.Avalonia - Material Design icons