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Install VisioForge media SDKs in Unity

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

This guide walks through installing the VisioForge media SDKs in Unity 6. A single, fully self-contained .unitypackage brings four products into Unity at once — the Media Blocks SDK .NET pipeline plus the high-level Media Player SDK .NET (MediaPlayerCoreX), Video Capture SDK .NET (VideoCaptureCoreX), and Video Edit SDK .NET (VideoEditCoreX) engines. The package bundles every supported native runtime in one file — Windows x64, Android, macOS Standalone, and iOS Standalone — and lets Unity pick the right one per Build Target at build time. You do not build anything from source, you do not need NuGet, and there are no external dependencies to install.

The package targets netstandard2.1 managed assemblies. For projects pinned to the older Mono Unity LTS, a legacy net48 Windows-only flavor is still published — see the spoiler at the bottom of this page.

For what's inside and how to use it, see Using VisioForge in Unity — the overview with the full product and sample catalog. For the five-step shortcut, see the Quickstart.

Requirements
Unity 6 (6000.x) — verified on 6000.4.6f1
Build targets shipped Windows x64, Android arm64, macOS Universal arm64+x86_64, iOS device arm64
Managed TFM netstandard2.1
Mandatory Editor settings Api Compatibility Level = .NET Standard 2.1 and Disable Domain Reload

Use a short path on NTFS — not a Dev Drive / ReFS volume

Importing the package writes thousands of small native files, and Unity's import/compile is heavy small-file I/O. On a Dev Drive (ReFS) that is dramatically slower (a cold import can take many minutes instead of seconds) and is more prone to the EPERM rename race. Keep the project on a plain NTFS drive with a short root path, e.g. C:\unity\MyApp. Unity's package cache also produces deep paths that can overflow Windows' 260-character MAX_PATH.

Download

Download the latest cumulative package — Windows + Android + macOS + iOS in one file:

VisioForge.MediaBlocks.Unity.unitypackage

https://files.visioforge.com/unity/VisioForge.MediaBlocks.Unity.unitypackage

Step 1 — Create or open a Unity project

Use an existing Unity 6 project or create a new one (any template). Keep the project root on a short NTFS path (see the warning above).

Creating a Unity 6 project on a short NTFS path in Unity Hub

Step 2 — Import the package

In the Editor: Assets → Import Package → Custom Package…, select the downloaded .unitypackage, and click Import (keep all items checked).

Import Unity Package dialog showing the VisioForge package contents

The package adds:

Content Location Purpose
Managed SDK (netstandard2.1) + dependencies Assets/Plugins/ (+ Android/, macOS/, iOS/Managed/ subfolders) the Media Blocks SDK .NET assemblies, per platform
Windows native runtime Assets/StreamingAssets/VisioForge/x64/ Windows GStreamer libs and plugins
Android native runtime Assets/Plugins/Android/libs/arm64-v8a/ monolithic libgstreamer_android.so + Java AAR
macOS native runtime Assets/Plugins/macOS/ universal dylibs (arm64+x86_64)
iOS native runtime Assets/Plugins/iOS/GStreamerX.framework/ embedded framework (device arm64)
IL2CPP preservation Assets/VisioForge/link.xml type / member preservation for Android & iOS
Reusable scripts Assets/Scripts/ VisioForgeEnvironment and VisioForgeVideoView helpers plus the six sample scripts
Six sample scenes Assets/Scenes/ SimplePlayer, RTSPViewer, MediaPlayerX, IPCameraX, VideoCaptureX, VideoEditX — see the samples overview
One-time setup helper Assets/VisioForge/Editor/ applies the two required project settings

Per-flavor PluginImporter metadata on every native file tells Unity which Build Target each binary belongs to — switching the Build Target in Build Profiles automatically picks the right slot at build time.

Step 3 — Apply the required project settings

On first import the setup helper shows a dialog asking to apply two required project settings. Click Apply — both settings are configured for you.

VisioForge Media Blocks SDK setup dialog with Apply and Skip buttons

These two settings are mandatory — the SDK will not work without them:

  • Api Compatibility Level = .NET Standard 2.1 — the SDK ships as netstandard2.1 assemblies; the legacy .NET Framework setting cannot load them.
  • Disable Domain Reload — the SDK initializes once per process and is reused across Play/Stop sessions; with Domain Reload enabled the Editor can hang when leaving Play mode.

For mobile targets, also switch Scripting Backend to IL2CPP — Mono is not supported on Android or iOS by Unity itself. See Build for Android and Build for iOS for the per-target Build Profile checklists.

Step 4 — Set the settings manually (only if you clicked Skip)

If you clicked Skip, set both by hand:

  1. Api Compatibility Level = .NET Standard 2.1 Edit → Project Settings → Player → Other Settings → Configuration → Api Compatibility Level.

Player settings with Api Compatibility Level set to .NET Standard 2.1

  1. Disable Domain Reload Edit → Project Settings → Editor → Enter Play Mode Settings → set When entering Play Mode to an option that does not reload the domain — either Reload Scene only (matches what Apply does) or Do not reload Domain or Scene.

Editor Enter Play Mode Settings with domain reload disabled

Step 5 — Run a sample scene

In the Project window open Assets/Scenes/SimplePlayer.unity (double-click it — do not stay on the empty default scene), select the RawImage GameObject, set its File Path in the Inspector, and press ▶ Play. Video renders in the Game view and audio plays through the system default device.

The SimplePlayer scene playing video in the Unity Game view

The RawImage looks empty until you press Play

The video texture is created at runtime, so the RawImage is blank (white) in edit mode.

