MPlay Command Line Options

Usage:
    mplay [-profile] [options] image_files... [command_scripts...]

where:
-profile
one optional profile setting

options
any number of mplay options. Each mplay option can only be specified once.

image_files
1 or more image file(s) recognized by Houdini, or "stdin"

command_scripts
optional command files (.cmd) containing mplay scripts. These command scripts are executed in order, after all images are processed.

Profiles

Profiles are high level UI layouts, similar to "skins". They can also be used to add default command line options. There are multiple profiles defined for various uses of mplay. These are:

default Used when mplay is run without any profiles specified.
tools
Used by Halo for the main viewer.
render
Used when mplay is spawned by mantra, or run with -K.
flipbook
Used when mplay is spawned by Halo, or run with -k.
viewer
Used by mview; for realtime 8bit image playback..
monitor
Used by Halo COP monitors.
full
All UI shown.
minimal
All UI hidden.

To use a profile on startup, simply add it to the command line directly after "mplay" with a '-'. (ie, mplay -viewer options files). The profile can be changed within an mplay session using the Profile Manager (Settings->Profiles) or using the mplayprofile command.

Profiles can also be customized using the Profile Manager.

Options

Image Options

These options affect the loading, display and caching of images.

    -g
Group all Files - Group the command line images into separate sequences, based on base name and extension. Without this option, files are loaded in the order that they are received from the shell and assigned frame numbers based on that order (though frame numbers are sorted properly).
When this option is given, files are parsed based on their base name and extension, and their frame numbers are extracted. Files with similar base names and extensions are put into the same sequence.

Example: with files  aaa[1-10].jpg (10 frames) and  bbb[50-69].jpg (20 frames)

mplay aaa*.jpg bbb*.jpg           
creates one sequence at frames 1-29 (30 frames): aaa[1-10] + bbb[50-69]

mplay -g aaa*.jpg bbb*.jpg
creates two sequences: aaa$F.jpg at 1-10, and bbb$F.jpg at 50-69.          

    -u                  
Leave images unsorted - Leave the images in the command line unsorted (in the order they appear). If off, frame numbers will be sorted properly. This only has an effect if -g is not specified.

    -Z <pad>
Image Padding - Load only images that are padded to 'pad' digits (or 0 for non-padded images only).

    -z <level>   
Zoom Factor - Load images at the specified zoom level (in %): 12 25 33 50 66 75 100 133 150 200 300 400 and 800. To specify an image in terms of its X and Y resolution, use -w and -h.  This can also be changed using the Zoom level pulldown menu above the viewer (not visible in all profiles).

    -w <width>   
Force Image Width - Load images at width specified (only for files loaded via the command line). Must be specified with -h. If reading from stdin, this option must be specified.

    -h <height>   
Force Image Height - Load images at height specified (only for files loaded via the command line). Must be specified with -w. If reading from stdin, this option must be specified.

    -S <nframes>   
Number of Frames - Load 'nframes' images from stdin in RGBA format. This is only used when image data is piped to mplay in raw RGBA format. -w and -h must also be specified (as the image information does not contain the resolution).

    -v       
Flip Vertically - Flips all images loaded via the command line vertically, in case they were saved upside-down. This can be set on a per-sequence basis in the Sequence Manager (File->Sequence List), by toggling the "Flip" icon.

    -B <file>   
Load Background Image - Set the background image or sequence. This will automatically enable transparency and background images. Background images appear behind the main images - if your main images don't have alpha (.jpg, .cin) or have solid alpha, you won't see the background images. This can also be specified in the Display Options dialog (default hotkey 'd') on the Background page.

    -c       
Load Color Only - Loads the main RGB color components only. This is helpful when viewing larges sequences with alpha when you're only interested in color - it frees up a bit more memory for the images by ignoring the alpha Of course, you won't be able to view to the alpha plane. This can also be specified in the Options->Settings dialog.

    -U       
Unlimited Memory Usage - Use an unlimited amount of memory for images.  MPlay uses all your physical memory minus 64Mb by default, so by overriding this behaviour, you may encounter stuttering when the OS swaps memory. This can also be specified in the Display Options dialog (default hotkey 'd') on the Memory page.

    -m <mem>   
Memory Usage - Limit the memory usage to 'mem' Mb. Normally, MPlay uses all your physical memory minus 64Mb. This can also be specified in the Display Options dialog (default hotkey 'd') on the Memory page.

    -L <lutfile>   
Cineon Lookup Table - Sets 'lutfile' as the lookup table for cineon images. The LUT must be a .lut file produced by the Houdini ilut program. This can also be specified in the Options->Settings dialog.

