Using VideoUltimate in a project

To use VideoUltimate in a project, do the following in Visual Studio:

Make sure you have added references to VideoUltimate assemblies as described here.

Optionally set VideoUltimate's global configuration (if overriding a default value is required). For example, you may want to set the license key.

For an ASP.NET Core project

You can specify the configuration in appsettings.json file:

{
  //Set this property only if you have a valid license key, otherwise do not
  //set it so VideoUltimate runs in trial mode.
  "VideoUltimate:LicenseKey": "QQJDJLJP34..."
}

As you would notice, VideoUltimate: prefix maps to VideoUltimateConfiguration.Current.

Alternatively you can specify the configuration in code, in Configure method of your Startup.cs:

//Set this property only if you have a valid license key, otherwise do not
//set it so DocumentUltimate runs in trial mode.
VideoUltimateConfiguration.Current.LicenseKey = "QQJDJLJP34...";

For an ASP.NET Classic (MVC or WebForms) project

You can specify the configuration in <appSettings> tag of your Web.config.

<appSettings>
  <!--
    Set this property only if you have a valid license key, otherwise do not
    set it so VideoUltimate runs in trial mode.
  -->
  <add key="VideoUltimate:LicenseKey" value="QQJDJLJP34..." />
</appSettings>

As you would notice, VideoUltimate: prefix maps to VideoUltimateConfiguration.Current.

Alternatively you can specify the configuration in code, in Application_Start method of your Global.asax.cs:

protected void Application_Start(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    //Set this property only if you have a valid license key, otherwise do not
    //set it so VideoUltimate runs in trial mode.
    VideoUltimateConfiguration.Current.LicenseKey = "QQJDJLJP34...";
}

Sub Application_Start(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
    'Set this property only if you have a valid license key, otherwise do not
    'set it so VideoUltimate runs in trial mode.
    VideoUltimateConfiguration.Current.LicenseKey = "QQJDJLJP34..."
End Sub

For other project types

You can specify the configuration in a static (Shared in VB) method, e.g. in Main method for a Console project:

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    //Set this property only if you have a valid license key, otherwise do not
    //set it so VideoUltimate runs in trial mode.
    VideoUltimateConfiguration.Current.LicenseKey = "QQJDJLJP34...";
}

Shared Sub Main(args As String())

    'Set this property only if you have a valid license key, otherwise do not
    'set it so VideoUltimate runs in trial mode.
    VideoUltimateConfiguration.Current.LicenseKey = "QQJDJLJP34..."

End Sub

Open one of your class files (eg. Program.cs) and at the top of your file add the necessary namespaces:

using GleamTech.VideoUltimate;

Imports GleamTech.VideoUltimate

Now in some method insert these lines:

//Read video from "c:\SomeFolder\InputFile.mp4"
using (var videoFrameReader = new VideoFrameReader(@"c:\SomeFolder\InputFile.mp4"))
{
}

//---------------------------------------

//Read with a virtual path string:
//See below for other path string examples.
using (var videoFrameReader = new VideoFrameReader("~/SomeFolder/InputFile.mp4"))
{
}

//Read with a URL string:
//See below for other path string examples.
using (var videoFrameReader = new VideoFrameReader("http://example.com/SomeFolder/InputFile.mp4"))
{
}

//Read with a Data URL string:
//See below for other path string examples.
using (var videoFrameReader = new VideoFrameReader("data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7"))
{
}

//Read with a file provider instance:
//See below for other file provider examples (UNC Path, AmazonS3, AzureBlob, Database etc.).
var fileProvider = new FileSystemFileProvider
{
    File = "InputFile.mp4",
    Location = new PhysicalLocation
    {
        Path = @"c:\SomeFolder"
    }
};
using (var videoFrameReader = new VideoFrameReader(fileProvider))
{
}

//Read with a provider string:
//See below for other provider string examples (UNC Path, AmazonS3, AzureBlob, Database etc.).
using (var videoFrameReader = new VideoFrameReader(@"Type=FileSystem; File=InputFile.mp4; Location='Type=Physical; Path=c:\SomeFolder'"))
{
}

'Read video from "c:\SomeFolder\InputFile.mp4"
Using videoFrameReader As New VideoFrameReader("c:\SomeFolder\InputFile.mp4")
End Using

'---------------------------------------

'Read with a virtual path string:
'See below for other path string examples.
Using videoFrameReader As New VideoFrameReader("~/SomeFolder/InputFile.mp4")
End Using

