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Step 3: Build the Filter Graph

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[The feature associated with this page, DirectShow, is a legacy feature. It has been superseded by MediaPlayer, IMFMediaEngine, and Audio/Video Capture in Media Foundation. Those features have been optimized for Windows 10 and Windows 11. Microsoft strongly recommends that new code use MediaPlayer, IMFMediaEngine and Audio/Video Capture in Media Foundation instead of DirectShow, when possible. Microsoft suggests that existing code that uses the legacy APIs be rewritten to use the new APIs if possible.]

This topic is step 3 of the tutorial Audio/Video Playback in DirectShow. The complete code is shown in the topic DirectShow Playback Example.

The next step is to build a filter graph to play the media file.

Opening a Media File

The DShowPlayer::OpenFile method opens a media file for playback. This method does the following:

  1. Creates a new (empty) filter graph.
  2. Calls IGraphBuilder::AddSourceFilter to add a source filter for the specified file.
  3. Renders the streams on the source filter.
HRESULT DShowPlayer::OpenFile(PCWSTR pszFileName)
{
    IBaseFilter *pSource = NULL;

    // Create a new filter graph. (This also closes the old one, if any.)
    HRESULT hr = InitializeGraph();
    if (FAILED(hr))
    {
        goto done;
    }
    
    // Add the source filter to the graph.
    hr = m_pGraph->AddSourceFilter(pszFileName, NULL, &pSource);
    if (FAILED(hr))
    {
        goto done;
    }

    // Try to render the streams.
    hr = RenderStreams(pSource);

done:
    if (FAILED(hr))
    {
        TearDownGraph();
    }
    SafeRelease(&pSource);
    return hr;
}

Creating the Filter Graph Manager

The DShowPlayer::InitializeGraph method creates a new filter graph. This method does the following:

  1. Calls CoCreateInstance to create a new instance of the Filter Graph Manager.
  2. Queries the Filter Graph Manager for the IMediaControl and IMediaEventEx interfaces.
  3. Calls IMediaEventEx::SetNotifyWindow to set up event notification. For more information, see Event Notification in DirectShow.
HRESULT DShowPlayer::InitializeGraph()
{
    TearDownGraph();

    // Create the Filter Graph Manager.
    HRESULT hr = CoCreateInstance(CLSID_FilterGraph, NULL, 
        CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER, IID_PPV_ARGS(&m_pGraph));
    if (FAILED(hr))
    {
        goto done;
    }

    hr = m_pGraph->QueryInterface(IID_PPV_ARGS(&m_pControl));
    if (FAILED(hr))
    {
        goto done;
    }

    hr = m_pGraph->QueryInterface(IID_PPV_ARGS(&m_pEvent));
    if (FAILED(hr))
    {
        goto done;
    }

    // Set up event notification.
    hr = m_pEvent->SetNotifyWindow((OAHWND)m_hwnd, WM_GRAPH_EVENT, NULL);
    if (FAILED(hr))
    {
        goto done;
    }

    m_state = STATE_STOPPED;

done:
    return hr;
}

Rendering the Streams

The next step is to connect the source filter to one or more renderer filters.

The DShowPlayer::RenderStreams method performs the following steps.

  1. Queries the Filter Graph Manager for the IFilterGraph2 interface.
  2. Adds a video renderer filter to the filter graph.
  3. Adds the DirectSound Renderer Filter to the filter graph, to support audio playback. For more information about adding filters to the filter graph, see Add a Filter by CLSID.
  4. Enumerates the output pins on the source filter. For more information about enumerating pins, see Enumerating Pins.
  5. For each pin, calls the IFilterGraph2::RenderEx method. This method connects the output pin to a renderer filter, adding intermediate filters if needed (such as decoders).
  6. Calls CVideoRenderer::FinalizeGraph to finish initializing the video renderer.
  7. Removes the DirectSound Renderer filter if that filter is not connected to another filter. This can occur if the source file does not contain an audio stream.
// Render the streams from a source filter. 

HRESULT DShowPlayer::RenderStreams(IBaseFilter *pSource)
{
    BOOL bRenderedAnyPin = FALSE;

    IFilterGraph2 *pGraph2 = NULL;
    IEnumPins *pEnum = NULL;
    IBaseFilter *pAudioRenderer = NULL;
    HRESULT hr = m_pGraph->QueryInterface(IID_PPV_ARGS(&pGraph2));
    if (FAILED(hr))
    {
        goto done;
    }

    // Add the video renderer to the graph
    hr = CreateVideoRenderer();
    if (FAILED(hr))
    {
        goto done;
    }

    // Add the DSound Renderer to the graph.
    hr = AddFilterByCLSID(m_pGraph, CLSID_DSoundRender, 
        &pAudioRenderer, L"Audio Renderer");
    if (FAILED(hr))
    {
        goto done;
    }

    // Enumerate the pins on the source filter.
    hr = pSource->EnumPins(&pEnum);
    if (FAILED(hr))
    {
        goto done;
    }

    // Loop through all the pins
    IPin *pPin;
    while (S_OK == pEnum->Next(1, &pPin, NULL))
    {           
        // Try to render this pin. 
        // It's OK if we fail some pins, if at least one pin renders.
        HRESULT hr2 = pGraph2->RenderEx(pPin, AM_RENDEREX_RENDERTOEXISTINGRENDERERS, NULL);

        pPin->Release();
        if (SUCCEEDED(hr2))
        {
            bRenderedAnyPin = TRUE;
        }
    }

    hr = m_pVideo->FinalizeGraph(m_pGraph);
    if (FAILED(hr))
    {
        goto done;
    }

    // Remove the audio renderer, if not used.
    BOOL bRemoved;
    hr = RemoveUnconnectedRenderer(m_pGraph, pAudioRenderer, &bRemoved);

done:
    SafeRelease(&pEnum);
    SafeRelease(&pAudioRenderer);
    SafeRelease(&pGraph2);

    // If we succeeded to this point, make sure we rendered at least one 
    // stream.
    if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
    {
        if (!bRenderedAnyPin)
        {
            hr = VFW_E_CANNOT_RENDER;
        }
    }
    return hr;
}

Here is the code for the RemoveUnconnectedRenderer function, which is used in the previous example.

HRESULT RemoveUnconnectedRenderer(IGraphBuilder *pGraph, IBaseFilter *pRenderer, BOOL *pbRemoved)
{
    IPin *pPin = NULL;

    *pbRemoved = FALSE;

    // Look for a connected input pin on the renderer.

    HRESULT hr = FindConnectedPin(pRenderer, PINDIR_INPUT, &pPin);
    SafeRelease(&pPin);

    // If this function succeeds, the renderer is connected, so we don't remove it.
    // If it fails, it means the renderer is not connected to anything, so
    // we remove it.

    if (FAILED(hr))
    {
        hr = pGraph->RemoveFilter(pRenderer);
        *pbRemoved = TRUE;
    }

    return hr;
}

Releasing the Filter Graph

When the application exits, it must release the filter graph, as shown in the following code.

void DShowPlayer::TearDownGraph()
{
    // Stop sending event messages
    if (m_pEvent)
    {
        m_pEvent->SetNotifyWindow((OAHWND)NULL, NULL, NULL);
    }

    SafeRelease(&m_pGraph);
    SafeRelease(&m_pControl);
    SafeRelease(&m_pEvent);

    delete m_pVideo;
    m_pVideo = NULL;

    m_state = STATE_NO_GRAPH;
}

Next: Step 4: Add the Video Renderer.

Audio/Video Playback in DirectShow

DirectShow Playback Example

Building the Filter Graph

General Graph-Building Techniques