So I was trying to follow http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/media/camera.html to create a simple app that captures video and audio and saves the file to the sd card. and have succeed. with the help of pro android 4 (pretty decent book)
Here is a github repo with the code: https://github.com/androidAwesome/Android-Camcorder
With the Help of Sam, Thanks again!, I have a working copy of a camera app that can be customized. The documentation is kinda shaky, and I think it is missing a line in the prepareVideoREcorder() method. There should be a mCamera.stopPreview(); before the mCamera.unlock() is called. Hopefully with no luck you should be able to create an android project, add a class for the SurfaceView, then copy everything in here and have a working camcorder app that you can continue to customize!
Manifest:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
package="com.camera123.cr"
android:versionCode="1"
android:versionName="1.0" >
<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="8" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CAMERA" />
<uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.RECORD_AUDIO" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.RECORD_VIDEO" />
<application
android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"
android:label="@string/app_name" >
<activity
android:name=".Camera123"
android:label="@string/app_name"
android:screenOrientation="landscape">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>
</application>
</manifest>
cameraPreview.java:
package com.camera123.cr;
import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
import java.io.FileOutputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import android.content.Context;
import android.graphics.Canvas;
import android.graphics.Color;
import android.graphics.Paint;
import android.hardware.Camera;
import android.hardware.Camera.PreviewCallback;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.SurfaceHolder;
import android.view.SurfaceView;
public class CameraPreview extends SurfaceView implements SurfaceHolder.Callback {
private SurfaceHolder mHolder;
private Camera mCamera;
public CameraPreview(Context context, Camera camera) {
super(context);
mCamera = camera;
// Install a SurfaceHolder.Callback so we get notified when the
// underlying surface is created and destroyed.
mHolder = getHolder();
mHolder.addCallback(this);
// deprecated setting, but required on Android versions prior to 3.0
mHolder.setType(SurfaceHolder.SURFACE_TYPE_PUSH_BUFFERS);
}
public void surfaceCreated(SurfaceHolder holder) {
// The Surface has been created, now tell the camera where to draw the preview.
try {
mCamera.setPreviewDisplay(holder);
mCamera.startPreview();
} catch (IOException e) {
Log.d("DEBUG", "Error setting camera preview: " + e.getMessage());
}
}
public void surfaceDestroyed(SurfaceHolder holder) {
}
public void surfaceChanged(SurfaceHolder holder, int format, int w, int h) {
// If your preview can change or rotate, take care of those events here.
// Make sure to stop the preview before resizing or reformatting it.
if (mHolder.getSurface() == null){
// preview surface does not exist
return;
}
// stop preview before making changes
try {
mCamera.stopPreview();
} catch (Exception e){
// ignore: tried to stop a non-existent preview
}
// set preview size and make any resize, rotate or
// reformatting changes here
// start preview with new settings
try {
mCamera.setPreviewDisplay(mHolder);
mCamera.startPreview();
} catch (Exception e){
Log.d("DEBUG", "Error starting camera preview: " + e.getMessage());
}
}
}
main.xml:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
>
<FrameLayout
android:id="@+id/camera_preview"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_weight="1"
/>
<Button
android:id="@+id/button_capture"
android:text="Capture"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="center"
/>
</LinearLayout>
Camera123.java:
package com.camera123.cr;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
import java.io.FileOutputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
import java.util.Date;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.app.SearchManager.OnCancelListener;
import android.hardware.Camera;
import android.hardware.Camera.PictureCallback;
import android.hardware.Camera.ShutterCallback;
import android.media.CamcorderProfile;
import android.media.MediaRecorder;
import android.net.Uri;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.os.Environment;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.View.OnClickListener;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.FrameLayout;
public class Camera123 extends Activity{
/** Called when the activity is first created. */
private Camera mCamera;
private CameraPreview mPreview;
private MediaRecorder mMediaRecorder;
private boolean isRecording = false;
private Button captureButton;
public static final int MEDIA_TYPE_IMAGE = 1;
public static final int MEDIA_TYPE_VIDEO = 2;
@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);
// Create an instance of Camera
mCamera = getCameraInstance();
// Create our Preview view and set it as the content of our activity.
