Free directmedia software for linux

OSDL project has for goal to provide a free portable high-level open-source library for multimedia and game programming. It is based upon low level graphical backends, notably Sam Lantingas SDL, which means Simple DirectMedia Library.
OSDL is a C++ framework built currently on top of SDL, thus OSDL stands for Objet oriented Simple DirectMedia Library.
OSDL makes use of the Ceylan library, the place where we gathered all generic developments needed by OSDL.
OSDL is also strongly linked with our project dedicated to the creation of an open-source gaming console, Once Sol. More generally speaking, one may take a look at our project portal, Esperide, which gathers all we are doing in the video game field.
At first, most people are primarily interested in screenshots, then in the OSDL API, finally in the recommended way of getting OSDL, which is named LOANI.
This is still an early stage of OSDLs development, so little information is to be found on this website. We nevertheless hope it will get bigger and bigger, as the source code grows. We advise you to look at the column we named Documentation, since many interesting articles about game creation lie there.
Enhancements:
- SVN used instead of CVS
- The Autotools are used, instead of custom-made GNUMakefiles
- integration to the Ceylan 0.5 version
- OSDL scheduler robustified and enhanced a lot
- numerous tests improved (full test suite added), and many bugs fixed

SDL4Freepascal project contains SDL bindings for Freepascal.
It is a set of FreePascal units binding to the SDL (Simple Directmedia Layer) game development API.
To compile the library:
$ tar xzf SDL4Freepascal-1.2.0.0.tar.gz
$ cd SDL4Freepascal-1.2.0.0
$ ./build.sh
and to install it (as root):
# mkdir /usr/lib/fpc/yourversion/units/linux/SDL4Freepascal-1.2.0.0
# mv *.o *.ppu /usr/lib/fpc/yourversion/units/linux/SDL4Freepascal-1.2.0.0
Enhancements:
- Updated to SDL 1.2
- added some demos
- added SDL_cdrom

FreeJ project is an instrument for realtime manipulation of various video layers combined with live effects. Layers are implemented to mix together webcams, TV, movie files, images and text and can be rendered in various ways.
FreeJ can be operated live using hotkeys, also remotely over networks (VJoE), while operations can also be scripted in a object oriented procedural language (Javascript). The core engine is multithreaded and asynchronous so it can accept various controllers at the same time: by now MIDI and joystick controls are implemented.
FreeJ is being developed in the hope to provide the GNU community with a free instrument for video manipulation: to be employed in veejaying, theater performance and digital scenography, while at present is also being used for visualisation in medical analisys.
FreeJ, as a free modularized GNU/Linux framework, makes it easy to write simple effect algorithms and combine them with others, obtaining multiple results and keeping them compatible with as much devices as possible.
FreeJ is written with efficiency in mind, benefits of a realtime object oriented architecture that makes efficient use of multithreading (in which the layers run in parallel), also taking advantage of multiple CPUs and cluster systems.
The language employed in development is C/C++ respecting POSIX compliance and avoiding the computational bloat of some advanced C++ functions.
Its API is fairly understandable, youll also find a first description in the documentation section.
Main features:
- live compositing of multiple webcams, TV signals,
- movie files, images, TXT files, particle generators and more..
- can be remotely controlled (VJoE)
- can be scripted in procedural object oriented language
- no frame drop when looping movie clips
- Emacs/Vi style console with hotkeys (S-Lang)
- can accept asynchronous controllers at the same time
- (Midi, joystick and more coming..)
- very efficient video engine with multithreaded layers
- 100% GNU Public License Free Software
- modular C/C++ code and flexible API
Version restrictions:
- a GNU/Linux or Apple/OSX workstation (see README.OSX)
- Simple Directmedia Layer library
- S-Lang console library
Enhancements:
- encoding to Ogg/Theora video file
- live streaming to Icecast2
- initial support for audio
- improvements to script functionality
- some libraries are now statically included

SDL_net library is a small sample cross-platform networking library, with a sample chat client and server application. The chat client uses the GUIlib GUI framework library.