Next, read the usage guides:

  • Quickstart — the five-step path from import to playback.
  • Using VisioForge in Unity — the overview with the full product and sample catalog: file playback, RTSP / IP camera, webcam capture, and timeline editing.

Build for a target platform

The cumulative .unitypackage contains every supported platform, but each Build Target has its own settings and gotchas. Read the matching page:

Uninstalling or upgrading the package

A .unitypackage has no uninstaller — remove the files manually.

  1. Close the Unity Editor first — it locks the native DLLs and the Library/ cache.
  2. Delete the VisioForge content from Assets/:
  3. Assets/StreamingAssets/VisioForge/ — the Windows native runtime.
  4. Assets/Plugins/Android/libs/arm64-v8a/libgstreamer_android.so, libVisioForge_Core.so, and Assets/Plugins/Android/visioforge-gstreamer.aar — the Android runtime.
  5. Assets/Plugins/macOS/*.dylib and Assets/Plugins/macOS/ca-certificates.crt — the macOS runtime.
  6. Assets/Plugins/iOS/GStreamerX.framework/ and Assets/Plugins/iOS/libVisioForge_Core.a — the iOS runtime.
  7. Assets/Plugins/ (with Android/, macOS/, iOS/Managed/ subfolders) — the managed assemblies, per platform.
  8. Assets/VisioForge/ — the one-time setup helper and link.xml.
  9. The scripts in Assets/Scripts/: the VisioForgeEnvironment.cs and VisioForgeVideoView.cs helpers plus the six sample scripts — MediaBlocksPlayer.cs, RTSPViewerPlayer.cs, MediaPlayerXPlayer.cs, IPCameraXViewer.cs, VideoCaptureXRecorder.cs, VideoEditXRenderer.cs (plus their .meta) — keep any scripts of your own that live in the same folder.
  10. The sample scenes in Assets/Scenes/: SimplePlayer.unity, RTSPViewer.unity, MediaPlayerX.unity, IPCameraX.unity, VideoCaptureX.unity, VideoEditX.unity.
  11. Delete the project's Library/ folder (next to Assets/) to clear the cached import state. Unity regenerates it on the next open (the first launch is slower).

Upgrading: import the new .unitypackage over the old one — the managed-plugin GUIDs are deterministic, so Unity overwrites the existing assets in place and references are preserved. If you are coming from a much older package or see duplicated DLLs in Assets/Plugins/, do a clean removal (steps above) first, then import the new package.

Troubleshooting

Symptom Cause Fix
TypeLoadException on play Api Compatibility Level is .NET Framework, not .NET Standard 2.1 Set it to .NET Standard 2.1, or re-import and click Apply
Editor hangs on "Reloading domain" on Play/Stop Domain Reload is enabled Keep Disable Domain Reload on
Editor crashes on the 2nd Play The SDK was shut down on Stop and re-initialized Don't shut the SDK down on Stop; keep Disable Domain Reload on
Native runtime not found Package imported partially, or wrong Build Target's flavor missing from the package Re-import the package with all items checked; confirm the package contains the platform you targeted
No video, errors in the Console after import The Editor needs a clean reload after the runtime is staged Restart the Editor
DllNotFoundException on Android Scripting Backend is Mono Switch to IL2CPP

For the full per-symptom reference, see Troubleshooting.

Legacy net48 Windows-only flavor

I have an older Unity LTS pinned to Mono — what about the net48 build?

The original Windows-only build of the package targets .NET Framework 4.8 managed assemblies and is still produced for projects that cannot move to .NET Standard 2.1 (for example, Unity 2019.4 LTS without the modern Api Compatibility option). It ships as a separate .unitypackage with NET48 in the filename, contains only the Windows-x64 native runtime, and uses .NET Framework as the Api Compatibility Level. New projects should use the netstandard2.1 package described above — it covers the same Windows-x64 use case plus every other platform, and Unity 6 defaults to it. If you have a hard requirement for the net48 build, contact support for the latest download link.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I install the SDK in Unity via NuGet?

No. Unity does not run NuGet restore, and the SDK ships hundreds of native files that NuGet would not lay out for Unity. The .unitypackage bundles everything — managed assemblies, every platform's native runtime, scripts, and scenes — so you import a single file instead.

Do I need to install GStreamer or any other system dependency?

No. The package is fully self-contained; everything the SDK needs is inside it. A system GStreamer install on your machine is not required and is not used by the bundled runtime — on the contrary, VisioForgeEnvironment.Configure() actively prunes any system GStreamer from the process search path to avoid a double-init.

Which VisioForge SDKs are included?

The package ships four products from one shared netstandard2.1 managed surface: the Media Blocks SDK .NET pipeline and the high-level Media Player SDK .NET (MediaPlayerCoreX), Video Capture SDK .NET (VideoCaptureCoreX), and Video Edit SDK .NET (VideoEditCoreX) engines. Each ships one or more ready sample scenes — see the samples overview.

Does the same package work on Windows ARM64?

The package's Windows native runtime is x86_64 only — there is no ARM64 native build today. Run it via x64 emulation only at your own risk; production use on Windows 11 ARM64 is not exercised.

Can I open the same package in the Mac-host Editor?

Yes — if the package was built with -IncludeMacOS. The cumulative variant published at files.visioforge.com/unity/ always contains the macOS flavor. A Windows-only variant opened in a Mac Editor surfaces a clear [VisioForge] Native runtime folder not found at '…' for runtime platform OSXEditor message; see Bootstrap and lifecycle.

See Also