Provide DirectShow filter for Windows Media Player ActiveX control in C# application

Question

I'm using Windows Media Player ActiveX control in C# application. Also I have third-party DirectShow filter (Wasabi Marlin) which I need to use for video playback. As far as I know, the Windows Media Player is able to use DirectShow filters. How can I provide the filter to WMP control? I searched in control's object model but didn't find anything useful...

Answer 1

Note that Windows Media Player attempts to use Media Foundation first, and if failed to play the file back, it falls back to DirectShow.

When WMP requests DirectShow to render a file, filter graph manager goes through existng file and protocol associations in order to pick proper source filter. That is, the filter of interest needs to be registered as described in the following MSDN topic:

• Registering a Custom File Type

It can be file extension registration, or custom protocol handler. See also relevant discussion on MSDN Forums:

• File type registration problem with Media Player on Vista