Short: MPEG player for CyberGfx/AGA V4.01 (68k/PPC) Author: Andreas R. Kleinert Uploader: info@ar-kleinert.de Type: gfx/show akMPEG Player - SHAREWARE - © 1999 by Andreas Ralph Kleinert. All rights reserved. A PerSuaSiVe SoftWorX PRODUCT. Needs Kickstart V3.x GUI created with StormWizard 2.0 Actively supports PowerPC (TM) via powerUP (TM) and ppc.library (or -emulation V0.6b+) Program information =================== akMPEG is a program that has been designed to play MPEG animations on CyberGfx or compatible systems with a 68030 or greater CPU. Recommended is at least a 68030-50 or 68040-25 CPU. There are PPC versions available as well (040+PPC or 060+PPC). It allows several ways to replay animations: - in an overlay window on any kind of CyberGfx screen (requires cgxvideo.library and a graphics card capable of Overlay) - in a normal window on any kind of a 16/24 bit deep CyberGfx screen - on a 16/24 bit deep CyberGfx screen (auto-selection) - on a 8 bit deep AGA or CyberGfx screen (requires OS 3.1) Please note, that conventional color 8 bit screen or window displays (CyberGfx or AGA) are not supported due to speed reasons (the window of the 24 bit player simply will stay empty). Using the juggling-gigs.mpg animation from the Aminet CDs (showing Urban Mueller juggling with harddisks) on a CyberStormPPC system equipped with 68040-25 and PPC604e-180 the following results have been achieved with akMPEG 2.60 (but please note, that as with akMPEG4 V4.01 the codec has been switched and results will differ): 800x600 8/16/24 Bit CyberGfx WB Screen (CV64/3D): ------------------------------------------------- mpOV 9.222222 FPS 040-25 (sometimes 9.576923) PPCmpOV 62.250000 FPS PPC604e-180 (sometimes 83.000000) Own screen (24/8 Bit CV64/3D) ----------------------------- mp24sc 5.533333 FPS 040-25 (sometimes 5.659091) PPCmp24sc 41.500000 FPS PPC604e-180 (sometimes 49.800000) mp8sc 10.375000 FPS 040-25 (constantly) PPCmp8sc 83.000000 FPS PPC604e-180 (sometimes 124.500000) Display disabled ---------------- If display has been disabled completely, the V2.60 values for PPC oszilate between 83 and 124.5 FPS (no idea, why) and the 68k delivers ~10.4 FPS for Overlay/Gray and ~6 FPS for any 24 Bit display. So, if you have a faster/slower graphics card, you may estimate the max. possible FPS rate from these values. Basically it shouldn't matter whether the original or the emulation ppc.library is being used. I've been extensively using both without problems, while the numbers above have been taken with the original. NOTE: although MPEG files with audio part basically are supported, there's not audio support yet. There's MPEG-1 (ISO/IEC IS 11172-2) video bitstreams and MPEG-2 ISO/IEC DIS 13818-2. As with akMPEG4, the player does support "MPEG system" animations as well as normal animations without audio. Usage ===== The GUI is quite self-explaining: - PPC support can be switched on or off (when available) - B- and P-Frames may be skipped (default is "do not skip") - looping is possible (default is "only play once") - 16 bit overlay, 24 bit window, 24 bit screen and 8 bit screen (gray) display is possible The MPEG players are external programs, that are run asynchroneously. So it is possible to play more than one animation at once. Or utilize PPC and 68k at the same time. However, it is not possible to open more than one overlay window at once (all except the first one will show "Please wait..." until the resources again are free). One may also start the external player tools from Shell (PPC version is named similarily, with "PPC" as prefix). The syntax can be requested by starting with "?" as the only parameter. It's the same for both programs: akmp [-display=(ov|24|24sc|8sc)] [-nop -nob] [-pubscr=pubscreenname] [-loop] anim.mpg Replay can be aborted via the player windows' close-gadget - the gadget is present in the on-screen replay modes as well, although it may not be visible there (click at upper left corner). Unless "loop" is specified, the animation only will be played once. With "loop", it will be played "endless" (well, until someone hits the close-gadget). Example display parameters for different replay modes: (PPC)akmp -display=ov anim.mpg Overlay (PPC)akmp -display=24 anim.mp 16/24 Bit Window (PPC)akmp -display=24sc anim.mpg 16/24 Bit Screen (PPC)akmp -display=8sc anim.mpg 8 Bit grayscale Screen (requires OS 3.1 !) Unless specified otherwise, "ov" is the default setting for display. That's it :-) Tooltypes --------- DEF_DIR default directory PUBSCR_OV public screen name for overlay window display (mpOV) PUBSCR_24 public screen name for 16/24 bit window display (mp24) Overlay Support --------------- With an installed cgxvideo.library you can make use of the overlay feature of any graphics cards that supports overlay (through this library, that is). The CV64/3D supports video overlay, unless the driver's MULTIMEDIAMEM setting has been changed, so that the 1 MB of texture/overlay memory is being utilized for conventional display. One overlay "window" at a time is possible. With the BVision/PPC (which perhaps also applies to the CyberVision/PPC) it has been reported, that adding the tooltype VLAYER=DESTRUCTIVE to the BVision Monitor Driver will enable overlay support through cgxvideo.library, at least with CyberGraphX V4.1 (the commercial release). It's highly recommended to make use of overlay when available, since it will allow for fastest and smoothest replay on your respective card. Evaluation Restrictions ======================= This is the evaluation version of akMPEG, which is SHAREWARE. - in the unregistered version, MPEGs show vertical stripes when being replayed (except with the grayscale player) - registered version shows filename instead of Copyright MPEGs with black vertical stripes may look "darkened" compared to normal replay (I'd assume that's an optical effect). Copyright and Distribution ========================== See program archive for copyright and distribution information.