Android portrait video orientation wrong in VideoView

Question

I capture a new video in PORTRAIT orientation on an Android device like this:

Intent intent = new Intent(android.provider.MediaStore.ACTION_VIDEO_CAPTURE); 
startActivityForResult(intent, 1886);

and it gives me this file: "/mnt/sdcard/DCIM/Camera/video-2012-02-02-10-45-48.mp4"

Then I play it like this:

private VideoView videoView = (VideoView) findViewById(R.id.videoView);
String videoUrl = "/mnt/sdcard/DCIM/Camera/video-2012-02-02-10-45-48.mp4";
videoView.setMediaController(new MediaController(this));      
videoView.setVideoURI(Uri.parse(videoUrl));
videoView.start();

Here's my layout file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent" >

<VideoView
    android:id="@+id/videoView"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    android:layout_centerInParent="true" />

</RelativeLayout>

When I play it in the standard Android gallery, the orientation is correct. But when I play the video in the VideoView above, it's rotated 90 degrees. Landscape works great, the only problem are portrait videos.

How can I rotate this video in the VideoView?
Also, how can I programmatically determine the orientation?

Answer 1

You need to initially determine the orientation of the captured video. Most new smartphones use landscape orientation for the camera although there are versions which use portrait. To determine the orientation you can take the length and width of the frame then compare them. When you start to check whether that activity orientation video, and depending on the change of orientation activities.

Code Example:

public class MainActivity extends ActionBarActivity {

    String videoUrl = "/mnt/sdcard/DCIM/100ANDRO/MOV_9195.mp4";
    int videoWidth;
    int videoHeight;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        getVideoAspectRatio();
        if (isVideoLandscaped()) {
            setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE);
        }

        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
        VideoView videoView = (VideoView) findVewById(R.id.videoView);
        videoView.setMediaController(new MediaController(this));
        videoView.setVideoURI(Uri.parse(videoUrl));
        videoView.start();

    }

    @Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
        getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.menu_main, menu);
        return true;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
        // Handle action bar item clicks here. The action bar will
        // automatically handle clicks on the Home/Up button, so long
        // as you specify a parent activity in AndroidManifest.xml.
        int id = item.getItemId();

        //noinspection SimplifiableIfStatement
        if (id == R.id.action_settings) {
            return true;
        }

        return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
    }

    private void getVideoAspectRatio() {
        MediaMetadataRetriever mediaMetadataRetriever = new MediaMetadataRetriever();
        mediaMetadataRetriever.setDataSource(this, Uri.parse(videoUrl));
        String height = mediaMetadataRetriever.extractMetadata(MediaMetadataRetriever.METADATA_KEY_VIDEO_HEIGHT);
        String width = mediaMetadataRetriever.extractMetadata(MediaMetadataRetriever.METADATA_KEY_VIDEO_WIDTH);
        videoWidth = Integer.parseInt(width);
        videoHeight = Integer.parseInt(height);
    }

    private boolean isVideoLandscaped() {
        if (videoWidth > videoHeight) {
            return true;
        } else return false;
    }
}

Don't forget to hide the ActionBar in styles, or programmatically in activity.