http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/tk4mpeg4
IBM Toolkit for MPEG-4

A set of Java classes and APIs with five sample applications: three cross-platform playback applications and two tools for generating MPEG-4 content for use with MPEG-4-compliant devices.

Date Posted: May 1, 2003
		
	Overview		Requirements		Download		FAQs		Forum		Reviews	

Update: February 7, 2006
Version 1.2.8: Improved handling of MP3 and M4V files; bug fix for playback of MP3 files when explicitly using "file:" protocol.

What is the IBM Toolkit for MPEG-4?

The IBM Toolkit for MPEG-4 consists of a set of JavaTM classes and APIs with five sample applications: three cross-platform playback applications and two tools for generating MPEG-4 content for use with MPEG-4-compliant devices. These applications are as follows:

    * AVgen: a simple, easy-to-use GUI tool for creating audio/video-only content for ISMA- or 3GPP-compliant devices
    * XMTBatch: a tool for creating rich MPEG-4 content beyond simple audio and video
    * M4Play: an MPEG-4 client playback application
    * M4Applet for ISMA: a Java player applet for ISMA-compliant content
    * M4Applet for HTTP: a Java applet for MPEG-4 content played back over HTTP.

Since the toolkit is Java-based, the client applications and the content creation applications are cross-platform and will run on any Java-supporting platform, including Linux.

The above applications are provided as demonstration of this toolkit. Those who experiment with these applications and are interested in creating their own applications can license the technologies.

How does it work?
AVgen and XmtBatch tools combine independently coded MPEG-4 media objects into an MPEG-4 file.

AVgen can be used to generate audio- and video-only content and optionally "hint" it for delivery over RTP/RTSP transport for both ISMA- and 3GPP-compliant devices.

XMTBatch provides more comprehensive authoring facilities using MPEG-4 Systems, including graphics, animation, and user interaction.

The XMTBatch tool creates MPEG-4 binary content from the high-level textual descriptions created in the XMT (Extensible MPEG-4 Textual Format in XML) standard. It supports content created in the high-level format XMT-O (based on the SMIL 2.0 syntax and semantics) as well as the low-level XMT-A format (based on the X3D, VRML in XML). The XMTBatch tool also provides transcoding functions for instance transforming from WMF (Windows Meta File) format to MPEG-4.

M4Play renders MPEG-4 content created by the above tools. The M4Play application can render the following file types:

      MP4: ISMA-compliant
      MP4: including MPEG-4 Systems
      AVI: MPEG-4 Simple Profile video (such as Divx, Xvid) with MP3 audio.
      MPEG-4 Simple Profile video (.cmp, .m4v, .263)
      AAC Low-Complexity Profile audio (.aac, .adif, .adts)
      MP3 MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 Layer 3 audio (.mp3) 

A single track from MP4 or AVI can be played by appending a track selection where the track is selected by type, such as audio, video, etc. The track itself, when there is more than one, can be indicated by a numeric index in brackets. For example, myFile.mp4#video(3) will play only the third video track in a complex mp4 file.

      Video: #video, #video(1), etc.
      Audio: #audio, #audio(1), etc.
      Image: #image, #image(1), etc. 

M4Appet for ISMA renders ISMA-compliant content over RTP/RTSP.

M4Applet for HTTP renders MPEG-4 content over HTTP. The applet uses a standard-based interleaved format (M4Mux) to progressively download while playing.

Further information is available in the help files and at this Web site, which also includes demonstrations of the Java applet player.

Also see the developerWorks article: Now showing: Your own online MPEG-4 cinema. Explore the ready-to-use Java components in the IBM Toolkit for MPEG-4 SDK.

	

About the technology author(s):
The IBM Toolkit for MPEG-4 is being developed by the Composite Media Technologies Group at IBM's T. J. Watson Research Center: Adewale Awe, Jeff Boston, Michelle Kim, Bill Luken, Ed So, Peter Westerink, and Steve Wood.

The following contributors are also acknowledged:

IBM Research Lab in Haifa: The toolkit contains a Simple Profile MPEG-4 video decoder developed by a team under Zohar Sivan; the video decoder is also available here on alphaWorks in a form suitable for use in JMF. The MP3 audio decoder was also developed by the IBM Haifa Lab.

IBM Research Lab in Yorktown: The Low Complexity AAC (Advanced Audio CODEC) is based on original C code developed by a team under Jack Kouloheris.

Other past contributors and former interns: Patrice Bazerque, Geraud Boyer, Lai-tee Cheok, Muta Ali Muhammad, Dan Ouaki, Etienne Roy, Ed Snible, Sundah Veliah, and Hwan-Seung Yong.