# Building Media-Rich Avalonia Applications with VisioForge

Avalonia UI stands out as a versatile, truly cross-platform .NET UI framework with support spanning desktop environments (Windows, macOS, Linux) and mobile platforms (iOS and Android). VisioForge enhances this ecosystem through the specialized VisioForge.DotNet.Core.UI.Avalonia package, which delivers high-performance multimedia controls tailored for Avalonia's architecture.

Our suite of SDKs empowers Avalonia developers with extensive multimedia capabilities:

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

Creating an Avalonia application with VisioForge multimedia capabilities requires installing several key NuGet components:

1. Avalonia-specific UI layer: VisioForge.DotNet.Core.UI.Avalonia
2. Core functionality package: VisioForge.DotNet.Core (or specialized SDK variant)
3. Platform-specific native bindings (covered in detail in later sections)

Add these to your project manifest (.csproj):

<ItemGroup>
  <PackageReference Include="VisioForge.DotNet.Core.UI.Avalonia" Version="2025.4.10" />
  <PackageReference Include="VisioForge.DotNet.Core" Version="2025.4.10" />
  <!-- Platform-specific packages will be added in conditional ItemGroups -->
</ItemGroup>

A key advantage of VisioForge's Avalonia integration is its seamless initialization model. Unlike some frameworks requiring explicit global setup, the Avalonia controls become available immediately once the core package is referenced.

Your standard Avalonia bootstrap code in Program.cs remains unchanged:

using Avalonia;
using System;

namespace YourAppNamespace;

class Program
{
    [STAThread]
    public static void Main(string[] args) => BuildAvaloniaApp()
        .StartWithClassicDesktopLifetime(args);

    public static AppBuilder BuildAvaloniaApp()
        => AppBuilder.Configure<App>()
            .UsePlatformDetect()
            .LogToTrace();
}

The VideoView control serves as the central rendering element. Integrate it into your .axaml files using:

1. First, declare the VisioForge namespace:

xmlns:vf="clr-namespace:VisioForge.Core.UI.Avalonia;assembly=VisioForge.Core.UI.Avalonia"

2. Then, implement the control in your layout structure:

<vf:VideoView 
    Grid.Row="0"               
    HorizontalAlignment="Stretch"
    VerticalAlignment="Stretch"
    x:Name="videoView"
    Background="Black"/>

This control adapts automatically to the platform-specific rendering pipeline while maintaining a consistent API surface.

Windows deployment requires specific native components packaged as NuGet references.

Add the following Windows-specific packages to your desktop project:

<ItemGroup Condition="$([MSBuild]::IsOsPlatform('Windows'))">
  <PackageReference Include="VisioForge.CrossPlatform.Core.Windows.x64" Version="2025.4.9" />
</ItemGroup>

For extended codec compatibility, include the size-optimized UPX variant of the libAV libraries:

<ItemGroup Condition="$([MSBuild]::IsOsPlatform('Windows'))">
  <PackageReference Include="VisioForge.CrossPlatform.Libav.Windows.x64.UPX" Version="2025.4.9" />
</ItemGroup>

The UPX variant delivers significant size optimization while maintaining full codec compatibility.

For macOS deployment:

Include the macOS-specific native components:

<ItemGroup Condition="$([MSBuild]::IsOsPlatform('OSX'))">
  <PackageReference Include="VisioForge.CrossPlatform.Core.macOS" Version="2025.2.15" />
</ItemGroup>

Configure your project with the appropriate macOS framework target:

<PropertyGroup Condition="$([MSBuild]::IsOsPlatform('OSX'))">
  <TargetFramework>net8.0-macos14.0</TargetFramework>
  <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
</PropertyGroup>

Linux support includes:

Set up the appropriate target framework for Linux environments:

<PropertyGroup Condition="$([MSBuild]::IsOsPlatform('Linux'))">
  <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
  <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
</PropertyGroup>

For Linux deployment, ensure required system libraries are available on the target system. Unlike Windows and macOS which use NuGet packages, Linux may require system-level dependencies. Consult the VisioForge Linux documentation for specific platform requirements.

