The VideoLAN Forums

A "read ahead" or Memory buffer option on the PLAYLIST will provide a number of benefits and pave the way for a some additional features in the future:

• It will enable seamless video clips to play in an effectively stitched manner.
  ► This is a great feature if you want to create AD or News loops and not have to render a continuous movie each time.
  ► With read ahead you just sort the order of individual clips and VLC would seamlessly play them with no pre-load stutter or delay.

• It would enable looping of an individual video loop seamlessly
  ► (Where is the start of a loop anyway?)
  ► This would open the door for VJay's etc using VLC live.
  ► Currently the delay is distracting and gives and unprofessional impression.

• It would open the door for future video transitions to be developed.
  ► Fading into the next video etc makes for a great presentation.

I must add that this should be an option as VLC tends to be really light weight and this, although vital for some features and usage, may add significant memory / CPU load to the system.

I would also like to see some form of smoother transitions when going from the end of a looping video in the playlist to the beginning or when transitioning between video clips in the playlist. Some form of "buffering" of the video clip would allow for VLC to be used in a large variety of presentation software applications, such as Power Point, church presentation, special events, etc. I look forward to seeing what kind of options can be added to enhance the already incredible usefulness of VLC. Thanks.

Ken
Peak Worship Ministries
Jacobs Productions - Pro Audio & Lighting

Aliby,
I entirely agree that better cache handling in VLC would be nice (have you ever tried playing a DVD on a laptop with VLC? It eats your battery pretty fast). If you know how to code and have some spare time, feel free to get in touch with me and other devs on IRC.

Hy dionoea,

I'm working on a project where I'll need the "playlist read ahead" functionality for a flicker free playlist playback.
I just started reading the vlc code to find out where to modify it to have vlc reading the codec header of the next item before playing it, but I'll appreciate a help from the developers.
How can I contact you?
If you have some informations or ideas on how to realize it please let me know.

Thanks,
Riccardo

The easiest method would be to connect to irc.freenode.net and join the #videolan channel. You could also subscribe to the vlc-devel@videolan.org mailing list and send an e-mail there.

Hi guys

Just wanting to get some feedback on whether there has been any development on the cache handling in VLC? I will try using the nightly build to see if it is there yet - the last one I tried didn't have any improvement.

TA

I haven't heard anything.

Hey Aliby,

I am working on a Master thesis project which needs a "Read Ahead" functionality in VLC playlist. So that video clips can be viewd in seamless stitched manner. I found your post related to this matter. Did you find any solution for this issue? Can you suggest me some solution and some reading material about codects etc as I am new in this area

Regards,

Mudassar

Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden

Hi Mudassa

No unfortunately I have not found a solution as yet.
VLC definitely does not do well if you read directly from a DVD-Rom, so currently I copy media to the hard drive to help reduce the flicker. But I know that's not what you want.

The best would be to see if Riccardo (see his post below) had been able to get any further.

Look forward to following your development and finding out if you have resolved it with an internal or external solution.

Hi!
I'm also working on a project where smooth transition in playlist is vital and this post seems relevant. I have to playout consecutive clips 2 seconds each, and VLC skips few frames at the beginning of each,what is a bit disturbing. It's been some time since last post, new version has come out, so maybe someone managed to solve the problem or have ahint at least? I'd appreciate any help.

Peter

Try VLC 1.2.0-git

Thanks for the reply. Looks like anobvious solution It looks nice now, but another problem emerged and maybe you could help me with that as well: are there python bindings for that version? The latest I found (19.07.2010) don't even start the playout.

Using 1.2.0-git I still have a small delay when the item loops. Is it possible to do "perfect" looping with VLC using pre-buffering or any other method?

Is it possible to do "perfect" looping with VLC using pre-buffering or any other method?

AFAIK no.