Using VideoPlayer in swift project - ios

Question

I am trying to display a video inside a cell. Instead, it just comes up as a black box. It is possible it is not initializing the player. I do, however see the black box so I know it is initializing the VideoPlayerView. When I print the frame of the playerLayer it prints (0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0), possibly due to how I am initializing the view. Is there any way to extend the playerlayer to the edges of the view without using frame?
class VideoPlayerView : UIView {
override init(frame: CGRect) {
super.init(frame: frame)
backgroundColor = UIColor.black
let videoURL = URL(string: "https://clips.vorwaerts-gmbh.de/big_buck_bunny.mp4")
let player = AVPlayer(url: videoURL!)
let playerLayer = AVPlayerLayer(player: player)
playerLayer.frame = self.bounds
//print(playerLayer.frame)
self.layer.addSublayer(playerLayer)
player.play()
}
required init?(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
fatalError("init(coder:) has not been implemented")
}
}
Thanks!

Answer 1

I've tried this a couple of different ways and ended up using a custom UIView class approach (like you did) but a few differences. For example, your class could look like this:
class PlayerView: UIView {
var player: AVPlayer? {
get {
return playerLayer.player
}
set {
playerLayer.player = newValue
}
}
var playerLayer: AVPlayerLayer {
return layer as! AVPlayerLayer
}
// Override UIView property
override static var layerClass: AnyClass {
return AVPlayerLayer.self
}
}
Then, you add a UIView in IB, set the class to PlayerView (instead of default UIView), add your constraints like normal and drag an outlet to your controller like any other control. To use it, you do the following:
playerView.player = AVPlayer(url: url)
playerView.playerLayer.videoGravity = AVLayerVideoGravityResizeAspectFill
Then trigger the Play command however your application needs it.
You could create this view dynamically using the same method but I tend to use IB most of the time.
Hope this helps!

Answer 2

You can set constraints to playerLayer, for example:
let width = UIScreen.main.bounds.width
let height = 300
let playerLayer = AVPlayerLayer(player: player)
playerLayer.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
playerLayer.widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: width).isActive = true
playerLayer.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: height).isActive = true

Answer 3

I figured out that all you need to do is add this code:
Turns out when you resize it doesn't automatically resize layer sizes.
override func layoutSublayers(of layer: CALayer) {
super.layoutSublayers(of: layer)
playerLayer?.frame = self.bounds
}