flutter_ffmpeg

flutter_ffmpeg

FFmpeg plugin for Flutter. Supports iOS and Android.

1. Features

• Based on MobileFFmpeg
• Includes both FFmpeg and FFprobe

• Supports

  • Both Android and iOS
  • Both Android (API Level 16+) and iOS (SDK 9.3+)
  • FFmpeg v4.1, v4.2 and v4.3-dev releases
  • arm-v7a, arm-v7a-neon, arm64-v8a, x86 and x86_64 architectures on Android
  • armv7, armv7s, arm64, arm64e, i386 and x86_64 architectures on iOS

  • 24 external libraries

    fontconfig, freetype, fribidi, gmp, gnutls, kvazaar, lame, libaom, libass, libiconv, libilbc, libtheora, libvorbis, libvpx, libwebp, libxml2, opencore-amr, opus, shine, snappy, soxr, speex, twolame, wavpack

  • 4 external libraries with GPL license

    vid.stab, x264, x265, xvidcore

  • Concurrent execution

  • zlib and MediaCodec Android system libraries

  • bzip2, zlib, iconv iOS system libraries and AudioToolbox, CoreImage, VideoToolbox, AVFoundation iOS system frameworks

• Licensed under LGPL 3.0, can be customized to support GPL v3.0

• Includes eight different packages with different external libraries enabled in FFmpeg

	min	min-gpl	https	https-gpl	audio	video	full	full-gpl
external libraries	-	vid.stab x264 x265 xvidcore	gmp gnutls	gmp gnutls vid.stab x264 x265 xvidcore	lame libilbc libvorbis opencore-amr opus shine soxr speex twolame wavpack	fontconfig freetype fribidi kvazaar libaom libass libiconv libtheora libvpx libwebp snappy	fontconfig freetype fribidi gmp gnutls kvazaar lame libaom libass libiconv libilbc libtheora libvorbis libvpx libwebp libxml2 opencore-amr opus shine snappy soxr speex twolame wavpack	fontconfig freetype fribidi gmp gnutls kvazaar lame libaom libass libiconv libilbc libtheora libvorbis libvpx libwebp libxml2 opencore-amr opus shine snappy soxr speex twolame vid.stab wavpack x264 x265 xvidcore
android system libraries	zlib MediaCodec
ios system libraries	zlib AudioToolbox AVFoundation CoreImage iconv VideoToolbox bzip2

2. Installation

Add flutter_ffmpeg as a dependency in your pubspec.yaml file.

dependencies:
    flutter_ffmpeg: ^0.2.10

2.1 Packages

Installation of FlutterFFmpeg using pub enables the default package, which is based on https package. It is possible to enable other packages using the following steps.

2.1.1 Android

• Edit android/build.gradle file and define package name in ext.flutterFFmpegPackage variable.

  ext {
      flutterFFmpegPackage  = "<package name>"
  }
  
  

2.1.2 iOS (Flutter >= 1.20.x)

• Edit ios/Podfile and add the following block before target 'Runner do section :

  # "fork" of method flutter_install_ios_plugin_pods (in fluttertools podhelpers.rb) to get lts version of ffmpeg
  def flutter_install_ios_plugin_pods(ios_application_path = nil)
   # defined_in_file is set by CocoaPods and is a Pathname to the Podfile.
    ios_application_path ||= File.dirname(defined_in_file.realpath) if self.respond_to?(:defined_in_file)
    raise 'Could not find iOS application path' unless ios_application_path
  
    # Prepare symlinks folder. We use symlinks to avoid having Podfile.lock
    # referring to absolute paths on developers' machines.
  
    symlink_dir = File.expand_path('.symlinks', ios_application_path)
    system('rm', '-rf', symlink_dir) # Avoid the complication of dependencies like FileUtils.
  
    symlink_plugins_dir = File.expand_path('plugins', symlink_dir)
    system('mkdir', '-p', symlink_plugins_dir)
  
    plugins_file = File.join(ios_application_path, '..', '.flutter-plugins-dependencies')
    plugin_pods = flutter_parse_plugins_file(plugins_file)
    plugin_pods.each do |plugin_hash|
      plugin_name = plugin_hash['name']
      plugin_path = plugin_hash['path']
  
      if (plugin_name && plugin_path)
          symlink = File.join(symlink_plugins_dir, plugin_name)
          File.symlink(plugin_path, symlink)
  
          if plugin_name == 'flutter_ffmpeg'
              pod plugin_name+'/<package name>', :path => File.join('.symlinks', 'plugins', plugin_name, 'ios')
          else
              pod plugin_name, :path => File.join('.symlinks', 'plugins', plugin_name, 'ios')
          end
      end
    end
  

• Ensure that flutter_install_all_ios_pods File.dirname(File.realpath(__FILE__)) function is called within target 'Runner' do block. In that case, it is mandatory that the added function is named flutter_install_ios_plugin_pods and that you do not make an explicit call within that block.

