LiViD Status Report #1 -- January 27th 2000

This is quickly becoming a popular way to keep everyone updated about projects, so here is the first LiViD Status Report...

What is LiViD? What are the goals of the LiViD Project? What is available now? When can we expect finished products? How can I help?

What is LiViD?

LiViD is a nifty abbreviation for (Li)nux (Vi)deo and (D)VD. The web site is http://linuxvideo.org and there is a CVS repository at cvs.linuxvideo.org.

• The LiViD Project is a collection of video and dvd related sub-projects. The idea is to provide one central location for users to find information and support for video hardware and software. The other major advantage for organizing all the video related projects is the reduction of the amount of duplicated code, and a better collaboration on the design of interfaces.
• Currently the LiViD Project is home for the LiViD DVD player project, the Linux/LiViD Media Player and will soon be home to the GATOS (ATI TV), BTTV, and the MGA4Linux projects. Several other smaller projects have been solicated and will be coming on board as well.
• LiViD will be at the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo as part of the .org pavilion. Come by and see demonstrations of the DVD player and learn more about the project.
• LiViD has been nominated for two cash prizes from Andover.Net and Slashdot. Go to Slashdot and vote for LiViD!

Goals?

Our goals are simple-- provide a  unified development and user resource center for video and dvd related work for Linux.
Each of the sub-projects has its own goals--

DVD player: To build a modular software dvd player, where hardware interfaces could be utilized when available for different aspects of decoding and/or displaying.

LiViD/Linux Media player: A 'Windows Media Player' type application that would be able to playback several different formats, and provide interfaces for hardware acceleration if available.

MGA4Linux: Develop driver and application support for using the video editing hardware made by Matrox.

GATOS: Develop drivers and interfaces for ATI video cards that have TV tuners, or other video editing hardware.

What is available now?

Currently most of the software that has been developed is mostly pre-alpha quality software intended for developers to use to test different technologies and methods to provide function. The most popular code is the DVD player code, which is scattered across the CVS in several different modules. There are plans to coordinate the efforts and build one dvd player architecture.

The Media Player is just in the design phase, and has been on hold while work on an experimental new interface is being worked on. The new interface, Projector, is being developed by Stea Greene. He is looking for a lot of feedback on the design and hopes to have working tests of it soon.

When can we expect finished products?

It will be quite a while until a the DVD player is complete, with subtitles and navigation. Basic playback support is available today, and hardware acceleration is being worked on. Estimations of about 9 months to a year until we have a full-featured open source DVD player have been made. As for the other projects, GATOS and BTTV have working drivers and applications that can be used now. MGA4Linux is a work in progress, and new information will be available soon. The web site is a work in progress. You can expect easier user downloads, more informative developer sections, and daily CVS snapshots in the near future.

How to help--

We are in need of web designers and editors. There is a lot of information about video out there, and we need to fill the site with content. The subproject web pages and help sections are lacking severely at the moment. If you are interested in helping with the web site, please contact me.

Of course, we are always looking for skilled developers to work on current projects and start new ones. If have a video related project and would like to incorporate it into LiViD, or you want to start developing, contact me.

Matthew R. Pavlovich