README

TVideoGrabber video capture SDK samples: Delphi, C++Builder, C++, Qt, C#, VB.NET, Java and VB6

Sample projects for TVideoGrabber, the Datastead video capture SDK for Windows 10/11: capture, recording, streaming and playback component.

The samples cover USB webcams and capture devices, IP cameras (RTSP, RTMP, HTTP, ONVIF), screen capture, video mixing, frame grabbing, re-encoding, RTSP server and playback, in Delphi (VCL and FireMonkey), C++Builder, Visual C++ (MSVC), MinGW, MFC, Qt, C# and VB.NET (.NET Framework and .NET Core/.NET 5+, WinForms, WPF, console), Java (Swing, JavaFX, headless) and VB6 (ActiveX).

• Product page: https://www.datastead.com/video-sdk/
• Documentation: https://www.datastead.com/docs/vidgrab/
• API reference: https://www.datastead.com/docs/vidgrab/api/types.html
• Changelog: https://www.datastead.com/video-sdk/tvideograbber-sdk-changelog/
• FAQ: https://www.datastead.com/faq/
• NuGet package (.NET): https://www.nuget.org/packages/TVideoGrabber-SDK

Current SDK version: 17.1.2.1 (changelog).

Prerequisites

1. Download and install the TVideoGrabber SDK evaluation version from https://www.datastead.com/downloads/ (fully functional, with a nag screen). For .NET you can also add the TVideoGrabber-SDK NuGet package.
2. Install the component or wrapper for your IDE (see the installation guide for Delphi and C++Builder). The SDK ships x86 and x64 binaries; either copy the x86/x64 folder next to your executable or point ExtraDLLPath to it (prerequisites).
3. For IP cameras and URL sources, the RTSP/RTMP/HTTP/ONVIF DirectShow Source Filter is required (included in the SDK download).
4. For H.264/HEVC recording and streaming, including NVIDIA/AMD/Intel hardware encoders, the Multipurpose DirectShow Encoder is required (included in the SDK download).
5. For file playback, the LAV Filters are recommended.

Supported compilers: Delphi and C++Builder from version 4 to the current RAD Studio release, Visual Studio (MSVC), MinGW 32/64, Qt (MSVC or MinGW kits), .NET Framework 3.5 to 4.8.1 and .NET Core 3.0 to .NET 10, Java 8+, VB6. See the product page for the up-to-date list.

The projects are the samples shipped in the SDK (_DEMOS folders of the SDK distribution), refreshed at each release (the exact SDK version they come from is in SDK_VERSION.txt). Some of them reference the SDK files (TVideoGrabber.h/.cpp, VideoGrabberNET.dll) with relative paths valid inside the SDK folder tree: after cloning, adjust these references to your SDK installation folder.

Repository layout

Folder	Language / toolchain
delphi/	Delphi (VCL and FireMonkey), Delphi XE and later; older Delphi versions (up to XE) in delphi/legacy/.
cppbuilder/	C++Builder (VCL). Same component, properties and methods as Delphi: the Delphi projects are also a reference for C++Builder.
cpp/	Visual C++ (MSVC), MFC, MinGW, using the TVideoGrabber.h / TVideoGrabber.cpp C++ wrapper (no VCL, no .NET, no COM registration).
qt/	Qt, same C++ wrapper.
csharp/	C#: .NET Framework (WinForms, WPF, console) and .NET Core / .NET 5+ (WinForms, WPF).
vbnet/	VB.NET, .NET Framework.
java/	Java: Swing, JavaFX and headless (Maven projects).
vb6/	Visual Basic 6 (ActiveX version of the component).

Delphi samples (delphi/)

Projects for Delphi XE and later. The same VCL projects for older Delphi versions (up to XE), without the FireMonkey demo, are in delphi/legacy/.

Folder	What it shows
_MainDemo	Full-featured demo: video sources, preview, recording, IP cameras, camera control, video quality, special controls. Start here.
_MainDemoFMX	FireMonkey (FMX) version of the main demo, Windows only (VidgrabFMX unit).
CreatedAtRuntime/Webcam	Creating the component at runtime (no DFM) to preview and record a webcam.
CreatedAtRuntime/IP_Camera_or_URL	Creating the component at runtime to open an IP camera or URL source.
FrameCapture	Capturing frames from a capture device: single frames and burst mode (CaptureFrameTo, BurstMode, BurstInterval, BurstCount).
IPCameraMixer	Mixing several IP cameras into one mosaic (Mixer_AddToMixer, Mixer_MosaicLines/Columns) and recording the mosaic.
IPCamera_Mosaic_Streaming_to_UDP	Same mosaic, streamed to UDP with the Multipurpose Encoder (Encoders_CreateInstanceForStreaming).
PictureInPictureMixer	Picture-in-picture from two sources (webcam, player) with Mixer_SetupPIPFromSource.
PlayerControlByFrame	Frame-accurate player control: PlayerFramePosition, pause/step, UseClock.
StreamInterface	Opening a source from a stream interface (StreamInterface_Format, StreamInterface_FrameRate, StreamInterface_IsRealTime).
Surveillance4Webcams	Four webcams previewed simultaneously, one component per camera.
VideoFromBMPorJPEGfiles	Building a video from a folder of BMP/JPEG files.
VideoFromTBitmaps	Building a video from TBitmap objects generated at runtime.
Multipurpose_Merge_Clips_SideBySide	Re-encoding two clips side by side with the Multipurpose Encoder (StartReencoding, Reencoding_NewVideoClip).

C++Builder samples (cppbuilder/)

Folder	What it shows
_MainDemo	Full-featured C++Builder demo (VCL): video sources, preview, recording, IP cameras, camera control, video quality.

