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https://github.com/videolan/libvlcsharp

Cross-platform .NET/Mono bindings for LibVLC
https://github.com/videolan/libvlcsharp

dotnet libvlc libvlcsharp multimedia player unity vlc xamarin

Last synced: 18 days ago
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Cross-platform .NET/Mono bindings for LibVLC

Lists

README 

        


    




# LibVLCSharp



[![Build Status](https://videolan.visualstudio.com/LibVLCSharp/_apis/build/status/videolan.libvlcsharp?branchName=master)](https://videolan.visualstudio.com/LibVLCSharp/_build?definitionId=22)

[![Join the chat at https://discord.gg/3h3K3JF](https://img.shields.io/discord/716939396464508958?label=discord)](https://discord.gg/3h3K3JF)

[![LibVLCSharp API Docs](https://img.shields.io/badge/docs-libvlcsharp-1faece)](https://code.videolan.org/videolan/LibVLCSharp/-/blob/3.x/docs/home.md)



LibVLCSharp is a cross-platform audio and video API for .NET platforms based on VideoLAN's LibVLC Library.

It provides a comprehensive multimedia API that can be used across mobile, server and desktop to render video and output audio as well as encode and stream.



_The official repository URL for this repo is https://code.videolan.org/videolan/LibVLCSharp._



- [Features](#features)

  - [MediaPlayerElement](#mediaplayerelement)

- [Supported platforms](#supported-platforms)

- [Installation](#installation)

  - [Preview builds](#Pre-release-versions)

- [Getting started](#getting-started)

- [Documentation](#documentation)

- [Ebook](#ebook)

- [Migrating from Vlc.DotNet](docs/migrating_from_Vlc.DotNet.md)

- [Samples](#samples)

- [Quick API overview](#quick-api-overview)

- [Roadmap](#roadmap)

- [Versioning](#versioning)

- [Release Notes](#release-notes)

- [Contribute](#contribute)

  - [Pull request](#pull-request)

  - [Gitlab issues](#gitlab-issues)

- [Questions and Support](#questions-and-support)

  - [Bug trackers](#bug-trackers)

  - [Discord](#discord)

  - [StackOverflow](#stackoverflow)

  - [Commercial Support](#commercial-support)

- [Code of Conduct](#code-of-conduct)

- [Licenses](#licenses)



## Features



Check out [libvlc-nuget](https://code.videolan.org/videolan/libvlc-nuget) to get a basic understanding of how `libvlc` works, what it can offer and how to install it with NuGet.



Some of the [features](https://www.videolan.org/vlc/features.html) include:



- Play every media file formats, every codec and every streaming protocols

- Run on every platform, from desktop (Windows, Linux, Mac) to mobile (Android, iOS) and TVs

- Hardware and efficient decoding on every platform, up to 8K

- Network browsing for distant filesystems (SMB, FTP, SFTP, NFS...) and servers (UPnP, DLNA)

- Playback of Audio CD, DVD and Bluray with menu navigation

- Support for HDR, including tonemapping for SDR streams

- Audio passthrough with SPDIF and HDMI, including for Audio HD codecs, like DD+, TrueHD or DTS-HD

- Support for video and audio filters

- Support for 360 video and 3D audio playback, including Ambisonics

- Able to cast and stream to distant renderers, like Chromecast and UPnP renderers.



Most things you can achieve with the regular VLC desktop app, you can also achieve using `libvlc`.



### MediaPlayerElement



Full featured video control for Xamarin.Forms available in LibVLCSharp.Forms (iOS/Android) and Uno platform (iOS/Android/UWP).





  




## Supported platforms



Mono, .NET Framework and .NET Core runtimes are supported.



