Unable to call up my video files using AVFoundation

Question

I'm having difficulty playing back video that I've recently recorded in a hybrid image/video camera akin to Snapchat (e.g. tap to take a photo, press and hold to record a video, playback on button release).

I'm currently saving the video file to NSFileManager. When I log it out I do verify that something is being saved but can't inspect the file because it has to be tested on the phone.

The file path when I log it out:

file:///var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/7D86B14D-ACFF-4494-AD61-CBBD32DCA7A5/Documents/test.mov

When I go to load the asset from the file manager I log out an error that it can't open the files. I've only just started working with AVFoundation so not sure what some of the issues/considerations are when debugging. Any insight would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

Referenced tutorial

Referenced github repository

Referenced code:

PlayerView.h (reference)

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#import <AVFoundation/AVFoundation.h>

@interface PlayerView : UIView

@property (nonatomic) AVPlayer *player;

- (void)setPlayer:(AVPlayer *)player;

@end

PlayerView.m (reference)

#import "PlayerView.h"

@implementation PlayerView
+ (Class)layerClass {
    return [AVPlayerLayer class];
}
- (AVPlayer *)player {
    return [(AVPlayerLayer *)[self layer] player];
}
- (void)setPlayer:(AVPlayer *)player {
    [(AVPlayerLayer *)[self layer] setPlayer:player];
}
@end

HybridCameraViewController.h (reference)

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#import <AVFoundation/AVFoundation.h>

#import "PlayerView.h"

@interface HybridCameraViewController : UIViewController 

@property UIButton *button;
@property UIButton *saveButton;
@property UIImageView *previewView;

#define VIDEO_FILE @"test.mov"

@end

HybridCameraViewController.m (reference)

#import "HybridCameraViewController.h"
static const NSString *ItemStatusContext;
@class PlayerView;
@interface HybridCameraViewController () <AVCaptureFileOutputRecordingDelegate>
@end

@implementation HybridCameraViewController
AVCaptureSession *session;
AVCaptureStillImageOutput *imageOutput;
AVCaptureMovieFileOutput *movieOutput;
AVCaptureConnection *videoConnection;
AVPlayer *player;
AVPlayerItem *playerItem;
PlayerView *playerView;

- (void)viewDidLoad {
    [super viewDidLoad];
    [self testDevices];
    self.view.backgroundColor = [UIColor blackColor];

    //Image preview
    self.previewView = [[UIImageView alloc]initWithFrame:self.view.frame];
    self.previewView.backgroundColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
    self.previewView.contentMode = UIViewContentModeScaleAspectFill;
    self.previewView.hidden = YES;
    [self.view addSubview:self.previewView];

    //Playerback setup
    playerView = [[PlayerView alloc]initWithFrame:self.view.frame];
    playerView.backgroundColor = [UIColor redColor];
    [self syncUI];

    //Buttons
    self.button = [self createButtonWithTitle:@"REC" chooseColor:[UIColor redColor]];
    UILongPressGestureRecognizer *longPressRecognizer = [[UILongPressGestureRecognizer alloc]initWithTarget:self action:@selector(handleLongPressGesture:)];
    [self.button addGestureRecognizer:longPressRecognizer];
    [self.button addTarget:self action:@selector(captureImage) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];

    self.saveButton = [self createSaveButton];
    [self.saveButton addTarget:self action:@selector(saveActions) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];
}

- (void)viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated {
    //Tests
    [self initializeAVItems];
    NSLog(@"%@", videoConnection);
    NSLog(@"%@", imageOutput.connections);
    NSLog(@"%@", imageOutput.description.debugDescription);
}

#pragma mark - AV initialization

- (void)initializeAVItems {
    //Start session, input
    session = [AVCaptureSession new];
    if ([session canSetSessionPreset:AVCaptureSessionPresetHigh]) {
        session.sessionPreset = AVCaptureSessionPresetHigh;
    }
    AVCaptureDevice *inputDevice = [AVCaptureDevice defaultDeviceWithMediaType:AVMediaTypeVideo];

    NSError *error;
    AVCaptureDeviceInput *deviceInput = [AVCaptureDeviceInput deviceInputWithDevice:inputDevice error:&error];
    if ([session canAddInput:deviceInput]) {
        [session addInput:deviceInput];
    } else {
        NSLog(@"%@", error);
    }

    AVCaptureVideoPreviewLayer *previewLayer = [[AVCaptureVideoPreviewLayer alloc]initWithSession:session];
    [previewLayer setVideoGravity:AVLayerVideoGravityResizeAspectFill];

