7.1 KiB
Transfer of audio/video via a network socket (GStreamer command-line cheat sheet)
GStreamer can send and receive audio and video via a network socket, using either UDP or TCP.
UDP is faster but lossy - there is no attempt to resend lost network packets to it will fail if the network is not perfect. TCP acknowledges every network packet so is slower, but more reliable.
See also SRT as an alternative format.
UDP
Audio via UDP
To send an audio test source:
gst-launch-1.0 audiotestsrc ! avenc_ac3 ! mpegtsmux ! rtpmp2tpay ! udpsink host=127.0.0.1 port=7001
To send an audio file:
# Make sure $SRC is set to an audio file (e.g. an MP3 file)
gst-launch-1.0 -v filesrc location=$AUDIO_SRC ! mpegaudioparse ! udpsink port=7001
And to receive audio:
gst-launch-1.0 udpsrc port=7001 ! decodebin ! autoaudiosink
Video via UDP, as h264
To send a test stream:
gst-launch-1.0 videotestsrc ! decodebin ! x264enc ! rtph264pay ! udpsink port=7001
Or to send a file (video or audio only, not both):
# Make sure $SRC is set to an video file (e.g. an MP4 file)
gst-launch-1.0 filesrc location=$SRC ! decodebin ! x264enc ! rtph264pay ! udpsink port=7001
To receive:
gst-launch-1.0 \
udpsrc port=7001 caps = "application/x-rtp, media=(string)video, clock-rate=(int)90000, encoding-name=(string)H264, payload=(int)96" ! \
rtph264depay ! decodebin ! videoconvert ! autovideosink
Video via UDP, as MPEG-2
To send a video test source:
gst-launch-1.0 videotestsrc ! x264enc ! mpegtsmux ! rtpmp2tpay ! udpsink host=127.0.0.1 port=7001
To receive:
gst-launch-1.0 udpsrc port=7001 ! decodebin ! autovideosink
Both video and audio
To send both a video and audio test source (mixed together):
gst-launch-1.0 \
videotestsrc ! x264enc ! muxer. \
audiotestsrc ! avenc_ac3 ! muxer. \
mpegtsmux name=muxer ! rtpmp2tpay ! udpsink host=127.0.0.1 port=7001
And to receive both video and audio together:
gst-launch-1.0 \
udpsrc port=7001 caps="application/x-rtp" ! \
rtpmp2tdepay ! decodebin name=decoder ! autoaudiosink decoder. ! autovideosink
How to receive with VLC
To receive a UDP stream, an sdp file is required. An example can be found at https://gist.github.com/nebgnahz/26a60cd28f671a8b7f522e80e75a9aa5
TCP
Audio via TCP
To send a test stream:
gst-launch-1.0 \
audiotestsrc ! \
avenc_ac3 ! mpegtsmux ! \
tcpserversink port=7001 host=0.0.0.0
To send a file:
# Make sure $SRC is set to an audio file (e.g. an MP3 file)
gst-launch-1.0 \
filesrc location=$AUDIO_SRC ! \
mpegaudioparse ! \
tcpserversink port=7001 host=0.0.0.0
And to receive:
gst-launch-1.0 tcpclientsrc port=7001 host=0.0.0.0 ! decodebin ! autoaudiosink
Video via TCP
Test video stream:
gst-launch-1.0 videotestsrc ! \
decodebin ! x264enc ! mpegtsmux ! queue ! \
tcpserversink port=7001 host=127.0.0.1 recover-policy=keyframe sync-method=latest-keyframe sync=false
MP4 file (video only):
gst-launch-1.0 \
filesrc location=$SRC ! decodebin ! x264enc ! mpegtsmux ! queue ! \
tcpserversink host=127.0.0.1 port=7001 recover-policy=keyframe sync-method=latest-keyframe sync=false
To receive, either use VLC (tcp://localhost:7001) or this command:
gst-launch-1.0 \
tcpclientsrc host=127.0.0.1 port=7001 ! \
decodebin ! videoconvert ! autovideosink sync=false
Stream and receive video via TCP, using Matroska
Should you wish to use the Matroska container rather than MPEG, here are some examples. (The Matroska FAQ nicely describes what it is, if you're interested.)
