Simple Metro DVD (and maybe Bluray) Playback app?

[grahamf]

I don't need an all-in-one application because i prefer Media Browser, which is currently being ported to metro. But I'd love to have a Metro Bluray/DVD playback application. Cyberlink is working on one, but the demos indicate that DVD playback is just tacked on, with no mention of blu-ray.
I know you're working on a complete version of VLC for Metro, but All I really want is components such as libdvd and libbluray rolled into a simple program wit a clean interface. Any plans for something like this? thanks.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

I doubt we have access to DVD in the WinRT mode.

[grahamf]

I never said anything about Windows 8 RT. I'm referring to Windows on Intel/AMD. But that primarily depends on if WinRT has support for USB optical drives or not (which it may)

[grahamf]

I never said anything about Windows 8 RT. I'm referring to Windows on Intel/AMD. But that primarily depends on if WinRT has support for USB optical drives or not (which it may)

Or did you mean WinRT as in Metro applications (instead of WInRT as in Windows on ARM computer)? In which case I apologize for my curtness.

As far as I can tell it should be doable (at least for DVDs)

When a DVD is inserted into a computer (even Windows , usually it shows up containing a VIDEO_TS (and maybe an AUDIO_TS) folder, where the contents is visible.

All this Metro application has to do (theoretically, and let's call it "PlayDVD") is access the files (which it can do) and parse them to get the movie. Porting to Metro may take a little bit of work (I believe mostly is rewriting API calls and building a Metro GUI), but it is doable. The Metro interface does allow for you to include codecs inside of your application, so you can roll in support for MPEG2 and such.

And if you were able to make a decent program that just plays DVD and plays them well, I'd image this application would be the de facto player used by most people. You could possibly get some OEMs to bundle this program, but I'm not surer. And I'd bet that if you charge $10 for the app through the Marketplace (assuming that total DVD licensing fees are about $5 or so), You can make a bit of money for the VLC foundation.

Eventually It may be nice to create a "PlayDisc" app that also does Bluray. I checked and Bluray disks (at least Fantastic 4) show up as a file system, so you should be able to parse the files. If done, then this would be a really awesome program. And again, if you were to charge $30 or so (assuming that licensing fees are $15), then you could possibly use these two applications to help fund the VLC foundation.

[grahamf]

Yes, I'm saying it would e a good idea to charge for these applications. Metro applications are only available through the marketplace, so it would be a good idea to play by the rules. Besides being able to be promoted as an official app, PlayDVD and PlayDisc could possibly be an excellent funding source for the VideoLan foundation.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

All this Metro application has to do (theoretically, and let's call it "PlayDVD") is access the files (which it can do)

No, it cannot... You can only access files from the application jail.

[grahamf]

All this Metro application has to do (theoretically, and let's call it "PlayDVD") is access the files (which it can do)

No, it cannot... You can only access files from the application jail.

What do you mean by that? As long as you include a flag to request filesystem access you're fine.

Win32 and COM for Metro style apps (data)

File system places accessible through WinRT API (removable)

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

When called from a Metro style app, CreateFile2 is simplified. Only files or directories may be opened, and exclusive access to a file or directory is only granted if the Metro style app has write access to the file.

WinRT filesystem is very limited.

[grahamf]

When called from a Metro style app, CreateFile2 is simplified. Only files or directories may be opened, and exclusive access to a file or directory is only granted if the Metro style app has write access to the file.

WinRT filesystem is very limited.

I don't know about you, but to me; locking a directory so it can only be access exclusively by your program is kind of a douche move. Also I believe it's impossible on read-only media.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

When called from a Metro style app, CreateFile2 is simplified. Only files or directories may be opened, and exclusive access to a file or directory is only granted if the Metro style app has write access to the file.

WinRT filesystem is very limited.

I don't know about you, but to me; locking a directory so it can only be access exclusively by your program is kind of a douche move.

Welcome to WinRT.

[gb115b]

bit lame perhaps, but could you use the KnownFolders class (and require objects to be added to the users media library first)?

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

Could be doable.

[grahamf]

When called from a Metro style app, CreateFile2 is simplified. Only files or directories may be opened, and exclusive access to a file or directory is only granted if the Metro style app has write access to the file.

WinRT filesystem is very limited.

I don't know about you, but to me; locking a directory so it can only be access exclusively by your program is kind of a douche move.

Welcome to WinRT.

Wait, what? I thought you were talking about that you would want this theoretical DVD playback app to lock files to that application. Why then is this limitation relevant? Unless you want the program to launch when a disk is inserted, which can possibly be done in another way (like using Win8's standard system for setting default DVD player app).

All the program needs to do is scan accessible disks (and newly inserted disks, there should be a trigger API) for VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders, then begin parsing and playing the files using the application's built-in codecs.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

All the program needs to do is scan accessible disks (and newly inserted disks, there should be a trigger API) for VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders, then begin parsing and playing the files using the application's built-in codecs.

Did you ever look at WinRT APIs? How do you "scan" ?

[grahamf]

Usually by polling acessible drives and tyheir content, but this works better:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library ... n.10).aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library ... 52739.aspx

http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/windowsa ... g-535d2cec

[grahamf]

Just out of mild curiosity has anyone had a chance to look into this?

My understanding is that this DVD player app just needs to request permissions to external media, than flag itself as a dvd playback program (so it can be set as the default DVD player and be launched when a DVD is inserted).

Then the built in libdvd and supporting libraries can parse the DVD files for playback.

I do believe that it would be far simpler than porting the entire VLC program to Metro.