2.1.3 iOS (Flutter < 1.20.x)

• Edit ios/Podfile file and modify the default # Plugin Pods block as follows. Do not forget to specify package name in <package name> section.

  # Prepare symlinks folder. We use symlinks to avoid having Podfile.lock
  # referring to absolute paths on developers' machines.
  system('rm -rf .symlinks')
  system('mkdir -p .symlinks/plugins')
  plugin_pods = parse_KV_file('../.flutter-plugins')
  plugin_pods.each do |name, path|
    symlink = File.join('.symlinks', 'plugins', name)
    File.symlink(path, symlink)
    if name == 'flutter_ffmpeg'
        pod name+'/<package name>', :path => File.join(symlink, 'ios')
    else
        pod name, :path => File.join(symlink, 'ios')
    end
  end
  

2.1.4 Package Names

The following table shows all package names defined for flutter_ffmpeg.

Package	Main Release	LTS Release
min	min	min-lts
min-gpl	min-gpl	min-gpl-lts
https	https	https-lts
https-gpl	https-gpl	https-gpl-lts
audio	audio	audio-lts
video	video	video-lts
full	full	full-lts
full-gpl	full-gpl	full-gpl-lts

2.2 Existing Applications

It is possible to add flutter_ffmpeg to existing applications using Add-to-App guide.

Please execute the following additional steps if you are integrating into an iOS application.

1. Go to Build Phases of Pods -> FlutterPluginRegistrant target and add all frameworks under the Pods/mobile-ffmpeg-<package name> directory to the Link Binary With Libraries section

2. Go to Build Phases of Pods -> FlutterPluginRegistrant target and add all system libraries/frameworks listed in Step 4 of Importing-Frameworks guide to the Link Binary With Libraries section

3. Go to Build Phases of Pods -> FlutterPluginRegistrant target and add AVFoundation system framework to the Link Binary With Libraries section

2.3 LTS Releases

flutter_ffmpeg is published in two different variants: Main Release and LTS Release. Both releases share the same source code but is built with different settings. Below you can see the changes between the two.

In order to install the LTS variant, install the https-lts package using instructions in 2.1 or append -lts to the package name you are using.

	Main Release	LTS Release
Android API Level	24	16
Android Camera Access	Yes	-
Android Architectures	arm-v7a-neon arm64-v8a x86 x86-64	arm-v7a arm-v7a-neon arm64-v8a x86 x86-64
Xcode Support	10.1	7.3.1
iOS SDK	12.1	9.3
iOS Architectures	arm64 arm64e x86-64	armv7 arm64 i386 x86-64

3. Using

1. Execute FFmpeg commands.

   • Use execute() method with a single command line

     import 'package:flutter_ffmpeg/flutter_ffmpeg.dart';
     
     final FlutterFFmpeg _flutterFFmpeg = new FlutterFFmpeg();
     
     _flutterFFmpeg.execute("-i file1.mp4 -c:v mpeg4 file2.mp4").then((rc) => print("FFmpeg process exited with rc $rc"));
     

   • Use executeWithArguments() method with an array of arguments

     import 'package:flutter_ffmpeg/flutter_ffmpeg.dart';
     
     final FlutterFFmpeg _flutterFFmpeg = new FlutterFFmpeg();
     
     var arguments = ["-i", "file1.mp4", "-c:v", "mpeg4", "file2.mp4"];
     _flutterFFmpeg.executeWithArguments(arguments).then((rc) => print("FFmpeg process exited with rc $rc"));
     

2. Execute FFprobe commands.

   • Use execute() method with a single command line

     import 'package:flutter_ffmpeg/flutter_ffmpeg.dart';
     
     final FlutterFFprobe _flutterFFprobe = new FlutterFFprobe();
     
     _flutterFFprobe.execute("-i file1.mp4").then((rc) => print("FFprobe process exited with rc $rc"));
     

   • Use executeWithArguments() method with an array of arguments

     import 'package:flutter_ffmpeg/flutter_ffmpeg.dart';
     
     final FlutterFFprobe _flutterFFprobe = new FlutterFFprobe();
     
     var arguments = ["-i", "file1.mp4"];
     _flutterFFprobe.executeWithArguments(arguments).then((rc) => print("FFprobe process exited with rc $rc"));
     

