Quick Start Guide

Get up and running with Vulkan Media Player in under 5 minutes! This guide will walk you through playing your first video in Unreal Engine.

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:

• ✅ Vulkan Media Player plugin installed and enabled
• ✅ Vulkan RHI enabled in your project
• ✅ A video file to test (MP4 with H.264 codec recommended)

Step 1: Create Media Assets

1.1 Create a Media Player

1. In the Content Browser, right-click in any folder
2. Select Media → Media Player
3. In the dialog:
   • ✅ Check Video output Media Texture asset
   • ✅ Check Audio output Sound Wave asset (optional)
4. Name it MP_MyVideo and click OK

This creates two assets:

• MP_MyVideo - The Media Player
• MP_MyVideo_Video - The Media Texture

1.2 Create a File Media Source

1. Right-click in the Content Browser
2. Select Media → File Media Source
3. Name it MS_MyVideo
4. Double-click to open it
5. Click the ... button next to File Path
6. Browse to your video file (e.g., Content/Movies/MyVideo.mp4)
7. Click Save

Codec Requirement

Only H.264 is supported:

• Container: MP4 (recommended) or MKV
• Video Codec: H.264 (AVC) - Required
• Audio Codec: AAC (recommended)

Videos with other codecs (H.265, VP9, etc.) will not play.

Step 2: Create a Material

Now we'll create a material to display the video:

1. Right-click in Content Browser
2. Select Material
3. Name it M_Video
4. Double-click to open the Material Editor

Configure the Material

1. In the Details panel, set:

   • Material Domain: Surface
   • Blend Mode: Opaque

2. Drag the MP_MyVideo_Video Media Texture from Content Browser into the material graph

3. Connect the texture:

   • RGB output → Emissive Color input

4. Click Save and close the Material Editor

Why Emissive?

Using Emissive Color ensures the video displays at full brightness without being affected by scene lighting.

Step 3: Place a Video Screen in Your Level

3.1 Add a Plane

1. In the Place Actors panel, search for Plane
2. Drag a Plane into your level
3. In the Details panel:
   • Set Scale: X=4, Y=0.1, Z=2.25 (for 16:9 aspect ratio)
   • Rotate if needed to face your camera

3.2 Apply the Video Material

1. Select the Plane
2. In the Details panel, find Materials
3. Set Element 0 to your M_Video material

Step 4: Play the Video

4.1 Blueprint Setup

We'll use Level Blueprint to control playback:

1. Click Blueprints → Open Level Blueprint
2. Add the following nodes:

Event BeginPlay
  ↓
Get Player Controller
  ↓
Create Media Source (File Media Source) [MS_MyVideo]
  ↓
Open Source (Media Player) [MP_MyVideo]

Detailed Steps:

1. Right-click and add Event BeginPlay
2. Right-click and search for your Media Player: MP_MyVideo
3. From the variable, drag out and select Open Source
4. Right-click on Media Source pin and select Promote to Variable
5. In the Details panel, set Default Value to MS_MyVideo
6. Connect Event BeginPlay → Open Source

4.2 Test the Setup

1. Click Compile and Save in the Blueprint
2. Close the Blueprint Editor
3. Click Play in the editor

You should see your video playing on the plane! 🎉

Step 5: Add Playback Controls (Optional)

Let's add some basic controls:

Play/Pause with Keyboard

In your Level Blueprint:

Event InputKey (Space)
  ↓
Branch (Is Playing?)
  True → Pause [MP_MyVideo]
  False → Play [MP_MyVideo]

Implementation:

1. Add InputKey Space event
2. Add Is Playing function (from Media Player reference)
3. Add Branch node
4. Connect:
   • Is Playing → Condition
   • True → Pause node
   • False → Play node

Common Use Cases

Loop Video Continuously

1. Open your Media Player asset (MP_MyVideo)
2. In the Details panel:
   • ✅ Check Loop
3. Save the asset

Auto-Play on Level Start

Already set up in Step 4.1! The video starts playing when the level begins.

Play Video on Trigger

Replace Event BeginPlay with Event Begin Overlap on a trigger volume:

1. Add a Box Trigger to your level
2. In the Level Blueprint:
   • Add Event ActorBeginOverlap (Box Trigger)
   • Connect to Open Source as before

Troubleshooting

Video Doesn't Play

1. Check the Output Log (Window → Developer Tools → Output Log)
2. Look for errors related to:
   • LogVulkanMediaPlayer: Plugin-specific messages
   • LogMedia: General media framework messages

Common Issues:

• ❌ "Failed to open media source"

  • Verify file path is correct
  • Check video is H.264 encoded (only supported codec)
  • Ensure file is not corrupted
  • Re-encode with ffmpeg if needed (see Performance guide)

• ❌ Video plays but screen is black

  • Check material is using Emissive Color
  • Verify Media Texture is connected correctly
  • Ensure Media Player has Video Output texture assigned

• ❌ No hardware acceleration

  • Run vulkaninfo | grep -i video to verify support
  • Update GPU drivers
  • Check Vulkan RHI is enabled

Performance Issues

• Lower video resolution (1920x1080 or lower recommended)
• Ensure video is H.264 encoded (only supported codec)
• Ensure Vulkan RHI is active (check Project Settings)

Next Steps

Now that you have basic video playback working:

• 📚 Learn about Advanced Video Playback
• 🎵 Explore Audio Support features
• ⚡ Optimize Performance

Example Project

Want a ready-to-use example? Check out our sample project:

• Download from FAB Marketplace
• Includes example levels, materials, and blueprints

Need Help?

• 💬 Join our Discord community
• 📧 Email: business@unrealsolutions.com
• 🌐 Visit: unrealsolutions.com

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Congratulations! You've successfully set up video playback with Vulkan Media Player! 🎉