Place AVPlayerViewController inside UIView - ios

Currently I am having a dialogue view with four controls at the bottom. Each control is loading a different view inside the dialogue. One of these controls is setting an AVPlayer inside the dialogue view and is playing it. Unfortunately the AVPlayer itself comes without playback controls.
The AVPlayerViewController how ever does have playback controls. Is it possible to place a AVPlayerViewController inside a UIView so that it does not get started as a new screen? I would like to place it inside my UIView so that everything is taking place inside my dialgoue.

You can initialize the AVPlayerViewController and add it as a child to your ViewController , and insert it as a subview.
[self addChildViewController:yourPlayerViewController];
[self.view addSubview:yourPlayerViewController.view];
[yourPlayerViewController didMoveToParentViewController:self];
And to remove it:
[yourPlayerViewController willMoveToParentViewController:nil];
[yourPlayerViewController.view removeFromSuperview];
[yourPlayerViewController removeFromParentViewController];
EDIT SWIFT METHOD:
Check here for Swift

I'm using Swift 3.2 / Xcode 9.2 / iOS 11
This is how to do it in 9 easy steps. The steps are explained above each line
**Make sure you import AVKit to have access to the AVPlayerViewController or you won't be able to use it
// 1. to have access to the AVPlayerViewController import AVKit
import AVKit
// 2. create your class properties
var videoUrl: URL?
var player: AVPlayer?
let avPVC = AVPlayerViewController()
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
// 3. make sure the url your using isn't nil
guard let videoUrl = self.videoUrl else { return }
// 4. init an AVPlayer object with the url then set the class property player with the AVPlayer object
self.player = AVPlayer(url: videoUrl)
// 5. set the class property player to the AVPlayerViewController's player
avPVC.player = self.player
// 6. set the the parent vc's bounds to the AVPlayerViewController's frame
avPVC.view.frame = self.view.bounds
// 7. the parent vc has a method on it: addChildViewController() that takes the child you want to add to it (in this case the AVPlayerViewController) as an argument
self.addChildViewController(avPVC)
// 8. add the AVPlayerViewController's view as a subview to the parent vc
self.view.addSubview(avPVC.view)
// 9. on AVPlayerViewController call didMove(toParentViewController:) and pass the parent vc as an argument to move it inside parent
avPVC.didMove(toParentViewController: self)
}

SWIFT 4 - Subview Method
The initial method works alright, but I feel like the view controller method seems messy when I really just want a subview. So, most of the time I play the video in a custom view (rather than using the entire AVPlayerViewController).
I use this method to show the video in a subview which completely fills an existing view. In the example below, urlToVideo is the URL to the video that you want to play, and existingView is the view we want to place our new view into (as a subview).
First, create a VideoPlayerView class in a new VideoPlayerView.swift file, with this, which is directly copy/paste from Apple's website, except that I called it VideoPlayerView rather than PlayerView.
import Foundation
import UIKit
import AVFoundation
/// A simple `UIView` subclass that is backed by an `AVPlayerLayer` layer.
class VideoPlayerView: UIView {
var player: AVPlayer? {
get {
return playerLayer.player
}
set {
playerLayer.player = newValue
}
}
var playerLayer: AVPlayerLayer {
return layer as! AVPlayerLayer
}
override class var layerClass: AnyClass {
return AVPlayerLayer.self
}
}
Then, when I want to play the video, I create the subview and play it:
let player = AVPlayer(url: urlToVideo)
let playerFrame = CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: existingView.frame.width, height: existingView.frame.height)
let videoPlayerView = VideoPlayerView(frame: playerFrame)
videoPlayerView.player = player
existingView.addSubview(videoPlayerView)
player.play()

My solution is to have your view like a canvas and basically draw the AVPlayerViewController on top of it:
#IBOutlet weak var layerVideoView: UIImageView!
guard let url = Bundle.main.path(forResource: "santana", ofType: "mp4") else { return debugPrint("video not found") }
let path = URL(fileURLWithPath: url)
let player = AVPlayer(url: path)
let playerController = AVPlayerViewController()
playerController.player = player
playerController.view.frame = CGRect(x: layerVideoView.frame.origin.x, y: layerVideoView.frame.origin.y, width: layerVideoView.frame.width, height: layerVideoView.frame.height)
self.addChild(playerController)
self.view.addSubview(playerController.view)
LayerVideoView is an image view, but you can use just a UIView if that suits.
Its is important to add constraints in the Storyboard to your View because your Video Player will mimic the shape of your View.

