Prototype the Recorder

Rather than simply jumping into Interface Builder and constructing your prototype there, visualize the elements first in a rough design sketch, thinking of the design elements you want to incorporate into the application.

In this prototype, you use three simple Cocoa objects: a QuickTime capture view, and two control buttons to start and stop the actual recording process. These are the building blocks for your application. After you’ve sketched them out, you can begin to think of how to hook them up in Interface Builder and what code you need in your Xcode project to make this happen.

Create the Project Using Xcode 3.2

Follow the same steps you performed when you created and built the MyMediaPlayer application, described in Creating a Simple QTKit Media Player Application.

To create the project:

1. Launch Xcode 3.2 and choose File > New Project.

2. When the new project window appears, select Cocoa Application and click Choose.

3. Name the project MyRecorder and navigate to the location where you want the Xcode application to create the project folder. The Xcode project window appears, as shown here.

   

4. Add the QTKit framework to your MyRecorder project.

   • From the Action menu in your Xcode project, choose Add > Add to Existing Frameworks.

   • In the /System/Library/Frameworks directory, select QTKit.framework.

   • Click the Target “MyMediaPlayer” Info panel and verify you have linked to the QTKit.framework and the Type Required is selected.

   This completes the first sequence of steps in your project. In the next sequence, you define actions and outlets in Xcode before working with Interface Builder.

Create the User Interface

Now you construct and implement the various user interface elements in your project.

1. Launch Interface Builder 3.2.

2. In your Xcode project window, open the MainMenu.xib file .

3. In Interface Builder 3.2, find the library of objects.

4. Set up the preview window.

   • Scroll down until you find the QuickTime Capture View object.

     

     The QTCaptureView object provides you with an instance of a view subclass to display a preview of the video output that is captured by a capture session.

   • Drag the QTCaptureView object into your window and resize the object to fit the window, allowing room for the two Start and Stop buttons in your QTKit recorder.

   • Click the object in the window.

     

   • Set the autosizing for the object in the Capture View Size panel, as illustrated below.

     

5. Define the window attributes of your MyRecorder Window.

   • Verify the controls, appearance, behavior, and memory items are checked, as shown in the illustration.

     

   • Create the Start and Stop buttons for the MyRecorder Window.

   • In the Library, select the Push Button control and drag it to the Window.

     

   • Enter the text Start and duplicate the button to create another button as Stop.

6. Set up the autosizing for your buttons (as shown in the illustration) by selecting the button and clicking the Button Size Inspector.

   

7. Add a controller, and name it.

   • In the Library, scroll down and select the blue cube control, which is an object (NSObject) you can instantiate as your controller.

   • Drag the object into your MainMenu.xib window.

   • Select the object and enter its name as My Recorder Controller. Then click the information icon in the Inspector.

   • When you click the Class Identity field, enter the first few letters of the class name into the text field. Interface Builder autocompletes it for you.

   The MyRecorderController object appears. If you have saved both your declaration and implementation files as specified in Determine the Actions and Outlets You Want, Interface Builder automatically updates the MyRecorderController class specified in your Xcode implementation file. To verify and reconfirm that an update has occurred, press Return. If the identify field is not automatically updated, you may need to specify manually that it is a MyRecorderController object.

Set Up a Preview of the Captured Video Output

In the next phase of your project, you continue working with Interface Builder and Xcode to construct and implement the various elements in your project. Because of the seamless integration between Interface Builder and Xcode, your code will run more efficiently and with less overhead.

1. In Interface Builder, hook up the MyRecorderController object to the QTCaptureView object.

   • Control-drag from the MyRecorderController object in your nib file to the QTCaptureView object.

   • A transparent panel appears, displaying the IBOutlet instance variable, mCaptureView, that you’ve specified in your declaration file.

   

2. Click the Interface Builder outlet mCaptureView to wire up the two objects.

Wire the Start and Stop Buttons

Now you’re ready to add your Start and Stop push buttons and wire them up in your MainMenu.nib window.

1. Control-drag each of the Start and Stop buttons from the window to the MyRecorderController object.

   • Click the startRecording: method in the transparent Received Actions panel to connect the Start button.

   • Likewise, click the stopRecording: method in the Received Actions panel to connect the Stop button.

   

2. Now hook up the window and the MyRecorderController object as a delegate.

   Control-drag a connection from the window to the MyRecorderController object and click the outlet, connecting the two objects.

   

3. To verify that you’ve correctly wired up your window object to your delegate object, select the Window and click the Window Connections Inspector icon.

   

4. Verify that you’ve correctly wired up your outlets and received actions.

   Select the My Recorder Controller object and click the My Recorder Controller Connections icon.

   

5. Check the My Recorder Controller Identity Inspector panel to confirm the class actions and class outlets.

   

6. Click the MainMenu.xib file to verify that Interface Builder and Xcode have worked together to synchronize the actions and outlets you’ve specified.

   A small green light appears at the left bottom corner of the MainMenu.xib file next to MyRecorder.xcodeproj to confirm this synchronization.

   

7. Save your nib file.

8. Verify that your QTKit MyRecorder application appears as shown in the illustration below.

   

You’ve now completed your work in Interface Builder 3.2. In this next sequence of steps, you return to your Xcode project and add a few lines of code in both your declaration and implementation files to build and compile the application.

Complete the Implementation of the MyRecorderController Class

To complete the implementation of the MyRecorderController class, you need to define the instance variables that point to the capture session, as well as to the input and output objects. In your Xcode project, you add the instance variables to the interface declaration.