    //Layer preview
    CALayer *viewLayer = [[self view] layer];
    [viewLayer setMasksToBounds:YES];

    CGRect frame = self.view.frame;
    [previewLayer setFrame:frame];
    [viewLayer insertSublayer:previewLayer atIndex:0];

    //Image Output
    imageOutput = [AVCaptureStillImageOutput new];
    NSDictionary *imageOutputSettings = [[NSDictionary alloc]initWithObjectsAndKeys:AVVideoCodecJPEG, AVVideoCodecKey, nil];
    imageOutput.outputSettings = imageOutputSettings;

    //Video Output
    movieOutput = [AVCaptureMovieFileOutput new];

    [session addOutput:movieOutput];
    [session addOutput:imageOutput];
    [session startRunning];
}

- (void)testDevices {
    NSArray *devices = [AVCaptureDevice devices];
    for (AVCaptureDevice *device in devices) {
        NSLog(@"Device name: %@", [device localizedName]);
        if ([device hasMediaType:AVMediaTypeVideo]) {
            if ([device position] == AVCaptureDevicePositionBack) {
                NSLog(@"Device position : back");
            }
            else {
                NSLog(@"Device position : front");
            }
        }
    }
}

#pragma mark - Image capture

- (void)captureImage {
    AVCaptureConnection *videoConnection = nil;
    for (AVCaptureConnection *connection in imageOutput.connections) {
        for (AVCaptureInputPort *port in [connection inputPorts]) {
            if ([[port mediaType] isEqual:AVMediaTypeVideo]) {
                videoConnection = connection;
                break;
            }
        }
        if (videoConnection) {
            break;
        }
    }
    NSLog(@"Requesting capture from: %@", imageOutput);
    [imageOutput captureStillImageAsynchronouslyFromConnection:videoConnection completionHandler:^(CMSampleBufferRef imageDataSampleBuffer, NSError *error) {
        if (imageDataSampleBuffer != NULL) {
            NSData *imageData = [AVCaptureStillImageOutput jpegStillImageNSDataRepresentation:imageDataSampleBuffer];
            UIImage *image = [UIImage imageWithData:imageData];
            self.previewView.image = image;
            self.previewView.hidden = NO;
        }
    }];
    [self saveButtonFlyIn:self.saveButton];
}

#pragma mark - Video capture

- (void)captureVideo {
    NSLog(@"%@", movieOutput.connections);
    [[NSFileManager defaultManager] removeItemAtURL:[self outputURL] error:nil];
    videoConnection = [self connectionWithMediaType:AVMediaTypeVideo fromConnections:movieOutput.connections];
    [movieOutput startRecordingToOutputFileURL:[self outputURL] recordingDelegate:self];
}

- (AVCaptureConnection *)connectionWithMediaType:(NSString *)mediaType fromConnections:(NSArray *)connections {
    for (AVCaptureConnection *connection in connections) {
        for (AVCaptureInputPort *port in [connection inputPorts]) {
            if ([[port mediaType] isEqual:mediaType]) {
                return connection;
            }
        }
    }
    return nil;
}

#pragma mark - Show Last Recording

- (void)presentRecording {
    NSLog(@"unplaying");
    NSLog(@"%@",[self outputURL]);
}

- (IBAction)loadAssetFromFile {
    AVURLAsset *asset = [AVURLAsset URLAssetWithURL:[self outputURL] options:nil];
    NSString *tracksKey = @"tracks";
    [asset loadValuesAsynchronouslyForKeys:@[tracksKey] completionHandler:^{
         dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(),^{
             NSError *error;
             AVKeyValueStatus status = [asset statusOfValueForKey:tracksKey
                                                            error:&error];

             if (status == AVKeyValueStatusLoaded) {
                 playerItem = [AVPlayerItem playerItemWithAsset:asset];
                 [playerItem addObserver:self forKeyPath:@"status"
                                      options:NSKeyValueObservingOptionInitial
                                      context:&ItemStatusContext];
                 [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self
                                                          selector:@selector(playerItemDidReachEnd:)
                                                              name:AVPlayerItemDidPlayToEndTimeNotification
                                                            object:playerItem];
                 player = [AVPlayer playerWithPlayerItem:playerItem];

                 [playerView setPlayer:player];
             }
             else {
                 NSLog(@"The asset's tracks were not loaded:\n%@", [error localizedDescription]);
             }
         });
    }];
}