- Xamarin.Android

- Xamarin.iOS

- Xamarin.tvOS

- Xamarin.Mac (Cocoa)

- Windows Classic (WPF, WinForms, GTK)

- Windows Universal (UWP for Desktop, mobile and Xbox)

- Linux including desktop, server and Raspberry Pi (GTK)

- Xamarin.Forms

- Uno Platform (UWP, Android, iOS)

- Avalonia (Windows, macOS, Linux)

- .NET Standard 1.1 and 2.0

- .NET Framework 4.0 and later

- .NET Core (including ASP.NET Core)

- [Unity3D](https://code.videolan.org/videolan/vlc-unity)

  - Windows Classic

  - Android



## Installation



1. Install **LibVLC** in your platform specific project.



LibVLC is the actual VLC engine written mostly in C/C++ and compiled for your target platform. More information [here](https://code.videolan.org/videolan/libvlc-nuget).



| Platform          | LibVLC Package                      | NuGet                                  | Minimum OS Version |

| ----------------- | ----------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- |--------------------|

| Windows           | VideoLAN.LibVLC.Windows             | [![LibVLCWindowsBadge]][LibVLCWindows] | Windows XP         |

| UWP               | VideoLAN.LibVLC.UWP                 | [![LibVLCWin10Badge]][LibVLCWin10]     | Windows 10         |

| Mac               | VideoLAN.LibVLC.Mac                 | [![LibVLCMacBadge]][LibVLCMac]         | macOS 10.7         |

| Android           | VideoLAN.LibVLC.Android             | [![LibVLCAndroidBadge]][LibVLCAndroid] | Android 2.3        |

| iOS               | VideoLAN.LibVLC.iOS                 | [![LibVLCiOSBadge]][LibVLCiOS]         | iOS 8.4            |

| tvOS              | VideoLAN.LibVLC.tvOS                | [![LibVLCtvOSBadge]][LibVLCtvOS]       | tvOS 10.2          |

| Linux             | [Linux guide](docs/linux-setup.md)  | N/A                                    | N/A                |



```cmd

dotnet add package VideoLAN.LibVLC.[Windows|UWP|Android|iOS|Mac|tvOS]

```



2. Install **LibVLCSharp** _or_ **LibVLCSharp.Forms** (if you plan on using Xamarin.Forms)



LibVLCSharp is the .NET wrapper that consumes `LibVLC` and allows you to interact with native code from C#/F#.



| Platform          | LibVLCSharp Package                             | NuGet                                             |

| ----------------- | ----------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------- |

| .NET Standard     | [LibVLCSharp](src/LibVLCSharp/README.md)        | [![LibVLCSharpBadge]][LibVLCSharp]                |

| Xamarin.Android   | [LibVLCSharp](src/LibVLCSharp/README.md)        | [![LibVLCSharpBadge]][LibVLCSharp]                |

| Xamarin.iOS       | [LibVLCSharp](src/LibVLCSharp/README.md)        | [![LibVLCSharpBadge]][LibVLCSharp]                |

| Xamarin.tvOS      | [LibVLCSharp](src/LibVLCSharp/README.md)        | [![LibVLCSharpBadge]][LibVLCSharp]                |

| Xamarin.Mac       | [LibVLCSharp](src/LibVLCSharp/README.md)        | [![LibVLCSharpBadge]][LibVLCSharp]                |

| UWP               | [LibVLCSharp](src/LibVLCSharp/README.md)        | [![LibVLCSharpBadge]][LibVLCSharp]                |

| Xamarin.Forms     | [LibVLCSharp.Forms][RLibVLCSharpForms]          | [![LibVLCSharpFormsBadge]][LibVLCSharpForms]      |

| WPF               | [LibVLCSharp.WPF][RLibVLCSharpWPF]              | [![LibVLCSharpWPFBadge]][LibVLCSharpWPF]          |

| Xamarin.Forms.WPF | [LibVLCSharp.Forms.WPF][RLibVLCSharpFormsWPF]   | [![LibVLCSharpFormsWPFBadge]][LibVLCSharpFormsWPF]|

| GTK               | [LibVLCSharp.GTK][RLibVLCSharpGTK]              | [![LibVLCSharpGTKBadge]][LibVLCSharpGTK]          |