1. Update your MyRecorderController.h declaration file:

   @interface MyRecorderController : NSObject {

   QTCaptureSession *mCaptureSession;

   QTCaptureMovieFileOutput *mCaptureMovieFileOutput;

   QTCaptureDeviceInput *mCaptureDeviceInput;

   The complete code for your declaration file should look like this:

   #import <Cocoa/Cocoa.h>

   #import <QTKit/QTKit.h>

   @interface MyRecorderController : NSObject {

   IBOutlet QTCaptureView *mCaptureView;

   QTCaptureSession *mCaptureSession;

   QTCaptureMovieFileOutput *mCaptureMovieFileOutput;

   QTCaptureDeviceInput *mCaptureDeviceInput;

   }

   - (IBAction)startRecording:(id)sender;

   - (IBAction)stopRecording:(id)sender;

   @end

   In the remaining steps, you modify the MyRecorderController.m implementation file. These steps are arranged in logical, though not necessarily rigid, order.

2. Create the capture session.

   - (void)awakeFromNib

   {

   mCaptureSession = [[QTCaptureSession alloc] init];

3. Connect inputs and outputs to the session.

   BOOL success = NO;

   NSError *error;

4. Find the device and create the device input. Then add it to the session.

   QTCaptureDevice *device = [QTCaptureDevice defaultInputDeviceWithMediaType:QTMediaTypeVideo];

   if (device) {

   success = [device open:&error];

   if (!success) {

   }

   mCaptureDeviceInput = [[QTCaptureDeviceInput alloc] initWithDevice:device];

   success = [mCaptureSession addInput:mCaptureDeviceInput error:&error];

   if (!success) {

   // Handle error

   }

5. Create the movie file output and add it to the session.

   mCaptureMovieFileOutput = [[QTCaptureMovieFileOutput alloc] init];

   success = [mCaptureSession addOutput:mCaptureMovieFileOutput error:&error];

   if (!success) {

   }

   [mCaptureMovieFileOutput setDelegate:self];

6. Specify the compression options with an identifier with a size for video and a quality for audio.

   NSEnumerator *connectionEnumerator = [[mCaptureMovieFileOutput connections] objectEnumerator];

   QTCaptureConnection *connection;

   while ((connection = [connectionEnumerator nextObject])) {

   NSString *mediaType = [connection mediaType];

   QTCompressionOptions *compressionOptions = nil;

   if ([mediaType isEqualToString:QTMediaTypeVideo]) {

   compressionOptions = [QTCompressionOptions compressionOptionsWithIdentifier:@"QTCompressionOptions240SizeH264Video"];

   } else if ([mediaType isEqualToString:QTMediaTypeSound]) {

   compressionOptions = [QTCompressionOptions compressionOptionsWithIdentifier:@"QTCompressionOptionsHighQualityAACAudio"];

   }

   [mCaptureMovieFileOutput setCompressionOptions:compressionOptions forConnection:connection];

7. Associate the capture view in the user interface with the session.

   [mCaptureView setCaptureSession:mCaptureSession];

   }

8. Start the capture session running.

   [mCaptureSession startRunning];

   }

9. Handle the closing of the window and notify for your input device, and then stop the capture session.

   - (void)windowWillClose:(NSNotification *)notification

   {

   [mCaptureSession stopRunning];

   [[mCaptureDeviceInput device] close];

   }

10. Deallocate memory.

    - (void)dealloc

    {

    [mCaptureSession release];

    [mCaptureDeviceInput release];

    [mCaptureMovieFileOutput release];

    [super dealloc];

    }

11. Implement start and stop actions, and specify the output destination for your recorded media, in this case a QuickTime movie (.mov) in your /Users/Shared folder.

    - (IBAction)startRecording:(id)sender

    {

    [mCaptureMovieFileOutput recordToOutputFileURL:[NSURL fileURLWithPath:@"/Users/Shared/My Recorded Movie.mov"]];

    }

    - (IBAction)stopRecording:(id)sender

    {

    [mCaptureMovieFileOutput recordToOutputFileURL:nil];

    }

12. Finish recording and then launch your recording as a QuickTime movie on your Desktop.

    - (void)captureOutput:(QTCaptureFileOutput *)captureOutput didFinishRecordingToOutputFileAtURL:(NSURL *)outputFileURL forConnections:(NSArray *)connections dueToError:(NSError *)error

    {

    [[NSWorkspace sharedWorkspace] openURL:outputFileURL];

    }

Build and Compile Your Recorder Application

After you’ve saved your project, click Build and Go. After compiling, click the Start button to record, and the Stop button to stop recording. The output of your captured session is saved as a QuickTime movie in the path you specified in this code sample.

Using a simple iSight camera, you now have the capability of capturing and recording media at a specific size and audio quality, and then outputting your recording to a QuickTime movie.

Summary

In this chapter, as a programmer, you focused on building a recorder application using three capture objects: QTCaptureSession, QTCaptureMovieFileOutput and QTCaptureDeviceInput. These were the essential building blocks for your project. You learned how to:

• Prototype and design the data model and controllers for your project in a rough sketch before constructing the actual user interface.

• Define two specific IB actions as buttons to start and stop recording.

• Create the user interface using the QTCaptureView plug-in from the Interface Builder library of controls.

• Wire up the control buttons for your user interface.

• Specify compression options with an identifier for the size of your recorded video and the for quality of your audio.

• Build and run the recorder application, using the iSight camera as your input device.