custom NSView with video player is not showing (MacOS) - objective-c

Question

I have created a custom NSView with an AVPlayer embedded and it is not showing at all
this is my header:
#interface VideoPlayer : NSView
- (void)loadVideo;
#end
Implementation:
#implementation VideoPlayer
AVPlayer *avPlayer;
AVPlayerLayer* playerLayer;
- (instancetype)initWithFrame:(NSRect)rect {
self = [super initWithFrame:rect];
[self setWantsLayer:YES];
[self setNeedsDisplay:YES];
self.hidden = NO;
return self;
}
-(void) loadVideo {
[avPlayer pause];
avPlayer = nil;
playerLayer = nil;
NSURL *videoURL = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:#"file://~/Documents/tests.mp4"];
//same error with a valid url
//NSURL *videoURL = [NSURL URLWithString:#"http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/gtv-videos-bucket/sample/ForBiggerEscapes.mp4"];
avPlayer = [AVPlayer playerWithURL:videoURL];
playerLayer = [AVPlayerLayer playerLayerWithPlayer:avPlayer];
playerLayer.frame = self.frame;//or your desired CGRect
playerLayer.videoGravity = AVLayerVideoGravityResizeAspectFill;
//playerLayer.masksToBounds = YES;
[self.layer addSublayer:playerLayer];
[avPlayer play];
}
#end
And this is how I am creating the view:
view = [[VideoPlayer alloc] initWithFrame:NSMakeRect(0, 0, 500, 500)];
view.hidden = false;
[view loadVideo];
[parent_view addSubview:view];
I have tried multiple combinations, but the result is always the same... Nothing is being rendered on the application.
On the other hand, if I override the method drawRect in my view like this:
- (void)drawRect:(NSRect)dirtyRect {
[super drawRect:dirtyRect];
[[NSColor whiteColor] setFill];
NSRectFill(dirtyRect);
[super drawRect:dirtyRect];
}
I am getting a white rectangle where it is suppose to show my video which is expected. So I assume that I am missing something else, but most of the examples are using UIView which is not an option for me at this moment (I am working with some specific constraints)
Any thoughts?
Thank you
Update:
This finally worked for me:
-(void) loadVideo {
AVPlayer *avPlayer = [AVPlayer playerWithURL:[NSURL URLWithString:#"file://localhost/Users/xxxxxxxx/Documents/xxxxxxx.mp4"]];
AVPlayerView *playerView = [[AVPlayerView alloc] initWithFrame:self.bounds];
[playerView setPlayer:avPlayer];
[self addSubview:playerView];
[playerView.player play];
}

Answer 1

To perhaps make things a little clearer the following source code will create a basic AVPlayer for audio files. Note that the addition of both AVKit and AVFoundation frameworks are required for AVPlayerView and AVPlayer respectively. The code uses automatic reference counting and may be run in Terminal or used in Xcode by replacing main.m and AppDelegate and deleting the main nib in info.plist. To run in Terminal, copy/paste code into a file named avplayer.m and use the cmdLine as shown below. Apple docs state that it only runs on MacOS.
/*
To run in Terminal: clang avplayer.m -fobjc-arc -framework Cocoa -framework AVKit -framework AVFoundation -o avplayer && ./avplayer
*/
#import <Cocoa/Cocoa.h>
#import <AVKit/AVKit.h>
#import <AVFoundation/AVFoundation.h>
#interface AppDelegate : NSObject <NSApplicationDelegate> {
NSWindow *window;
AVPlayerView *playerView;
}
- (void) openAction;
- (void) buildMenu;
- (void) buildWindow;
#end
#implementation AppDelegate
- (void) openAction {
NSOpenPanel *op = [NSOpenPanel openPanel];
if ( [op runModal] == NSModalResponseOK ) {
AVPlayer *player = [AVPlayer playerWithURL:[op URL]];
[playerView setPlayer:player];
[window setTitleWithRepresentedFilename:[[op URL]lastPathComponent]];
}
}
- (void) buildMenu {
NSMenu *menubar = [NSMenu new];
NSMenuItem *menuBarItem = [NSMenuItem new] ;
[menubar addItem:menuBarItem];
[NSApp setMainMenu:menubar];
NSMenu *appMenu = [NSMenu new];
NSMenuItem *quitMenuItem = [[NSMenuItem alloc] initWithTitle:#"Quit" action:#selector(terminate:) keyEquivalent:#"q"];
[appMenu addItem:quitMenuItem];
[menuBarItem setSubmenu:appMenu];
}
- (void) buildWindow {
#define _wndW 500
#define _wndH 400
window = [[NSWindow alloc] initWithContentRect: NSMakeRect( 0, 0, _wndW, _wndH ) styleMask: NSWindowStyleMaskTitled | NSWindowStyleMaskMiniaturizable | NSWindowStyleMaskClosable backing: NSBackingStoreBuffered defer: NO];
[window center];
[window setTitle: #"Test window"];
[window makeKeyAndOrderFront: nil];
// **** AVPlayerView **** //
playerView = [[AVPlayerView alloc] initWithFrame:NSMakeRect( 0, 60, _wndW, _wndH - 60)];
[[window contentView] addSubview:playerView];
// **** Open Button **** //
NSButton *myBtn =[[NSButton alloc]initWithFrame:NSMakeRect( 30, 20, 125, 30 )];
[myBtn setBezelStyle:NSBezelStyleRounded ];
[myBtn setTitle: #"Open audio file"];
[myBtn setAction: #selector (openAction)];
[[window contentView] addSubview: myBtn];
// **** Quit btn **** //
NSButton *quitBtn = [[NSButton alloc]initWithFrame:NSMakeRect( _wndW - 50, 5, 40, 40 )];
[quitBtn setBezelStyle:NSBezelStyleCircular ];
[quitBtn setTitle: #"Q" ];
[quitBtn setAutoresizingMask: NSViewMinXMargin];
[quitBtn setAction:#selector(terminate:)];
[[window contentView] addSubview: quitBtn];
}
- (void) applicationWillFinishLaunching: (NSNotification *)notification {
[self buildMenu];
[self buildWindow];
}
- (BOOL)applicationShouldTerminateAfterLastWindowClosed:(NSApplication *)sender {
return YES;
}
#end
int main () {
NSApplication *application = [NSApplication sharedApplication];
AppDelegate *appDelegate = [[AppDelegate alloc] init];
[application setDelegate:appDelegate];
[application run];
return 0;
}

Answer 2

Make sure that you add the AVKit framework to your project.
There is a header in AVKit framework called AVPlayerView.h
Then all you need to do to see the player is to call it:
// **** AVPlayer ***** //
AVPlayerView *playerView = [[AVPlayerView alloc] initWithFrame:NSMakeRect( 0, 0, _wndW, _wndH - 100)];
[[window contentView] addSubview:playerView];
I have a programmatic demo which I could post if you are unable to get it to work.