VlcVideoPlayer.Avalonia 1.4.0

VlcVideoPlayer.Avalonia

A self-contained VLC-based video player control for Avalonia UI with embedded VLC libraries.

Features

• 🎬 Full-featured video player control for Avalonia
• 📦 VLC libraries included automatically - no manual VLC installation required!
• 🎨 Clean, modern UI with Material Design icons
• 🖥️ Cross-platform (Windows, macOS, Linux)
• ⚡ Based on LibVLCSharp for maximum codec support
• 🎛️ Built-in controls: Play/Pause, Stop, Seek bar, Volume slider, Mute

Installation

dotnet add package VlcVideoPlayer.Avalonia

That's it! The VLC native libraries for Windows are automatically included as a transitive dependency. For other platforms, see Platform Support.

Quick Start

Step 1: Add Material Icons to App.axaml

Important: The video player uses Material Icons for its controls. You must add the MaterialIconStyles to your App.axaml:

<Application xmlns="https://github.com/avaloniaui"
             xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
             xmlns:materialIcons="clr-namespace:Material.Icons.Avalonia;assembly=Material.Icons.Avalonia"
             x:Class="YourApp.App">
    <Application.Styles>
        <FluentTheme />
        
        <materialIcons:MaterialIconStyles />
    </Application.Styles>
</Application>

Step 2: Initialize VLC at Startup

In your Program.cs or App.axaml.cs, initialize VLC before creating any windows:

using Avalonia.VlcVideoPlayer;

public class Program
{
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        // Initialize VLC - must be called before creating windows
        VlcInitializer.Initialize();
        
        BuildAvaloniaApp().StartWithClassicDesktopLifetime(args);
    }

    public static AppBuilder BuildAvaloniaApp()
        => AppBuilder.Configure<App>()
            .UsePlatformDetect()
            .WithInterFont()
            .LogToTrace();
}

Step 3: Add the VideoPlayerControl to your Window

<Window xmlns="https://github.com/avaloniaui"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        xmlns:vlc="clr-namespace:Avalonia.VlcVideoPlayer;assembly=Avalonia.VlcVideoPlayer"
        Title="My Video Player" Width="800" Height="600">
    
    <vlc:VideoPlayerControl x:Name="VideoPlayer" />
    
</Window>

Step 4: Play a Video

Use the built-in "Open" button, or load programmatically:

// Play a local file
VideoPlayer.Open(@"C:\Videos\movie.mp4");

// Or play from URL
VideoPlayer.OpenUri(new Uri("https://example.com/video.mp4"));

Complete Example

Here's a minimal working example:

MyApp.csproj:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <OutputType>WinExe</OutputType>
    <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="Avalonia" Version="11.3.6" />
    <PackageReference Include="Avalonia.Desktop" Version="11.3.6" />
    <PackageReference Include="Avalonia.Themes.Fluent" Version="11.3.6" />
    <PackageReference Include="VlcVideoPlayer.Avalonia" Version="1.4.0" />
  </ItemGroup>
</Project>

App.axaml:

<Application xmlns="https://github.com/avaloniaui"
             xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
             xmlns:materialIcons="clr-namespace:Material.Icons.Avalonia;assembly=Material.Icons.Avalonia"
             x:Class="MyApp.App">
    <Application.Styles>
        <FluentTheme />
        <materialIcons:MaterialIconStyles />
    </Application.Styles>
</Application>

Program.cs:

using Avalonia;
using Avalonia.VlcVideoPlayer;

namespace MyApp;

class Program
{
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        VlcInitializer.Initialize();
        BuildAvaloniaApp().StartWithClassicDesktopLifetime(args);
    }

    public static AppBuilder BuildAvaloniaApp()
        => AppBuilder.Configure<App>()
            .UsePlatformDetect()
            .LogToTrace();
}

Embedded Player (No Open Button)

For scenarios where you want to play a specific video without the file browser, use the Source property and hide the Open button:

<vlc:VideoPlayerControl 
    Source="C:\Videos\intro.mp4"
    AutoPlay="True"
    ShowOpenButton="False"
    ControlPanelBackground="#2d2d2d" />

Or set programmatically:

// Hide the Open button and set source
VideoPlayer.ShowOpenButton = false;
VideoPlayer.AutoPlay = true;
VideoPlayer.Source = @"C:\Videos\movie.mp4";

// Customize the control panel background
VideoPlayer.ControlPanelBackground = new SolidColorBrush(Color.Parse("#1a1a1a"));

Custom Control Panel Colors

The control panel background can be customized to match your app's theme:

<vlc:VideoPlayerControl ControlPanelBackground="#1a1a1a" />


<vlc:VideoPlayerControl ControlPanelBackground="{DynamicResource SystemAccentColor}" />


<vlc:VideoPlayerControl ControlPanelBackground="Transparent" />

Platform Support

Adding macOS/Linux support to your project

For cross-platform applications, add the appropriate LibVLC packages:

<ItemGroup Condition="$([MSBuild]::IsOSPlatform('OSX'))">
  <PackageReference Include="VideoLAN.LibVLC.Mac" Version="3.0.21" />
</ItemGroup>

<ItemGroup Condition="$([MSBuild]::IsOSPlatform('Linux'))">
  <PackageReference Include="VideoLAN.LibVLC.Linux" Version="3.0.21" />
</ItemGroup>

API Reference

VideoPlayerControl Properties

VideoPlayerControl Methods

VideoPlayerControl Events

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

Credits

• LibVLCSharp - VLC bindings for .NET
• Material.Icons.Avalonia - Material Design icons