Rendering videos in an SDL2 application

Question

I've been looking for a way to play videos at some point in my application, I was thinking of ways to incorporate them into a texture or just plain render them but I'm literally stumped here, any suggestion? I'm not in a position to choose, but I'd really appreciate sample codes.

Answer 1

You could do it with OpenGL for example: play AVI files

I'd include the source of the link but since it's a full fledged tutorial that would be too long.

Different approach

Another option would be to just have the media player start. Most players have start parameters that you can use.

for example:

#include <windows.h>
int main()
{
    HINSTANCE hRet = ShellExecuteA(
                HWND_DESKTOP,                               // Parent
                "open",                                     // Operation
                "C:\\yourMovieDirectory\\yourMovie.avi",    // Path to file
                NULL,                                       // Parameters
                NULL,                                       // Default dir.
                SW_SHOW);                                   // Opening option

    if( (LONG)hRet <= 32 )
    {
        MessageBox( HWND_DESKTOP , "Error detected while attempting to start the movie!") , "Error" , MB_OK );

    }

    return 0;
}

You need the shell32.lib for the ShellExecute() function

HINSTANCE is a handle to an instance. C++ Windows Types