mPreview = new CameraPreview(this, mCamera);
captureButton = (Button) findViewById(R.id.button_capture);
FrameLayout preview = (FrameLayout) findViewById(R.id.camera_preview);
preview.addView(mPreview);
captureButton.setOnClickListener(
new View.OnClickListener() {
public void onClick(View v) {
if (isRecording) {
// stop recording and release camera
mMediaRecorder.stop(); // stop the recording
releaseMediaRecorder(); // release the MediaRecorder object
mCamera.lock(); // take camera access back from MediaRecorder
// inform the user that recording has stopped
captureButton.setText("Capture");
isRecording = false;
} else {
// initialize video camera
if (prepareVideoRecorder()) {
// Camera is available and unlocked, MediaRecorder is prepared,
// now you can start recording
mMediaRecorder.start();
// inform the user that recording has started
captureButton.setText("Stop");
isRecording = true;
} else {
// prepare didn't work, release the camera
releaseMediaRecorder();
// inform user
}
}
}
}
);
}
/** A safe way to get an instance of the Camera object. */
public static Camera getCameraInstance(){
Camera c = null;
try {
c = Camera.open(); // attempt to get a Camera instance
if (c != null){
Camera.Parameters params = c.getParameters();
c.setParameters(params);
}
}
catch (Exception e){
Log.d("DEBUG", "Camera did not open");
// Camera is not available (in use or does not exist)
}
return c; // returns null if camera is unavailable
}
private boolean prepareVideoRecorder(){
mMediaRecorder = new MediaRecorder();
// Step 1: Unlock and set camera to MediaRecorder
mCamera.stopPreview();
mCamera.unlock();
mMediaRecorder.setCamera(mCamera);
// Step 2: Set sources
mMediaRecorder.setAudioSource(MediaRecorder.AudioSource.CAMCORDER);
mMediaRecorder.setVideoSource(MediaRecorder.VideoSource.CAMERA);
// Step 3: Set a CamcorderProfile (requires API Level 8 or higher)
mMediaRecorder.setProfile(CamcorderProfile.get(CamcorderProfile.QUALITY_HIGH));
// Step 4: Set output file
mMediaRecorder.setOutputFile(getOutputMediaFile(MEDIA_TYPE_VIDEO).toString());
// Step 5: Set the preview output
mMediaRecorder.setPreviewDisplay(mPreview.getHolder().getSurface());
// Step 6: Prepare configured MediaRecorder
try {
mMediaRecorder.prepare();
} catch (IllegalStateException e) {
Log.d("DEBUG", "IllegalStateException preparing MediaRecorder: " + e.getMessage());
releaseMediaRecorder();
return false;
} catch (IOException e) {
Log.d("DEBUG", "IOException preparing MediaRecorder: " + e.getMessage());
releaseMediaRecorder();
return false;
}
return true;
}
/** Create a file Uri for saving an image or video */
private static Uri getOutputMediaFileUri(int type){
return Uri.fromFile(getOutputMediaFile(type));
}
private static File getOutputMediaFile(int type){
// To be safe, you should check that the SDCard is mounted
// using Environment.getExternalStorageState() before doing this.
File mediaStorageDir = new File(Environment.getExternalStoragePublicDirectory(
Environment.DIRECTORY_PICTURES), "MyCameraApp");
// This location works best if you want the created images to be shared
// between applications and persist after your app has been uninstalled.
// Create the storage directory if it does not exist
if (! mediaStorageDir.exists()){
if (! mediaStorageDir.mkdirs()){
Log.d("MyCameraApp", "failed to create directory");
return null;
}
}
// Create a media file name
String timeStamp = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyyMMdd_HHmmss").format(new Date());
File mediaFile;
if (type == MEDIA_TYPE_IMAGE){
mediaFile = new File(mediaStorageDir.getPath() + File.separator +
"IMG_"+ timeStamp + ".jpg");
} else if(type == MEDIA_TYPE_VIDEO) {
mediaFile = new File(mediaStorageDir.getPath() + File.separator +
"VID_"+ timeStamp + ".mp4");
} else {
return null;
}
return mediaFile;
}
@Override
protected void onPause() {
super.onPause();
releaseMediaRecorder(); // if you are using MediaRecorder, release it first
releaseCamera(); // release the camera immediately on pause event
}
private void releaseMediaRecorder(){
if (mMediaRecorder != null) {
mMediaRecorder.reset(); // clear recorder configuration
mMediaRecorder.release(); // release the recorder object
mMediaRecorder = null;
mCamera.setPreviewCallback(null);
mCamera.lock(); // lock camera for later use
}
}
private void releaseCamera(){
if (mCamera != null){
isRecording = false;
mCamera.stopPreview();
mCamera.setPreviewCallback(null);
mCamera.release(); // release the camera for other applications
mCamera = null;
}
}
}
I will guess that you need to change this:
to:
Your Activity cannot find a view until you specify an XML file or layout to look in with setContentView().
Addition
You seem to have a few errors from cutting & pasting you code. Try changing this:
To this:
If this helps please mark the answer as correct. Should you have more errors double check how you are cutting & pasting your code, and if you can’t find it feel free to post a new question. Good luck!