I'm writing an application using C#/Windows Presentation Foundation.
It is visualizing the steps of a dance with foot shapes.
Currently I'm playing the music as WAV-file and timing the steps with a Timer.
Because of the irregularities of a Timer the music is not in sync with the steps.
I need some kind of synchronization, this is why I wanted to use MIDI-files.
To sync the steps I need an event for each time in the music and would then show the next step. In this case I wouldn't use the Timer anymore.
I already looked at NAudio. I found tutorials for playing MP3-files which don't help me. I created a MidiFile-object but I don't know how to play it. I know that a MIDI-file contains information on how to play the music (for synthesizers) but I don't want to implement my own player.
What is a simple way to play a MIDI-file with NAudio?
How can I receive Events in each time of the music?
Is there an alternative to NAudio that can probably help me better?
Is there an alternative to MIDI that can sync to my visualization?
I am thankful for every kind of help. I've been searching for a while and think that I am maybe looking in the wrong direction.
With DryWetMIDI (I'm the author) playing MIDI files along with firing played events is pretty simple:
namespace SimplePlaybackApp
{
class Program
{
private static Playback _playback;
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var midiFile = MidiFile.Read("The Greatest Song Ever.mid");
var outputDevice = OutputDevice.GetByName("Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth");
_playback = midiFile.GetPlayback(outputDevice);
_playback.EventPlayed += OnEventPlayed;
_playback.Start();
SpinWait.SpinUntil(() => !_playback.IsRunning);
Console.WriteLine("Playback stopped or finished.");
outputDevice.Dispose();
_playback.Dispose();
}
private static void OnEventPlayed(object sender, MidiEventPlayedEventArgs e)
{
// ... do something
}
}
}
More info in Playback article and Playback API reference.
If you want to get deeper into the midi internals this looked like a pretty cool library and source code to explore.
http://code.google.com/p/midi-dot-net/
Related
I'm new to C# and I'm making a mini-game. Playing sound effects is no problem, I can just use the System.Media.SoundPlayer class object to play a wav file streaming from, for example Properties.Resources.attack.wav, this is good but the background music will stop after I play the sound effect. Yes, I know there's Windows Media Player, but that uses URI, which I can't seem to add the resources directory there. I don't want to use local directory like #"D:\MyGame\backgroundmusic.wav" because I want to send it to a friend and can still hear the music. Is there any class or external sdk's that allow sound to be played simultaneously with other sounds FROM Properties.Resources? If none, what is the URI of the Resources folder inside a solution? Any help or advice would be awesome! Thank you.
edit: I already opened those links and tried them all several times. My main question is "How to play sound FROM the Resources Folder of the solution without other sounds interrupting it"
This is the concept:
private void Form_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
var player = new System.Windows.Media.MediaPlayer();
player.Open(Properties.Resources.sfx_background);
player.Play();
}
private void attack()
{
SoundPlayer p1 = new SoundPlayer();
p1.Stream = Properties.Resources.sfx_sword;
p1.Play();
}
Where p1 plays synchronous with player, in which player gets the sound file from the Resources of the solution, not from a local storage of a computer.
I want to play a track (.wav file) in my Windows Forms Application. But I do not want it to play from the beginning, but from a certain point somewhere in the track (let's say 10 seconds).
To play the track from beginning is no problem:
private void playSimpleSound()
{
SoundPlayer simpleSound = new SoundPlayer(#"c:\Windows\Media\sound.wav");
simpleSound.Play();
}
But how can I skip the first 10 secons, and play only the rest of it?
Thanks in advance!
SoundPlayer class not to support to do this. It gives a very simple control on WAV files.
Maybe this question can help you.
I have a windows media player COM in my Windows Form project that plays and opens videos admirably. However, I would like to be able to grab the first frame of the loaded video so my program users can preview the video (and, ideally, recognize one video from another).
How can I update the frame displayed by the windows media player object?
I have tried using the following code at the end of my openFileDialog event response:
private void openFileDialog1_FileOk(object sender, CancelEventArgs e)
{
Text = openFileDialog1.SafeFileName + " - MPlayer 2.0";
//mediaPlayer1.openPlayer(openFileDialog1.FileName);
mediaPlayer1.URL = openFileDialog1.FileName;
//hopefully, this will load the first frame.
mediaPlayer1.Ctlcontrols.play();
mediaPlayer1.Ctlcontrols.pause();
}
However, when I run this, the pause command gets ignored (Auto-play for video loading is turned off, so the video won't start playing without calling .play(), above). If I had to guess, I'd say that this is because of some threading operation that calls play, moves on to call pause, calls pause, and then, finally, the play resolves, and the video starts - but because the .pause resolved before the .play, the net effect is the .pause is ultimately unheeded.
