How do I open an MP4 video file with python?

Question

So I know of opencv and pymovie however I cant seem to find a working example on here or anywhere on google or this site. I do not want to convert the mp4 into anything else. It has to be mp4 file format video if at all possible. If possible can someone please point me in the direction of a module I can use to achieve this and an example of a script I can use from said module or modules to get an mp4 to play. If not possible what is a good format I should convert to and what is a good program for convertion. All input would be helpful thanks.

what do you want to do with the mp4 file after you open it in python? — Elijah, Apr 14 '16 at 22:36
are you using something like PyQt for the user interface or something else to show the video in? — Elijah, Apr 14 '16 at 22:44
i was thinking like in pygame or tkinter or something of the like — killer, Apr 14 '16 at 22:51
Looks like some people had success using [tkinter](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7227162/way-to-play-video-files-in-tkinter) — Elijah, Apr 14 '16 at 23:00

score 16 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 27 '16 at 13:16

If you just want to play an mp4 video, then this opencv program will help you to do that.

import cv2

cap = cv2.VideoCapture("v2.mp4")
ret, frame = cap.read()
while(1):
   ret, frame = cap.read()
   cv2.imshow('frame',frame)
   if cv2.waitKey(1) & 0xFF == ord('q') or ret==False :
       cap.release()
       cv2.destroyAllWindows()
       break
   cv2.imshow('frame',frame)

You can change the name of the window as you like. If video file is in another directory, then give the patch of the video in the format 'Drive://x/x/xx.mp4'. 'ret' value shows whether the video file is read or not, frame wise.

`pip3 install opencv-python` for anyone who hasn't gotten as far as the OP but wants to :) It's bigger than most libraries - `92.1MB` — Sridhar Sarnobat, Sep 02 '23 at 20:25

score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 10 '19 at 18:15

5

What's wrong with just running the file?

from os import startfile
startfile(path)

If you have any .mp4 player on your computer it will play.

answered Sep 10 '19 at 18:15

john k

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this does not answer the question because i wanted to display video in opencv like window.. i could have gotten this far with the code you provided . – killer Sep 20 '19 at 03:03
Interesting to know for Python newbies even if it's not for the OP's goal. https://pypi.org/project/universal-startfile/. `It emulates the following actions in an operating system's UI: double-clicking a file or single-clicking a URL.` For people who don't have Mac OS's `open` command this could be useful. – Sridhar Sarnobat Sep 02 '23 at 20:27

How do I open an MP4 video file with python?

2 Answers2