Helix Plugins

Helix Plugins

The Helix Media engine uses a plugin system to provide an extensible framework. The purpose of this list is to describe in detail, the files that may be contained within a Watch & Listen bundle. This list may not be exhaustive but should contain most plugins.

All of the listed plugins are available under the GPL or RPSL. They can all be built from source available on HelixCommunity.org. However, not all plugins (codecs) are royalty free.

Engine

These plugins make up the helix engine. They all perform a specific function.

File	Name	Description
authmgr.so	Authentication manager
clbascauth.so
clntxres.so
colorcvt.so	Color Converter	Plugin contains functions for converting between different types of color formats (ie. YUV -> RGB)
httpfsys.so	HTTP File System	Plugin for dealing with files retrived via the HTTP protocol
hxplay.so	HXPlay	Python extensions for the helix media player
hxmedpltfm.so
hxmedplyeng.so
hxnetwksvc.so
hxsdp.so
hxxml.so
memfsys.so	Memory Filesystem	Reads media stored in memory
rn5auth.so
smplfsys.so	Simple Filesystem	Plugin for reading files from the local filesystem
vidsite.so	Video Site	Plugin for handling video output. Handles both creating windows and video overlays.

File Formats, Renderers, and Codecs

"Codecs" in helix are broken into pieces to make a more extensible system.

• File format plugins read a specific type of container file.
• Renderer plugins decode a specific media format.
• Encoder/Decoders are used by renderer plugins.

For any media format that you wish to support you must have plugins to read the container and render the format.

Free Formats

These plugins are completely free.

File	Format	Description	Mime
audplin.so
aufformat.so
giffformat.so	GIF File Format	Reads GIF files	image/gif
gifrender.so	GIF Renderer	renders GIF files	image/gif
jpgfformat.so	JPG File Format		image/jpeg
jpgrender.so	JPG Renderer		image/jpeg
oggfformat.so	OGG File format		audio/ogg, video/ogg
pcmrend.so	raw PCM renderer	audio/L8 and audio/L16	audio/x-adpcm
pngfformat.so	PNG File Format		image/png
pngrender.so	PNG Renderer		image/png
rtspclnt.so	RTSP Client
rtspfformat.so	RTSP FileFormat
sdpplin.so
smlfformat.so	SMIL file format		application/smil
smlrender.so	SMIL renderer		application/smil
theorarend.so	Theora Renderer		video/x-theora+ogg
tonerend.so	tone renderer
vorbisrend.so	Vorbis Renderer		audio/x-vorbis+ogg
wbmpfformat.so	Wireless Bitmap Fileformat		image/vnd.wap.wbmp
wbmprend.so	Wireless Bitmap renderer		image/vnd.wap.wbmp

Real Media Formats

These plugins are owned by Real Networks but may be distributed royalty free per an agreement with OLPC

File	Format	Description	Mime
atrc.so	Real Audio 8 High Bitrate Decoder		audio/vnd.rn-realaudio
cook.so
drv1.so	Real Video 1.0 decoder
drv2.so	Real Video G2 decoder
drvc.so
imgrender.so	Image Renderer	contains png/gif/jpg formats, for use with realpix plugin.
ngtfformat.so	Nugget file format
raac.so
ralf.so
ramfformat.so	RAM File Format		application/ram
ramrender.so	RAM renderer		application/ram
rarender.so	RealAudio renderer
rmfformat.so	Real Media file format
rpfformat.so	RealPix file format
rpgifplin.so	RealPix GIF Plugin		image/gif
rpjpgplin.so	RealPix JPG Plugin		image/jpg
rppngplin.so	RealPix PNG Plugin		image/png
rprender.so	RealPix Renderer		image/vnd.rn-realpix
rtfformat.so	RealText File Format		text/vnd.rn-realtext
rtrender.so	RealText Renderer		text/vnd.rn-realtext
rv10.so
rv20.so
rv30.so
rv40.so
rvrender.so	RealVideo Renderer		video/vnd.rn-realvideo
sipr.so
smmrender.so	Real Events Renderer

Non-Free Formats

These plugins are patented but may be distributed by RealNetworks

File	Format	Description	Mime
avifformat.so	AVI file format
h263render.so	H.263 renderer
i420render.so
mp3fformat.so	MP3 file format
mp3metaff.so	MP3 metadata file format
mp3render.so	MP3 renderer
mp4arender.so	MP4 Audio renderer
mp4fformat.so	MP4 file format
mpgfformat.so

Non-Distributable Formats

These plugins have royalties associated with them and may not be distributed. To obtain these plugins you must build them from source code yourself. Please note that even if you have built the codecs from sourcecode a license may still be required.

File	Format	Description	Mime
amrff.so	AMR file format		audio/AMR
amrn.so	AMR-NB decoder	Adaptive Multi-Rate Narrowband, a low bitrate voice encoder	audio/AMR
amrw.so	AMR-WB decoder	Adaptive Multi-Rate Wideband voice encoder	audio/AMR
avc1.so	H.264 decoder front-end
dmp4.so	MP4 decoder
h264dec.so	H.264 decoder
imaprender.so
mp4vrender.so	MP4 video renderer