| Xamarin.Forms.GTK | [LibVLCSharp.Forms.GTK][RLibVLCSharpFormsGTK]   | [![LibVLCSharpFormsGTKBadge]][LibVLCSharpFormsGTK]|

| Windows Forms     | [LibVLCSharp.WinForms][RLibVLCSharpWinForms]    | [![LibVLCSharpWinFormsBadge]][LibVLCSharpWinForms]|

| Uno Platform      | [LibVLCSharp.Uno][RLibVLCSharpUno]              | [![LibVLCSharpUnoBadge]][LibVLCSharpUno]          |

| Avalonia          | [LibVLCSharp.Avalonia][RLibVLCSharpAvalonia]    | [![LibVLCSharpAvaloniaBadge]][LibVLCSharpAvalonia]|

| Eto.Forms         | [LibVLCSharp.Eto][RLibVLCSharpEto]              | [![LibVLCSharpEtoBadge]][LibVLCSharpEto]          |

| Unity3D - Windows | [VLC for Unity (Windows)][VLCUnityWindows]      | [![VLCUnityBadge]][VLCUnityWindows]               |

| Unity3D - UWP     | [VLC for Unity (UWP)][VLCUnityUWP]              | [![VLCUnityBadge]][VLCUnityUWP]                   |

| Unity3D - Android | [VLC for Unity (Android)][VLCUnityAndroid]      | [![VLCUnityBadge]][VLCUnityAndroid]               |



### Pre-release versions



LibVLCSharp 4 preview and LibVLC 4 nightly builds are distributed using https://feedz.io/ for now. To pull pre-release versions into your project, use the following `NuGet.config` file:

```



  

    

  



```



See the docs for [preview builds installation details](docs/libvlc_preview.md).



