Camera macOS

Implementation of AVKit camera for macOS. Can take pictures and record videos, even with external cameras.

Getting Started

• Setup
• Basic usage
  • Taking a picture
  • Recording a video
• Limitations and notes
• Future Developments
• License

---

Setup

In your project, add these two rows to the macos/Runner/Info.plist file:

<key>NSCameraUsageDescription</key>
<string>your usage description here</string>
<key>NSMicrophoneUsageDescription</key>
<string>your usage description here</string>

and these two rows in the Debug.Entitlements and Release.Entitlements files.

<key>com.apple.security.device.audio-input</key>
<true/>
<key>com.apple.security.device.camera</key>
<true/>

Basic usage

Integrate CameraMacOSView in your widget tree. You can choose a BoxFit method and a CameraMacOSMode (photo or video). When the camera is initialized, a CameraMacOSController object is created and can be used to do basic things such as taking pictures and recording videos.

final GlobalKey cameraKey = GlobalKey("cameraKey");
late CameraMacOSController macOSController;

//... build method ...

CameraMacOSView(
    key: cameraKey,
    fit: BoxFit.fill,
    cameraMode: CameraMacOSMode.photo,
    onCameraInizialized: (CameraMacOSController controller) {
        setState(() {
            this.macOSController = controller;
        });
    },
),

External cameras

The package supports external cameras too, not just the main Mac camera: you can specify an optional deviceId for the camera and an optional audioDeviceId for the microphone. Both IDs are related to the uniqueID property of AVCaptureDevice, and can be obtained with the listDevices method.

String? deviceId;
String? audioDeviceId;

// List devices

List<CameraMacOSDevice> videoDevices = await CameraMacOS.instance.listDevices({ deviceType: CameraMacOSMode.video });
List<CameraMacOSDevice> audioDevices = await CameraMacOS.instance.listDevices({ deviceType: CameraMacOSMode.audio });

// Set devices
deviceId = videoDevices.first.deviceId
audioDeviceId = audioDevices.first.deviceId

//... build method ...

CameraMacOSView(
    deviceId: deviceId, // optional camera parameter, defaults to the Mac primary camera
    audioDeviceId: audioDeviceId, // optional microphone parameter, defaults to the Mac primary microphone
    cameraMode: CameraMacOSMode.video,
    onCameraInizialized: (CameraMacOSController controller) {
        // ...
    },
),

A CameraMacOSDevice object contains the following properties (mapped to the original AVCaptureDevice class):

• deviceId
• localizedName
• manufacturer
• deviceType (video or audio)

Once you've created a CameraMacOSView widget, you will be granted access to a CameraMacOSController object, which is your bridge to do the main two features, taking pictures and recording videos. You also have information about the camera object you've just created with the CameraMacOSArguments property inside the controller.

Set Focus Point of Camera

Setting the focus point can be done with the setFocusPoint method.

macOSController.setFocusPoint(Offset(0.5,0.5));

The CameraMacOSView widget enables it by default.

Note: the offset needs to be between 0 and 1.

Toggling Torch

Setting the torch to on, off, or auto can be done with the toggleTorch method.

macOSController.toggleTorch(Torch.on);

The CameraMacOSView widget disables it by default.

Setting Orientation

Setting the orientation to 0, 90, 180, or 270 can be done with the setOrientation method.

Note: This feature for is only available for macOS < 14.0 and Swift < 15.

macOSController.setOrientation(CameraOrientation.orientation0deg);

The CameraMacOSView widget defaults to 0.

Setting Zoom

WARNING: This feature is only available for imageStream right now.

Setting the zoom from 1 - inifity can be done with the setZoomLevel method.

macOSController.setZoomLevel(1.0);

The CameraMacOSView widget defaults to 1.

Taking a picture

Taking pictures can be done with the takePicture method.

Note: for now, you cannot change the zoom or apply effects to the photos.

CameraMacOSFile? file = await macOSController.takePicture();
if(file != null) {
    Uint8List? bytes = file.bytes;
    // do something with the file...
}

Streaming an Image

Streaming an image can be done with the startImageStream method, and can be stopped with the stopImageStream method.

macOSController.startImageStream((CameraImageData imageData){
//place your code here
});

macOSController.stopImageStream();

Note: the streamed data is in argb8888 format

Recording a video

Recording videos can be done with the recordVideo method, and can be stopped with the stopVideoRecording.

macOSController.recordVideo(
    url: // get url from packages such as path_provider,
    maxVideoDuration: 30, // duration in seconds,
    onVideoRecordingFinished: (CameraMacOSFile? file, CameraMacOSException? exception) {
        // called when maxVideoDuration has been reached
        // do something with the file or catch the exception
    }
);

CameraMacOSFile? file = await macOSController.stopVideoRecording();

if(file != null) {
    Uint8List? bytes = file.bytes;
    // do something with the file...
}

Video settings

You can enable or disable audio recording with the enableAudio flag.

Default videos settings are:

• max resolution available to the selected camera - can be changed by setting the resolution property
• max audio quality available to the selected video - can be changed by setting the audioQuality property
• default microphone codec (apple lossless) - can be changed by setting the audioFormat property
• default video format (mp4) - can be changed by setting the videoFormat property

You can set a maximum video duration (in seconds) for recording videos with maxVideoDuration. A native timer will fire after time has passed, and will call the onVideoRecordingFinished method.

You can also set a saved video file location. Default is in the Library/Cache directory of the application.

Audio recording can be enabled or disabled with the enableAudio flag both in the camera initialization phase or within the recordVideo method (default true).

Output

After a video or a picture is taken, a CameraMacOSFile object is generated, containing the bytes of the content. If you specify a url save destination for a video, it will return back the file path too.

Widget refreshing

• If you change the widget Key, deviceId or the CameraMacOsMode, the widget will reinitialize.

Limitations and notes

• The package supports macOS 10.11 and onwards.
• The plugin is just a temporary substitutive package for the official Flutter team's camera package. It will work only on macOS.
• Orientation is only available for macOS < 14.0 and Swift < 15.
• Zoom is currently unsupported

Future developments

• Zoom for video and texture

License

MIT