--- /dev/null
+#ifndef _FFMPEG_UTIL_H
+#define _FFMPEG_UTIL_H 1
+
+// Some common utilities for the two FFmpeg users (ImageInput and FFmpegCapture).
+
+#include <string>
+
+extern "C" {
+#include <libavformat/avformat.h>
+}
+
+// Look for the file in all theme_dirs until we find one;
+// that will be the permanent resolution of this file, whether
+// it is actually valid or not. Returns an empty string on error.
+std::string search_for_file(const std::string &filename);
+
+// Same, but exits on error.
+std::string search_for_file_or_die(const std::string &filename);
+
+// Returns -1 if not found.
+int find_stream_index(AVFormatContext *ctx, AVMediaType media_type);
+
+#endif // !defined(_FFMPEG_UTIL_H)