[RLibVLCSharpForms]: src/LibVLCSharp.Forms/README.md

[RLibVLCSharpWPF]: src/LibVLCSharp.WPF/README.md

[RLibVLCSharpFormsWPF]: src/LibVLCSharp.Forms.Platforms.WPF/README.md

[RLibVLCSharpGTK]: src/LibVLCSharp.GTK/README.md

[RLibVLCSharpFormsGTK]: src/LibVLCSharp.Forms.Platforms.GTK/README.md

[RLibVLCSharpWinForms]: src/LibVLCSharp.WinForms/README.md

[RLibVLCSharpUno]: src/LibVLCSharp.Uno/README.md

[RLibVLCSharpAvalonia]: src/LibVLCSharp.Avalonia/README.md

[RLibVLCSharpEto]: src/LibVLCSharp.Eto/README.md



[LibVLCWindowsBadge]: https://img.shields.io/nuget/v/VideoLAN.LibVLC.Windows.svg

[LibVLCWindows]: https://www.nuget.org/packages/VideoLAN.LibVLC.Windows/



[LibVLCWin10Badge]: https://img.shields.io/nuget/v/VideoLAN.LibVLC.UWP.svg

[LibVLCWin10]: https://www.nuget.org/packages/VideoLAN.LibVLC.UWP/



[LibVLCMac]: https://www.nuget.org/packages/VideoLAN.LibVLC.Mac/

[LibVLCMacBadge]: https://img.shields.io/nuget/v/VideoLAN.LibVLC.Mac.svg



[LibVLCAndroid]: https://www.nuget.org/packages/VideoLAN.LibVLC.Android/

[LibVLCAndroidBadge]: https://img.shields.io/nuget/v/VideoLAN.LibVLC.Android.svg



[LibVLCiOS]: https://www.nuget.org/packages/VideoLAN.LibVLC.iOS/

[LibVLCiOSBadge]: https://img.shields.io/nuget/v/VideoLAN.LibVLC.iOS.svg



[LibVLCtvOS]: https://www.nuget.org/packages/VideoLAN.LibVLC.tvOS/

[LibVLCtvOSBadge]: https://img.shields.io/nuget/v/VideoLAN.LibVLC.tvOS.svg



[LibVLCSharp]: https://www.nuget.org/packages/LibVLCSharp/

[LibVLCSharpBadge]: https://img.shields.io/nuget/v/LibVLCSharp.svg



[LibVLCSharpForms]: https://www.nuget.org/packages/LibVLCSharp.Forms/

[LibVLCSharpFormsBadge]: https://img.shields.io/nuget/v/LibVLCSharp.Forms.svg



[LibVLCSharpWPF]: https://www.nuget.org/packages/LibVLCSharp.WPF/

[LibVLCSharpWPFBadge]: https://img.shields.io/nuget/v/LibVLCSharp.WPF.svg



[LibVLCSharpFormsWPF]: https://www.nuget.org/packages/LibVLCSharp.Forms.WPF/

[LibVLCSharpFormsWPFBadge]: https://img.shields.io/nuget/v/LibVLCSharp.Forms.WPF.svg



[LibVLCSharpGTK]: https://www.nuget.org/packages/LibVLCSharp.GTK/

[LibVLCSharpGTKBadge]: https://img.shields.io/nuget/v/LibVLCSharp.GTK.svg



[LibVLCSharpFormsGTK]: https://www.nuget.org/packages/LibVLCSharp.Forms.GTK/

[LibVLCSharpFormsGTKBadge]: https://img.shields.io/nuget/v/LibVLCSharp.Forms.GTK.svg



[LibVLCSharpWinForms]: https://www.nuget.org/packages/LibVLCSharp.WinForms/

[LibVLCSharpWinFormsBadge]: https://img.shields.io/nuget/v/LibVLCSharp.WinForms.svg



[LibVLCSharpUno]: https://www.nuget.org/packages/LibVLCSharp.Uno/

[LibVLCSharpUnoBadge]: https://img.shields.io/nuget/v/LibVLCSharp.Uno.svg



[LibVLCSharpAvalonia]: https://www.nuget.org/packages/LibVLCSharp.Avalonia/

[LibVLCSharpAvaloniaBadge]: https://img.shields.io/nuget/v/LibVLCSharp.Avalonia.svg



[LibVLCSharpEto]: https://www.nuget.org/packages/LibVLCSharp.Eto/

[LibVLCSharpEtoBadge]: https://img.shields.io/nuget/v/LibVLCSharp.Eto.svg



[VLCUnityWindows]: https://videolabs.io/store/unity

[VLCUnityUWP]: https://videolabs.io/store/unity

[VLCUnityAndroid]: https://videolabs.io/store/unity

[VLCUnityBadge]: https://img.shields.io/badge/Made%20with-Unity-57b9d3.svg?style=flat&logo=unity



## Getting started



Follow the [Getting started guide](docs/getting_started.md). Make sure you read it since it contains platform-specific caveats



## Documentation



Our [Documentation](docs/home.md) is part of this repository.



Feel free to browse it and if you see something missing, you can improve it by sending a PR.



It includes helpful documents such as:



### [Best practices](docs/best_practices.md)



This document details how to use LibVLCSharp in a correct way, notably taking into consideration the native interop part.



### [Q&A guide](docs/how_do_I_do_X.md)



This is a Q&A document which I compiled from all the questions I got asked regarding LibVLC and LibVLCSharp. Continuously updated.



### [Troubleshooting issues](docs/troubleshooting.md)



When you encounter an issue with LibVLC/LibVLCSharp, identifying the cause is not always straightforward. This document gives you clues on how to go about it.



### [Libvlc specific information](docs/libvlc_documentation.md)



This page focuses on the core native library and contains information regarding advanced libvlc configuration and its versioning strategy by VideoLAN.



### [Tutorials](docs/tutorials.md)



This page indexes all available tutorial materials about LibVLCSharp. There are currently videos, talks, blogposts and code samples.



### [Community projects](docs/made_with_libvlcsharp.md)



Here we list several interesting projects made by the community using LibVLCSharp. Feel free to send a PR to yours!



