[MPlayer-dev-eng] MPCF: Features and Goals

[D Richard Felker III]

On Fri, Feb 14, 2003 at 03:10:50PM +0000, Martin Collins wrote:
> Hi
> 
> I've read all the postings in the archive on this subject and the
> mpcf.txt (though I don't grok all of it) but I've seen no explicit
> mention of this feature:
> 
> Will mpcf files be readable before writing is complete?

Of course. Actually pretty much all formats are if the player doesn't
suck; most players just suck. MPlayer plays incomplete files just
fine.

> More generally, the goals of the project are not really spelled out.
> It seems to me (an admittedly naiive user) that there are two types
> of container required, and they have conflicting requirements:
> -the first is a video creation/manipulation format
> -the second is a media distribution format

I don't see any difference, but the second is the main goal. Or if we
want to be politically correct, its purpose is mainly for "archival"
of your movies. :))

> Which is mpcf supposed to be? Matroska has got some stick here but
> I think it is aiming to be a distribution format, whereas IMHO mpcf
> should be aiming to be a creation/manipulation format. Or am I
> completely off-base?

You're pretty much off-base, but I don't see how there's a significant
difference in requirements for the two. Anyway, creation/manipulation
doesn't really need a nice format; you're going to be storing raw pcm
audio and raw yuv frames anyway if you want to be able to edit without
losing quality...

Rich