Custom Android camera preview with aspect ratio stretched

Question

I need to develop a custom camera app with some icons over it.

My first try was following the Android Camera Guide. And although I got it working well, with the icons on it, the aspect ratio was wrong. The preview showed the image stretched. So I researched a lot and none of the things I tried about preferred sizes seemed to work, always the preview size was stretched.

Then I tried reviewing the APIDemos code of the camera (thanks to this question: https://stackoverflow.com/a/12751221/1555573 ), and this worked perfectly. The idea is a little different from my first approach but it works.

The problem is that this example and solution is very simple, and only shows the camera. The idea is that the CameraPreview is also a ViewGroup, and is programatically added as the contentView of the Activity without using any layout file.

Is it possible to modify this example to add some icons (ImageButton) over the camera or to a side (the camera preview looks centered in the example but I guess that it wouldn't be difficult to modify it to be on one side) ?

The current code is this one:

/*
 * Copyright (C) 2007 The Android Open Source Project
 *
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 */

package com.example.android.apis.graphics;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.app.AlertDialog;
import android.content.Context;
import android.hardware.Camera;
import android.hardware.Camera.CameraInfo;
import android.hardware.Camera.Size;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuInflater;
import android.view.MenuItem;
import android.view.SurfaceHolder;
import android.view.SurfaceView;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.ViewGroup;
import android.view.Window;
import android.view.WindowManager;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.List;

// Need the following import to get access to the app resources, since this
// class is in a sub-package.
import com.example.android.apis.R;

// ----------------------------------------------------------------------

public class CameraPreview extends Activity {
    private Preview mPreview;
    Camera mCamera;
    int numberOfCameras;
    int cameraCurrentlyLocked;

    // The first rear facing camera
    int defaultCameraId;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

        // Hide the window title.
        requestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_NO_TITLE);
        getWindow().addFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN);

        // Create a RelativeLayout container that will hold a SurfaceView,
        // and set it as the content of our activity.
        mPreview = new Preview(this);
        setContentView(mPreview);

        // Find the total number of cameras available
        numberOfCameras = Camera.getNumberOfCameras();

        // Find the ID of the default camera
        CameraInfo cameraInfo = new CameraInfo();
            for (int i = 0; i < numberOfCameras; i++) {
                Camera.getCameraInfo(i, cameraInfo);
                if (cameraInfo.facing == CameraInfo.CAMERA_FACING_BACK) {
                    defaultCameraId = i;
                }
            }
    }

    @Override
    protected void onResume() {
        super.onResume();

        // Open the default i.e. the first rear facing camera.
        mCamera = Camera.open();
        cameraCurrentlyLocked = defaultCameraId;
        mPreview.setCamera(mCamera);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onPause() {
        super.onPause();

        // Because the Camera object is a shared resource, it's very
        // important to release it when the activity is paused.
        if (mCamera != null) {
            mPreview.setCamera(null);
            mCamera.release();
            mCamera = null;
        }
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {

        // Inflate our menu which can gather user input for switching camera
        MenuInflater inflater = getMenuInflater();
        inflater.inflate(R.menu.camera_menu, menu);
        return true;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
        // Handle item selection
        switch (item.getItemId()) {
        case R.id.switch_cam:
            // check for availability of multiple cameras
            if (numberOfCameras == 1) {
                AlertDialog.Builder builder = new AlertDialog.Builder(this);
                builder.setMessage(this.getString(R.string.camera_alert))
                       .setNeutralButton("Close", null);
                AlertDialog alert = builder.create();
                alert.show();
                return true;
            }

            // OK, we have multiple cameras.
            // Release this camera -> cameraCurrentlyLocked
            if (mCamera != null) {
                mCamera.stopPreview();
                mPreview.setCamera(null);
                mCamera.release();
                mCamera = null;
            }

            // Acquire the next camera and request Preview to reconfigure
            // parameters.
            mCamera = Camera
                    .open((cameraCurrentlyLocked + 1) % numberOfCameras);
            cameraCurrentlyLocked = (cameraCurrentlyLocked + 1)
                    % numberOfCameras;
            mPreview.switchCamera(mCamera);

            // Start the preview
            mCamera.startPreview();
            return true;
        default:
            return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
        }
    }
}

// ----------------------------------------------------------------------

/**
 * A simple wrapper around a Camera and a SurfaceView that renders a centered preview of the Camera
 * to the surface. We need to center the SurfaceView because not all devices have cameras that
 * support preview sizes at the same aspect ratio as the device's display.
 */
class Preview extends ViewGroup implements SurfaceHolder.Callback {
    private final String TAG = "Preview";

    SurfaceView mSurfaceView;
    SurfaceHolder mHolder;
    Size mPreviewSize;
    List mSupportedPreviewSizes;
    Camera mCamera;

