++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

UPDATE: please check out demo application "MediaPlayer" at

  http://valentin.dasdeck.com/projects/mediaplayer/

which implements cross-platform video/media support using those 2 xtras 
in a somewhat smarter way than described below: on windows, if LAV filters
are installed, it creates explicit LAV filter based filter graphs dynamically 
(with default filter rendering as fallback if it fails), so no more MS DTV-DVD
decoder deactivation needed!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


AVMedia Xtra (Mac) is a Mac-only Xtra that allows Media (Video/Audio/MIDI)
playback based on Apple's AVFoundation framework and its AVPLayer object (and
some others). It allows great performance (e.g. when playing full HD AVC/AAC MP4
videos) and advanced features, like e.g. single frame step forward/backwards for
MP4 videos.

The "dx_xtra_wrapper" ZIP found in this folder contains a simple "wrapper"
script that maps the AVMedia Xtra's interface to DirectShow Xtra
(http://valentin.dasdeck.com/xtras/directshow_xtra/win/), thus allowing
cross-platform code for media playback. It's just a stub and doesn't support all
functions, but the demo in the ZIP shows that basic media control already works.

DirectShow Xtra is based on Microsoft's, err, DirectShow framework, which is
still supported in any recent Windows version (including Win 7, 8 and 10). Note:
since Director applications are 32-bit, DirectShow Xtra uses x86 DirectShow
filters, not x64 bit filters! But 64-bit systems support both.


Note on playing AVC/AAC MP4 video with DirectShow Xtra (and dx_xtra_wrapper):
=============================================================================

Since Win 7 (i.e. also in Win 8 and 10), MS shipped the system with the 2
special decoding filters "MS DTV-DVD Video Decoder" and "MS DTV-DVD Audio Decoder"
that are used by default for playback of most media files, including AVC/AAC
MP4s. If you run the "dx_xtra_wrapper" demo and press the "open Video" and
"play" buttons, the sample AVC/AAC video will be opened and played with those MS
filters in an unaltered Win7/8/10 system.

In this case, this is the filter graph used internally by DirectShow xtra (and
any 32-bit DirectShow player) for playing the sample video:
http://valentin.dasdeck.com/xtras/avmedia_xtra/win/tools/graphedit_ms.png

But there are bether splitters and decoders as the MS ones, like e.g. the free
and open source "LAV filters" based on FFmpeg code:
https://github.com/Nevcairiel/LAVFilters

One advantage of the LAV filters is that they also support single frame step
forward/backwards for MP4 videos, which the MS filters don't. So buttons "step
forward" and "step backwards" in the demo will only work as expected when you
replace the MS with LAV (or some other) filters!


Replacing the MS DTV-DVD Audio/Video Decoders requires 2 steps:
===============================================================

1.) Install the LAV filters for x86 (or optionally for both x86 and x64). You can
download them from:
https://github.com/Nevcairiel/LAVFilters

For convenience I've also put an installer on my server:
http://valentin.dasdeck.com/xtras/avmedia_xtra/win/tools/LAVFilters-0.68.1-Installer.exe

2.) You have to deactivate the 2 MS filters in the system. Unfortunately Windows
doesn't come with any GUI for this, but a simple tool you can use is called
"Win7DSFilterTweaker" (which also works in Win 8 and 10):
http://valentin.dasdeck.com/xtras/avmedia_xtra/win/tools/Win7DSFilterTweaker-6.0.exe

DISCLAIMER: The tool worked fine for me, but of course you do this 100% on your own risk,
no warrenty!

Usage:
Just run it (no installation needed), then press "MS Codec Tweaks", and in the
next window activate the 1. and 3. checkbox, i.e. those that deactivate the x86
versions of the MS DTV-DVD Audio and MS DTV-DVD Video Decoder. Then press "Apply"
and quit the application.

Screenshots:
http://valentin.dasdeck.com/xtras/avmedia_xtra/win/tools/Win7DSFilterTweaker_ms_codec_tweaks_a.png
http://valentin.dasdeck.com/xtras/avmedia_xtra/win/tools/Win7DSFilterTweaker_ms_codec_tweaks_b.png

Done.

Here the filter graph used internally by DirectShow xtra (and any 32-bit
DirectShow player) for playing the sample video AFTER you installed LAVfilters
and deactivated the 2 MS decoders:
http://valentin.dasdeck.com/xtras/avmedia_xtra/win/tools/graphedit_lav.png