Firstly, is there a way other than .play(); .pause(); to snag a preview image of the video for the AxWindowsMediaPlayer object? If not, how can I make sure that my .pause() doesn't get ignored?
(I know that .play(); .pause(); works in the general case, because I tested with a separate button that invoked those two methods after the video finished loading, and it worked as expected)
You can't do a lot of things with this COM. However Follow this link and you will find a Class that will help you extract an image from a Video file. You could simply get extract the image and just put it in top of the video, or next to it. This is a simple workaround for your requirement. If not happy with it, I would strongly recommend not using this COM at all and use some other open source video player/plugins. There a lot of real good ones, but I could recommend the VLC Plugin, or try finding another.
Good luck in your quest.
Hanlet
While the Windows Media Player Com might not officially support a feature like this, its quite easy to 'fake' this. If you use a CtlControls2, you have access to the built-in "step(1)" function, which proceeds exactly one frame.
I've discovered that if you call step(1) after calling pause(), searching on the trackbar will also update the video.
It's not pretty, but it works!
This is a little trick to solve the common step(-1) not working issue.
IWMPControls2 Ctlcontrols2 = (IWMPControls2)WindowsMediaPlayer.Ctlcontrols;
double frameRate = WindowsMediaPlayer.network.encodedFrameRate;
Console.WriteLine("FRAMERATE: " + frameRate); //Debug
double step = 1.0 / frameRate;
Console.WriteLine("STEP: " + step); //Debug
WindowsMediaPlayer.Ctlcontrols.currentPosition -= step; //Go backwards
WindowsMediaPlayer.Ctlcontrols.pause();
Ctlcontrols2.step(1);
I know I can reference XNA for the SoundEffect class and that's what I've been doing so far but I was wondering if there was a better way than what I've been doing.
using Microsoft.Xna.Framework;
using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Audio;
using (var stream = TitleContainer.OpenStream("test.mp3"))
{
var effect = SoundEffect.FromStream(stream);
FrameworkDispatcher.Update();
effect.Play();
}
For my test app I have 20 sounds each 1 second long that I want to play once button are pressed. I'm playing around with different techniques but if possible I'd like to know how professionals go about doing this before I commit in making a sound effect based app. Little things such as loading the sound effect first or loading it the instance the button is pressed would be helpful.
Thanks.
If I were you I would use PhoneyTools SoundEffectPlayer
This class is used to play SoundEffect
objects using the XNA integration. The
player must live long enough for the
sound effect to play so it is common
to have it scoped outside a method.
For example:
public partial class MediaPage : PhoneApplicationPage
{
// ...
SoundEffectPlayer _player = null;
private void playButton_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
var resource = Application.GetResourceStream(new Uri("alert.wav", UriKind.Relative));
var effect = SoundEffect.FromStream(resource.Stream);
_player = new SoundEffectPlayer(effect);
_player.Play();
}
}
I think a good example would be the official sample on AppHub. It demonstrates how to play multiple sounds. You can directly download the sample from here.
This sample demonstrates how to use
the XNA Framework's SoundEffect and
SoundEffectInstance classes to play
multiple sounds simultaneously in a
Silverlight application for Windows
Phone. It also shows a simple way to
set up a DispatchTimer to call
FrameworkDispatcher.Update in order to
simulate the Game loop for the XNA
Framework's internals. Finally, it
shows how to load a wave audio file
into a Stream that can be played by
the SoundEffect classes.
The only good software I know which can decelerate and accelerate the playback of a YouTube video in any browser without first downloading it (because that would be cumbersome), is Enounce MySpeed.
Unfortunately, this software is not free, and my trial version ran out. I was playing around with its registry settings and noticed a few keys:
ProgramsToHook: iexplore.exe;firefox.exe;plugin-container.exe;chrome.exe;safari.exe;opera.exe;maxthon.exe;feeddemon.exe;realplay.exe;flvplayer.exe;flv player.exe;flock.exe;adobe media player.exe
UseFlashAdapter: 1
LLModules: ole32.dll;nspr4.dll;chrome.exe;realplay.exe;objb3201.dll;oleaut32.dll;rpflashplayer.dll
ModulesToIntercept: flash10*;flash9*;npswf32.dll;gcswf32.dll;fldbg10*;flashplayer.3.1.1k.ocx;adobe media player.exe
Based on the names and values of these registry keys, I'm guessing the MySpeed software hooks some function(s) in the listed modules (but modules are or aren't the same as DLLs?..) and does so for each process listed in ProgramsToHook. This is what I don't understand. What is the concept of the MySpeed software. Obviously it's hooking something, but I'm not too familiar with the intricacies of Windows hooks so I came to ask you experts. I'm thinking if I can understand how this hook process works, I can make my own version of the software using EasyHook, which is a fantastic .NET library to perform user-mode and kernel-mode hooks.