    Preview(Context context) {
        super(context);

        mSurfaceView = new SurfaceView(context);
        addView(mSurfaceView);

        // Install a SurfaceHolder.Callback so we get notified when the
        // underlying surface is created and destroyed.
        mHolder = mSurfaceView.getHolder();
        mHolder.addCallback(this);
        mHolder.setType(SurfaceHolder.SURFACE_TYPE_PUSH_BUFFERS);
    }

    public void setCamera(Camera camera) {
        mCamera = camera;
        if (mCamera != null) {
            mSupportedPreviewSizes = mCamera.getParameters().getSupportedPreviewSizes();
            requestLayout();
        }
    }

    public void switchCamera(Camera camera) {
       setCamera(camera);
       try {
           camera.setPreviewDisplay(mHolder);
       } catch (IOException exception) {
           Log.e(TAG, "IOException caused by setPreviewDisplay()", exception);
       }
       Camera.Parameters parameters = camera.getParameters();
       parameters.setPreviewSize(mPreviewSize.width, mPreviewSize.height);
       requestLayout();

       camera.setParameters(parameters);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onMeasure(int widthMeasureSpec, int heightMeasureSpec) {
        // We purposely disregard child measurements because act as a
        // wrapper to a SurfaceView that centers the camera preview instead
        // of stretching it.
        final int width = resolveSize(getSuggestedMinimumWidth(), widthMeasureSpec);
        final int height = resolveSize(getSuggestedMinimumHeight(), heightMeasureSpec);
        setMeasuredDimension(width, height);

        if (mSupportedPreviewSizes != null) {
            mPreviewSize = getOptimalPreviewSize(mSupportedPreviewSizes, width, height);
        }
    }

    @Override
    protected void onLayout(boolean changed, int l, int t, int r, int b) {
        if (changed && getChildCount() > 0) {
            final View child = getChildAt(0);

            final int width = r - l;
            final int height = b - t;

            int previewWidth = width;
            int previewHeight = height;
            if (mPreviewSize != null) {
                previewWidth = mPreviewSize.width;
                previewHeight = mPreviewSize.height;
            }

            // Center the child SurfaceView within the parent.
            if (width * previewHeight > height * previewWidth) {
                final int scaledChildWidth = previewWidth * height / previewHeight;
                child.layout((width - scaledChildWidth) / 2, 0,
                        (width + scaledChildWidth) / 2, height);
            } else {
                final int scaledChildHeight = previewHeight * width / previewWidth;
                child.layout(0, (height - scaledChildHeight) / 2,
                        width, (height + scaledChildHeight) / 2);
            }
        }
    }

    public void surfaceCreated(SurfaceHolder holder) {
        // The Surface has been created, acquire the camera and tell it where
        // to draw.
        try {
            if (mCamera != null) {
                mCamera.setPreviewDisplay(holder);
            }
        } catch (IOException exception) {
            Log.e(TAG, "IOException caused by setPreviewDisplay()", exception);
        }
    }

    public void surfaceDestroyed(SurfaceHolder holder) {
        // Surface will be destroyed when we return, so stop the preview.
        if (mCamera != null) {
            mCamera.stopPreview();
        }
    }


    private Size getOptimalPreviewSize(List sizes, int w, int h) {
        final double ASPECT_TOLERANCE = 0.1;
        double targetRatio = (double) w / h;
        if (sizes == null) return null;

        Size optimalSize = null;
        double minDiff = Double.MAX_VALUE;

        int targetHeight = h;

        // Try to find an size match aspect ratio and size
        for (Size size : sizes) {
            double ratio = (double) size.width / size.height;
            if (Math.abs(ratio - targetRatio) > ASPECT_TOLERANCE) continue;
            if (Math.abs(size.height - targetHeight) < minDiff) {
                optimalSize = size;
                minDiff = Math.abs(size.height - targetHeight);
            }
        }

        // Cannot find the one match the aspect ratio, ignore the requirement
        if (optimalSize == null) {
            minDiff = Double.MAX_VALUE;
            for (Size size : sizes) {
                if (Math.abs(size.height - targetHeight) < minDiff) {
                    optimalSize = size;
                    minDiff = Math.abs(size.height - targetHeight);
                }
            }
        }
        return optimalSize;
    }

    public void surfaceChanged(SurfaceHolder holder, int format, int w, int h) {
        // Now that the size is known, set up the camera parameters and begin
        // the preview.
        Camera.Parameters parameters = mCamera.getParameters();
        parameters.setPreviewSize(mPreviewSize.width, mPreviewSize.height);
        requestLayout();

        mCamera.setParameters(parameters);
        mCamera.startPreview();
    }

}

I tried to do some research of the Android code for the Camera, but is really complex and I was hoping to find some simple solution to this... Has anyone have some app working well similar to what I need?

Custom Android camera preview with aspect ratio stretched

Answers (1)

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