To send a test stream:
gst-launch-1.0 \
videotestsrc is-live=true ! \
queue ! videoconvert ! x264enc byte-stream=true ! \
h264parse config-interval=1 ! queue ! matroskamux ! queue leaky=2 ! \
tcpserversink port=7001 host=0.0.0.0 recover-policy=keyframe sync-method=latest-keyframe sync=false
To send a file (video only):
# Make sure $SRC is set to an video file (e.g. an MP4 file)
gst-launch-1.0 \
filesrc location=$SRC ! decodebin ! \
queue ! videoconvert ! x264enc byte-stream=true ! \
h264parse config-interval=1 ! queue ! matroskamux ! queue leaky=2 ! \
tcpserversink port=7001 host=0.0.0.0 recover-policy=keyframe sync-method=latest-keyframe sync=false
To receive:
gst-launch-1.0 \
tcpclientsrc host=0.0.0.0 port=7001 typefind=true do-timestamp=false ! \
matroskademux ! typefind ! avdec_h264 ! autovideosink
I struggle to get VLC to play this (through tcp://localhost:7001).
Audio and Video via TCP
We can of course mux to send audio and video together.
To send both audio and video test:
gst-launch-1.0 \
videotestsrc ! decodebin ! x264enc ! muxer. \
audiotestsrc ! avenc_ac3 ! muxer. \
mpegtsmux name=muxer ! \
tcpserversink port=7001 host=0.0.0.0 recover-policy=keyframe sync-method=latest-keyframe sync=false
To send audio and video of an MP4 file:
(Note, quite a few queue2 elements are required now... there's an explanation of why here.)
gst-launch-1.0 \
filesrc location=$SRC ! \
qtdemux name=demux \
demux.video_0 ! queue2 ! decodebin ! x264enc ! queue2 ! muxer. \
demux.audio_0 ! queue2 ! decodebin ! audioconvert ! audioresample ! avenc_ac3 ! queue2 ! muxer. \
mpegtsmux name=muxer ! \
tcpserversink port=7001 host=0.0.0.0 recover-policy=keyframe sync-method=latest-keyframe sync=false
To receive, either use VLC (tcp://localhost:7001) or this command:
gst-launch-1.0 \
tcpclientsrc host=127.0.0.1 port=7001 ! \
decodebin name=decoder ! autoaudiosink decoder. ! autovideosink
Previewing in a web browser using TCP
I've successfully managed to send video to Firefox, but not Chrome or Safari.
You'll need a HTML page with a video element, like this one
Then send video like this:
gst-launch-1.0 \
videotestsrc is-live=true ! queue ! \
videoconvert ! videoscale ! video/x-raw,width=320,height=180 ! \
clockoverlay shaded-background=true font-desc="Sans 38" ! \
theoraenc ! oggmux ! tcpserversink host=127.0.0.1 port=9090
Video and audio together:
gst-launch-1.0 \
videotestsrc is-live=true ! queue ! \
videoconvert ! videoscale ! video/x-raw,width=320,height=180 ! \
clockoverlay shaded-background=true font-desc="Sans 38" ! \
theoraenc ! queue2 ! mux. \
audiotestsrc ! audioconvert ! vorbisenc ! mux. \
oggmux name=mux ! tcpserversink host=127.0.0.1 port=9090
Play a source rather than test:
gst-launch-1.0 \
filesrc location=$SRC ! \
qtdemux name=demux \
demux.audio_0 ! queue ! decodebin ! vorbisenc ! muxer. \
demux.video_0 ! queue ! decodebin ! \
videoconvert ! videoscale ! video/x-raw,width=320,height=180 ! \
theoraenc ! muxer. \
oggmux name=muxer ! \
tcpserversink host=127.0.0.1 port=9090 recover-policy=keyframe sync-method=latest-keyframe