Loading a Movieclip without draw() function

serdalis

Loading a Movieclip without draw() function

in Contributed Library Questions • 2 years ago

Hi guys,
I'm trying to import a movie, get each frame, run some processing on that frame, and then save it in a frame array.
I've got it working without bugs, however, the method i currently use:
http://forum.processing.org/topic/import-whole-video-at-once

requires the draw loop to be active for the frames to be loaded.
Unfortunately this is a big no-no for the program I'm creating, which will use the frames that have been processed for some sprite work after (the clip is a blue-screen with the sprite i need on it).

Question is, is there any way to load all a movies frames without the draw loop running?
I suspect the answer to this question involves some complicated java (threading) which i have no experience with, but that's ok.

here's a small sample of relevent code:

public void ProcessMovie(PApplet parent, String movieName) {
this.parent = parent;
GSMovie myMovie = new GSMovie(this.parent, movieName);
myMovie.play();
myMovie.read();
System.out.println(myMovie.length()); // returns 0 since the movie hasnt yet loaded frame 1.
frames = new State[(int)myMovie.length()]; // state is besically [int x, int y, PImage graphic]
// following was an attempted mod from the frame by frame example in processing
for(int i=0; i!=myMovie.length(); ++i) {
myMovie.play();
myMovie.jump(i);
myMovie.pause();
myMovie.read();
frames[i] = extract(myMovie);
}
}

I'm not opposed to using the core movie class instead of GSMovie but as far as i'm aware GSMovie has more functionality.
Any help would be appreciated :D,
Thanks in advance.

Replies(2)

calsign

Re: Loading a Movieclip without draw() function

2 years ago

I'm no expert on video and such, but as far as I know, loading large items while the program is executing will require a seperate Thread.
I would try something like this:

class LoadingThread extends Thread {
String path;
boolean active;
LoadingThread() {}
//Call start() in setup
void start() {
super.start();
}
void run() {
while(true) {
if(active) {
//Load stuff here using the path variable, for example:
//s = loadStrings(path);
//Although s must be declared globally
active = false;
}
}
}
//Call this to start loading something with the _path parameter
void trigger(String _path) {
path = _path
active = true;
}
//Will return true if done loading
boolean doneYet() {
return !active;
}
}

This has not been tested, but the same idea works with TTS. You basically need one LoadingThread Object for every item that needs to be loaded simultaneously. You then initialize each one and then call start() for each one in setup(). To load an item, call trigger(path) with path being the path of the item. You do, of course, need to insert a load function into the comment identified spot. doneYet() returns true if done loading, false if not.
To learn more about making your own Thread Extensions, see this Wiki post.
If you do not understand, say so.

EDIT: In your case, you would insert myMovie.read() where identified.

serdalis

Re: Loading a Movieclip without draw() function

2 years ago

Thanks for that,
this thread code should be useful for the game itself, since i have a lot of sound files and such to load as well.

but unfortunatly it doesn't solve the loading problem.
the problem with the movie clip is that the streamer (both GSMovie and movie) wont load the next frame of a movie without a call to the draw() function. Since i don't want to draw the movie to the screen, the draw method is redundant, so all i need is the calls that are being passed around (i suspect =d), i'll play around with threading though, maybe something nice will happen.

I do know that a

void MovieEvent(movie m) {}

is being thrown around every time a new frame is avaliable, and that you can hook that movie event to be handled by any class you wish, but the code just behind that event is probably what I'm looking for and unfortunately what i cant find :(.

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