Android View with 'hole' in it

Question

I've created a custom camera view for Android. I have overlayed the camera preview with a semi transparent LinearLayout with a TextView and Button. Now I need to punch a 'hole' in the middle of the view so you can see the underlying camera preview clearly . The hole then acts as a frame guideline allowing the user to 'frame' the photo.

I succeeded with the iOS version by creating a view and cutting out a rectangle from the view as demonstrated here. How would I go about doing the same thing for Android?

Answer 1

Use SurfaceView.

"the SurfaceView punches a hole in its window to allow its surface to be displayed"