3. Check execution output. Zero represents successful execution, non-zero values represent failure.

      
   final FlutterFFmpegConfig _flutterFFmpegConfig = new FlutterFFmpegConfig();
      
   _flutterFFmpegConfig.getLastReturnCode().then((rc) => print("Last rc: $rc"));
   
   _flutterFFmpegConfig.getLastCommandOutput().then((output) => print("Last command output: $output"));
   

4. Stop an ongoing operation. Note that this function does not wait for termination to complete and returns immediately.

   _flutterFFmpeg.cancel();
   

5. Get media information for a file.

   • Print all fields

     final FlutterFFprobe _flutterFFprobe = new FlutterFFprobe();
     
     _flutterFFprobe.getMediaInformation("<file path or uri>").then((info) => print(info));
     

   • Print selected fields

     final FlutterFFprobe _flutterFFprobe = new FlutterFFprobe();
     
     _flutterFFprobe.getMediaInformation("<file path or uri>").then((info) {
     print("Media Information");
     
     print("Path: ${info['path']}");
     print("Format: ${info['format']}");
     print("Duration: ${info['duration']}");
     print("Start time: ${info['startTime']}");
     print("Bitrate: ${info['bitrate']}");
     
     if (info['streams'] != null) {
         final streamsInfoArray = info['streams'];
     
         if (streamsInfoArray.length > 0) {
             for (var streamsInfo in streamsInfoArray) {
                 print("Stream id: ${streamsInfo['index']}");
                 print("Stream type: ${streamsInfo['type']}");
                 print("Stream codec: ${streamsInfo['codec']}");
                 print("Stream full codec: ${streamsInfo['fullCodec']}");
                 print("Stream format: ${streamsInfo['format']}");
                 print("Stream full format: ${streamsInfo['fullFormat']}");
                 print("Stream width: ${streamsInfo['width']}");
                 print("Stream height: ${streamsInfo['height']}");
                 print("Stream bitrate: ${streamsInfo['bitrate']}");
                 print("Stream sample rate: ${streamsInfo['sampleRate']}");
                 print("Stream sample format: ${streamsInfo['sampleFormat']}");
                 print("Stream channel layout: ${streamsInfo['channelLayout']}");
                 print("Stream sar: ${streamsInfo['sampleAspectRatio']}");
                 print("Stream dar: ${streamsInfo['displayAspectRatio']}");
                 print("Stream average frame rate: ${streamsInfo['averageFrameRate']}");
                 print("Stream real frame rate: ${streamsInfo['realFrameRate']}");
                 print("Stream time base: ${streamsInfo['timeBase']}");
                 print("Stream codec time base: ${streamsInfo['codecTimeBase']}");
     
                 final metadataMap = streamsInfo['metadata'];
                 if (metadataMap != null) {
                     print('Stream metadata encoder: ${metadataMap['encoder']}');
                     print('Stream metadata rotate: ${metadataMap['rotate']}');
                     print('Stream metadata creation time: ${metadataMap['creation_time']}');
                     print('Stream metadata handler name: ${metadataMap['handler_name']}');
                 }
         
                 final sideDataMap = streamsInfo['sidedata'];
                 if (sideDataMap != null) {
                     print('Stream side data displaymatrix: ${sideDataMap['displaymatrix']}');
                 }
             }
         }
     }
     
     

6. Enable log callback and redirect all FFmpeg/FFprobe logs to a console/file/widget.

   void logCallback(int level, String message) {
       print(message);
   }
   ...
   _flutterFFmpegConfig.enableLogCallback(this.logCallback);
   

7. Enable statistics callback and follow the progress of an ongoing FFmpeg operation.

   void statisticsCallback(int time, int size, double bitrate, double speed, int videoFrameNumber, double videoQuality, double videoFps) {
       print("Statistics: time: $time, size: $size, bitrate: $bitrate, speed: $speed, videoFrameNumber: $videoFrameNumber, videoQuality: $videoQuality, videoFps: $videoFps");
   }
   ...
   _flutterFFmpegConfig.enableStatisticsCallback(this.statisticsCallback);
   

8. Poll statistics without implementing statistics callback.

   _flutterFFmpegConfig.getLastReceivedStatistics().then((stats) => print(stats));
   

9. Reset statistics before starting a new operation.

   _flutterFFmpegConfig.resetStatistics();
   

10. Set log level.

    _flutterFFmpegConfig.setLogLevel(LogLevel.AV_LOG_WARNING);
    

11. Register your own fonts by specifying a custom fonts directory, so they are available to use in FFmpeg filters. Please note that this function can not work on relative paths, you need to provide full file system path.

