Falcon Player - Start Video Playlist at certain position using HTTP API command

[KeepOnWalking]

Hi all, don't know if anyone can help but I've been searching for a possible solution for some time now and I'm almost at the point of giving upon this, which is hugely frustrating as this is the only factor stopping me from having a working solution.

I'm using Falcon player to play synced videos on multiple Raspberry Pis, but I also require the ability to skip forward/back on the player device by specifying a start time of the playlist using HTTP API commands.

What I need is to send an HTTP API request to start a playlist at a specific point in the video, ideally this would be in seconds, similar to the command in the API help page for sequences:

/api/sequence/:SequenceName/start/:startSecond

If I try this for the playlist the startSecond value is ignored and the playlist just plays from the beginning:

http://192.168.1.100/api/playlist/playlistname/start/:6000

I have been told that there's an option to start a video playlist at a specific frame number, which could also work but can't find any more information on that.

I have never used sequence files and don't fully understand how they work, but does a sequence file also control the playback of a video file in the same playlist? if so then is it possible to create a 'blank' .fseq file and use that for specifying playlist start points using the sequence statSecond command?

i'd really appreciate any help with this as it's driving me crazy, thanks in advance.

 

[MikeKrebs]

Interesting inquiry. Probably something that could be written into the api but your post brings up a perplexing question.

How did you come to FPP and not use sequence files? What is your use case?

 

[KeepOnWalking]

Hi,
I’m using FPP to play synced tutorial videos, where people watch the videos and follow along and the person running the class can play, pause, resume and stop the video playback from a touchscreen dashboard which is powered by node-red to send commands to the FPP player.

There are different versions of the same duration video which must play in sync around the room on different displays, I upload the different videos to the remote devices but name them identically to the files on the master/player device so they play at the same time.

That all works perfectly, however I also have a slider on the dashboard which moves along to display the remaining minutes of the video, this is done by requesting the information from FPP about the current play time.

This slider is also a control, allowing the person running the class to be able to slide the control on the touchscreen to set the position of the video, this is the part I have an issue with.
When the user slides the control to one of the 1min increments on the slider a command is sent to FPP to play the relevant duration video, I can get this to function perfectly if I have 45 versions of the 45min video files in their own playlists, but obviously this is unmanageable when there are multiple videos as I'd currently need over 1k video files.

I have tried cutting the 45min video into 1min segments, adding these to their own playlist and then nesting those playlists inside the main playlist to keep things organised. This works but there's a short blank/black screen between each playlist ( every minute ) and so is unacceptable.

As FPP uses VLC to playback the videos is there any way to send commands directly to VLC to skip forward/back over HTTP requests?

 

[KeepOnWalking]

Is it possible to use the MQTT command to set a starting position (in seconds/mins/frames) of the playlist?

Or is there a way to instruct VLC to skip forward when a playlist starts?

 

[darylc]

Is it possible to use the MQTT command to set a starting position (in seconds/mins/frames) of the playlist?

Or is there a way to instruct VLC to skip forward when a playlist starts?

No to both, best google up an alternative video player, FPP's just not going to do it.

 

[MikeKrebs]

I wonder if your sequence idea would work? Have you played around with that at all?

If you are you a programmer, look into forking FPP and then look at the sections of code for the player, playlist, api, media and vlc sections. It seems to this non C++ programmer that a lot of stuff is already there to make this happen. Since it would be for your own use, it wouldn't have to be elegant. It would just have to work.

 

[KeepOnWalking]

I wonder if your sequence idea would work? Have you played around with that at all?

If you are you a programmer, look into forking FPP and then look at the sections of code for the player, playlist, api, media and vlc sections. It seems to this non C++ programmer that a lot of stuff is already there to make this happen. Since it would be for your own use, it wouldn't have to be elegant. It would just have to work.

Hi Mike, I'm not a programmer or coder, although I can do some basic Node-Red work.

I did think about asking on Fiverr or similar to see if that is something that someone could do for me.

I received a comment saying that the sequence idea won't help with my needs as the videos just play for as long as the sequence run for.

I have tried playing around with the ssh shell and controlling VLC that way, but no luck as i'm guessing remote control is not enabled for VLC.

I have now discovered that it's possible to nest playlists inside other playlists so that will maybe help keep files organised at least, and also found the HDMI CEC control scripts to put a connected/compatible TV into and out of standby which is also useful.

I think now I'm resigned to the fact that I will have to create multiple video files, I'm using FF-Works which is a GUI for FFmpeg and that makes accurately trimming video files very quick without having to encode the videos again, although I'm hoping to create a script so that I can batch trim multiple files.

I also need to look at the backup/restore options and how best to load files onto the Raspberry Pi's, as they will be located remotely and I will need to do that from another PC.
The local USB backup/restore could be useful and possible the rsync options to minimise the amount of work required to transfer files.

 

[KeepOnWalking]

I've just noticed the checkbox in the settings to enable extra VLC options.

The manual states:

● Extra VLC Options- This allows you to pass additional arguments to the VLC Player

Can anyone advise what additional arguments can be passed to VLC when this option is checked?