Related

AVPlayer video disappears when navigating 'back' in Swift

When navigating to a subview, I have set it up so that a video plays automatically. At the bottom of the video, there is a group of links that go to related content. When clicking one of them, a new view is pushed onto the stack and a different video starts playing.
The problem happens when using the automatically generated '< Back' button to go back to the prior view (which had a different video). This original view can be operated using the player controls, but nothing shows up on the screen.
I've tried to update the CGRect frame, use onAppear to reinitialize the video player, and also followed the advice here.
So far nothing seems to work. Here is the code I am using for the actual video player (adapted from Chris Mash's website):
import SwiftUI
import AVKit
import UIKit
import AVFoundation
let playerLayer = AVPlayerLayer()
class PlayVideo: UIView {
init(frame: CGRect, url: URL) {
super.init(frame: frame)
// Create the video player using the URL passed in.
let player = AVPlayer(url: url)
player.volume = 100 // Will play audio if you don't set to zero
player.play() // Set to play once created
// Add the player to our Player Layer
playerLayer.player = player
playerLayer.videoGravity = .resizeAspectFill // Resizes content to fill whole video layer.
playerLayer.backgroundColor = UIColor.black.cgColor
layer.addSublayer(playerLayer)
}
required init?(coder: NSCoder) {
super.init(coder: coder)
}
override func layoutSubviews() {
super.layoutSubviews()
playerLayer.frame = bounds
}
static func pauseVideo() {
playerLayer.player?.pause()
}
}
struct ViewVideo: UIViewRepresentable {
var videoURL:URL
var previewLength:Double?
func makeUIView(context: Context) -> UIView {
return PlayVideo(frame: .zero, url: videoURL)
}
func updateUIView(_ uiView: UIView, context: Context) {
}
}
This is called from the main view using:
ViewVideo(videoURL: videoURL)
The only work around I can think of is to disable the back button and force the user to go back to the main view every time. That's a terrible option and I'm hoping someone will have some helpful advice here. Thanks -
If I understand this correctly, you play a different video, when you navigate to the new view. So you create a new PlayVideo view?
Then the problem is that your playerLayer is a static property. The new view will set a new player into the playerLayer and replace the old one. Similarly, if you pause one player, both are paused. Additionally, adding the player as a sublayer to the new view will remove it from the old view.
You need the playerLayer as a local property to your view. Or at least a AVPlayerLayer for every video you want to play. Then you need a mechanism for pausing/restarting each video, when it becomes visible. For example by implementing the viewWillAppear. This method gets always called, when you navigate back to a view/ the view becomes visible.
Thank you to #dominik-105 for helping with this question. I was able to fix the problem using the suggestions that were made.
Specifically, I removed the global definition of playerLayer and instead placed it as a local variable in my main view call:
var playerLayer = AVPlayerLayer()
I then call ViewVideo with the playerLayer: playerLayer tag, and the ViewVideo then calls PlayVideo with playerLayer:AVPlayerLayer as part of the init.
Interestingly, this leads to problems with the override layout function I was using to define the size of the video box. I define the frame directly in the init now and removed the old override function code. The full code is now:
import SwiftUI
import AVKit
import UIKit
import AVFoundation
class PlayVideo: UIView {
init(frame: CGRect, url: URL, playerLayer: AVPlayerLayer, width: CGFloat, height: CGFloat) {
super.init(frame: frame)
// Create the video player using the URL passed in.
let player = AVPlayer(url: url)
player.volume = 100 // Will play audio if you don't set to zero
player.play() // Set to play once created
// Add the player to our Player Layer
playerLayer.player = player
playerLayer.videoGravity = .resizeAspectFill // Resizes content to fill whole video layer.
playerLayer.backgroundColor = UIColor.black.cgColor
playerLayer.player?.actionAtItemEnd = .pause
layer.addSublayer(playerLayer)
playerLayer.frame = CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: width, height: height)
}
required init?(coder: NSCoder) {
super.init(coder: coder)
}
}
struct ViewVideo: UIViewRepresentable {
var videoURL:URL
var playerLayer: AVPlayerLayer
var width: CGFloat
var height: CGFloat
func makeUIView(context: Context) -> UIView {
return PlayVideo(frame: .zero, url: videoURL, playerLayer: playerLayer, width: width, height: height)
}
func updateUIView(_ uiView: UIView, context: Context) {
}
}
I use GeometryReader to define the size of the box, and then pass along the width and height to the struct, which passes it along to the class.

