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Video Effects and Processing for .Net Applications

Video Capture SDK .NetVideo Capture SDK .Net Video Edit SDK .Net Media Player SDK .Net Media Blocks SDK .Net

Introduction

Our .Net SDKs provide developers with two distinct implementations of video effects to match your platform and performance requirements:

Classic Effects (Windows Only)

Available in VideoCaptureCore, MediaPlayerCore, and VideoEditCore: - CPU-based effects (VideoEffect*) - GPU-accelerated effects (GPUVideoEffect*) using DirectX - AI-powered effects (Maxine*) using NVIDIA technology - Windows-only, optimized for desktop performance

Cross-Platform Effects

Available in VideoCaptureCoreX, MediaPlayerCoreX, VideoEditCoreX, and Media Blocks SDK: - Cross-platform implementation (*VideoEffect classes) - Works on Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, and iOS - Hardware acceleration through platform-specific multimedia plugins - Extended overlay system and advanced features - Better suited for mobile and cross-platform deployment

Complete Effects Reference

View Complete Video Effects Reference →

Our comprehensive effects reference provides detailed information on all 100+ available video effects across both implementations: - Classic effects for Windows-only applications - Cross-platform effects for universal compatibility - Effect parameters, usage examples, and SDK availability - Platform-specific features and capabilities

Available Video Effect Categories

The following effect categories are available in both Classic and Cross-Platform implementations (where applicable):

Color and Image Adjustment

  • Brightness, Darkness, Contrast - Control luminance and tonal range
  • Classic: VideoEffect* / GPUVideoEffect*
  • Cross-platform: VideoBalanceVideoEffect, GammaVideoEffect
  • Saturation and Color Grading - Adjust color intensity and apply color corrections
  • Classic: VideoEffectSaturation / GPUVideoEffectSaturation
  • Cross-platform: VideoBalanceVideoEffect, ColorEffectsVideoEffect, LUTVideoEffect
  • Lightness - HSL-based brightness adjustment preserving color relationships
  • Classic: VideoEffectLightness
  • Color Filters - Isolate or enhance specific color channels (Red, Green, Blue)
  • Classic: VideoEffectRed/Green/Blue, VideoEffectFilterRed/Green/Blue

Creative and Artistic Effects

  • Grayscale and Monochrome - Black and white conversions with optional tinting
  • Classic: VideoEffectGrayscale / GPUVideoEffectGrayscale
  • Cross-platform: GrayscaleVideoEffect, ColorEffectsVideoEffect
  • Invert and Solarize - Photographic negative and partial inversion effects
  • Classic: VideoEffectInvert / GPUVideoEffectInvert, VideoEffectSolorize
  • Old Movie and Night Vision - Vintage film and surveillance camera simulations
  • Classic: GPUVideoEffectOldMovie, GPUVideoEffectNightVision
  • Cross-platform: AgingVideoEffect, OpticalAnimationBWVideoEffect
  • Emboss and Contour - Edge detection and relief effects
  • Classic: GPUVideoEffectEmboss, GPUVideoEffectContour
  • Cross-platform: EdgeVideoEffect
  • Pixelate and Mosaic - Stylized block and tile effects
  • Classic: GPUVideoEffectPixelate, VideoEffectMosaic
  • Cross-platform: Various distortion effects

Image Enhancement

  • Sharpening - Enhance edge definition and fine details
  • Classic: VideoEffectSharpen / GPUVideoEffectSharpen
  • Blur and Smoothing - Reduce detail, noise, and create soft-focus effects
  • Classic: VideoEffectBlur / GPUVideoEffectBlur, VideoEffectSmooth
  • Cross-platform: GaussianBlurVideoEffect, SmoothVideoEffect
  • Noise Reduction - Adaptive, CAST, and mosquito noise removal algorithms
  • Classic: VideoEffectDenoiseAdaptive/CAST/Mosquito / GPUVideoEffectDenoise
  • Deinterlacing - Convert interlaced video to progressive (Blend, CAVT, Triangle methods)
  • Classic: VideoEffectDeinterlaceBlend/CAVT/Triangle / GPUVideoEffectDeinterlaceBlend
  • Cross-platform: DeinterlaceVideoEffect, AutoDeinterlaceSettings

