Creating a Basic LEADTOOLS DirectShow Capture Application

Perform the following steps to create and run a multimedia capture application using the LEADTOOLS Multimedia CaptureCtrl control.

  1. Start Visual Studio .NET.
  2. Choose File->New->Project... from the menu.
  3. In the New Project dialog box, choose either "Visual C# Projects" or "VB Projects" in the Projects Type List, and choose "Windows Application" in the Templates List.
  4. Type the project name as "Multimedia Capture" in the Project Name field, and then click OK. If desired, type a new location for your project or select a directory using the Browse button, and then click OK.
  5. In the "Solution Explorer" window, right-click "References" and choose "Add Reference..." from the context menu. In the "Add Reference" dialog box, click the ".NET" tab, select Leadtools.Multimedia and click OK. If this DLL does not appear under the .NET tab, click the Browse tab, navigate to the "<LEADTOOLS_INSTALLDIR>\Bin\Dotnet\Win32" folder, and select the following DLL:

    • Leadtools.Multimedia.dll

    Click OK to add the above DLL to the application.

  6. Make sure Form1 is in design view. Go to the toolbox (View->Toolbox) and drag a CaptureCtrl control on the form. NOTE: If you do not have CaptureCtrl in your toolbox, open the Tools menu and then choose Choose Toolbox Items from the menu. In the Reference Manager dialog, click Browse, navigate to the "<LEADTOOLS_INSTALLDIR>\Bin\Dotnet\Win32" directory and then select Leadtools.Multimedia.dll. Click OK. After adding the control to the form, set the following properties for the capture control:

    Property Value
    Name _capturectrl
    Anchor Top, Bottom, Left, Right
  7. Go to the toolbox (View->Toolbox) and drag a ProgressBar control on the form (below the capture control) and set the following properties:

    Property Value
    Name _progress
    Anchor Bottom, Left, Right
  8. Go to the toolbox (View->Toolbox) and drag a Button control on the bottom of the form and set the following properties:

    Property Value
    Name _buttonCapture
    Text Capture
    Anchor Bottom, Right
  9. Switch Form1 to code view (right-click Form1 in the Solution Explorer, then choose View Code) and add the following lines to the beginning of the file:

    VB
    Imports Leadtools.Multimedia 
                      
         

    C#
    using Leadtools.Multimedia; 
                      
         

  10. Declare the following private variables:

    VB
    Private _targetFile As String 
    Private _captureTime As Integer 
                      
         

    C#
    private string _targetFile; 
    private int _captureTime; 
                      
         

  11. Add an event handler to the Form1 Load event and code it as follows:

    VB
    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load 
    'Note: Modify and uncomment the following line to remove the pop-up "NAG" dialog 
    'Leadtools.Multimedia.Common.MultimediaSupport.UnlockModule("YOUR LTMM KEY",Leadtools.Multimedia.Common.LockType.Application, "YOUR APPLICATION ID") 
                     
       If (_capturectrl.VideoDevices.Count = 0) Then 
          Throw New Exception("No capture devices available") 
       End If 
                            
       _capturectrl.VideoDevices(0).Selected = True 
       _capturectrl.VideoCompressors.Mpeg2.Selected = True 
                         
       _targetFile = "capture.avi" 
       _captureTime = 30 
    End Sub 
                      
         

    C#
    private void Form1_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e) 
    { 
    //Note: Modify and uncomment the following line to remove the pop-up "NAG" dialog 
    //Leadtools.Multimedia.Common.MultimediaSupport.UnlockModule("YOUR LTMM KEY", Leadtools.Multimedia.Common.LockType.Application, "YOUR APPLICATION ID"); 
                      
       if (_capturectrl.VideoDevices.Count == 0) 
          throw new Exception("No capture devices available"); 
                            
       _capturectrl.VideoDevices[0].Selected = true; 
       _capturectrl.VideoCompressors.Mpeg2.Selected = true; 
                         
       _targetFile = "capture.avi"; 
       _captureTime = 30; 
    } 
                      
         

  12. Add an event handler to the _capturectrl Progress event and code it as follows:

    VB
    Private Sub _capturectrl_Progress(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As ProgressEventArgs) Handles _capturectrl.Progress 
       _progress.Value = CInt((_progress.Maximum * e.time) / (_captureTime * 1000)) 
    End Sub 
                      
         

    C#
    private void _capturectrl_Progress(object sender, ProgressEventArgs e) 
    { 
       _progress.Value = (int)((_progress.Maximum * e.time) / (_captureTime * 1000)); 
    } 
                      
         

  13. Add an event handler to the _capturectrl Complete event and code it as follows:

    VB
    Private Sub _capturectrl_Complete(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As EventArgs) Handles _capturectrl.Complete 
       MessageBox.Show("Capture Complete") 
       _buttonCapture.Enabled = True 
    End Sub 
                      
         

    C#
    private void _capturectrl_Complete(object sender, EventArgs e) 
    { 
       MessageBox.Show("Capture Complete"); 
       _buttonCapture.Enabled = true; 
    } 
                      
         

  14. Add an event handler to the _buttonCapture Click event and code it as follows:

    VB
    Private Sub _buttonCapture_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles _buttonCapture.Click 
       Try 
          _capturectrl.Preview = True 
          _capturectrl.TargetFile = _targetFile 
          _capturectrl.UseTimeLimit = True 
          _capturectrl.TimeLimit = _captureTime 
                            
          _capturectrl.StartCapture(CaptureMode.Video) 
          _buttonCapture.Enabled = False 
       Catch ex As Exception 
          MessageBox.Show(ex.Message) 
       End Try 
    End Sub    
                      
         

    C#
    private void _buttonCapture_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e) 
    { 
       try 
       { 
          _capturectrl.Preview = true; 
          _capturectrl.TargetFile = _targetFile; 
          _capturectrl.UseTimeLimit = true; 
          _capturectrl.TimeLimit = _captureTime; 
                            
          _capturectrl.StartCapture(CaptureMode.Video); 
          _buttonCapture.Enabled = false; 
       } 
       catch (Exception ex) 
       { 
          MessageBox.Show(ex.Message); 
       } 
    } 
                      
         

  15. Build, and Run the program to test it.

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