VB and video files - help needed

[id_slave]

Hi everyone!

Just started taking my first steps with Visual Basic and I want to take a shot at making a CBT application. I've acquired VB Express 2008 and although i have some *basic* programming knowledge from several years back, it all seems pretty new to me at this time

So here's a list of questions i have for you guys, any help with them would be greatly appreciated!

1. I need to use a video format that cannot be played back with any widespread media player (*glares at VLC*) or, barring that, an encryption that dissallows the viewer from directly playing the video files.

2. From what I've gathered from browsing at several forums, there is normal support for videos in "standard" formats (for example .avi and .wmv) - however, there is no mention of any other "non-standard" formats, such as, say, .3gp. What would i need to use in order to play that sort of file through my application? a separate SDK?

3. Is there an easy way to package several movies into a single file and then access a particular movie for playback? I'm having games in mind, where there's a single 1GB file that contains several files at once.

So, help a n00b out? cheers

 

[jaeusm]

I think you would be wise to beef up your programming skills before trying to tackle video encoding. Encrypting files is not difficult, though.

 

[id_slave]

Yeah, i sure do, I just figured i needed a headstart first, to set me on the right path so to speak. Any suggestions on where to look up for any solutions to my problems?

 

[office politics]

open source may give clues

media player classic is open source. looks like its c++ tho

SourceForge.net: guliverkli

 

[oldskool]

I think you would be wise to beef up your programming skills before trying to tackle video encoding. Encrypting files is not difficult, though.

Ditto. Walk slowly, then think about running later.

 

[id_slave]

open source may give clues

media player classic is open source. looks like its c++ tho

Much appreciated, I'll look into it right away!

Ditto. Walk slowly, then think about running later.

True enough, but imo it's preferable to have a general goal and gradually move toward it while staying focused on that goal, than make multiple versions of, say, pac-man and eventually miss the point entirely

 

[jaeusm]

If you're still interested in cryptography for VB .NET, you should check out the following MSDN links:
Cryptography Overview
.NET Framework Cryptography Model

 

[oldskool]

Much appreciated, I'll look into it right away!





True enough, but imo it's preferable to have a general goal and gradually move toward it while staying focused on that goal, than make multiple versions of, say, pac-man and eventually miss the point entirely

Well that is a very valid point of view that you have, ID Slave. You don't have to be extreme (make multiple versions of pac-man), and you don't have to build the next MS Office suite in a week. In other words, make a loan calculator, some simple games, etc. It's better to get the basics down, because you will need it later when coding for more complicated apps.

 

[id_slave]

After doing a little digging around, I'd say this is exactly what i was looking for! If I understand correctly, I can easily encrypt my data, then use a pre-provided key to decrypt an reproduce.

Cheers jaeusm!

Well that is a very valid point of view that you have, ID Slave. You don't have to be extreme (make multiple versions of pac-man), and you don't have to build the next MS Office suite in a week. In other words, make a loan calculator, some simple games, etc. It's better to get the basics down, because you will need it later when coding for more complicated apps.

Aye, I've found out that striving for a goal that's way up there starts with the best of intentions, but soon overwhelms you and you plain give up, however taking it one step at a time while still having a specific goal in mind in the long term is much more easier on the psyche
Using you examples, make calculator -> make games -> make useful apps -> make my very own OS (yeah, far-fetched I know - better to shoot oneself in the foot)

Since my last attempt at programming dates 10 years back, and it all seemed new and overwhelming to me, so basically i didn't know what to look for. Many thanks to the helpful people here that nudged me in the right direction.

 

[oldskool]

I commend you IDSlave for taking a goal-oriented approach. I tend to take things on the "safe" side, meaning, I hate writing bad code because I don't know what I'm doing. It is really difficult to debug code if you don't understand how to write out the syntax properly, especially if your logic creates errors.

Human errors (logic errors) are much more common, and more difficult to debug, because - as in VB - the compiler is 100% verbatim ; it will compile code, even if there are logic errors, as long as the syntax is correct. So my experience leads me to follow the credo that it is better to screw up the code, VB will yell at you and highlight the problematic code - and will even include many times a little popup when you do a mouseover to see what it is yelling at you about.

Make good decisions while coding, you can even use pseudocode and flowcharts to design your program from the ground up. Might seem like a bother, but a time saver if you don't have to keep trying to remember what it was that you were trying to design in the first place, because it has all been scratched out on paper or in a text editor or something like that.

Oh, and another thing, by making good clean code, there will be a less likely chance ( read less likely, no guarantees) that the program will hang during runtime. Also, another reason to write clean code is that efficient code will run more smoothly and faster, especially if there is some serious number crunching being done.

Human errors (logic errors) are much more common, and more difficult to debug, because - as in VB - the compiler is 100% verbatim ; it will compile code, even if there are logic errors, as long as the syntax is correct.

For clarity, I want to state that obviously human errors are not "debuggable" by a compiler - I just simply mean that what goes down in the IDE is what the IDE will try to compile. But the IDE can debug runtime errors with great speed - I love that about today's high-level programming language IDE's. It taps you on the shoulder and says "hey dummy, you forgot something!" :laughing: