Looping AVPlayer with custom Start/End Times - swift

I am using an AVPlayer to play video. I would like to be able to loop sections of the video based on the user's input (while the video is playing, the user can press a button to start a loop and then press it once more to end after a few seconds pass -- then it should begin playing at the start time and continue to loop once the current time reaches the specified end time)
I can get these start/end loop times just by getting the player's currentTime
var startLoop : CMTime = player.currentTime()
// seconds pass by ....
var endLoop : CMTime = player.currentTime()
I know there is a way to cleanly loop the video back to the beginning once it has finished playing like so:
NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(forName: .AVPlayerItemDidPlayToEndTime, object: self.player.currentItem, queue: .main) { [weak self] _ in
self?.player?.seek(to: CMTime.zero)
self?.player?.rate = self?.rate ?? 1.0
}
I was wondering if there is a way to do this with my custom startLoop and endLoop times?

There are a few ways to do looping in AVFoundation. The simple way is like you described by listening to the notification and then calling seek(to: startLoop). you can use addBoundaryTimeObserver to listen for specific time.
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/avfoundation/avplayer/1388027-addboundarytimeobserver
However, a more advanced way to do looping is to try to add a Key Value Observer to AVQueuePlayer and try inserting 2 copies of an AVPlayerItem with the specific range of the looping asset you want. Then you can use looping techniques such as the treadmill technique or AVPlayerLooper. The key to creating custom time ranged assets is to use an AVMutableComposition and insertTimeRange.
Also, if you really want to be experimental, you can try a 3rd option which is possibly using an AVMutableComposition as your original source asset and start mutating its underlying tracks on the fly while it is playing. I've tried something similar and it can work if you are not manipulating time ranges that are being played. However, there is no docs on this approach and Apple may change code in future versions that may break this.
References:
https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2016/503/
https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/samplecode/avloopplayer/Introduction/Intro.html
https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/samplecode/AVCustomEdit/Introduction/Intro.html
Recommended way of updating timeRange property on AVPlayerLooper
#spitchay reach out to me if you have other AVFoundation questions.

Related

How to skip ahead n seconds while playing track using web audio API?

Using Web Audio API, I'm trying to build an mp3 player with a "Skip ahead 15 seconds" feature.
I'm able to load an mp3 using a source buffer, and can get it to start playing. I want to do something like this, though I know currentTime is not a settable property:
context.currentTime += 15
How do you skip forward n seconds once the song is already playing?
Unfortunately there is no single API call to achieve the desired effect but it's doable. Every AudioBufferSourceNode can only be used once which is why we have to create a new one in order to change something.
Let's imagine we have two variables coming from somewhere called audioContext and audioBuffer. In addition we define two more variables to store the initial startTime and the currently running AudioBufferSourceNode.
let audioBufferSourceNode;
let startTime;
The first time we play the audioBuffer we play it directly from the start. The only special thing here is that we keep a reference to the audioBufferSourceNode and that we remember the startTime.
audioBufferSourceNode = audioContext.createBufferSource();
audioBufferSourceNode.buffer = audioBuffer;
audioBufferSourceNode.connect(audioContext.destination);
startTime = context.currentTime;
audioBufferSourceNode.start(startTime);
If you want to skip ahead some time later the previously started audioBufferSourceNode needs to be stopped first.
const currentTime = context.currentTime;
audioBufferSourceNode.stop(currentTime);
audioBufferSourceNode.disconnect();
In addition a new one needs to be created by reusing the same audioBuffer as before. The only difference here is that we apply an offset to make sure it skips 15 seconds ahead.
audioBufferSourceNode = audioContext.createBufferSource();
audioBufferSourceNode.buffer = audioBuffer;
audioBufferSourceNode.connect(audioContext.destination);
audioBufferSourceNode.start(currentTime, currentTime - startTime + 15);
To be prepared to skip another time it's necessary to update the startTime.
startTime -= 15;
This is of course an oversimplified example. In reality there should be a check to make sure that there is enough audio data left to skip ahead. You could also apply a little fade-in/out when skipping to avoid click sounds. ... This is only meant to illustrate the general idea.