- (void)observeValueForKeyPath:(NSString *)keyPath ofObject:(id)object change:(NSDictionary *)change context:(void *)context {
    if (context == &ItemStatusContext) {
        dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(),^{
            [self syncUI];
        });
        return;
    }
    [super observeValueForKeyPath:keyPath ofObject:object change:change context:context];
    return;
}

- (void)playerItemDidReachEnd:(NSNotification *)notification {
    [player seekToTime:kCMTimeZero];
}

- (void)syncUI {
    if ((player.currentItem != nil) &&
        ([player.currentItem status] == AVPlayerItemStatusReadyToPlay)) {
        self.button.enabled = YES;
    }
    else {
        self.button.enabled = NO;
    }
}

#pragma mark - AVCaptureFileOutputRecordingDelegate

- (void)captureOutput:(AVCaptureFileOutput *)captureOutput didFinishRecordingToOutputFileAtURL:(NSURL *)outputFileURL fromConnections:(NSArray *)connections error:(NSError *)error {
    if (!error) {
        NSLog(@"Success!!!!");

    } else {
        NSLog(@"Error: %@", [error localizedDescription]);
    }
}

#pragma mark - Recoding Destination URL

- (NSURL *)outputURL {
    NSString *documentsDirectory = [NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES) objectAtIndex:0];
    NSString *filePath = [documentsDirectory stringByAppendingPathComponent:VIDEO_FILE];
    return [NSURL fileURLWithPath:filePath];
}

#pragma mark - Buttons

- (void)handleLongPressGesture:(UILongPressGestureRecognizer *)recognizer {
    if (recognizer.state == UIGestureRecognizerStateBegan) {
        NSLog(@"Press");
        self.button.backgroundColor = [UIColor greenColor];
        [self captureVideo];
    }
    if (recognizer.state == UIGestureRecognizerStateEnded) {
        NSLog(@"Unpress");
        self.button.backgroundColor = [UIColor redColor];
        [movieOutput stopRecording];
        [self performSelector:@selector(loadAssetFromFile)];
        [player play];
    }
}

- (UIButton *)createButtonWithTitle:(NSString *)title chooseColor:(UIColor *)color {
    UIButton *button = [[UIButton alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(self.view.center.x, self.view.frame.size.height - 100, 85, 85)];
    button.layer.cornerRadius = button.bounds.size.width / 2;
    button.backgroundColor = color;
    button.tintColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
    [self.view addSubview:button];
    return button;
}

- (UIButton *)createSaveButton {
    UIButton *button = [[UIButton alloc]initWithFrame:CGRectMake(self.view.frame.size.width, self.view.frame.size.height - 100, 85, 85)];
    button.layer.cornerRadius = button.bounds.size.width / 2;
    button.backgroundColor = [UIColor greenColor];
    button.tintColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
    button.userInteractionEnabled = YES;
    [button setTitle:@"save" forState:UIControlStateNormal];
    [self.view addSubview:button];
    return button;
}

- (void)saveButtonFlyIn:(UIButton *)button {
    CGRect movement = button.frame;
    movement.origin.x = self.view.frame.size.width - 100;

    [UIView animateWithDuration:0.2 animations:^{
        button.frame = movement;
    }];
}

- (void)saveButtonFlyOut:(UIButton *)button {
    CGRect movement = button.frame;
    movement.origin.x = self.view.frame.size.width;

    [UIView animateWithDuration:0.2 animations:^{
        button.frame = movement;
    }];
}

#pragma mark - Save actions

- (void)saveActions {
    [self saveButtonFlyOut:self.saveButton];
    self.previewView.image = nil;
    self.previewView.hidden = YES;
}

@end

Answer 1

The approach was overly complex. Where you went wrong was 1) not loading the url properly and 2) not adding the 'player layer' sublayer to the main view.

Here is an example of successful playback:

   //TestURL
    self.videoURL = [NSURL URLWithString:(NSString *)[self.selectedVideo objectForKey:@"source"]];

    //Video
    self.player = [AVPlayer playerWithPlayerItem:[[AVPlayerItem alloc]initWithAsset:[AVAsset assetWithURL:self.videoURL]]];

    //Player layer
    self.playerLayer = [AVPlayerLayer playerLayerWithPlayer:self.player];
    self.playerLayer.videoGravity = AVLayerVideoGravityResizeAspect;
    self.playerLayer.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, self.view.frame.size.width, self.view.frame.size.height / 3);
    [self.view.layer addSublayer:self.playerLayer];
    [self.player play];

All you would need to do is redirect the url to the one you just saved:

self.videoURL = [self outputURL];