MPMoviePlayerViewController not playing video or displaying controls - iphone

Question

Here's my code that should be playing a video embedded in a subview, but it only displays a still image with no controls.
- (void)displayVideo:(NSURL *)videoURL
{
if (self.mediaPlayer) {
[self.mediaPlayer.view removeFromSuperview];
self.mediaPlayer = nil;
}
self.mediaPlayer = [[MPMoviePlayerViewController alloc] initWithContentURL:videoURL];
[self.mediaPlayer.moviePlayer prepareToPlay];
self.mediaPlayer.moviePlayer.controlStyle = MPMovieControlStyleEmbedded;
self.mediaPlayer.view.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, self.mediaView.bounds.size.width, self.mediaView.bounds.size.height);
[self.mediaView addSubview:self.mediaPlayer.view];
[self.mediaPlayer.moviePlayer play];
}
I also tried to load the media player directly where mediaPlayer is MPMoviePlayerController instead of MPMoviePlayerViewController, but I get even less with only a black view.
self.mediaPlayer = [[MPMoviePlayerController alloc] initWithContentURL:videoURL];
[self.mediaPlayer prepareToPlay];
self.mediaPlayer.moviePlayer.controlStyle = MPMovieControlStyleEmbedded;
self.mediaPlayer.view.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, self.mediaView.bounds.size.width, self.mediaView.bounds.size.height);
[self.mediaView addSubview:self.mediaPlayer.view];
[self.mediaPlayer play];
Thanks for any help.

Answer 1

The first code is completely wrong. The only way to use MPMoviePlayerViewController is as a presented view controller (presentViewController:...); you must not grab its view and try to shove it into your own interface.
The second one stands a much better chance. So here are some things to think about:
Is videoURL valid? How do you know? No, seriously. And think about the format, too, since not every video format is playable under iOS.
Is self.mediaPlayer retaining the movie player controller? Again, look carefully; that's crucial. It must have a strong or retain policy.
Do you have any other media player controller views in your interface? I notice that in the second code you forgot to remove the previous one. This is crucial! There can be only one such view.
(By the way, there is no need to ask for MPMovieControlStyleEmbedded; it is the default in this configuration.)
Finally, it might help to compare with working code. The code in my book does work:
http://www.apeth.com/iOSBook/ch28.html#_mpmovieplayercontroller
NSURL* m = [[NSBundle mainBundle] URLForResource:#"ElMirage"
withExtension:#"mp4"];
MPMoviePlayerController* mp =
[[MPMoviePlayerController alloc] initWithContentURL:m];
self.mpc = mp; // retain policy
self.mpc.shouldAutoplay = NO;
[self.mpc prepareToPlay];
self.mpc.view.frame = CGRectMake(10, 10, 300, 250);
self.mpc.backgroundView.backgroundColor = [UIColor redColor];
[self.view addSubview:self.mpc.view];
And you can prove that by downloading this example:
https://github.com/mattneub/Programming-iOS-Book-Examples/tree/master/ch28p786moviePlayer

Answer 2

First check your videoURL valid? The video technologies in iOS support the playback of movie files with the .mov, .mp4, .m4v, and .3gp filename extensions and using the following compression standards:
1) H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Low-Complexity version of the H.264 Baseline Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48 kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats
2) H.264 video, up to 768 Kbps, 320 by 240 pixels, 30 frames per second, Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48 kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats
3) MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48 kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats
-(void) viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated {
[super viewWillAppear:animated];
player = [[MPMoviePlayerController alloc] initWithContentURL:[NSURL URLWithString:strSelectedVideoUrl]];
player.scalingMode = MPMovieScalingModeAspectFit;
player.movieSourceType = MPMovieSourceTypeFile;
player.view.frame = CGRectMake(0, 45, 320, 400);
player.shouldAutoplay = YES;
[player prepareToPlay];
[self.view addSubview:player.view];
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:#selector(movieFinishedCallback:) name:MPMoviePlayerPlaybackDidFinishNotification object:player];
[player play];
}
- (void) movieFinishedCallback:(NSNotification*) aNotification {
MPMoviePlayerController *player1 = [aNotification object];
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] removeObserver:self name:MPMoviePlayerPlaybackDidFinishNotification object:player1];
[player stop];
[player1.view removeFromSuperview];
//[player1 release];
player1 = nil;
[self.navigationController popViewControllerAnimated:YES];
}

Answer 3

Try this, it's working perfectly for me
NSURL *movieURL = [NSURL URLWithString:#"http://........"];
// Initialize a movie player object with the specified URL
self.moviePlayer = [[MPMoviePlayerController alloc] initWithContentURL:movieURL];
self.moviePlayer.controlStyle = MPMovieControlStyleFullscreen;
[self.moviePlayer.view setFrame:self.view.bounds];
[self.view addSubview:self.moviePlayer.view];
[self.moviePlayer play];