Set up video playback

We use Bink Video for Unreal Engine for media playback because of its high performance. Read more about Bink → https://docs.unrealengine.com/en-US/bink-video-for-unreal-engine/

Convert video to bink

1. Open the Bink2ForUnreal.exe in ...\Pixotope\[Version number]\Pixotope Engine\Engine\Binaries\ThirdParty\Bink

   

2. Select a video file and click "BINK VIDEO"

   

3. Specify the encoding options

   

We had good results with

• Overall data rate > Automatic

• Peak data rate > Specific data rate: 9 999 999 (max value)

4. Click "Bink” to start the encoding

   

Copy to content folder

1. Create a Movies folder in [Linked project]\Content\

2. Copy the video to into this folder

Create Bink Media Player

1. Right click in the Content Browser

2. Create a Miscellaneous > Bink Media Player asset

   

3. Open the asset and choose the created file as your source

   

4. For later Blueprint control make sure Start immediately and Looping are checked

   • you need to have "start immediately" checked and then pause it

     unchecking it will not make it work in a blueprint

     

You need one player per video stream.

Create Media Texture

1. Right click the Bink Media Player asset in the Content Browser

2. Click "Create Media Texture"

   

3. Drag the created Media texture onto your object

4. Double click the material to open the Material Editor

5. Plug the RGB texture output into the Emissive Color to simulate an actively lit display

   

6. Correct the scaling of your object to fit the video’s aspect ratio

Create a blueprint

1. Create an Actor based Blueprint Class by right clicking in the Content Browser and selecting Blueprint Class and name it for example BP_bink

   

   

2. Create a Bink Media Player > Object Reference variable

   1. Create a new variable by clicking on the + icon

      

   2. Select Bink Media Player > Object Reference as the variable type

      

   3. Click the Eye icon and then "Compile" to expose it to the Details panel

   4. Drag it into the level

3. Link the Bink Media Player asset to it

   1. Select the blueprint in the level and go to the Details panel

   2. Select the Bink Media Player asset you had created before

      

Add blueprint events

1. Go to the Event Graph of the blueprint you added

2. Add Bink Media Player > Pause function on BeginPlay using the Bink Media Player Object Reference as a target

   

   

3. Add a Play control

   1. Right click to search for Add Custom Event, add it and name it "Play"

      

   2. Add a Bink Media Player > Play function and add the Bink Media Player Object Reference as a target

      

      

You can also use Set Rate for Pause and Play

• Rate = 0.0 → Pause

• Rate = 1.0 → Play

Example blueprints for more advanced controls

Checkout the example blueprints for more advanced controls like

• Play from a specific time

• Change the video source URL

Click here to expand...

Play from time

Change the video source URL

This function can be used in combination with a Tab, Dropdown or Playlist widget inside the Control panel.

Control the video playback via a control panel

1. Create a new control panel

2. Select the BP_bink object in the Engine tab

3. Drag the function to control onto the canvas and select a Trigger widget

   

   

4. Repeat this step with other control functions you have created

Learn more about Creating a control panel - PRODUCTION

Set up synchronized video playback

Learn more about how to Set up synchronized video playback