C++ samples (cpp/)

Copy TVideoGrabber.h and TVideoGrabber.cpp from the SDK into the project folder (or fix the include path), and the x86 or x64 TVideoGrabber.dll next to the executable.

Folder	Toolchain	What it shows
MSVC_CppQuickStart	Visual Studio	Quick start: preview a device, record, play a clip, OnFrameBitmap callback.
MSVC_OpenPlayer	Visual Studio	Minimal player: open and play a clip with OpenPlayer, OnPlayerOpened.
MSVC_OpenCV	Visual Studio + OpenCV	RTSP camera preview with frames delivered to OpenCV through OnFrameBitmap.
MFCForm	Visual Studio, MFC	Embedding the video window in an MFC dialog (SetParentWindow, StartPreview).
MinGW	MinGW 32/64, make	Minimal build with the MinGW toolchain (see README.html).

Qt samples (qt/)

Folder	What it shows
RTSP_Preview	RTSP/IP camera preview in a Qt widget.
Webcam_Streaming	Webcam capture streamed over the network.
QuickStart_with_Overlays	IP camera preview with image overlays, authentication, logging and frame callbacks.

C# samples (csharp/)

Folder	Target	What it shows
NetFramework48/_MainDemo	.NET Framework 4.8, WinForms	Full-featured demo: video sources, preview, recording, IP cameras, streaming, motion detection, overlays, frame grabbing, re-encoding. Start here.
NetFramework48/ComponentCreatedProgrammatically	.NET Framework 4.8	Creating the component in code instead of the designer.
NetFramework48/ConsoleApplicationWithoutForms	.NET Framework 4.8, console	Using the component without any form (headless capture/recording).
NetFramework48/ConsoleApplication_RTSP_live_Preview	.NET Framework 4.8, console	RTSP camera preview from a console application.
NetFramework48/IPCameraDemo	.NET Framework 4.8, WinForms	Connecting to an IP camera (RTSP/ONVIF), preview and recording.
NetFramework48/RTSPMultiCamDemo	.NET Framework 4.8, WinForms	Several RTSP cameras previewed at the same time.
NetFramework48/Multiple_IP_cameras_Switching_While_Non-stop_Recording	.NET Framework 4.8	Switching between several IP cameras while the recording continues without interruption.
NetFramework48/Record_4_IP_Cameras_To_OneFile	.NET Framework 4.8, WinForms	Four IP cameras mixed into one mosaic and recorded to a single file.
NetFramework48/ScreenToRTSPServer/Screen_To_RTSP_Server	.NET Framework 4.8	Screen capture published as an RTSP server.
NetFramework48/ScreenWithWebcamPIP	.NET Framework 4.8	Screen recording with a webcam picture-in-picture.
NetFramework48/StreamInterface	.NET Framework 4.8	Opening a source from a .NET stream interface.
NetFramework48/ThreadedPlaylist	.NET Framework 4.8	Playing a playlist from a worker thread.
NetFramework48/convert_avi_to_mp4	.NET Framework 4.8	File conversion AVI to MP4 with the Multipurpose Encoder.
NetFramework48/Reencode_video_with_Multipurpose_Encoder	.NET Framework 4.8	Re-encoding a video clip with the Multipurpose Encoder.
Console/GrabFirstFrame	console	Grabbing the first frame of a video file.
Console/Images2Video_with_Multipurpose_Encoder	console	Building a video from a sequence of images.
Console/Video2Images_with_Multipurpose_Encoder	console	Extracting the frames of a video to image files.
WPF/MainDemo	.NET Framework 4.8, WPF	Main demo hosted in WPF.
WPF/WPFDemo (ImageSource)	.NET Framework 4.8, WPF	Rendering frames into a WPF ImageSource.
NetCore/WinForm/MainDemo	.NET Core / .NET 5+ (Visual Studio 2022)	Main demo, WinForms (see NetCore/Readme.html).
NetCore/WPF/MainDemo_WPF	.NET Core / .NET 5+ (Visual Studio 2022)	Main demo hosted in WPF.
NetCore/WPF/Rendering_in_Image_Control	.NET Core / .NET 5+ (Visual Studio 2022)	Rendering the video frames in a WPF Image control.

VB.NET samples (vbnet/NetFramework48/)

Folder	What it shows
_MainDemo	Full-featured VB.NET demo.
4Cameras	Four cameras previewed simultaneously.
ComponentCreatedProgrammatically	Creating the component in code.
ConsoleApplicationWithoutForms	Headless usage from a console application.
StreamDestkopOrCameraToSocialNetwork	Streaming the desktop or a camera to a social network (RTMP), see also vbnet/Code_Snippets/.

Java samples (java/)

The Java binding (tvideograbber.jar) is included in the SDK. The projects are Maven projects, open them in IntelliJ IDEA, Eclipse or NetBeans.

Folder	What it shows
Java_Swing/Swing_Demo	Swing demo: video sources, preview, recording.
Java_FX/FX_4_Cameras	JavaFX demo previewing four cameras.
Java/headless-4cams	Headless (no UI) capture/recording of four cameras.

VB6 samples (vb6/)

Folder	What it shows
MainDemo	Full-featured demo using the ActiveX version of the component (vidgrab_VB6.ocx), see ReadmeFirst.html.

Related Datastead products

Product	Docs
RTSP/RTMP/HTTP/ONVIF DirectShow Source Filter	docs/rtsp
Multipurpose DirectShow Encoder	docs/multi
NDI DirectShow Filters	docs/ndi

Support

Questions about the samples or the SDK: https://www.datastead.com/sample-code-and-support/ or https://www.datastead.com/contact//

License

The sample code in this repository is released under the MIT License. The TVideoGrabber SDK itself is a commercial product distributed under its own license agreement; it is not included in this repository.