[FFmpeg-devel] [PATCH] added expr evaluation to drawtext - fontsize

[Nicolas George]

Le tridi 13 fructidor, an CCXXIV, Brett Harrison a écrit :
> Before I fix the patch, can you clarify the intended functionality?
> 
> The docs say that 16 is the default fontsize, however if
> CONFIG_LIBFONTCONFIG is configured and ffmpeg if called with:
> 
> -vf drawtext=text=abc:fontcolor=white
> 
> on my system the font used will be /opt/X11/share/fonts/TTF/Vera.ttf (the
> default chosen by libfontconfig) and the fontsize will be set to 12.
> 
> However if ffmpeg is called with:
> 
> -vf
> drawtext=text=abc:fontcolor=white:fontfile=/opt/X11/share/fonts/TTF/Vera.ttf
> 
> This is the same font that libfontconfig used, however this time fontsize
> 16 is used as stated in the docs.
> 
> The difference is this line of code in load_font_fontconfig
>   if (!s->fontsize)
>         s->fontsize = size + 0.5;
> 
> I didn't set the fontsize in either command, but the output was different.
> Do we want to keep this as is?

I think the current behaviour is correct.

I start with the following principle: when users want something precise
about aesthetic or other arbitrary settings, they have to say it.

Default values are for the lazy or the careless ones: quick profiling and
testing when the exact result does not matter much. But as soon as the
result matters, explicit values must be given.

Do not take me wrong, the default values should be, as much as possible,
sensible. But for a font size, 12 is as sensible as 16.

Most importantly, backward compatibility should not be an hindrance to
choosing better default values. We should not change them lightly, but not
feel forbidden to do so either.

Fontconfig is not just a path search library for finding font files. It is a
complete mechanism for choosing the right font according to several
conditions set by the user. Including the font size.

There are no less than four levels for choosing the font size:

(1) lavfi's default, 16;

(2) fontconfig's default;

(3) fontconfig's explicit value, as in "Times-12:bold";

(4) lavfi's explicit value, as in "fontsize=16".

I think the order of precedence should be just that, for the following
reasons:

- First, of course, (3), (4) > (1), (2), because explicit values are always
  more important.

- Second, conflicting explicit values are the users' problem. We can produce
  warnings to help diagnose, but in the end it is their choice. (4) > (3) is
  slightly easier to implement (distinguishing (3) from (2) requires a bit
  of work), and (4) is more supple, especially when your patch gets applied.

- Last, (2) > (1), because fontconfig is more cross-applications than lavfi,
  and also because it includes a mechanism for explicit configuration.

Still, the documentation should be clarified, possibly something like that:
"The default value of fontsize is provided by fontconfig if in use or 16
when using a font file directly."

Regards,

-- 
  Nicolas George
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