Creating a Video Player with PyQt

In this tutorial, we will learn how to create a video player using PyQt. PyQt is a set of Python bindings for the Qt application framework. Qt is a powerful C++ library that provides a wide variety of widgets and tools for building applications. By using PyQt, we can create desktop applications with a modern look and feel.

To create a video player in PyQt, we will use the QMediaPlayer and QVideoWidget classes. The QMediaPlayer class provides a way to play audio and video content. The QVideoWidget class is a widget that can be used to display video content.

Before we start, make sure you have PyQt installed on your system. You can install it using pip by running the following command:

pip install pyqt5

Now, let’s create a simple video player application with PyQt. First, create a new Python file and import the necessary libraries:

import sys
from PyQt5.QtWidgets import QApplication, QWidget, QVBoxLayout, QPushButton, QSlider
from PyQt5.QtMultimedia import QMediaPlayer, QMediaContent
from PyQt5.QtMultimediaWidgets import QVideoWidget

Next, create a VideoPlayer class that inherits from QWidget. In the constructor of the class, we will create the video player components:

class VideoPlayer(QWidget):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__()

        self.setWindowTitle("Video Player")
        self.setGeometry(100, 100, 800, 600)

        self.mediaPlayer = QMediaPlayer(None, QMediaPlayer.VideoSurface)
        self.videoWidget = QVideoWidget()

        layout = QVBoxLayout()
        layout.addWidget(self.videoWidget)

        self.setLayout(layout)

In this code snippet, we created a QMediaPlayer object called mediaPlayer and a QVideoWidget object called videoWidget. We also created a QVBoxLayout object called layout to arrange the components vertically.

Next, let’s add play, pause, and stop buttons to control the video playback:

        self.playButton = QPushButton("Play")
        self.pauseButton = QPushButton("Pause")
        self.stopButton = QPushButton("Stop")

        layout.addWidget(self.playButton)
        layout.addWidget(self.pauseButton)
        layout.addWidget(self.stopButton)

        self.playButton.clicked.connect(self.play)
        self.pauseButton.clicked.connect(self.pause)
        self.stopButton.clicked.connect(self.stop)

In this code snippet, we created QPushButton objects for play, pause, and stop buttons. We also connected the clicked signals of these buttons to their respective methods play, pause, and stop.

Next, let’s add a slider to control the video’s playback position:

        self.positionSlider = QSlider()
        self.positionSlider.setRange(0, 0)
        layout.addWidget(self.positionSlider)

        self.mediaPlayer.positionChanged.connect(self.updatePosition)
        self.positionSlider.sliderMoved.connect(self.setPosition)

In this code snippet, we created a QSlider object called positionSlider and set its range to match the video’s duration. We connected the positionChanged signal of the mediaPlayer object to the updatePosition method and the sliderMoved signal of the positionSlider object to the setPosition method.

Now, let’s implement the play, pause, and stop methods:

    def play(self):
        self.mediaPlayer.setMedia(QMediaContent(QUrl.fromLocalFile('video.mp4')))
        self.mediaPlayer.setVideoOutput(self.videoWidget)
        self.mediaPlayer.play()

    def pause(self):
        if self.mediaPlayer.state() == QMediaPlayer.PlayingState:
            self.mediaPlayer.pause()

    def stop(self):
        if self.mediaPlayer.state() == QMediaPlayer.PlayingState:
            self.mediaPlayer.stop()

In the play method, we set the media content of the mediaPlayer object to a local video file called video.mp4, set the video output to the videoWidget object, and start playing the video. In the pause method, we check if the video is playing and pause it. In the stop method, we check if the video is playing and stop it.

Next, let’s implement the updatePosition and setPosition methods:

    def updatePosition(self, position):
        self.positionSlider.setValue(position)

    def setPosition(self, position):
        self.mediaPlayer.setPosition(position)

In the updatePosition method, we update the position of the slider to match the video playback position. In the setPosition method, we set the playback position of the video to match the position of the slider.

Finally, let’s create a main function to run the application:

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app = QApplication(sys.argv)
    player = VideoPlayer()
    player.show()
    sys.exit(app.exec_())

In this main function, we create a QApplication object called app, create an instance of the VideoPlayer class called player, show it, and run the application.

That’s it! You have now created a simple video player application using PyQt. You can customize the appearance and functionality of the video player by adding more features and controls. Experiment with different options and settings to create a video player that meets your needs. Happy coding!