In the previous post, you learnt to use the MediaPlayer class to play, pause, and stop a sound file. In this Android tip, I am going to show you how to use the MediaPlayer class to play a 3gp video file. Playing the video file is simple as playing the sound file. However, you need a SurfaceView to display the video.

Now to demonstrate the video playing example with MediaPlayer, you will create a new Android project. Then modify the acitivity_main.xml file to add one SurfaceView as shown below.

<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
     xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
     android:layout_width="match_parent"
     android:layout_height="match_parent"
     android:orientation="vertical"
     android:paddingBottom="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
     android:paddingLeft="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
     android:paddingRight="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
     android:paddingTop="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
     tools:context=".MainActivity"
      
      >
    <SurfaceView
  	android:id="@+id/surfaceView1"
  	android:layout_width="wrap_content"
  	android:layout_height="wrap_content"
  	/>
  </LinearLayout>

  package com.example.andtip;
  import android.app.Activity;
  import android.os.Bundle;
  import android.view.Menu;
  import android.view.View;
  import android.graphics.PixelFormat;
  import android.media.MediaPlayer;
  import android.net.Uri;
  import android.view.SurfaceHolder;
  import android.view.SurfaceView;
  
  public class MainActivity extends Activity {
     MediaPlayer mPlayer;
     private SurfaceView surfaceView;
     SurfaceHolder surfaceHolder;
   	protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
     	//TODO Auto-generated method stub
     	super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
     	setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
     	//allow the window to select the format
     	getWindow().setFormat(PixelFormat.UNKNOWN);
     	//make a reference to the SurfaceVeiw
     	surfaceView = (SurfaceView) findViewById(R.id.surfaceView1);
     	//get surface holder
     	surfaceHolder = surfaceView.getHolder();
     	//set fixed surface size
     	surfaceHolder.setFixedSize(176, 144);  
     	//set Callback interface to the surface holder
     	surfaceHolder.addCallback(this);
     	//create a MediaPlayer instance
     	mPlayer=new MediaPlayer();
     }
      @Override
      public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
          getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.main, menu);
          //create a LayoutTransition object
          
    	 	  return true;
      }
      @Override
      public void surfaceChanged(SurfaceHolder holder, int format, int width,
      int height) {
      // TODO Auto-generated method stub
  
      }
  
      @Override
      public void surfaceCreated(SurfaceHolder holder) {
      // TODO Auto-generated method stub
     	 	//set the surface holder to use in displaying the video
     	   mPlayer.setDisplay(surfaceHolder);
     	   try {
     	   	//set data source to the video file
  				mPlayer.setDataSource(this, Uri.parse("android.resource://com.example.andtip/"+R.raw.pixarforbirds));
  				//prepare the MediaPlayer
  				mPlayer.prepare();
  				//start playing the video
  				mPlayer.start();
  			} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
  				// TODO Auto-generated catch block
  				e.printStackTrace();
  			} catch (SecurityException e) {
  				// TODO Auto-generated catch block
  				e.printStackTrace();
  			} catch (IllegalStateException e) {
  				// TODO Auto-generated catch block
  				e.printStackTrace();
  			} catch (IOException e) {
  				// TODO Auto-generated catch block
  				e.printStackTrace();
  			}
   			
      }
  
      @Override
      public void surfaceDestroyed(SurfaceHolder holder) {
      // TODO Auto-generated method stub
  
      }

Posted by: Dara | post date: 07-12-2014 | Subject: Android Apps Development