Android implementation requires additional steps unique to Avalonia's Android integration model:

The VisioForge Android implementation requires a binding bridge between .NET and Android native APIs:

1. Obtain the Java binding project from the VisioForge samples repository in the AndroidDependency directory
2. Add the appropriate binding project to your solution:
   • Use VisioForge.Core.Android.X8.csproj for .NET 8 applications
3. Reference this project in your Android head project:

<ItemGroup>
  <ProjectReference Include="..\..\path\to\VisioForge.Core.Android.X8.csproj" />
</ItemGroup>

Add the Android redistributable package:

<ItemGroup>
  <PackageReference Include="VisioForge.CrossPlatform.Core.Android" Version="15.10.33" />
</ItemGroup>

Configure the AndroidManifest.xml with appropriate permissions:

• android.permission.CAMERA
• android.permission.RECORD_AUDIO
• android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
• android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
• android.permission.INTERNET

iOS integration with Avalonia requires:

Add the iOS-specific redistributable to your iOS head project:

<ItemGroup>
  <PackageReference Include="VisioForge.CrossPlatform.Core.iOS" Version="2025.0.16" />
</ItemGroup>

• Physical device testing is essential, as simulator support is limited
• Update your Info.plist with privacy descriptions:
  • NSCameraUsageDescription for camera access
  • NSMicrophoneUsageDescription for audio recording

Maximize application performance with these Avalonia-specific optimizations:

1. Enable hardware acceleration when supported by the underlying platform
2. Implement adaptive resolution scaling based on device capabilities
3. Optimize memory usage patterns, especially for mobile targets
4. Utilize Avalonia's compositing model effectively by minimizing visual tree complexity around the VideoView

• Playback failures:
  • Ensure all platform packages are correctly referenced
  • Verify codec availability for the target media format
  • Check for platform-specific format restrictions

• Slow playback or rendering:
  • Enable hardware acceleration where available
  • Reduce processing resolution when appropriate
  • Utilize Avalonia's threading model correctly

• Platform-specific runtime errors:
  • Validate target framework specifications
  • Verify native dependency availability
  • Ensure proper provisioning for mobile targets

VisioForge's Avalonia integration excels with a specialized multi-headed project structure. The SimplePlayerMVVM sample demonstrates this architecture:

• Core shared project (SimplePlayerMVVM.csproj): Contains cross-platform views, view models, and shared logic with conditional multi-targeting:

  <Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
    <PropertyGroup>
      <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
      <LangVersion>latest</LangVersion>
      <AvaloniaUseCompiledBindingsByDefault>true</AvaloniaUseCompiledBindingsByDefault>
    </PropertyGroup>
    <ItemGroup>
      <AvaloniaResource Include="Assets\**" />
    </ItemGroup>
    <PropertyGroup Condition="$([MSBuild]::IsOsPlatform('Windows'))">
      <TargetFrameworks>net8.0-android;net8.0-ios;net8.0-windows</TargetFrameworks>
    </PropertyGroup>
    <PropertyGroup Condition="$([MSBuild]::IsOsPlatform('OSX'))">
      <TargetFrameworks>net8.0-android;net8.0-ios;net8.0-macos14.0</TargetFrameworks>
    </PropertyGroup>
    <PropertyGroup Condition="$([MSBuild]::IsOsPlatform('Linux'))">
      <TargetFrameworks>net8.0-android;net8.0</TargetFrameworks>
    </PropertyGroup>
    <ItemGroup>
      <PackageReference Include="Avalonia" Version="11.2.2" />
      <!-- Additional Avalonia references -->
    </ItemGroup>
    <ItemGroup>
      <PackageReference Include="VisioForge.DotNet.MediaPlayer" Version="2025.4.10" />
      <PackageReference Include="VisioForge.DotNet.Core.UI.Avalonia" Version="2025.4.10" />
    </ItemGroup>
  </Project>

• Platform-specific head projects:

  • SimplePlayerMVVM.Android.csproj: Contains Android-specific configuration and binding references
  • SimplePlayerMVVM.iOS.csproj: Handles iOS initialization and dependencies
  • SimplePlayerMVVM.Desktop.csproj: Manages desktop platform detection and appropriate redistributable loading

For simpler desktop-only applications, SimpleVideoCaptureA.csproj provides a streamlined model with platform detection occurring within a single project file.

VisioForge's Avalonia integration offers a sophisticated approach to cross-platform multimedia development that leverages Avalonia's unique architectural advantages. Through carefully structured platform-specific components and a unified API, developers can build rich media applications that span desktop and mobile platforms without compromising on performance or capabilities.

For complete code examples and sample applications, visit our GitHub repository, which contains specialized Avalonia demonstrations in the Video Capture SDK X and Media Player SDK X sections.