gstreamer(1)

NAME

gst-launch - build and run a GStreamer pipeline

SYNOPSIS

gst-launch [OPTION...] PIPELINE-DESCRIPTION

DESCRIPTION

gst-launch is a tool that builds and runs basic GStreamer pipelines.

In simple form, a PIPELINE-DESCRIPTION is a list of ele
ments separated by exclamation marks (!). Options may be
appended to elements, in the form "option=value". A group
of elements surrounded by curly braces {, } will be exe
cuted in a separate thread.

Connections between non-consecutive elements are created
by specifying a element names and pad names immediately
before and after the exclamation mark, in the form "ele
ment0.sinkpad!element1.srcpad". The default name given to
an element is the name of its class followed by an index.
If the element names are omitted, the previous and next
elements in the PIPELINE-DESCRIPTION will be used. If the
pad names are omitted, a default pad of the correct type
(source or sink) is found on the given element, typically
named "src" or "sink".

See the GStreamer documentation for a complete description
of a a PIPELINE-DESCRIPTION.

EXAMPLES

The examples below assume that you have the correct plugins available. In general, "osssink" can be substituted
with another audio output plug-in such as "esdsink",
"alsasink", or "artsdsink". Likewise, "xvideosink" can be
substituted with "sdlvideosink" or "aasink".

Audio playback

Play the mp3 music file "music.mp3" using a libmad-based
plug-in and output to an OSS device:

gst-launch filesrc location=music.mp3 ! mad ! osssink

Play an Ogg Vorbis format file:

gst-launch filesrc location=music.ogg ! vorbisfile !

osssink

Play an mp3 file or stream retrieved via http:

gst-launch httpsrc loca

tion=http://domain.com/music.mp3 ! mad ! osssink

Play an mp3 file or stream using GNOME-VFS:

gst-launch gnomevfssrc location=music.mp3 ! mad !

osssink

gst-launch gnomevfssrc loca

tion=http://domain.com/music.mp3 ! mad ! osssink

Use GNOME-VFS to play an mp3 file located on an SMB
server:

gst-launch gnomevfssrc location=smb://com

puter/music.mp3 ! mad ! osssink

Format conversion

Convert an mp3 music file to an Ogg Vorbis file:

gst-launch filesrc location=music.mp3 ! mad ! vor

bisenc ! filesink location=music.ogg

Alternatively, to convert to the FLAC format, use the com
mand line:

gst-launch filesrc location=claptrap.mp3 ! mad ! fla

cenc ! filesink location=test.flac

Other

Plays a .WAV file:

gst-launch filesrc location=music.wav ! wavparse !

osssink

Convert a .WAV file into Ogg Vorbis (or mp3) file:

gst-launch filesrc location=music.wav ! wavparse !

vorbisenc ! filesink location=music.ogg

gst-launch filesrc location=music.wav ! wavparse !

mpegaudio ! filesink location=music.mp3

Alternatively, if you have lame installed (and have the
lame plug-in), you can substitute lame for mpegaudio in
the previous example. It gives better results than mpe
gaudio.

Rip all tracks from compact disc and convert them into a
single mp3 file:

gst-launch cdparanoia ! mpegaudio ! filesink loca

tion=cd.mp3

Using gst-inspect, it is possible to discover settings for
cdparanoia that will tell it to rip individual tracks.

Record sound from your audio input and encode it into an
ogg file:

gst-launch osssrc ! vorbisenc ! filesink loca

tion=input.ogg

Video

Display only the video portion of an MPEG-1 video file,
outputting to an X display window (The "queue" element is
necessary to buffer data between the threads):

gst-launch filesrc location=JB_FF9_TheGravity

OfLove.mpg ! mpegdemux video_%02d!src { queue ! mpeg2dec !
xvideosink }

Display the video portion of a .vob file (used on DVDs),
outputting to an SDL window:

gst-launch filesrc location=/flflfj.vob ! mpegdemux

video_%02d!src { queue ! mpeg2dec ! sdlvideosink }

Play both video and audio portions of an MPEG movie:

gst-launch filesrc location=movie.mpg ! mpegdemux

video_%02d!src { queue ! mpeg2dec ! sdlvideosink } mpegde
mux0.audio_%02d!src { queue ! mad ! osssink }

Play an AVI movie:

gst-launch filesrc location=movie.avi ! avidemux

video_%02d!src { queue ! windec ! sdlvideosink }

Network streaming

An MPEG-1 system stream can be streamed via RTP from one
machine to another. On the receiver, execute:

gst-launch rtprecv media_type=mpeg1_sys ! mpegdemux

video_%02d!src { queue ! mpeg2dec ! xvideosink } mpegde
mux0.audio_%02d!src { queue ! mad ! osssink }

On the transmitter, execute:

gst-launch filesrc location=mpeg1system.mpeg ! mpeg

parse ! rtpsend ip=IPorHostname

Diagnostic

Generate a null stream and ignore it:

gst-launch fakesrc ! fakesink

Generate a pure tone to test the audio output:

gst-launch sinesrc ! osssink

Generate a familiar test pattern to test the video output:

gst-launch videotestsrc ! xvideosink

OPTIONS

gst-launch accepts the following options:

--help Print help synopsis and available FLAGS

--silent

Do not output status information

--exclude=TYPE, -XTYPE

Do not output status information of TYPE

--output=FILE, -oFILE

Save XML representation of pipeline to FILE and
exit

--gst-info-mask=FLAGS

GStreamer info flags to set (list with --help)

--gst-debug-mask=FLAGS

GStreamer debugging flags to set (list with --help)

--gst-mask=FLAGS

GStreamer info and debugging flags to set (list with --help)

--gst-plugin-spew

GStreamer info flags to set Enable printout of errors while loading GStreamer plugins

--gst-plugin-path=PATH

Add directories separated with ':' to the plugin
search path

SEE ALSO

gst-complete(1), gst-register(1), gst-inspect(1)

AUTHOR

The GStreamer team at http://gstreamer.net/

March 2001 GStreamer(1)