liru 0.2.6

High-performance Python wrapper for Spout 2.007 GPU texture sharing

liru

High-performance Python wrapper for Spout 2 GPU texture sharing

liru provides zero-copy GPU texture sharing between Python applications using the Spout 2 DirectX 11 shared texture mechanism. Designed for real-time video mixing, compositing, and live graphics applications on Windows.

Key Features

• Zero-Copy GPU Sharing: Direct GPU-to-GPU texture transfer via DirectX 11
• Real-Time Performance: Minimal latency for 60 FPS+ video pipelines
• ModernGL Integration: Seamless interoperability with ModernGL contexts
• Simple API: Pythonic interface wrapping Spout 2.007 SDK
• Type Hints: Full type annotations for IDE autocomplete and type checking
• Context Managers: Automatic resource cleanup with with statements

Installation

pip install liru

Requirements:

• Windows 10/11 (Spout is Windows-only)
• Python 3.13 or later
• DirectX 11 compatible GPU
• Visual C++ Redistributable 2022 (usually already installed)

Quick Start

Sending Textures

import moderngl
import liru

# Create OpenGL context and texture
ctx = moderngl.create_context()
texture = ctx.texture((1920, 1080), 4)  # RGBA

# Send textures via Spout (automatic cleanup with context manager)
with liru.Sender("MyOutput", 1920, 1080) as sender:
    running = True
    while running:
        # Render to texture
        # ... your rendering code ...

        # Send via Spout (GPU-only, zero CPU copy)
        sender.send_texture(texture.glo)

        # Optional: monitor performance
        print(f"FPS: {sender.get_fps():.1f}, Latency: {sender.last_send_time_ms:.3f}ms")

Receiving Textures

import moderngl
import liru

ctx = moderngl.create_context()

# Connect to a Spout sender (automatic cleanup with context manager)
with liru.Receiver("MyOutput") as receiver:
    # Get dimensions immediately (no frame reception required)
    print(f"Sender resolution: {receiver.width}x{receiver.height}")

    # Create texture sized to match sender
    texture = ctx.texture((receiver.width, receiver.height), 4)

    running = True
    while running:
        # Note: is_updated() may return False for first 1-2 frames
        # while the OpenGL connection is being established
        if receiver.is_updated():
            width, height = receiver.receive_texture(texture.glo)
            # Use texture for compositing, preview, etc.
            # ... your processing code ...

Listing Available Senders

import liru

with liru.Receiver() as receiver:
    senders = receiver.get_sender_list()
    for sender_name in senders:
        print(f"Available sender: {sender_name}")

Documentation

• API Reference - Complete API documentation
• Architecture - System design and internals
• Build Guide - Building from source

Why liru?

You want to use Python and Spout. It seems alternatives were somewhat stale or lacking at the time I needed this.

API Overview

Sender

# Constructor
liru.Sender(name: str, width: int, height: int)

# Methods
send_texture(texture_id: int) -> None
get_fps() -> float
release() -> None

# Properties
name: str                  # Sender name
width: int                 # Texture width
height: int                # Texture height
last_send_time_ms: float   # Last send operation time in milliseconds

Receiver

# Constructor
liru.Receiver(sender_name: str = "")

# Methods
receive_texture(texture_id: int) -> tuple[int, int]  # Returns (width, height)
is_updated() -> bool
select_sender(name: str) -> None
get_sender_list() -> list[str]

# Properties
active_sender: str         # Currently connected sender name
width: int                 # Sender texture width
height: int                # Sender texture height
last_receive_time_ms: float  # Last receive operation time in milliseconds

Development

For contributors and developers who want to build from source, see CONTRIBUTING.md for detailed setup instructions.

Project Structure

liru/
├── liru/                   # Python package
│   ├── __init__.py         # Public API
│   ├── sender.py           # Sender wrapper
│   ├── receiver.py         # Receiver wrapper
│   └── py.typed            # Type checking marker
├── src/                    # C++ sources
│   ├── bindings.cpp        # pybind11 bindings
│   ├── sender_wrapper.cpp  # Sender implementation
│   └── receiver_wrapper.cpp # Receiver implementation
├── tests/                  # Test suite
├── docs/                   # Documentation
├── CMakeLists.txt          # CMake configuration
├── pyproject.toml          # Python packaging (scikit-build-core)
└── README.md               # This file

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please read CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines on:

• Setting up your development environment
• Running tests
• Code style and quality standards
• Submitting pull requests

License

liru is licensed under the BSD-2-Clause License - see LICENSE for details. Q: Why not MIT? A: Because Spout is BSD-2 too so 1 type is less than 2.

Third-Party Components

liru includes and redistributes the following third-party components:

• Spout.dll (BSD-2-Clause License) - GPU texture sharing framework by Lynn Jarvis
  • Bundled in wheel packages
  • See THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.txt for full license text
  • https://github.com/leadedge/Spout2

All third-party licenses are included in the distribution and must be retained when redistributing liru.

Acknowledgments

• Spout: GPU texture sharing framework by Lynn Jarvis

  • https://spout.zeal.co/
  • https://github.com/leadedge/Spout2

• pybind11: Seamless C++/Python interoperability

  • https://pybind11.readthedocs.io/

Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Changelog: CHANGELOG.md

Project Status

liru is under active development (Alpha). The API is stable but may change before the 1.0 release.

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Maintained by: Ranttali License: BSD-2-Clause