This topic provides a high-level overview of the elements that make up DirectShow filter graphs. It is intended as an introduction for developers who will write their own custom DirectShow filters, and also for DirectShow application developers who want to know something of what is going on behind the scenes when their application uses DirectShow. It is important to understand, however, that applications often have no need to deal with the inner workings of a DirectShow filter graph; in most situations the details such as adding filters, connecting pins, setting a synchronization source, and so on, are handled automatically by the Filter Graph Manager and by the filters and pins themselves.

The following topics provide details about the elements of a filter graph:

• The Filter Graph
  
  
• Filters
  
  
• Pins
  
  
• Media Samples
  
  
• Allocators
  
  
• Clocks
  
  

See Also