Can't get VLC Video Source with Flatpak release

[vgr]

I'm running openSUSE Tumbleweed, and I decided to try the newer Flatpak version of OBS Studio as opposed to the package provided by the Packman repository.

The Flatpak is quite good, but I can't figure out how to get the VLC Video Source. I had previously used it to play all the videos in a folder of mine in a shuffled order as part of a "Starting Soon" screen. All gameplay clips of my own, of course. But without the VLC Video Source, my only option is the normal Media Source, and that only allows for a single media file.

I tried installing the Flatpak version of VLC, but that didn't help. I know pretty much nothing about Flatpak sandboxing or the permissions, so I don't know if there's a way to get it to work. Is there a way to get the VLC Video Source in the Flatpak version of OBS Studio?

 

[Zykino]

I have the same experience and would like to have the VLC source available. Or have more options (like shuffle of a folder and sub-folders) on the standard media source.

Can we just have this with a flatpack configuration?
As I understand it the VLC source appear when OBS see VLC on the disc, so a specific pluging should not be necessary, isn’t it?
Is there a mpv/gstreamer or some other player option that is easier to configure?

 

[Zykino]

Well, I just digged into obs-flatpack’s build and saw that VLC is disabled: https://github.com/obsproject/obs-studio/actions/runs/3286721415/jobs/5415123694#step:5:13108

-- OBS: DISABLED vlc-video
CMake Warning at cmake/Modules/ObsHelpers.cmake:446 (message):
OBS: VLC plugin supported is not enabled by default - please switch
ENABLE_VLC to ON to enable this functionality.
Call Stack (most recent call first):
plugins/vlc-video/CMakeLists.txt:6 (obs_status)

Which according to the cmake config means that any config will not work, we will need a rebuild of the flatpack version with ENABLE_VLC activated. And maybe some config.

So I just opened an "idea" for this, please upvote it :) https://ideas.obsproject.com/posts/2010/enable-vlc-on-flatpack

 

[tytan652]

Adding VLC and all of it's dependencies to the Flatpak is a maintenance nightmare and so will not be considered.

 

[Tekchip]

Adding VLC and all it's dependencies shouldn't be necessary. As noted OBS will enable the source if it can find VLC. So if VLC is installed as a regular application (not a flatpak) then https://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/sandbox-permissions.html or Flatseal could be used to provide flatpak OBS access to VLC to enable the source.

 

[tytan652]

So if VLC is installed as a regular application (not a flatpak) then https://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/sandbox-permissions.html or Flatseal could be used to provide flatpak OBS access to VLC to enable the source.

Flatpak shall not interact with system libraries because this is a bad idea for multiple reasons (symbol clash because of the use if different version of a lib, defeat even more the purpose of the sandbox).

So I repeat:

Adding VLC and all of it's dependencies to the Flatpak is a maintenance nightmare and so will not be considered.

If there was a easier way, I would have added it since a while but this is not case at all.

Adding AV1 (AOM, SVT), RIST and AJA support was easy (just add a module), enabling service integrations (Twitch, Restream, YouTube) in the Flatpak was a little less easy but it just required improving the Flatpak tooling. VLC is not easy.