Data Sources

Choose your source

Paste one of the following export VIDEO_SOURCE commands into your device shell:

File input

Use a pre-recorded video file to test your pipeline. This is the easiest way to get started — you can replay the same clip repeatedly to validate your model.1. Download sample video on your host machine

File	Download	Save as
Sample video	Input video	`ai_demo_sample.mp4`

Then copy it to your device:

SCP (SSH)

ssh <user>@<device-ip> "mkdir -p ~/media"
scp ai_demo_sample.mp4  <user>@<device-ip>:~/media/

2. Set the source

export VIDEO_SOURCE="filesrc location=$HOME/media/ai_demo_sample.mp4 ! qtdemux ! h264parse ! v4l2h264dec capture-io-mode=4 output-io-mode=4 ! video/x-raw,format=NV12"

export VIDEO_SOURCE="filesrc location=$HOME/media/<H.265 encoded mp4 file> ! qtdemux ! h265parse ! v4l2h265dec capture-io-mode=4 output-io-mode=4 ! video/x-raw,format=NV12"

USB Camera

USB cameras show up as V4L2 devices (e.g. /dev/video0). Run this on the device to find your camera’s node:

for dev in /dev/video*; do
  echo "$dev: $(cat /sys/class/video4linux/$(basename $dev)/name)"
done

Then set the source using the device node you identified:

export VIDEO_SOURCE="v4l2src device=/dev/video<#> ! video/x-raw,width=1920,height=1080"

Note: Adjust the resolution if your camera does not support 1080p.

Built-in Camera

Built-in cameras are accessed using the qticamsrc plugin, which handles ISP hardware initialization on Qualcomm SoCs.

export VIDEO_SOURCE="qticamsrc camera=0 ! video/x-raw,width=1920,height=1080"

Note: If multiple cameras are connected, set the camera property to select the one you want.

RTSP (Network) Camera

RTSP cameras stream encoded video (H.264 or H.265) over the network. The rtspsrc plugin receives the stream and the hardware decoder converts it to NV12 for the pipeline.

export VIDEO_SOURCE="rtspsrc location=<RTSP-URL> ! rtph264depay ! h264parse ! v4l2h264dec capture-io-mode=4 output-io-mode=4 ! video/x-raw,format=NV12"

The resolution is determined by the camera and cannot be changed in GStreamer.The RTSP URL format varies by manufacturer. Common formats:

rtsp://username:password@ip_address:port/stream_path
rtsp://ip_address:port/h264/ch1/main/av_stream
rtsp://username:password@ip_address:port/Streaming/Channels/101

If you’re unsure, search for “[your camera model] RTSP URL” or check the manufacturer’s documentation.

This pipeline captures frames from the video source in NV12 (YUV) format. The command-line example writes the raw frames directly to a file with filesink, because appsink only delivers buffers to an application that pulls them. The native application uses appsink instead, which notifies the application when a new frame is available, with a queue letting the source and consumer run in parallel.

GStreamer Command line
GStreamer native application

gst-launch-1.0 -e $VIDEO_SOURCE ! \
  filesink location=$HOME/media/frame.bin

Application source code: gst-video-source-example
Build your application:
- Yocto
- Ubuntu
Steps to build custom application
Steps to build custom application

Run:

gst-video-source-example -s "$VIDEO_SOURCE"

Getting Started

Building AI Pipelines

Examples

Reference

Plugins