How to stop an avaudioplayernode set to loop indefinitely at the end of current loop

Im using an AVAudioPlayerNode to loop playback of an audio file in buffer and need to be able to switch to the next track when the user clicks next but switch at the end of the loop instead of as soon as the user clicks next
Here's the code I use to start playback
if loopPlayback == true {
audioPlayer.scheduleBuffer(buffer, at: nil, options: .loops, completionHandler: nil)
audioPlayer.play()
playPauseToggleState()
}
Use the AVAudioPlayerNodeBufferOptions.interruptsAtLoop option in the options argument of AVAudioPlayer's scheduleBuffer function. Here is an example:
self.player.scheduleBuffer(self.buffer, at: nil, options: [.interruptsAtLoop, .loops])
This line of code schedules a buffer to be played in loop forever. If there is something already playing, it is interrupted as soon as it finishes a loop iteration. Otherwise, playback starts now. Of course, I'm assuming the player node is currently playing.

Synchronizing Playback of Multiple Audio Files in Audio Kit

I am developing a small audio sequencer application using AudioKit. I only need to play back 4 channels of audio. However I need to play them back perfectly synchronized down to the sample level. When I run a test using just two audio files, I can hear that they are not synchronized. The difference is only a few samples, but even a one sample discrepancy would be a problem. I am currently using multiple AKClipPlayer objects routed to an AKMixer object. I called him with the basics for loop like this:
private var clipPlayers : [AKClipPlayer] = []
func play(){
for player in clipPlayers{
player.play()
}
}
Is sample accurate playback timing of multiple audio files possible using AudioKit?
Yes, you need to schedule playback to start in the future with play(at:).
// This can take longer than expected, so do this before choosing a future time
clipPlayers.forEach { $0.prepare(withFrameCount: 10_000) }
let nearFuture = AVAudioTime.now() + 0.2
clipPlayers.forEach { $0.play(at: nearFuture) }

Change duration of SKAction playSoundFileNamed

How do i change the duration of a created sound created with SKAction.playSoundFileNamed:
var sound = SKAction.playSoundFileNamed("sound.mp3", waitForCompletion: false)
I tried setting sound.duration = 1.0 but with no luck so far ?
In short, that is impossible with SKAction.playSoundFileNamed: method.
duration property specifies the time in seconds required for current action to complete.
When using SKAction.playSoundFileNamed: method you don't have control over the audio being played (no pausing, stoping, resuming pitching etc). It's meant to play a sound, nothing more.
Some useful links:
https://stackoverflow.com/a/22590464/3402095
https://stackoverflow.com/a/21023417/3402095

Synchronize the playback of two or more AVAudioPlayer in Iphone

I need to play 2 sounds with 2 AVAudioPlayer objects at the same exact time... so I found this example on Apple AVAudioPlayer Class Reference (https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/AVFoundation/Reference/AVAudioPlayerClassReference/Reference/Reference.html):
- (void) startSynchronizedPlayback {
NSTimeInterval shortStartDelay = 0.01; // seconds
NSTimeInterval now = player.deviceCurrentTime;
[player playAtTime: now + shortStartDelay];
[secondPlayer playAtTime: now + shortStartDelay];
// Here, update state and user interface for each player, as appropriate
}
What I don't understand is: why also the secondPlayer has the shorStartDelay?
Shouldn't it be without? I thought the first Player needed a 0.1 sec delay as it is called before the second Player... but in this code the 2 players have the delay...
Anyone can explain me if that is right and why?
Thanks a lot
Massy
If you only use the play method ([firstPlayer play];), firstPlayer will start before the second one as it will receive the call before.
If you set no delay ([firstPlayer playAtTime:now];), the firstPlayer will also start before de second one because firstPlayer will check the time at which it is supposed to start, and will see that it's already passed. Thus, it will have the same behaviour as when you use only the play method.
The delay is here to ensure that the two players start at the same time. It is supposed to be long enough to ensure that the two players receive the call before the 'now+delay' time has passed.
I don't know if I'm clear (English is not my native langage). I can try to be more clear if you have questions
Yeah what he said ^ The play at time will schedule both players to start at that time (sometime in the future).
To make it obvious, you can set "shortStartDelay" to 2 seconds and you will see there will be a two second pause before both items start playing.
Another tip to keep in mind here are that when you play/pause AVAudioPlayer they dont actually STOP at exactly the same time. So when you want to resume, you should also sync the audio tracks.
Swift example:
let currentDeviceTime = firstPlayer.deviceCurrentTime
let trackTime = firstPlayer.currentTime
players.forEach {
$0.currentTime = trackTime
$0.play(atTime: currentDeviceTime + 0.1)
}
Where players is a list of AVAudioPlayers and firstPlayer is the first item in the array.
Notice how I am also resetting the "currentTime" which is how many seconds into the audio track you want to keep playing. Otherwise every time the user plays/pauses the track they drift out of sync!