Android Camera - Work in the background from a service

Question

I am trying to start the camera in the background of a service. I followed the method shown in How to use the camera to shoot in the background on Android? , Shooting from the camera without preview . This is what I did

ExperimentalControl.java

package com.example.test2; import android.app.Service; import android.content.Intent; import android.os.IBinder; import android.util.Log; public class ExperimentControl extends Service { VideoRecorder vRecorder; public ExperimentControl() { Log.i("EXPERIMENT","ExperimentControl started!!!"); } @Override public IBinder onBind(Intent intent) { return null; } public int onStartCommand(Intent intent, int flags, int startId) { vRecorder = new VideoRecorder(); vRecorder.startRecording(getApplicationContext()); return START_STICKY; } public void onDestroy() { vRecorder=null; } } 

VideoRecorder.java

 package com.example.test2; import java.io.IOException; import android.content.Context; import android.hardware.Camera; import android.media.MediaRecorder; import android.util.Log; import android.view.Surface; import android.view.SurfaceHolder; import android.view.SurfaceView; public class VideoRecorder implements SurfaceHolder.Callback { String videofolder = android.os.Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory()+"/Record/"; private final String VIDEO_PATH_NAME = videofolder+"test.mp4"; private MediaRecorder mMediaRecorder; private Camera mCamera; private SurfaceView mSurfaceView; private SurfaceHolder mHolder; private boolean mInitSuccesful; void startRecording(Context context) { Log.v("Surya2","here"); mSurfaceView = new SurfaceView(context); mHolder = mSurfaceView.getHolder(); mHolder.addCallback(this); mMediaRecorder.start(); try { Thread.sleep(10 * 1000); } catch (Exception e) { e.printStackTrace(); } //finish(); Log.v("Surya4","here"); } private void initRecorder(Surface surface) throws IOException { if(mCamera == null) { mCamera = Camera.open(); mCamera.unlock(); } if(mMediaRecorder == null) mMediaRecorder = new MediaRecorder(); mMediaRecorder.setPreviewDisplay(surface); mMediaRecorder.setCamera(mCamera); mMediaRecorder.setVideoSource(MediaRecorder.VideoSource.DEFAULT); mMediaRecorder.setOutputFormat(MediaRecorder.OutputFormat.MPEG_4); mMediaRecorder.setVideoEncoder(MediaRecorder.VideoEncoder.H264); mMediaRecorder.setVideoEncodingBitRate(512 * 1000); mMediaRecorder.setVideoFrameRate(30); mMediaRecorder.setVideoSize(640, 480); mMediaRecorder.setOutputFile(VIDEO_PATH_NAME); try { mMediaRecorder.prepare(); } catch (IllegalStateException e) { e.printStackTrace(); } mInitSuccesful = true; } @Override public void surfaceCreated(SurfaceHolder holder) { try { Log.v("Surya3","here"); if(!mInitSuccesful) initRecorder(mHolder.getSurface()); } catch (IOException e) { e.printStackTrace(); } } @Override public void surfaceDestroyed(SurfaceHolder holder) { shutdown(); } @Override public void surfaceChanged(SurfaceHolder holder, int format, int width, int height) {} private void shutdown() { // Release MediaRecorder and especially the Camera as it a shared // object that can be used by other applications mMediaRecorder.stop(); mMediaRecorder.reset(); mMediaRecorder.release(); mCamera.release(); // once the objects have been released they can't be reused mMediaRecorder = null; mCamera = null; } } 

manifest.xml

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" package="com.example.test2" android:versionCode="1" android:versionName="1.0" > <uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="8" android:targetSdkVersion="17" /> <uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera" /> <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.RECORD_AUDIO" /> <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CAMERA"/> <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" /> <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET"/> <uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera.autofocus" /> <application android:allowBackup="true" android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher" android:label="@string/app_name" android:theme="@style/AppTheme" > <service android:name=".ExperimentControl" /> </application> </manifest> 

Is it correct? And the main problem that I am facing is that it does not show any errors and does not exit the log. So I can’t determine what causes the problem, but the video is not recorded. Can someone please correct me?

Thank you in advance

Answer 1

Try using a service context to invoke the initial entry

 vRecorder.startRecording(this); 

You should avoid using ApplicationContext to create views. I had a similar problem when I tried to create an AlertDialog based on ApplicationContext. There were no errors, but now a dialogue was shown.

Hope this helps!