    _flutterFFmpegConfig.setFontDirectory("<folder with fonts>");
    

12. Use your own fontconfig configuration.

    _flutterFFmpegConfig.setFontconfigConfigurationPath("<fontconfig configuration directory>");
    

13. Disable log functionality of the library. Logs will not be printed to console and log callback will be disabled.

    _flutterFFmpegConfig.disableLogs();
    

14. Disable statistics functionality of the library. Statistics callback will be disabled but the last received statistics data will be still available.

    _flutterFFmpegConfig.disableStatistics();
    

15. List enabled external libraries.

    _flutterFFmpegConfig.getExternalLibraries().then((packageList) {
         packageList.forEach((value) => print("External library: $value"));
    });
    

16. Create new FFmpeg pipe.

    _flutterFFmpegConfig.registerNewFFmpegPipe().then((path) {
         then((stats) => print("New ffmpeg pipe at $path"));
    });
    

4. Tips

• flutter_ffmpeg uses file system paths, it does not know what an assets folder or a project folder is. So you can't use resources on those folders directly, you need to provide full paths of those resources.

• flutter_ffmpeg requires ios deployment target to be at least 9.3. If you don't specify a deployment target or set a value smaller than 9.3 then your build will fail with the following error.

  Resolving dependencies of `Podfile`
  [!] CocoaPods could not find compatible versions for pod "flutter_ffmpeg":
    In Podfile:
      flutter_ffmpeg (from `.symlinks/plugins/flutter_ffmpeg/ios`)
      
  Specs satisfying the `flutter_ffmpeg (from `.symlinks/plugins/flutter_ffmpeg/ios`)` dependency were found, but they required a higher minimum
  deployment target.
  

You can fix this issue by adding platform :ios, '9.3' definition to your ios/Podfile file.

```
platform :ios, '9.3'
```

• flutter_ffmpeg includes native libraries that require ios deployment target to be at least 9.3. If a deployment target is not set or a value smaller than 9.3 is used then your build will fail with the following error.

  ld: targeted OS version does not support use of thread local variables in __gnutls_rnd_deinit for architecture x86_64
  clang: error: linker command failed with exit code 1 (use -v to see invocation)
  

Unfortunately the latest versions of Flutter and Cocoapods have some issues about setting ios deployment target from Podfile. Having platform :ios, '9.3' in your Podfile is not enough. Runner project still uses the default value 8.0. You need to open Runner.xcworkspace in Xcode and set iOS Deployment Target of Runner project to 9.3 manually.

<img src="https://github.com/tanersener/flutter-ffmpeg/raw/development/doc/assets/tip_runner_deployment_target.png" width="480">

• Enabling ProGuard on releases older than v0.2.4 causes linking errors. Please add the following rule inside your proguard-rules.pro file to preserve necessary method names and prevent linking errors.

  -keep class com.arthenica.mobileffmpeg.Config {
      native <methods>;
      void log(int, byte[]);
      void statistics(int, float, float, long , int, double, double);
  }
  

• ffmpeg requires a valid fontconfig configuration to render subtitles. Unfortunately, Android does not include a default fontconfig configuration. So if you do not register a font or specify a fontconfig configuration under Android, then the burning process will not produce any errors but subtitles won't be burned in your file. You can overcome this situation by registering a font using setFontDirectory method or specifying your own fontconfig configuration using setFontconfigConfigurationPath method.

• By default, Xcode compresses PNG files during packaging. If you use .png files in your commands make sure you set the following two settings to NO. If one of them is set to YES, your operations may fail with Error while decoding stream #0:0: Generic error in an external library error.

  

• Some flutter_ffmpeg packages include libc++_shared.so native library. If a second library which also includes libc++_shared.so is added as a dependency, gradle fails with More than one file was found with OS independent path 'lib/x86/libc++_shared.so' error message.

You can fix this error by adding the following block into your build.gradle.

  android {
      packagingOptions {
          pickFirst 'lib/x86/libc++_shared.so'
          pickFirst 'lib/x86_64/libc++_shared.so'
          pickFirst 'lib/armeabi-v7a/libc++_shared.so'
          pickFirst 'lib/arm64-v8a/libc++_shared.so'
      }
  }

5. Updates

Refer to Changelog for updates.

6. License

This project is licensed under the LGPL v3.0. However, if installation is customized to use a package with -gpl postfix (min-gpl, https-gpl, full-gpl) then FlutterFFmpeg is subject to the GPL v3.0 license.

Digital assets used in test applications are published in the public domain.

7. Contributing

Feel free to submit issues or pull requests.

8. See Also

• FFmpeg
• Mobile FFmpeg Wiki
• FFmpeg License and Legal Considerations