ofxPipeWire

PipeWire video (and future audio) streaming addon for openFrameworks on Linux.

Status

• Video streaming core is implemented (publish + capture) using PipeWire pw_stream.
• Audio is scaffolded but not implemented yet.

Requirements

• Linux with PipeWire installed
• libpipewire-0.3 development package available via pkg-config

Examples

• example-basic publishes a generated video stream, shows capture, and lists nodes/ports.
• example-capture capture-only example that auto-targets a Video/Source node. Keys: n/p cycle targets, r refresh.

Quick start

1. Add the addon to your project. 2. Initialize it and enable both publish + capture.

ofxPipeWire pipewire;

void ofApp::setup(){
    ofxPipeWire::VideoConfig cfg;
    cfg.width = 1280;
    cfg.height = 720;
    cfg.fps = 30;

    pipewire.setAppName("ofApp");
    pipewire.setNodeName("ofxPipeWire Stream");

    pipewire.setPreferredVideoFormats({
        ofxPipeWire::VideoFormatPreference::RGBA,
        ofxPipeWire::VideoFormatPreference::BGRA
    });

    // Optional: choose a specific capture target by name or serial
    // pipewire.setCaptureTargetNodeName("OBS Studio");

    pipewire.setup(true, true, cfg);
}

void ofApp::update(){
    pipewire.update();

    // Publish a frame
    ofPixels pixels;
    // fill pixels ...
    pipewire.submitFrame(pixels);

    // Capture a frame
    ofPixels captured;
    if(pipewire.getLatestFrame(captured)){
        // use captured pixels
    }
}

void ofApp::exit(){
    pipewire.shutdown();
}

Notes

• Format negotiation advertises RGBA, BGRA, RGBx, and BGRx in a preferred order.
• The negotiated size and stride are honored for publish and capture.
• If you submit RGB or RGBA pixels, they are converted to the negotiated format.
• If the input size doesn’t match the negotiated size, it is resized.

Discovery

• Use getNodes() or getVideoNodes() to list available PipeWire nodes.
• Use getPorts() to list available ports with their directions and node IDs.
• Use setCaptureTargetNodeName/setCaptureTargetObjectSerial to pin a capture target.
• Use setPublishTargetNodeName/setPublishTargetObjectSerial to pin a publish target.

Roadmap

• Audio stream (capture + publish)
• More flexible format negotiation