Simple DirectMedia Layer is a cross-platform multimedia library designed to provide low level access to audio, keyboard, mouse, joystick, 3D hardware via OpenGL, and 2D video framebuffer. It is used by MPEG playback software, emulators, and many popular games, including the award winning Linux port of "Civilization: Call To Power."

Simple DirectMedia Layer supports Linux, Windows, BeOS, MacOS Classic, MacOS X, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, BSD/OS, Solaris, IRIX, and QNX. There is also code, but no official support, for Windows CE, AmigaOS, Dreamcast, Atari, NetBSD, AIX, OSF/Tru64, RISC OS, and SymbianOS.

SDL is written in C, but works with C++ natively, and has bindings to several other languages, including Ada, Eiffel, Java, Lua, ML, Perl, PHP, Pike, Python, and Ruby.

dxr3Player is a lightweight, command-line DVD player for Linux and the DXR3 (aka Hollywood+) MPEG-2 decoder boards. This software supports all major DVD features, including: menus, navigation, fast forward and backward playback, subtitles and camera angle changes.
The player is very conservative on memory usage and tries very hard (and mostly succeeds) to keep video and audio in sync.
dxr3Player also plays DVDs on any X Window System display using the Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL) library.
The software relies on the following other pieces of software:
- The dxr3 (em8300) drivers developed for Linux by the dxr3 project at Sourceforge. It is needed to access the decoder board.
- The libmpdvdkit library from MPlayer (which is actually a modified copy of the libdvdread and libdvdcss libraries). It is incorporated into the sources, and is used to access the DVDs.
- The liba52 library also from MPlayer (which is actually a modified copy of liba52, an A-52 decoding library). It is incorporated into the sources, and is used to decode AC-3 audio streams.
- If you turn on LIRC support, the LIRC library.
- If you want to play MPEG audio, the MAD library.
- The Simple DirectMedia Layer library for displaying on an X Window display without hardware support.
- The libmpeg2 library for decoding MPEG video streams when not using the DXR3 board or the Unichrome chipset.
Main features:
- DVD menus
- navigation: jumping to previous and next chapter and menus
- fast forward and backward playback, pausing
- subtitles
- camera angle changes
- support for full-screen VGA "overlay"
- infrared remote control support via LIRC
- playback of AC3, Linear PCM and MPEG audio streams
- digital audio output (both PCM and AC-3)
- joystick as input device
- dump of complete DVDs to hard disks and playback from there
Version restrictions:
- of Linear PCM streams, only 48 kHz, 16-bit stereo ones are played
- as you can see, this homepage is quite rudimentary. However, I do not hope to change it soon anymore

U-Hexen project is a port of Hexen to Simple Directmedia Layer.
U-Hexen is a port of the popular 3D game, Hexen by Raven Software/Id Software, to the Simple Directmedia Layer library.
It uses an SDL mixer for sound and music. Some new menus were added for easier configuration. It works on Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and Windows.
On FreeBSD, the game can work on the console without X.
Enhancements:
- Fixed palette handling (problems with DirectX).
- Added 24 bpp surface support.
- Fixed save path on Windows.

SDL for AmigaOS 4.0 project is a port of SDL, the Simple Directmedia Layer, for AmigaOS 4.0 SDL is a popular open-source API for games and other software that need low-level access to video and audio hardware and input devices.

SDL was created and is maintained by Sam Lantinga, but has had a legion of contributors of the years (see SDL credits). The AmigaOS 4.0 port was created originally by Thomas and Hans Joerg Frieden, but for the last two years has largely been the work of me, Richard Drummond.

Other contributors include Juergen Schober (who developed the audio layer). You can find may OS4.0 applications built with SDL at os4depot.net and some that I have built on my Amiga Stuff page.