I thought that Windows user-mode hooking goes something like this. You choose one function in one DLL, and you intercept that function (a.k.a hook) in one process you want. If you want to hook the DLL in multiple processes, you just have to repeat the procedure for each process.
And then kernel-mode hooking is just choosing one function in one DLL and intercepting that function in every process that calls it (hence kernel-mode). But surely there are tons of ways to hook; I'm not too sure on whats the difference between these two hooks and DLL injection either.
So the point is, I'd like to know how MySpeed works. What is their hooking concept? If I can know this then I can make such a software in .NET!
Thanks in advance.
I can't provide you with an accurate explanation as I don't know the API calls or capabilites, but it goes something like this:
You app looks for iexplore.exe where it intercepts calls to certain modules. The module is mainly flash player. Flash has support for playing the video slower so you modify the call from iexplore.exe (JavaScript play button on webpage) or make an additional call to set playback speed.
What you need to do:
Use this tool to check what is actually happening: http://www.nektra.com/products/deviare-api-hook-windows/
Learn how to ask Flash Player to slow down a video (probably in Flash API docs). One Simple approach could be to see what MySpeed is actually doing using the Deviare API hook tool.
Write a program that replicates this procedure. It involves intercepting messages sent from one handle (iexplore.exe) to another (flash .dll). This can't be done externally, it has to be done internally, so this may be of help: http://www.codeproject.com/KB/threads/winspy.aspx
On hooks: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/ms644960.aspx
I don't think many people has done this in C#, so it could offer a challenge. I would though be interested in the progress (obstacles) if you have a blog or something to share the gory details on. :)
EDIT: The Deviare API Hook software seems not only to spy on calls, but also allow you to intercept them. So its a all-in-one package for your needs. :)
EDIT2: Relevant question: How do I intercept messages being sent to a window?
The key to speeding up or slowing down a video is to convince multimedia players that your computer is slower or faster than it really is. This can be accomplished hooking timeGetTime().
This is an extremely easy C# code to accomplish it:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using Nektra.Deviare2;
namespace DeviareTest
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
private int nSpeed;
private uint nTime;
private NktSpyMgr _spyMgr;
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
_spyMgr = new NktSpyMgr();
_spyMgr.Initialize();
_spyMgr.OnFunctionCalled += new DNktSpyMgrEvents_OnFunctionCalledEventHandler(OnFunctionCalled);
}
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
NktHook hook = _spyMgr.CreateHook("WINMM.dll!timeGetTime", (int)(eNktHookFlags.flgOnlyPostCall));
hook.Hook(true);
bool bProcessFound = false;
NktProcessesEnum enumProcess = _spyMgr.Processes();
NktProcess tempProcess = enumProcess.First();
while (tempProcess != null)
{
if (tempProcess.Name.Equals("iexplore.exe", StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase) && tempProcess.PlatformBits == 32)
{
hook.Attach(tempProcess, true);
bProcessFound = true;
}
tempProcess = enumProcess.Next();
}
if(!bProcessFound)
{
MessageBox.Show("Please run \"iexplore.exe\" before!", "Error");
Environment.Exit(0);
}
}
private void OnFunctionCalled(NktHook hook, NktProcess process, NktHookCallInfo hookCallInfo)
{
nTime++;
if (nSpeed==-2)
hookCallInfo.Result().LongVal = hookCallInfo.Result().LongVal - (int)(nTime * 0.2);
else if(nSpeed==2)
hookCallInfo.Result().LongVal = hookCallInfo.Result().LongVal + (int)(nTime * 3);
}
private void SlowButton_CheckedChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
nSpeed = -2;
}
private void FastButton_CheckedChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
nSpeed = 2;
}
}
}
I just published an article with a code example showing how to do this with the Deviare hooking engine. The sample code only works with the video part (not audio) and it is available here.
Youtube now has an html5 player with playback speed controls.
All you have to do is enable html5 here http://www.youtube.com/html5
Only some of the videos support the html5 player yet, though.
Hope this helps.
The key to speeding up or slowing down a video is to convince multimedia players that your computer is slower or faster than it really is
manipulating the system time will be a VERY dangerous and idiotic thing to do - not only will you break user-mode threadslices and hence have a serious impact on system-performance but you also will break many logging-functionalities and even user-mode reflectors which control KM-drivers ... this could both crash and physically harm (!) your system because modern hardware is programmable, given the correct (& proprietary, of course) set of func-calls and such. I would highly advise to NOT do reproduce this, even a few AV-apps will intercept this because of its dangerous nature.
But you're somewhat lucky : the kernel uses its own time, synced to hardware so windows itself COULD remain stable for a limited amount of time.
I think you should get back to the drawing-board, manipulating essential structures of your operating-system certainly is not the right way to accomplish your goal.