In article <ez**************@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl"Nicholas
Paldino[.NET/C# MVP]" <mv*@spam.guard.caspershouse.comwrote:
Ryan,
Real is a problem with most video players, as far as I know, as
there isn't a codec out there for Windows Media players. You could
try and use the Real player, but I am not sure that it can be
embedded in your app.
I'm not aware of a codec that supports Real streaming in WMP, but
there is Real Alternative, which allows for playback of many Real
formats in
WMP.<http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Real_Alternative.htm>
Note that if you can figure out a way to embed the Media Player
Classic (included in the above download), that will stream Real format
without having the Real player. Of course, that still requires a
different component than the regular DirectX supported on.
Personally, I wouldn't worry about supporting Real. There are too
many reasons to avoid Real anyway; the less third-party applications
do to support it, the better. Just my opinion, of course.
[...]
I would be very cautious if you are distributing your app, not
to install codecs for video types over the user's preferences. Video
codecs can be a tricky thing, and I've found that I have come to
loathe programs that install codecs without my knowledge or
(explicit) approval.
I would like to heartily agree with this advice. You'd think a video
codec would just do one thing: encode or decode a specific video
format. Unfortunately, there are lots of situations where one codec
tries to handle a format handled by some other codec already
installed, causing conflicts in software that expects a particular
codec to be handling a particular format. Yes, this is all due to bad
design on the part of the codecs and the dependent software, but it's
a fact of life. Don't make things worse by not giving the user
complete control over how your application manages the codecs.
Pete
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