'Read with a URL string:
'See below for other path string examples.
Using videoFrameReader As New VideoFrameReader("http://example.com/SomeFolder/InputFile.mp4")
End Using

'Read with a Data URL string:
'See below for other path string examples.
Using videoFrameReader As New VideoFrameReader("data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7")
End Using

'Read with a file provider instance:
'See below for other file provider examples (UNC Path, AmazonS3, AzureBlob, Database etc.).
Dim fileProvider As New FileSystemFileProvider() With {
    .File = "InputFile.mp4",
    .Location = New PhysicalLocation() With {
        .Path = "c:\SomeFolder"
    }
}
Using videoFrameReader As New VideoFrameReader(fileProvider)
End Using

'Read with a provider string:
'See below for other provider string examples (UNC Path, AmazonS3, AzureBlob, Database etc.).
Using videoFrameReader As New VideoFrameReader("Type=FileSystem; File=InputFile.mp4; Location='Type=Physical; Path=c:\SomeFolder'")
End Using

This will open the source video C:\Video.mp4, read the first frame, and if the frame is read and decoded successfully, it will get a Bitmap instance of the frame and save it as C:\Frame1.jpg.

Sometimes you may only need to quickly generate a meaningful thumbnail for a video, you can use VideoThumbnailer class for this:

//Read video from "c:\SomeFolder\InputFile.mp4"
using (var videoThumbnailer = new VideoThumbnailer(@"c:\SomeFolder\InputFile.mp4"))
{
}

//---------------------------------------

//Read with a virtual path string:
//See below for other path string examples.
using (var videoThumbnailer = new VideoThumbnailer("~/SomeFolder/InputFile.mp4"))
{
}

//Read with a URL string:
//See below for other path string examples.
using (var videoThumbnailer = new VideoThumbnailer("http://example.com/SomeFolder/InputFile.mp4"))
{
}

//Read with a Data URL string:
//See below for other path string examples.
using (var videoThumbnailer = new VideoThumbnailer("data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7"))
{
}

//Read with a file provider instance:
//See below for other file provider examples (UNC Path, AmazonS3, AzureBlob, Database etc.).
var fileProvider = new FileSystemFileProvider
{
    File = "InputFile.mp4",
    Location = new PhysicalLocation
    {
        Path = @"c:\SomeFolder"
    }
};
using (var videoThumbnailer = new VideoThumbnailer(fileProvider))
{
}

//Read with a provider string:
//See below for other provider string examples (UNC Path, AmazonS3, AzureBlob, Database etc.).
using (var videoThumbnailer = new VideoThumbnailer(@"Type=FileSystem; File=InputFile.mp4; Location='Type=Physical; Path=c:\SomeFolder'"))
{
}

'Read video from "c:\SomeFolder\InputFile.mp4"
Using videoThumbnailer = New VideoThumbnailer("c:\SomeFolder\InputFile.mp4")
End Using

'---------------------------------------

'Read with a virtual path string:
'See below for other path string examples.
Using videoThumbnailer = New VideoThumbnailer("~/SomeFolder/InputFile.mp4")
End Using

'Read with a URL string:
'See below for other path string examples.
Using videoThumbnailer = New VideoThumbnailer("http://example.com/SomeFolder/InputFile.mp4")
End Using

'Read with a Data URL string:
'See below for other path string examples.
Using videoThumbnailer = New VideoThumbnailer("data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7")
End Using

'Read with a file provider instance:
'See below for other file provider examples (UNC Path, AmazonS3, AzureBlob, Database etc.).
Dim fileProvider As New FileSystemFileProvider() With {
        .File = "InputFile.mp4",
        .Location = New PhysicalLocation() With {
        .Path = "c:\SomeFolder"
    }
}

Using videoThumbnailer = New VideoThumbnailer(fileProvider)
End Using

'Read with a provider string:
'See below for other provider string examples (UNC Path, AmazonS3, AzureBlob, Database etc.).
Using videoThumbnailer = New VideoThumbnailer("Type=FileSystem; File=InputFile.mp4; Location='Type=Physical; Path=c:\SomeFolder'")
End Using

Table of Contents

Using VideoUltimate in a project

To use VideoUltimate in a project, do the following in Visual Studio:

For an ASP.NET Core project

For an ASP.NET Classic (MVC or WebForms) project

For other project types