terminal playback controls

[omaraboumrad]

Hello,

It would be nice if asciinema play <file> supported some playback controls through intercepting keyboard commands, example but not limited to:

Ctrl+P Toggle pause/play at current play step.
Ctrl+H Move one step backwards
Ctrl+L Move one step forward

Given the local player blends in perfectly in the terminal, there's no need to show any information about these controls during the playback.

Use Case

If I'm running a presentation or a demo, I'd like to be able to control the playback instead of anticipating it during the recording time.

Thank you!

[omaraboumrad]

Related: #97

[renatomefi]

I would also like to see this feature! :)

[cypa]

this feature is much needed for security audit purposes also

[robertpeteuil]

It's been a year, so I thought I'd surface this request again.

While I'm interested in the original request, I'm especially interested in the "play/pause" feature. This would allow me to use asciinema in live presentations (where pausing is necessary for discussion or answering questions).

Feature Request Enhancements:

• For the "live demo" scenario - mapping the "play/pause" action to a mouse button would be ideal

  • Most users are accustomed to using mouse-clicks to play/pause videos
  • Many presenters use use wireless mice for live presentations

• Instead of "Move one step backward", I'd prefer "jump 5 back seconds"

  • Essentially like "instant replay" on a DVR
  • This is useful for anyone wanting to re-watch an event that just occurred in a recording

[kostaz]

Actually, the lack of play controls in terminal (pause, play, fast-forward, fast-backward)
in the only feature that prevents this app from becoming mainstream.
👍

[ku1ik]

Pause, play and fast-forward would be easy to add.

Rewinding on the other hand is impossible with the current (simple) implementation of asciinema play. This page nicely describes this problem and how IPBT solves it: https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/ipbt/ (when reading replace ttyrec with asciinema and you'll get the picture).

[robertpeteuil]

Thanks for sharing this info. It makes the challenges of rewind very clear.

Simply adding play/pause would be a huge leap forward in usefulness.

[ku1ik]

Toggling pause with space + stepping a frame at a time with period just landed in develop branch and will be released in 2.0 🙂

[robertpeteuil]

Awesome. Thanks all!

[omaraboumrad]

Brilliant!