Geometric Transformations

  • Rotation - Rotate by any angle with stretch or no-crop options
  • Classic: VideoEffectRotate
  • Cross-platform: FlipRotateVideoEffect
  • Flip and Mirror - Horizontal and vertical flipping/mirroring
  • Classic: VideoEffectFlip*, VideoEffectMirror*
  • Cross-platform: FlipRotateVideoEffect
  • Zoom and Pan - Focus on specific regions with scaling control
  • Classic: VideoEffectZoom, VideoEffectPan
  • Cross-platform: ResizeVideoEffect, CropVideoEffect, AspectRatioCropVideoEffect, BoxVideoEffect
  • 360° Video Processing - Equirectangular and cubemap projections for VR video
  • Classic: GPUVideoEffectEquirectangular360, GPUVideoEffectEquiangularCubemap360

Artistic Distortion Effects (Cross-platform Only)

The cross-platform implementation includes extensive artistic distortion effects not available in Classic:

  • Lens Effects - Fish-eye, Sphere, Twirl, Bulge, Pinch
  • Pattern Effects - Kaleidoscope, Marble, Quark, Dice
  • Motion Effects - Moving Blur, Moving Echo, Moving Zoom Echo
  • Warp Effects - Ripple, Water Ripple, Warp, Stretch, Tunnel
  • Perspective Effects - Pseudo3D, Square, Circle, Perspective
  • SMPTE Transitions - Professional broadcast-style wipes and transitions

Transition Effects

  • Fade In/Out - Smooth transitions to/from black
  • Classic: VideoEffectFadeIn, VideoEffectFadeOut
  • Animated Transitions - Time-based effect value interpolation for dynamic changes
  • Classic: Supported via ValueStop parameter
  • Cross-platform: Time-based with StartTime/StopTime

Overlay Capabilities

  • Text overlay - Add customizable text with control over font, size, color, rotation, and animation
  • Classic: VideoEffectTextLogo, VideoEffectScrollingTextLogo
  • Cross-platform: TextOverlayVideoEffect, OverlayManagerText, OverlayManagerScrollingText, OverlayManagerDateTime
  • Image overlay - Incorporate logos, watermarks, and graphic elements with transparency support
  • Classic: VideoEffectImageLogo
  • Cross-platform: ImageOverlayVideoEffect, ImageOverlayCairoVideoEffect, OverlayManagerImage, OverlayManagerGIF
  • Support for PNG, JPG, BMP, animated GIF formats
  • Transparency and alpha channel support
  • Positioning and alignment control

Advanced Overlay Features (Cross-platform Only)

The cross-platform implementation includes an extensive OverlayManager system:

  • Video Overlays - Picture-in-picture, Decklink, NDI video sources
  • Shape Overlays - Circles, rectangles, stars, triangles, lines
  • Background Layers - Images, solid colors, geometric shapes
  • Animations - Pan, zoom, fade, squeezeback effects
  • Group Management - Synchronized control of multiple overlays
  • SVG Support - Vector graphics overlays
  • QR Codes - Generate and overlay QR codes

Chroma Key and Motion Detection (Cross-platform Only)

  • ChromaKeySettings - Green screen / blue screen keying for background removal
  • MotionDetectionProcessor - Real-time motion detection with configurable sensitivity

AI-Powered Video Enhancement (Classic Only)

NVIDIA Maxine AI effects (requires NVIDIA RTX GPU with Maxine SDK support):

  • AI Denoise - Intelligent noise reduction preserving fine details
  • Artifact Reduction - Remove compression artifacts and video degradation
  • Super Resolution - AI upscaling for enhanced resolution
  • AI Green Screen - Background removal without physical green screen
  • Upscaling - Advanced quality improvement through AI

Video Processing Features

Real-time Processing

  • Apply effects during video capture, playback, or editing
  • Chain multiple effects for complex processing pipelines
  • GPU acceleration for real-time high-resolution processing (Classic)
  • Hardware acceleration for cross-platform performance (Cross-platform)
  • CPU fallback for universal compatibility

Advanced Processing

  • Timeline-based effect application (start/stop times)
  • Animated effect transitions (interpolation between values - Classic)
  • Dynamic effect control during playback
  • Video sample grabber - Extract frames and process video data in real-time

Performance Optimization

Classic Effects (Windows Only)

  • GPU Effects (GPUVideoEffect*): Best performance for high-resolution video on Windows
  • CPU Effects (VideoEffect*): Universal Windows compatibility, moderate performance
  • AI Effects (Maxine*): State-of-the-art quality, requires NVIDIA RTX GPU
  • Use GPU-accelerated effects for real-time HD/4K processing
  • DirectX hardware acceleration for optimal Windows performance

Cross-platform Effects (Cross-Platform)

