Develop Reference

MediaRecorder, first frames blank

I'm trying to develop a simple video recorder
I initialize Camera, and then on button click I run a Runnable that prepares the MediaRecorder:
public void run() {
mCamera.unlock();
mMediaRecorder = new MediaRecorder();
mMediaRecorder.setCamera(mCamera);
mMediaRecorder.setVideoSource(MediaRecorder.VideoSource.DEFAULT);
mMediaRecorder.setOutputFormat(MediaRecorder.OutputFormat.MPEG_4);
mMediaRecorder.setVideoSize(320, 240);
mMediaRecorder.setVideoEncoder(MediaRecorder.VideoEncoder.H264);
mMediaRecorder.setOutputFile(mSomeFile);
mMediaRecorder.setMaxDuration(MAX_DURATION);
mMediaRecorder.setOrientationHint(90);
try {
mMediaRecorder.prepare();
mMediaRecorder.start();
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
Every thing runs fine but the actual output video contains some blank frames at the beginning. Could it be a hardware issue or rather it needs some optimization from the code?

Error opening android camera for streaming video

I'm trying to write video stream from my Galaxy Tab to server.
according to this manual i should do something like this:
frontCamera = getFrontCamera();
if((socket!= null)&&(frontCamera!=null))
{
try {
frontCamera.setPreviewDisplay(cameraPreview.getHolder());
} catch (IOException e1) {
// TODO Auto-generated catch block
Log.e("","",e1);
}
frontCamera.startPreview();
recorder = new MediaRecorder();
frontCamera.unlock();
recorder.setCamera(frontCamera);
recorder.setAudioSource(MediaRecorder.AudioSource.CAMCORDER);
recorder.setVideoSource(MediaRecorder.VideoSource.CAMERA);
recorder.setProfile(CamcorderProfile.get( CamcorderProfile.QUALITY_HIGH));
pfd = ParcelFileDescriptor.fromSocket(socket);
recorder.setOutputFile(pfd.getFileDescriptor());
recorder.setPreviewDisplay(cameraPreview.getHolder().getSurface());
try {
recorder.prepare();
recorder.start();
} catch (IllegalStateException e) {
// TODO Auto-generated catch block
Log.e("","",e);
} catch (IOException e) {
// TODO Auto-generated catch block
Log.e("","",e);
}
but all fails on step recorder.start(); with strange error
02-01 19:03:39.265: E/MediaRecorder(11922): start failed: -19
what does that mean and what should I do to start recorder?
UPD:
Trouble happens because of my getFrontCamera method. when I replace it with camera.open() all works correct.
protected Camera getFrontCamera()
{
Camera.CameraInfo inf = new Camera.CameraInfo();
for(int i = 0; i< Camera.getNumberOfCameras(); i++)
{
Camera.getCameraInfo(i, inf);
if(inf.facing==Camera.CameraInfo.CAMERA_FACING_FRONT)
{
return Camera.open(i);
}
}
return null;
}
Upd2 - yes, explicit setting of format and encoders solved the trouble -
recorder.setOutputFormat(MediaRecorder.OutputFormat.MPEG_4);
recorder.setAudioEncoder(MediaRecorder.AudioEncoder.AMR_NB);
recorder.setVideoEncoder(MediaRecorder.VideoEncoder.MPEG_4_SP);
Maybe because of pre-build formats are for back camera... But strange anyway.

I don't see output format setup, so try adding to recorder set up:
recorder.setOutputFormat(MediaRecorder.OutputFormat.DEFAULT);

Have a look
And though it is streaming video, so that set -
recorder.setOutputFormat(8);
recorder.setOutputFile(socketFd);
Have fun.

I've a hack here, extending media recorder class and removing super.setVideoFrameRate(rate) solves the problem for me.

If you still want to use CamcorderProfile.QUALITY_HIGH with the front camera, you can use the following:
CamcorderProfile camcorderProfile = CamcorderProfile.get(currentCameraId, CamcorderProfile.QUALITY_HIGH);
recorder.setProfile(camcorderProfile);
where int currentCameraId is Camera.CameraInfo.CAMERA_FACING_BACK or ...FRONT
So the profile is indeed dependent on the camera (for high-end phones it appears to work fine without the distinction, since they all support 1080p by now, but low-end phones may crash otherwise)

