Transition between 2 movies using a MPMoviePlayerController - ios

Question

I'm trying to make a smooth cross fade between 2 movies in my iPad App. On a button tap the visuals randomize & the movie which is playing fades to the next movie.
Since 2 movies cannot be played simultaneously (from the docs) a straight-forward cross-fade isn't possible. To get around this I use a still image of the initial frame of the new movie (which is to be faded in). I used two players to handle the interchange of movies.
The original movie is paused, Then I transition to the image. Now I add my 2nd movie (with alpha = 0.0) & then transition so that its alpha = 1. I then play the new movie. This all works ok except for a noticeable darkening as the new movie transitions in over the image.
I tested it without the still image & the darkening doesn't seem to occur during said transition.
My code for the switch is below (first half of the if-statement). It looks pretty strange ,looking over it, but it's the method that brought me closest to what I needed.
Maybe there's a better way to go about this task? Thanks in advance :)
- (void) switchMovie;
{
NSURL *movieImageUrl = [movieImageUrlArray objectAtIndex:index];
NSData *data = [NSData dataWithContentsOfURL:movieImageUrl];
UIImage *movieImage = [[UIImage alloc] initWithData:data];
UIImageView *image = [[UIImageView alloc] initWithImage:movieImage];
image.alpha = 0.0f;
[self addSubview:image];
if (moviePlayer1Playing) {
moviePlayer1Playing = NO;
moviePlayer2Playing = NO;
[moviePlayer1 pause]; //pausing later in the method caused a crash, stopping causes a crash.
[UIView animateWithDuration:1.0
delay:0.0
options:UIViewAnimationCurveEaseIn
animations:^{
image.alpha = 1.0f; //fade in still of first frame of new movie
} completion:^(BOOL finished) {
[moviePlayer1 release]; //release original movie.
moviePlayer2 = [[MPMoviePlayerController alloc] initWithContentURL:[movieUrlArray objectAtIndex:index]];
moviePlayer2.shouldAutoplay = NO;
[moviePlayer2 prepareToPlay];
[moviePlayer2 setControlStyle:MPMovieControlStyleNone];
moviePlayer2.scalingMode = MPMovieScalingModeAspectFill;
[moviePlayer2.view setFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, 1024 , 768)];
moviePlayer2.view.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
moviePlayer2.view.alpha = 0.0;
[self addSubview:moviePlayer2.view];
[UIView animateWithDuration: 3.0
delay: 0.0
options: UIViewAnimationCurveLinear
animations:^(void){
moviePlayer2.view.alpha = 1.0f;
//During this transition the view goes dark half-way through, before lightening again.
} completion:^ (BOOL finished) {
[moviePlayer2 play];
moviePlayer2Playing = YES;
moviePlayer1Playing = NO;
}];
}];
}

Answer 1

The black you see is the background of the movie player, so instead of using a UIImageView for the still, you should set the background of your movie player the desired still.
UIImageView *stillImageView = [UIImageView alloc]initWithImage:stillImage];
stillImageView.frame = self.moviePlayer.backgroundView.frame;
[self.moviePlayer.backgroundView addSubview:stillImageView];
[stillImageView release];