  • Hardware Acceleration: Varies by platform via multimedia plugins
  • Windows: DirectX, DXVA
  • Linux: VA-API, VDPAU, OpenGL
  • macOS: VideoToolbox, Metal
  • Android/iOS: Hardware codecs
  • Performance: Generally good across all platforms
  • Mobile Optimization: Better suited for mobile than Classic effects
  • Overlay System: Efficient multi-overlay rendering

Best Practices

  • Choose GPU/accelerated effects for high-resolution video
  • Consider effect combinations and their performance impact
  • Apply time-limited effects where appropriate to reduce processing overhead
  • Test performance on target hardware configurations
  • Use Cross-platform effects for cross-platform deployment

Platform Support

Classic Effects

Platform CPU Effects GPU Effects AI Maxine SDK
Windows Desktop ✅ Full ✅ Full ✅ RTX GPUs VideoCaptureCore
MediaPlayerCore
VideoEditCore
Linux ❌ ❌ ❌ N/A
macOS ❌ ❌ ❌ N/A
Android ❌ ❌ ❌ N/A
iOS ❌ ❌ ❌ N/A

Cross-platform Effects

Platform Support Hardware Acceleration SDK
Windows ✅ Full ✅ DirectX, DXVA VideoCaptureCoreX
MediaPlayerCoreX
VideoEditCoreX
Media Blocks SDK
Linux ✅ Full ✅ VA-API, VDPAU, OpenGL ✓
macOS ✅ Full ✅ VideoToolbox, Metal ✓
Android ✅ Full ✅ Hardware codecs ✓
iOS ✅ Full ✅ VideoToolbox ✓

Integration Methods

Our SDKs provide two distinct APIs for video effects integration based on the SDK engine you're using.

Basic Usage Example (Classic Effects)

// Windows-only: CPU-based effect
var bwEffect = new VideoEffectGrayscale(
    enabled: true,
    name: "BlackAndWhite"
);
videoCapture.Video_Effects_Add(bwEffect);

// Windows-only: GPU-accelerated effect
var brighten = new GPUVideoEffectBrightness(
    enabled: true,
    value: 180,
    name: "Brighten"
);
videoCapture.Video_Effects_Add(brighten);

Basic Usage Example (Cross-platform Effects)

// Cross-platform: Grayscale effect
var grayscale = new GrayscaleVideoEffect("bw_effect");
await videoCaptureX.Video_Effects_AddOrUpdateAsync(grayscale);

// Cross-platform: Video balance (brightness, contrast, saturation)
var balance = new VideoBalanceVideoEffect("color_adjust")
{
    Brightness = 0.2,    // Range: -1.0 to 1.0
    Contrast = 1.2,      // Range: 0.0 to 2.0
    Saturation = 1.5,    // Range: 0.0 to 2.0
    Hue = 0.0            // Range: -1.0 to 1.0
};
await videoCaptureX.Video_Effects_AddOrUpdateAsync(balance);

Animated Effect Example (Classic)

// Fade to black over 3 seconds (Windows only)
var fadeOut = new VideoEffectDarkness(
    enabled: true,
    value: 128,        // Start at normal
    valueStop: 255,    // End at black
    name: "FadeOut",
    startTime: TimeSpan.FromSeconds(57),
    stopTime: TimeSpan.FromSeconds(60)
);
mediaPlayer.Video_Effects_Add(fadeOut);

Time-Limited Effect Example (Cross-platform)

// Apply Gaussian blur for specific time range (Cross-platform)
var blur = new GaussianBlurVideoEffect("scene_blur")
{
    StartTime = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(10),
    StopTime = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(15),
    Sigma = 5.0  // Blur intensity
};
await mediaPlayerX.Video_Effects_AddOrUpdateAsync(blur);

Advanced Overlay Example (Cross-platform)

// Complex text overlay with shadows and animation (Cross-platform)
var textOverlay = new OverlayManagerText
{
    Text = "Breaking News",
    Font = new FontSettings
    {
        Name = "Arial",
        Size = 48,
        Weight = FontWeight.Bold
    },
    Color = SKColors.Yellow,
    XPosition = 50,
    YPosition = 100,
    ShadowSettings = new OverlayManagerShadowSettings
    {
        Enabled = true,
        Color = SKColors.Black,
        OffsetX = 2,
        OffsetY = 2,
        Blur = 5
    }
};
await videoCaptureX.OverlayManager_AddAsync(textOverlay);

Documentation Resources

More Information

Numerous additional video effects and processing features are available in the SDKs. Please refer to the Complete Effects Reference for detailed information on all effects, or visit the documentation for the specific SDK you are using for implementation examples and API references.

Visit our GitHub page to access more code samples and implementation examples.