Index: README =================================================================== RCS file: /cvsroot/mplayer/main/README,v retrieving revision 1.1 diff -u -r1.1 README --- README 7 Dec 2001 17:43:20 -0000 1.1 +++ README 30 May 2002 20:20:09 -0000 @@ -1 +1,145 @@ -The main documentation file is DOCS/documentation.html +Welcome to MPlayer, the Unix movie player. MPlayer can play most standard video +formats out of the box and almost all others with the help of external codecs. +MPlayer currently works best from the command line, but there is a GUI with skin +support in the alpha development stage. + +This document is for getting you started in a few minutes. It cannot answer all +of your questions. If you have problems, please read the documentation in +DOCS/documentation.html. It is extensive and should answer most of your questions. +Also read the manpage to learn how to use MPlayer. + + +To compile MPlayer you need to have the XFree86 development packages installed, +for the GUI you also need the GTK development packages. + + +To make use of various MPlayer features such as the onscreen display, the GUI or +to play some additional movie types (like DivX and WMA), you have to take a few +extra steps before compiling. + + +___________________________________ +STEP1: Installing FFmpeg libavcodec +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +If you are using an official release, skip this step, since official releases +include libavcodec. + +The FFmpeg project provides libavcodec, a very portable MPEG4/DivX codec with +excellent speed and quality. It is the preferred codec of MPlayer and used to +be included in the MPlayer CVS tree. This is no longer the case and you have to +get libavcodec directly from the FFmpeg CVS server. + +To get the FFmpeg sources, use the following commands in a suitable directory +outside the MPlayer source directory: + +cvs -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.ffmpeg.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/ffmpeg login +cvs -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.ffmpeg.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/ffmpeg co ffmpeg/libavcodec + +When asked for a password, you can just hit enter. + +Now, remove the libavcodec subdirectory in the MPlayer source tree. +Then copy (symbolic linking does not suffice) the freshly downloaded FFmpeg +libavcodec directory back into the MPlayer source tree. + + +______________________________ +STEP2: Installing Win32 Codecs +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +This is only necessary if you want to play WMA, Indeo and a few other obscure +movie types. The builtin codecs are much faster than the Win32 codecs for +playing DivX and MPEG files. + +Grab the codecs archive from the download page + + http://www.mplayerhq.hu/homepage/dload.html + +unpack it and put the contents in a directory where MPlayer will find them. +The default directory is /usr/lib/win32/ but you can change that to something else +by using the appropriate option when you run the configure script. + + +________________________ +STEP3: Compiling MPlayer +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +The remainder is pretty straightforward. Run + + ./configure + +to configure MPlayer with the default options. The options you installed above +should be autodetected, except GUI support, which has to be enabled separately, +run + + ./configure --enable-gui + +if you want to use the GUI. + +If something does not work as expected, try + + ./configure --help + +to see the available options and select what you need. + +Now you can start the compilation by typing + + make + +You can install MPlayer with + + make install + +provided that you have write permission in the installation directory. + + +If you run Debian you can configure, compile and build a proper deb package with +only one command: + + fakeroot debian/rules binary + + +____________________________________________ +STEP4: Installing the onscreen display fonts +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +To enable onscreen status display and DVD subtitles you need some fonts. Get +them from our homepage: + +http://www.mplayerhq.hu/homepage/dload.html + +Unpack the archive and choose one of the available font sizes. Then copy the +font files of the corresponding size into /usr/local/share/mplayer/font/. + + +____________________________ +STEP5: Installing a GUI skin +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +Please remember that the GUI is still in the alpha development stage and not +completely finished yet. + +If you want to use the GUI you need a skin. Download one from the download page + + http://www.mplayerhq.hu/homepage/dload.html + +unpack it and put the contents in /usr/local/share/mplayer/Skin/default/. + + + + + +That's it for the moment. To start playing movies, open a command line and try + + mplayer + +or for a GUI + + mplayer -gui + gmplayer + +See 'mplayer --help' and 'man mplayer' for further options. 'mplayer -vo help' +will show you the available video output drivers. Experiment with the '-vo' +switch to see which one gives you the best performance. Questions you may have +are probably answered in the rest of the documentation. The place to start +reading is DOCS/documentation.html.