ios MPMoviePlayerController can't play local files on simulator

Question

I'm new here. I'm already 2 days browsing for solutions, but unhappy.

Here is my code:

NSString *docPath = [NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains (NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES) objectAtIndex:0];
NSString *docaPathFull = [docPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"/IMG_0003.m4v"];
self.videoURL = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:docaPathFull];

MPMoviePlayerController *player = [[MPMoviePlayerController alloc] initWithContentURL:videoURL];
UIImage  *thumbnail = [player thumbnailImageAtTime:4.0 timeOption:MPMovieTimeOptionExact];
player = nil;       
self.imageView.image = thumbnail;

Problem is, i can't make video file visible for MPMoviePlayerController. I can't get thumbnail and I can't play it, just black player and loading infinity.

I did try:

NSString*thePath=[[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:@"IMG_0003" ofType:@"m4v"];
self.videoURLtheurl=[NSURL fileURLWithPath:thePath];

and this

self.videoURL = [[NSBundle mainBundle] URLForResource:@"IMG_0005" withExtension:@"mov"];

and this

NSString *filePath = @"/Users/[user]/Documents/video/IMG_0004.mov";
self.videoURL = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:filePath];

If you have any ideas how to save my life, please do!!!

Many thanks for you time.

What is the exact path of the video? is it in the documents directory or in the app bundle? *confused* — Ushan87, May 02 '13 at 14:11

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered May 02 '13 at 14:49

1

Actually this is my working example from my project. Make sure you added your m4v file to your project. The notification was a need for me, maybe it is not necessary for you.

theMovie = [[MPMoviePlayerController alloc] initWithContentURL:
    [NSURL fileURLWithPath: [[NSBundle mainBundle] 
    pathForResource:@"yourmovie" ofType:@"m4v"]]];

theMovie.view.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, 320, 480);
[theMovie setControlStyle:MPMovieControlStyleNone];
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self 
                                         selector:@selector(moviePlayBackDidFinish:) 
                                             name:MPMoviePlayerPlaybackDidFinishNotification 
                                           object:theMovie];
[self.view addSubview:theMovie.view];    
[theMovie play];

answered May 02 '13 at 14:49

nzs

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17
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Thanks. It is a difference where in the project file is locating? – Robertas Uldukis May 02 '13 at 15:01
Here is a error generated with your code: 2013-05-02 16:15:13.592 iphone[15317:18e03] *** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInvalidArgumentException', reason: '*** -[NSURL initFileURLWithPath:]: nil string parameter' – Robertas Uldukis May 02 '13 at 15:15
it is only a guess but if your NSBundle mainBundle returns nil it is maybe because you created a Command Line Tool type of project... see this: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3949368/nsbundle-pathforresource-is-null – nzs May 02 '13 at 21:06
Or simply the file is not part of your project. You can double check this by accessing your project's Build Phases / Copy Bundle Resources. You should be locate your movie file there. Right click on it and check Show in Finder and/or Reveal in Project Navigator. It should appear at both places.. hope it helps you! – nzs May 02 '13 at 21:11

Thilina Chamath Hewagama · Answer 2 · 2013-05-02T14:11:05.297

0

You can use following method to get a thumbnail image for a given Video Url,

    -(UIImage *) giveThumbofVideoUrl:(NSURL *) url{
            NSString *urlString = [url absoluteString];
            AVAsset *asset = [AVAsset assetWithURL:url];
            AVAssetImageGenerator *imageGenerator = [[AVAssetImageGenerator alloc]initWithAsset:asset];
            imageGenerator.appliesPreferredTrackTransform = YES;
            //imageGenerator.maximumSize = CGSizeMake(320,480);
            CMTime time = CMTimeMake(1, 1);
            CGImageRef imageRef = [imageGenerator copyCGImageAtTime:time actualTime:NULL error:NULL];
            UIImage *image = [UIImage imageWithCGImage:imageRef];
            CGImageRelease(imageRef);
    return image;
   }

How you can use it ?,

NSString*thePath=[[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:@"IMG_0003" ofType:@"m4v"];
NSURL *movieUrl=[NSURL fileURLWithPath:thePath];
UIImage  *thumbnail = [self giveThumbofVideoUrl:movieUrl];

edited May 02 '13 at 14:11

answered May 02 '13 at 14:05

Thilina Chamath Hewagama

9,039
3
32
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Thanks for that fast response, but i need to play this file to. So MPMoviePlayerController it will be perfect solution. I can play files from http, but localy, no. – Robertas Uldukis May 02 '13 at 14:11
Make sure you define the moviePlayer variable globally, @property(nonatomic, strong) MPMoviePlayerController *player; also you should add the moviePlayer.view as a subview to the self.view – Thilina Chamath Hewagama May 02 '13 at 14:14
from http url player is working fine, but is not working, when i change url from http to local. – Robertas Uldukis May 02 '13 at 15:02

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 01 '15 at 13:59

MPMoviePlayerController is Deprecated Now. So I have used AVPlayerViewController. and written the following code:

NSURL *videoURL = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:filePath];
    //filePath may be from the Bundle or from the Saved file Directory, it is just the path for the video
    AVPlayer *player = [AVPlayer playerWithURL:videoURL];
    AVPlayerViewController *playerViewController = [AVPlayerViewController new];
    playerViewController.player = player;
    //[playerViewController.player play];//Used to Play On start
    [self presentViewController:playerViewController animated:YES completion:nil];

Please do not forget to import following frameworks:

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

Hope this Helps..

ios MPMoviePlayerController can't play local files on simulator

3 Answers3