Receiving error while trying to play video with AVPlayer

I am trying to make local video playable with AVPlayer in xcode 10.1, swift 4.2, macOS app. I have created the AVKit Player View object in UI and made outlet in viewController.swift. Also created button in where all the actions should happen. You can see the code here -
import Cocoa
import AVKit
import AVFoundation
import AppKit
class ViewController: NSViewController {
#IBOutlet weak var playerView: AVPlayerView!
#IBAction func buttonAction(_ sender: Any) {
let videoURL = "/Users/ramix/Downloads/test.mp4"
let video = AVPlayer(url: URL(fileURLWithPath: videoURL))
let videoPlayer = AVPlayerView()
videoPlayer.player = video
present(videoPlayer, animator:true, completion:{
video.play()
})
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
// Do any additional setup after loading the view.
}
override var representedObject: Any? {
didSet {
// Update the view, if already loaded.
}
}
}
I saw in multiple places that there was used AVPlayerViewController, but for some reason I dont have option to choose that method. Also this code returns this error -
Cannot invoke 'present' with an argument list of type '(AVPlayerView, animator: Bool, completion: () -> Void)'
I am new to swift, and I would like to ask for your help.
Thank you!
It seems you already created an outlet to an AVPlayerView which you probably added to the view hierarchy in Interface Builder. So you don't need to create a new player view, just assign the player to the outlet view like so:
self.playerView.player = video
Btw, the error happens because present is meant for presenting other view controllers, not for displaying views.

Set size for Video with AVPlayerViewController

I need to play a short video at the end of my game.
I created an AVPlayerViewController on my storyboard with a modal presentation using a segue from the previous View Controller.
However I want the video NOT to cover the whole screen. Let's say 50% (centered) of the screen size.
Here is the code I tried :
import AVKit
import AVFoundation
import UIKit
class VideoPlayerViewController: AVPlayerViewController {
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
}
override func viewDidAppear(animated: Bool) {
// Play video
player?.play()
}
override func viewDidLayoutSubviews() {
print(videoBounds)
self.view.bounds = videoBounds
}
}
The problem is that the video scales to the whole screen is very small (like something around 100*70px). I believe the default size is 100*100 at some point and it scales it to match my video ratio.
If I don't specify bounds, it scales to the whole screen (video gravity don't let me the choice).
If I reduce the size on my whole view in viewDidLayoutSubviews, it's still not okay because this method is called multiple times so I keep changing my view bounds.
I can't believe how hard it is to display a local video on part of the screen with AVPlayerViewController...
Any help ?
You can make the view controller any size you'd like. Like this, if you wanted to:
let videoURL = URL(fileURLWithPath: videoPath)
let player = AVPlayer(url: videoURL)
let playerViewController = AVPlayerViewController()
playerViewController.view.frame = CGRect (x:100, y:100, width:200, height:100)
playerViewController.player = player
self.addChildViewController(playerViewController)
self.view.addSubview(playerViewController.view)
playerViewController.didMove(toParentViewController: self)
(obviously, the above size would be weird, but you can. if you want to).
Use the ViewController if you want automatically managed player controls. If you want to roll your own controls, the layer is probably better.
Just posting this to correct the answer that indicated you shouldn't use the VC except in full screen. Seems to work fine for me.
AVPlayerViewController is only meant to be used in a full screen manner, you are better off using AVPlayerLayer this allows you to size / place it in a view of your choosing.
let player = AVPlayer(url: myURL)
let layer = AVPlayerLayer(player: player)
layer.frame.size = CGSize(100,100)
layer.frame.origin = myView.center
player.play()

How do I Add A GIF/Video To Landing Screen Background In Xcode 6 using swift?

