[FFmpeg-devel] [RFC] Flush API for libavfilter

[Stefano Sabatini]

On date Thursday 2011-10-20 17:37:18 +0200, Michael Niedermayer encoded:
> On Thu, Oct 20, 2011 at 05:06:21PM +0200, Stefano Sabatini wrote:
> > On date Wednesday 2011-03-23 06:25:15 +0200, Mina Nagy Zaki encoded:
> > > On Tuesday 22 March 2011 17:35:39 Stefano Sabatini wrote:
> > [...]
> > > > Check: cmdutils.c:get_filtered_audio_buffer(), it implements a pull
> > > > model, correct me if I'm wrong.
> > > 
> > > I have already checked that, which is what lead me to the question in the first 
> > > place. I can't really read AVERROR_EOF from request_frame() because audio 
> > > filters don't(/shouldn't?) use it. get_filtered_audio_buffer() does a 
> > > request_frame() on aout which propagates all the way to asrc (without passing 
> > > through intermediate filters, because they don't/shouldn't use it) which then 
> > > does a filter_samples that propagates all the way to aout! If I try to 
> > > request_frame from the previous buffer it will reach asrc then eventually lead 
> > > to calling my own effect's filter_samples, so now do I filter in filter_samples or 
> > > request_frame :D  And in any case, asrc never returns AVERROR_EOF anyway.
> > 
> > Hi,
> > 
> > I was trying to get the af_sox.c filter in shape when I stumbled
> > across this.
> > 
> > Resuming, the problem is that when a filterchain source returns
> > AVERROR_EOF (e.g. becase the generated media has terminated) it is not
> > possible to notify the intermediate filters, which may keep cached
> > data which is never released.
> > 
> > For example some sox filters cache data, which is supposed to be
> > flushed through the drain API when *all* the input has been already
> > provided (so they won't return data *at all* if such a mechanism is
> > not implemented).
> > 
> > This can't be done with the current API (neither with audio nor with
> > video).
> 
> I dont understand the problem for video
> 
> At EOF
> A filter currently can, when it receives a request_frame()
> push the next cached frame out via
> avfilter_start_frame + avfilter_draw_slice + avfilter_end_frame
> vf_yadif does this currently for different reasons
> 

> And a filter knows its at EOF when poll & request_frame() signal so
> that is via 0 and AVERROR_EOF

You need to implement poll() in the filter for applying this logic,
and poll() may return 0 even when no end of file was reached
(e.g. when the buffer source was emptied).

> 
> The pull system is needed or more complex networks of filters will
> have all kinds of issues.
> one example is a graph with 2 inputs and 2 outputs, we assume
> one wants to mux these 2 outputs together in the same file, the inputs
> are from seperate files. With a pull system we know from which file
> to read next with a push system we dont and could end up having to
> buffer the whole decoded file in memory. Not to mention the delay
> So i think audio should use request_frame() or a equivalent too

I'm not proposing to drop request_frame() (which is currently
implemented for audio).

But in the case of sox a filter may release data all at once when the
end of file is reached, and for doing this you need to know when the
input data is terminated (sox API is meant for batch processing, so
yes this will not be usable for real-time filtering).
-- 
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