## Ebook



In September 2022, the first book ever about LibVLC, the VideoLAN community and LibVLCSharp was released!



[The Good Parts of LibVLC](https://mfkl.gumroad.com/l/libvlc-good-parts) contains everything you need to know about VLC, LibVLC and how to use it from .NET with LibVLCSharp.



## Samples



For more advanced samples, have a look at [libvlcsharp-samples](https://code.videolan.org/mfkl/libvlcsharp-samples) with apps such as:



- [Chromecast sample](https://code.videolan.org/mfkl/libvlcsharp-samples/tree/master/Chromecast): Discover chromecasts on your local network and select one for playback in 100% shared code (Xamarin.Forms, iOS/Android).

- [Record HLS sample](https://code.videolan.org/mfkl/libvlcsharp-samples/tree/master/RecordHLS): Simple .NET Core CLI app which shows how to record an HLS stream to the filesystem.

- [RTSP Mosaic sample](https://code.videolan.org/mfkl/libvlcsharp-samples/tree/master/VideoMosaic): Cross-platform RTSP player sample with 4 views mosaic (Xamarin.Forms, iOS/Android).

- [PulseMusic UX sample](https://code.videolan.org/mfkl/libvlcsharp-samples/tree/master/PulseMusic): A stylish music player UX example using Skia on iOS and Android.

- [Gestures sample](https://code.videolan.org/mfkl/libvlcsharp-samples/tree/master/Gestures/Gestures): Cross-platform touch gestures and 360 videos on iOS and Android.

- [LocalNetwork sample](https://code.videolan.org/mfkl/libvlcsharp-samples/tree/master/LocalNetwork): Cross-platform local network browsing and playback with network shares (SMB, UPnP) on Android, iOS and WPF.

- [MediaPlayerElement sample](https://code.videolan.org/mfkl/libvlcsharp-samples/tree/master/MediaElement): Minimal iOS/Android sample showing how to get started with the crossplatform MediaPlayerElement control from LibVLCSharp.Forms.

- [SkiaSharp Preview Thumbnailer sample](https://code.videolan.org/mfkl/libvlcsharp-samples/tree/master/PreviewThumbnailExtractor.Skia): .NET Core sample app showing how to use LibVLC 3 video callbacks and encode the frame with SkiaSharp before saving it to disk.

- [lvst](https://github.com/mfkl/lvst): Watch a movie while it is downloading! lvst is a .NET Core CLI app using MonoTorrent and LibVLCSharp for macOS, Linux and Windows.



Feel free to suggest and contribute new samples.



## Quick API overview



```csharp

using var libvlc = new LibVLC(enableDebugLogs: true);

using var media = new Media(libvlc, new Uri(@"C:\tmp\big_buck_bunny.mp4"));

using var mediaplayer = new MediaPlayer(media);



mediaplayer.Play();



Console.ReadKey();

```



- [`LibVLC.cs`](https://code.videolan.org/videolan/LibVLCSharp/-/blob/master/src/LibVLCSharp/LibVLC.cs): Main object pointing to a native `libvlc` instance in native code.

- [`MediaPlayer.cs`](https://code.videolan.org/videolan/LibVLCSharp/-/blob/master/src/LibVLCSharp/MediaPlayer.cs): Manages playback, offers event listeners and more. Accessible from `VideoView` with data-binding support.

- [`Media.cs`](https://code.videolan.org/videolan/LibVLCSharp/-/blob/master/src/LibVLCSharp/Media.cs): Class representing and providing information about a media such as a video or audio file or stream.

- `VideoView.cs`: Custom native view which holds a `MediaPlayer` object.

- [`MediaDiscoverer.cs`](https://code.videolan.org/videolan/LibVLCSharp/-/blob/master/src/LibVLCSharp/MediaDiscoverer.cs): This object should be used to find media on NAS and any SMB/UPnP-enabled device on your local network.