what is the most efficient way to add a GIF/Video to the background of the landing screen ( home screen or first view controller) of my app in Xcode? i.e apps like spotify, uber, insagram etc. Being that my app is universal, how would i make it fit accordingly?
Do you mean the first screen that is displayed after your app is launched? If so: unfortunately you can't have dynamic content; you won't be able to use a gif/video.
That said, what you can do if you have some app-setup on background threads that will take some time anyway, or if you simply want the user to wait longer before interaction so that you can display the gif/video, you can make the static image match the first frame of the gif/video, and have your your entry point be a ViewController that displays the actual gif/video. Because this would delay the time to interaction, though, this would never be recommended.
As for making it fit: as of iOS 8 Apple recommends using LaunchScreen.xib. With it you can use Auto Layout to achieve universality.
To add a video you can use MPMoviePlayerController, AVPlayer, or if you're using SPritekit you can use an SKVideoNode.
EDIT (in response to follow-up comments):
An NSURL is a reference to a local or remote file. This link will give you a decent overview. Just copy the movie in and follow that guide.
In addition to the MPMoviePlayerController solution Saqib Omer suggested, here's an alternative method that uses a UIView with an AVPlayerLayer. It has a button on top of the video as an example, since that's what you're looking for.
import AVKit
import AVFoundation
import UIKit
class ViewController: UIViewController {
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
// Start with a generic UIView and add it to the ViewController view
let myPlayerView = UIView(frame: self.view.bounds)
myPlayerView.backgroundColor = UIColor.blackColor()
view.addSubview(myPlayerView)
// Use a local or remote URL
let url = NSURL(string: "http://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/76000/76740/iss030-e-6082_sdtv.mov") // See the note on NSURL above.
// Make a player
let myPlayer = AVPlayer(URL: url)
myPlayer.play()
// Make the AVPlayerLayer and add it to myPlayerView's layer
let avLayer = AVPlayerLayer(player: myPlayer)
avLayer.frame = myPlayerView.bounds
myPlayerView.layer.addSublayer(avLayer)
// Make a button and add it to myPlayerView (you'd need to add an action, of course)
let myButtonOrigin = CGPoint(x: myPlayerView.bounds.size.width / 3, y: myPlayerView.bounds.size.height / 2)
let myButtonSize = CGSize(width: myPlayerView.bounds.size.width / 3, height: myPlayerView.bounds.size.height / 10)
let myButton = UIButton(frame: CGRect(origin: myButtonOrigin, size: myButtonSize))
myButton.setTitle("Press Me!", forState: .Normal)
myButton.setTitleColor(UIColor.whiteColor(), forState: .Normal)
myPlayerView.addSubview(myButton)
}
}
For playing video add following code, declare class variable var moviePlayer:MPMoviePlayerController! . Than in your viewDidLoad()
var url:NSURL = NSURL(string: "YOUR_URL_FOR_VIDEO")
moviePlayer = MPMoviePlayerController(contentURL: url)
moviePlayer.view.frame = CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 200, height: 150)
self.view.addSubview(moviePlayer.view)
moviePlayer.fullscreen = true
moviePlayer.controlStyle = MPMovieControlStyle.Embedded
This will play video. But to fit it you need to add layout contraints. See this link to add constraints pragmatically.
import MediaPlayer
class ViewController: UIViewController {
var moviePlayer: MPMoviePlayerController!
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
// Load the video from the app bundle.
let videoURL: NSURL = NSBundle.mainBundle().URLForResource("video", withExtension: "mp4")!
// Create and configure the movie player.
self.moviePlayer = MPMoviePlayerController(contentURL: videoURL)
self.moviePlayer.controlStyle = MPMovieControlStyle.None
self.moviePlayer.scalingMode = MPMovieScalingMode.AspectFill
self.moviePlayer.view.frame = self.view.frame
self.view .insertSubview(self.moviePlayer.view, atIndex: 0)
self.moviePlayer.play()
// Loop video.
NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().addObserver(self, selector: "loopVideo", name: MPMoviePlayerPlaybackDidFinishNotification, object: self.moviePlayer)
}
func loopVideo() {
self.moviePlayer.play()
}
https://medium.com/#kschaller/ios-video-backgrounds-6eead788f190#.2fhxmc2da

How to load MPMoviePlayerController contentUrl asynchronous when loading view?

I try to play a video using a MPMoviePlayerController. The setup is: I push a new ViewController, then set up the view and the movie player instance in viewDidLoad and then use a NSURLSession.sharedSession().dataTaskWithURL() where I load the REST resource for the movie to give me the URL. In the completion block I set the contentUrl of the movie player instance to this url and say play. However, the movie frame stays black. If I set the contentUrl hardcoded to the url either in viewDidLoad, viewWillAppear, or viewDidAppear, the movie shows just fine.
The errorLog and accessLog are both nil.
So I assume something is wrong with the asynchronous url loading and assigning of the movie contentUrl.
Setup: Swift, Xcode 6 beta, iOS 8.
Below some code snippets:
class PresentationsViewController {
override func tableView(tableView: UITableView!, didSelectRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath!) {
let presentationViewController = PresentationViewController(presentations[indexPath.row])
navigationController.pushViewController(presentationViewController, animated: true)
}
}
class PresentationViewController {
var presentation: Presentation?
var moviePlayer: MPMoviePlayerController?
convenience init(_ presentation: Presentation) {
self.init()
self.presentation = presentation
}
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
moviePlayer = MPMoviePlayerController()
moviePlayer!.view.frame = CGRect(x: X, y: Y, width: W, height: H)
moviePlayer!.movieSourceType = MPMovieSourceType.Unknown
moviePlayer!.controlStyle = MPMovieControlStyle.Embedded
NSURLSession.sharedSession().dataTaskWithURL(presentation.url) { data, response, error in
// Some JSON parsing etc.
self.moviePlayer!.contentURL = presentation.videoUrl
self.moviePlayer!.prepareToPlay()
self.moviePlayer!.play()
}.resume()
view.addSubview(moviePlayer.view)
}
}
I am not sure if this was a bug in the Swift betas or iOS 8 betas, but changing the code to use AVPlayer worked.
import AVFoundation
import AVKit
let playerViewController = AVPlayerViewController()
// In async block:
if let player = AVPlayer.playerWithURL(url) as? AVPlayer {
playerViewController.player = player
}

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