how to record from front camera

Question

I have to record the video from the front camera only, I Googled a lot, but have not been able to find a solution (simple)

if i set the cameratype to 1, the app crashes ..

here is my code

import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Context;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.content.SharedPreferences;
import android.content.pm.ActivityInfo;
import android.media.CamcorderProfile;
import android.media.MediaRecorder;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.SurfaceHolder;
import android.view.SurfaceView;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.View.OnClickListener;
import android.view.Window;
import android.view.WindowManager;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.Toast;

public class VideoCapture extends Activity implements OnClickListener, SurfaceHolder.Callback {
    MediaRecorder recorder;
    SurfaceHolder holder;
    boolean recording = false;
    String pathVideo;
    private int cameraType = 1;
    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
      /*  requestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_NO_TITLE);
        getWindow().setFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN,
               WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN);
        setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE); */

        pathVideo = "/reg_" + System.currentTimeMillis() + ".mp4";
        recorder = new MediaRecorder();
        initRecorder();
        setContentView(R.layout.camera);

        SurfaceView cameraView = (SurfaceView) findViewById(R.id.surface_camera);
        holder = cameraView.getHolder();
        holder.addCallback(this);
        holder.setType(SurfaceHolder.SURFACE_TYPE_PUSH_BUFFERS);



        Button rec =(Button) findViewById(R.id.buttonstart);
        rec.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
            public void onClick(View v)
            {
                  if (recording) {
                      recorder.stop();
                      recording = false;
                      recorder.release();
                      // Let's initRecorder so we can record again
                    initRecorder();
                    prepareRecorder();
                  } else {
                      recording = true;
                      recorder.start();
                  }
            } 
         });
    }

    private void initRecorder() {

        recorder.setAudioSource(MediaRecorder.AudioSource.DEFAULT);
        recorder.setVideoSource(MediaRecorder.VideoSource.CAMERA);

        CamcorderProfile cpHigh = CamcorderProfile
                .get(CamcorderProfile.QUALITY_HIGH);
        recorder.setProfile(cpHigh);


          File Directory = new File("/sdcard/CantaTu/");
       // have the object build the directory structure, if needed.
       Directory.mkdirs();
       File mediaFile = new File(Directory,pathVideo);

        if(mediaFile.exists()){
         mediaFile.delete();
        }
        recorder.setOutputFile(mediaFile.getAbsolutePath());
        recorder.setMaxDuration(400000); // 50 seconds
        recorder.setMaxFileSize(50000000); // Approximately 5 megabytes
    }

    private void prepareRecorder() {
        recorder.setPreviewDisplay(holder.getSurface());

        try {

            recorder.prepare();
        } catch (IllegalStateException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
            finish();
        } catch (IOException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
            finish();
        }
    }



    public void surfaceCreated(SurfaceHolder holder) {
        //camera = Camera.open(cameraType);
        prepareRecorder();
    }

    public void surfaceChanged(SurfaceHolder holder, int format, int width,
            int height) {
    }

    public void surfaceDestroyed(SurfaceHolder holder) {
        if (recording) {
            recorder.stop();
            recording = false;
            recorder.release();
        }
        recorder.release();
        //finish();
    }

    @Override
    public void onClick(View v) {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub

    }
}

there're no way to simply recordo to the front camera? thank's!

EDIT

This is my actual code (and it don't work if i try to open front camera)

      public void inizializzazione(){

          cameraView.setVisibility(0);


          boolean found = false;
             int i;

             for(i=0; i< Camera.getNumberOfCameras(); i++){
                 System.out.println("camera n " +i);
                 Camera.CameraInfo newInfo = new Camera.CameraInfo();
                 Camera. getCameraInfo(i, newInfo);

                 if (newInfo.facing == Camera.CameraInfo.CAMERA_FACING_FRONT) {
                     try {
                         found = true;
                        cam = Camera.open(i);
                        System.out.println("trovata la fotocamera frontale");
                     } catch (RuntimeException e) {
                         Log.e("Your_TAG", "Camera failed to open: " + e.getLocalizedMessage());
                     }


             }



            pathVideo = "/reg_" + System.currentTimeMillis() + ".mp4";
          File Directory = new File(Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory().getAbsolutePath() +"/CantaTu/");
           // have the object build the directory structure, if needed.
           Directory.mkdirs();
           File mediaFile = new File(Directory,pathVideo);

            if(mediaFile.exists()){
             mediaFile.delete();
            }



            recorder = new MediaRecorder();

             holder = cameraView.getHolder();
             holder.addCallback(this);
             holder.setType(SurfaceHolder.SURFACE_TYPE_PUSH_BUFFERS); 

            recorder.setAudioSource(MediaRecorder.AudioSource.DEFAULT);
            recorder.setVideoSource(1);