    -l <w> <g> <iw>  
Set Cineon Parameters -  Sets the Cineon white point 'w' (0-1023), the film gamma 'g' and the image white point 'iw' (0-65535). These can also be specified in the Options->Settings dialog.

    -N      
No Cineon Conversion - Leave Cineon files in their natural 10 bit log space (0-1023). Cineon files will appear very washed out, but this is useful for cineon value inspection. This can also be specified in the Options->Settings dialog.

    -d <lutfile>
Display Lookup Table - Sets the display LUT to 'lutfile'. Images are run through this LUT before display. The LUT must be a .lut file produced by the Houdini ilut program. This can also be specified in the Display Options dialog (default hotkey 'd') on the Correction page.

    -i <lutfile>   
Inspect Lookup Table - Sets the inspect LUT to 'lutfile'. Values are run through the inverse LUT during pixel inspection. The LUT must be a .lut file produced by the Houdini ilut program. This can also be specified in the Display Options dialog (default hotkey 'd') on the Correction page.

    -8  
Convert to 8 Bit - Load all images at 8 bit depth, regardless of their natural depth. This speeds up playback of 16bit and floating point image files considerably on most video cards. This also cuts down on memory usage. However, image precision is lost.

Playback Options

These options set the playbar options, such as frame range and rate.

    -C
Precache - Cache all images at startup, and adjust the memory usage so that all images fit in the cache. This can also be done manually with File->Cache All Images.

    -f <s> <e> <st>   
Frame Range and Step - Sets the frame range (s,e) and frame step (st) of the playbar. This can also be set in the Option->Settings dialog, or on the playbar itself. This can also be set with the fplayback command.

    -p
Play! - Startup in playback mode, playing forward.

    -P <mode>   
Playback Mode - Sets the playback mode to 'loop', 'once' or 'zigzag'. "Loop" plays from start to end, then repeats. "Once" plays from start to end, then stops. "ZigZag" plays from start to end, then end to start, and repeats. This can also be set in the Options->Settings dialog, and with the play command.

    -r <fps>   
Realtime FPS - Set the frames per second for realtime play. This also enables realtime playback. This can be specified on the playbar, or in the Options->Settings dialog. The fps command will also set the FPS value. If the environment variable $FPS is set, this is used as the default FPS, otherwise 30 is assumed. This option will override that default.

    -R       
Realtime Mode - Turn on realtime play without specifying a rate. The fplayback command can also be used to turn realtime mode on or off.

UI Options

    -b <s|d>   
Single/Double Buffer - Startup in single (s) or double (d) buffer mode. Single buffer provides faster playback speed (default), but may show image tearing at fast playback speeds.

    -F       
Full Image View - Do not show any extra UI, except for the playbar.

    -H
Disable Help Tags - This disables the popup help tags when the mouse is left over a UI gadget. This can also be disabled by the Options->Help Tags menu toggle.

    -K
Listen for Renders - Tell MPlay to listen on a socket for input images. Images rendered to the ip device will be displayed. This option is ignored if stdin is specified as a file.

    -k
Listen for Composite Flipbooks - Tell MPlay to listen for flipbook images originating from Flipbook commands or Composite output drivers from Halo or COPs. This option is ignored if stdin is specified as a file.

    -T
Always on Top - MPlay will always remain a topmost window (NT only).

    -V <x> <y>  
Viewport Layout - Sets the viewport layout to 'x' cols by 'y' rows. Not all viewports may be visible, if there are not enough sequences to fill them.

Audio Options

    -a <file>   
Load Audio File - Loads audio file 'file' and enables audio.

    -A <volume>   
Volume Level - Sets the volume level (default 1). Zero is off.

    -o <fr> <sec>
Audio Synchronization -  Audio time 'sec' is synchronized with playbar frame 'fr'.

    -s on|off
Audio Sustain - Enable or disable the audio scrub sustain. If sustain is on, scrubbing audio sounds more continuous.

Image Files

Any number of images can be loaded into mplay. MPlay supports all image formats that Houdini does. Any files that mplay does not recognize will not be loaded, and a warning will be printed.

MPlay loads files in one of 2 modes:

Command Scripts

Any number of command scripts can be specified on the command line. These will be executed in order, left to right. It doesn't matter if they come before, in the middle or after the images - they are all executed after the image sequences have been established. MPlay has a smaller command set than Houdini, but it still allows you to do many useful things.

Example:
# This starts playing forward, in ZigZag mode, at 24fps.
play -z
fplayback -r on
fps 24