android: record audio with MediaPlayer on emulator

I am trying to record audio from the microphone on the Android emulator with this code:
recorder = new MediaRecorder();
recorder.setAudioSource(MediaRecorder.AudioSource.MIC);
recorder.setOutputFormat(MediaRecorder.OutputFormat.THREE_GPP);
recorder.setAudioEncoder(MediaRecorder.AudioEncoder.AMR_NB);
recorder.setOutputFile(Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory() + "/test/test.3gp");
try {
recorder.prepare();
}
catch (IOException io) {
Log.v(LOG_TAG, "Could not prepare the audio " + io.getMessage());
}
recorder.start();
For stopping the audio, this is the code:
recorder.stop();
recorder.reset();
recorder.release();
The recording process works fine but the resulting audio that is distorted. When I record an audio for 60 seconds duration and play it, it's duration is being shown as 120 seconds. The measurement is not exact but the this is just to give you an idea.
Only the AMR_NB encoder is working on my emulator. I have tried different output formats but the result is always the same.
Is it a limitation of the emulator or am I doing something wrong here?
Edit 1:
I have tried the AudioRecord class too and the result is the same dragging audio.
Thanks.

I have been working for the same and found the solution, Try using the following code:
private void startRecording()
{
this.recorder = new MediaRecorder();
this.recorder.setAudioSource(MediaRecorder.AudioSource.MIC);
this.recorder.setOutputFormat(MediaRecorder.OutputFormat.MPEG_4);
this.recorder.setAudioEncoder(MediaRecorder.AudioEncoder.AMR_NB);
MediaRecorder.getAudioSourceMax();
this.recorder.setOutputFile(this.getFilename());
this.recorder.setOnErrorListener(this.errorListener);
this.recorder.setOnInfoListener(this.infoListener);
try
{
this.recorder.prepare();
this.recorder.start();
} catch (final IllegalStateException e)
{
e.printStackTrace();
} catch (final IOException e)
{
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
This is working perfactly. Hope it helps you :)

MediaRecorder video framerate

I'm recording videos with MediaRecorder, but it appears that whatever setting I use, the framerate is appalling (~ 1fps)
This is my code:
recorder.setAudioSource(MediaRecorder.AudioSource.DEFAULT);
recorder.setVideoSource(MediaRecorder.VideoSource.DEFAULT);
CamcorderProfile cp = CamcorderProfile.get(HIGH_QUALITY ? CamcorderProfile.QUALITY_HIGH : CamcorderProfile.QUALITY_LOW);
System.out.println("RECORDING AT " + cp.videoFrameRate); // Says 30fps
recorder.setProfile(cp);
recordingFilename = tempFileName();
recorder.setOutputFile(recordingFilename);
recorder.setPreviewDisplay(holder.getSurface());
try {
recorder.prepare();
} catch (IllegalStateException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
finish();
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
finish();
}
recorder.start();

It appears that it is the ROM I am using. I didn't realise I get the same crappy frame rate using the standard Camera app when recording video.
Nevermind :)

Can sound be turned off in MediaRecorder of the Android API?

I would like to write a program that records video but not sound.
Can anyone help me on how to not record the sound while recording the video using MediaRecorder?

This is indeed possible. See the setAudioEncoder method in MediaRecorder:
If this method is not called, the output file will not contain an audio track.
So if you only want video, simply do not invoke this method.

You should just prepare your mediarecorder's video requirements, like:
private boolean prepareMediaRecorder(){
myCamera = getCameraInstance();
mediaRecorder = new MediaRecorder();
// store the quality profile required
CamcorderProfile profile = CamcorderProfile.get(mCameraId, CamcorderProfile.QUALITY_HIGH);
myCamera.unlock();
mediaRecorder.setCamera(myCamera);
mediaRecorder.setVideoSource(MediaRecorder.VideoSource.CAMERA);
mediaRecorder.setOutputFormat(profile.fileFormat);
mediaRecorder.setVideoEncoder(profile.videoCodec);
mediaRecorder.setVideoEncodingBitRate(profile.videoBitRate);
mediaRecorder.setVideoFrameRate(profile.videoFrameRate);
mediaRecorder.setVideoSize(profile.videoFrameWidth, profile.videoFrameHeight);
mediaRecorder.setOutputFile("/sdcard/myvideo.mp4");
mediaRecorder.setMaxDuration(60000 * 20); // Set max duration 60 *20 sec.
mediaRecorder.setMaxFileSize(5000000 * 4); // Set max file size 5M * 4
mediaRecorder.setPreviewDisplay(myCameraSurfaceView.getHolder().getSurface());
try {
mediaRecorder.prepare();
} catch (IllegalStateException e) {
releaseMediaRecorder();
return false;
} catch (IOException e) {
releaseMediaRecorder();
return false;
}
return true;
}