             CamcorderProfile cpHigh = CamcorderProfile.get(CamcorderProfile.QUALITY_HIGH);

            recorder.setProfile(cpHigh);

             recorder.setOutputFile(mediaFile.getAbsolutePath());
             recorder.setMaxDuration(400000); // 50 seconds

             recorder.setPreviewDisplay(holder.getSurface());




             try {
                 if(found == true){
                     recorder.setCamera(cam);
                 } 
                recorder.prepare();
            } catch (IllegalStateException e) {
                // TODO Auto-generated catch block
                e.printStackTrace();
            } catch (IOException e) {
                // TODO Auto-generated catch block
                e.printStackTrace();
            }

             recorder.start();

             scritta.setVisibility(0);
             caricamento.setVisibility(4);





      }

}

i have no idea why it don't open the front camera... The error is "start called in an invalid state" (Because it found the front camera, and try to set)

There are some special situations to take care of; like, *Nexus 7* and some other devices may only have a front-facing camera. Even though there is only one camera, you still are required to explicitly choose it by `id`. See also http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12010383/nexus-7-support-for-android-application-manifest-assembly — Alex Cohn, Jul 06 '13 at 12:59
i think's the problem's isn't n the manifest, because the front camera work exactly... i set android:required="false" on camera permision — Lele, Jul 06 '13 at 13:07

score 4 · Answer 1 · edited Jul 06 '13 at 12:54

4

You need to find the id of the front camera. To do that, go

boolean found = false;
int i;
for (i=0; i< Camera.getNumberOfCameras(); i++) {
    Camera.CameraInfo newInfo = new Camera.CameraInfo();
    Camera.getCameraInfo(i, newInfo);
    if (newInfo.facing == CameraInfo.CAMERA_FACING_FRONT) {
        found = true;
        break;
    }
}

If found is true, i is the front camera id. Then you need to open that camera and pass it in

recorder.setCamera(Camera.open(i));

edited Jul 06 '13 at 12:54

Alex Cohn

56,089
9
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answered Jul 06 '13 at 12:30

Gabe Sechan

90,003
9
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thak's, there're an error on if(newInfo.facing == CAMERA_FACING_FRONT CAMERA_FACING_FRONT is a simple string? – Lele Jul 06 '13 at 12:38
i try with "1" but don't work on recorder.setCamera(Camera.open(i)); java.illegalStateException i've inserted your code in initRecorder(), is correct? – Lele Jul 06 '13 at 12:45
should be `CameraInfo.CAMERA_FACING_FRONT`. – Alex Cohn Jul 06 '13 at 12:47
is newInfo.CAMERA_FACING_FRONT but it return true this is correct? if(found == true){ recorder.setCamera(Camera.open(i)); } recorder.setAudioSource(MediaRecorder.AudioSource.DEFAULT); recorder.setVideoSource(MediaRecorder.VideoSource.CAMERA); CamcorderProfile cpHigh = CamcorderProfile .get(CamcorderProfile.QUALITY_HIGH); recorder.setProfile(cpHigh); the error in on setProfile – Lele Jul 06 '13 at 12:54
@Lele: it could be that the front facing camera does not support `QUALITY_HIGH`. Which device do you test, and which system version? – Alex Cohn Jul 06 '13 at 12:57
i'm testing on a tablet with 2 mp front camera there're a way to set the max quality supported from the camera? – Lele Jul 06 '13 at 13:00
uhm now i'm setting video quality on Low, and QUALITY_480P but i've an error on the prepare() – Lele Jul 06 '13 at 13:09
@Lele: *i've an error on the prepare()*: would you like to be more specific? What is the exception, what does logcat show? – Alex Cohn Jul 06 '13 at 13:17
let us [continue this discussion in chat](http://chat.stackoverflow.com/rooms/32998/discussion-between-alex-cohn-and-lele) – Alex Cohn Jul 06 '13 at 13:19
Sorry to bump this! For those arriving here looking for an answer, make certain you are using ```CamcorderProfile.hasProfile(int,int)``` _as well as_ using ```CamcorderProfile.get(int,int)```. Failure to use both will result in getting the wrong profile. The default for both methods is to check/get the profile for the first back-facing camera. TL;DR you must use the camera id for both checking (```hasProfile```) as well getting (```get```). – BK- Feb 01 '16 at 21:07

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:31

1

it's too late to be answered but i ran into same problem and then finally I found out the problem on stack. You can set high profile for the back camera.

//For Front Camera
     CamcorderProfile cpHigh = CamcorderProfile.get(CamcorderProfile.QUALITY_HIGH);

but you can't set high profile for the front camera. I used 480P in my case like

//For back camera
     CamcorderProfile cpHigh = CamcorderProfile.get(CamcorderProfile.QUALITY_480P);

you can find details at this post. Android can't record video with Front Facing Camera, MediaRecorder start failed: -19

edited May 23 '17 at 12:31

Community

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answered Feb 19 '16 at 03:56

Awais Ahmad

427
3
17

2

yeahhh i know it but it can be helpful for some one else – Awais Ahmad Mar 04 '16 at 11:39

how to record from front camera

2 Answers2

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