- [`RendererDiscoverer.cs`](https://code.videolan.org/videolan/LibVLCSharp/-/blob/master/src/LibVLCSharp/RendererDiscoverer.cs): Use this to find and use a Chromecast or other distant renderers.

- [`Dialog.cs`](https://code.videolan.org/videolan/LibVLCSharp/-/blob/master/src/LibVLCSharp/Dialog.cs): Dialogs can be raised from the `libvlc` engine in some cases. Register callbacks with this object.



The [LibVLCSharp.Forms](src/LibVLCSharp.Forms/README.md) and [Uno](src/LibVLCSharp.Uno/README.md) packages features a `MediaPlayerElement` control, similar to the ones provided by the .NET Framework on WPF and UWP. It currently supports iOS, Android and UWP (Uno only).



## Roadmap



- Game engines ([Unity](https://code.videolan.org/videolan/vlc-unity), [Unreal](https://code.videolan.org/videolan/LibVLCSharp/-/issues/357), Godot)

- [LibVLC 4 support](docs/libvlc_preview.md)



If you have a request or question regarding the roadmap, feel free to open an [issue](https://code.videolan.org/videolan/LibVLCSharp/issues) (using an issue template) or [PR](https://github.com/videolan/libvlcsharp/pulls).



## Versioning



As this is a libvlc binding, we try to follow the libvlc versioning scheme as much as possible. The versioning strategy is explained in the [versioning](docs/versioning.md) document.



## Release Notes



Check out the [NEWS](NEWS) file for details about each release.



## Contribute



### Pull request



Pull requests are more than welcome! If you do submit one, please make sure to read the [contributing guidelines](CONTRIBUTING.md) first, and use our pull request template.



### Gitlab issues



You can look through issues we currently have on the [VideoLAN Gitlab](https://code.videolan.org/videolan/LibVLCSharp). Please pick one of our GitLab issue templates so we can assist you better.



There are [up for grabs tickets](https://code.videolan.org/videolan/LibVLCSharp/-/issues?label_name%5B%5D=up-for-grabs) as well if you would like to start contributing.



## Questions and Support



### Bug trackers



You have encountered an issue and wish to report it to the VLC dev team?



You can create one on our [Gitlab](https://code.videolan.org/videolan/LibVLCSharp/issues) (using an issue template) for .NET related questions/problems.



_For LibVLC/VLC specific issues, usually native code, please go to the [bug tracker of the VLC project](https://code.videolan.org/videolan/vlc/-/issues)._



Before creating an issue or ticket, please double check for duplicates!



### Discord



We are on [![Join the chat at https://discord.gg/3h3K3JF](https://img.shields.io/discord/716939396464508958?label=discord)](https://discord.gg/3h3K3JF)



### StackOverflow



We regularly monitor the `libvlcsharp` tag on [![stackoverflow](https://img.shields.io/stackexchange/stackoverflow/t/libvlcsharp.svg?label=stackoverflow&style=flat)](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/libvlcsharp)



### Forum



If you have any question or if you're not sure it's actually an issue, please visit our [forum](https://forum.videolan.org/).



### Commercial services



If you would like VLC developers to provide you with:

- custom development on LibVLC and/or LibVLCSharp, 

- training and workshops,

- [commercial licenses](https://videolabs.io/products/libvlcsharp),

- support services,

- consulting services,

- other multimedia services.



Feel free to [contact us](https://videolabs.io/#contact).



## Code of Conduct



Please read and follow the [VideoLAN CoC](https://wiki.videolan.org/Code_of_Conduct/) license.



## Licenses



LibVLCSharp is released under the [LGPLv2.1](https://tldrlegal.com/license/gnu-lesser-general-public-license-v2.1-(lgpl-2.1)) and is also available under a [commercial license](https://videolabs.io/products/libvlcsharp).



Note: the .NET4.0 LibVLCSharp build references a nuget package that may indicate its license as the .NET Library license but it's actually [opensource](https://github.com/Microsoft/referencesource/commit/6952d2c3923d30a4d88bf57120688b9532bbe1d8) under MIT.