1 files changed, 87 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/DOCS/tech/win32-codec-howto.txt b/DOCS/tech/win32-codec-howto.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cbf13cf72e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/DOCS/tech/win32-codec-howto.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+============================
+Win32 codecs importing HOWTO
+============================
+
+This document describes how to extract the information necessary to hook
+up Win32 binary codecs in MPlayer from a Windows system. Different methods
+exist depending on which video API your codec uses and which Windows
+version you have.
+
+If you have gathered all the necessary information (fourcc, GUID, codec file,
+sample file) as described below, notify the mplayer-dev-eng mailing list.
+If you want to add a codec yourself, read DOCS/tech/codecs.conf.txt.
+
+
+
+VFW codecs
+~~~~~~~~~~
+
+VFW (Video for Windows) is the old video API for Windows. Its codecs have
+the '.dll' or (rarely) '.drv' extension.  If MPlayer fails at playing your
+AVI with this kind of message:
+
+UNKNOWN video codec: HFYU (0x55594648)
+
+It means your AVI is encoded with a codec which has the HFYU fourcc (HFYU =
+HuffYUV codec, DIV3 = DivX Low Motion, etc.). Now that you know this, you
+have to find out which DLL Windows loads in order to play this file. In our
+case, the 'system.ini' contains this information in a line that reads:
+
+VIDC.HFYU=huffyuv.dll
+
+So you need the 'huffyuv.dll' file. Note that the audio codecs are
+specified by the MSACM prefix:
+
+msacm.l3acm=L3codeca.acm
+
+This is the MP3 codec.
+
+
+
+DirectShow codecs:
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+DirectShow is the newer video API, which is even worse than its predecessor.
+Things are harder with DirectShow, since 'system.ini' does not contain the
+needed information, instead it is stored in the registry and we need the
+GUID of the codec.
+
+
+New Method:
+-----------
+
+Using Microsoft GraphEdit (fast)
+
+- Get GraphEdit from either DirectX SDK or doom9.
+- Start 'graphedit.exe'.
+- From the menu select "Graph -> Insert Filters".
+- Expand item "DirectShow Filters".
+- Select the right codec name and expand item.
+- In the entry "DisplayName" look at the text in winged brackets after the
+  backslash and write it down (five dash-delimited blocks, the GUID).
+- The codec binary is the file specified in the "Filename" entry.
+
+If there is no "Filename" and "DisplayName" contains something like
+'device:dmo', then it is a DMO-Codec.
+
+
+Old Method:
+-----------
+
+Take a deep breath and start searching the registry...
+
+- Start 'regedit'.
+- Press "Ctrl-F", disable the first two checkboxes, and enable the third.
+  Type in the fourcc of the codec (e.g. "TM20").
+- You should see a field which contains the path and the filename (e.g.
+  "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\TM20DEC.AX").
+- Now that you have the file, we need the GUID. Try searching again, but
+  now search for the codec's name, not the fourcc. Its name can be acquired
+  when Media Player is playing the file, by checking
+  "File -> Properties -> Advanced".
+  If not, you are out of luck. Try guessing (e.g. search for TrueMotion).
+- If the GUID is found you should see a "FriendlyName" and a "CLSID" field.
+  Write down the 16 byte CLSID, this is the GUID we need.
+
+If searching fails, try enabling all the checkboxes. You may have
+false hits, but you may get lucky...