how to save video file into document directory

Question

I am capturing video using following code:

UIImagePickerController *ipc = [[UIImagePickerController alloc] init];
ipc.sourceType =  UIImagePickerControllerSourceTypeCamera;
ipc.delegate = self;
//need to handle delegates methods 
//
ipc.allowsEditing = YES;
ipc.videoQuality = UIImagePickerControllerQualityTypeMedium;
ipc.videoMaximumDuration = 30.0f; // 30 seconds
//temporary duation of 30 seconds for testing

ipc.mediaTypes = [NSArray arrayWithObject:@"public.movie"];
// ipc.mediaTypes = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:@"public.movie", @"public.image", nil];
[self presentModalViewController:ipc animated:YES]; 
//this controller allows to record the videos

and I can save recorded video to album using following code

- (void)imagePickerController:(UIImagePickerController *)picker didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo:(NSDictionary *)info
{ 
    // recover video URL
    NSURL *url = [info objectForKey:UIImagePickerControllerMediaURL];

    // check if video is compatible with album
    BOOL compatible = UIVideoAtPathIsCompatibleWithSavedPhotosAlbum([url path]);

    // save
    if (compatible){
        UISaveVideoAtPathToSavedPhotosAlbum([url path], self, @selector(video:didFinishSavingWithError:contextInfo:), NULL);
        NSLog(@"saved!!!! %@",[url path]);
    }
    [self dismissModalViewControllerAnimated:YES];
    [picker release];
}

but I need to retrieve that file from album and need to store into document directory?

Answer 1

Saving the video to the documents directory is as follows:

- (void)imagePickerController:(UIImagePickerController *)picker didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo:(NSDictionary *)info {

    NSURL *videoURL = [info objectForKey:UIImagePickerControllerMediaURL];
    NSData *videoData = [NSData dataWithContentsOfURL:videoURL];
    NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
    NSString *documentsDirectory = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
    NSString *tempPath = [documentsDirectory stringByAppendingFormat:@"/vid1.mp4"];
    BOOL success = [videoData writeToFile:tempPath atomically:NO];
    [picker dismissModalViewControllerAnimated:YES];
}

Answer 2

Here is the swift code if anyone need it in future:

func imagePickerController(picker: UIImagePickerController, didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo info: [NSObject : AnyObject]) {

    let videoURL = info[UIImagePickerControllerMediaURL] as! NSURL
    let videoData = NSData(contentsOfURL: videoURL)
    let paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSSearchPathDirectory.DocumentDirectory, NSSearchPathDomainMask.UserDomainMask, true)
    let documentsDirectory: AnyObject = paths[0]
    let dataPath = documentsDirectory.stringByAppendingPathComponent("/vid1.mp4")

    videoData?.writeToFile(dataPath, atomically: false)
    self.dismissViewControllerAnimated(true, completion: nil)

}

Answer 3

#pragma mark -
#pragma mark File Names and Paths
// Creates the path if it does not exist.
- (void)ensurePathAt:(NSString *)path {
    NSFileManager *fm = [NSFileManager defaultManager];
    if ( [fm fileExistsAtPath:path] == false ) {
        [fm createDirectoryAtPath:path
      withIntermediateDirectories:YES
                       attributes:nil
                            error:NULL];
    }
}
- (NSString *)documentPath {
    if ( ! documentPath_ ) {
        NSArray *searchPaths =NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
        documentPath_ = [searchPaths objectAtIndex: 0];
        documentPath_=[documentPath_ stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"VideoAlbum"];
        [documentPath_ retain];
    }
    return documentPath_;
}

- (NSString *)audioPath {
    if ( ! AudioPath_ ) {
        AudioPath_ = [[self documentPath] stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"Demo"];
        NSLog(@"%@",AudioPath_);
        [AudioPath_ retain];
        [self ensurePathAt:AudioPath_];
    }
    return AudioPath_;
}
-(void)imagePickerController:(UIImagePickerController *)picker didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo:(NSDictionary *)info
{
    NSString *type = [info objectForKey:UIImagePickerControllerMediaType];

    if ([type isEqualToString:(NSString *)kUTTypeVideo] || [type isEqualToString:(NSString *)kUTTypeMovie])
    {
        NSURL *videoURL = [info objectForKey:UIImagePickerControllerMediaURL];

        NSData *videoData = [NSData dataWithContentsOfURL:videoURL];
        tempPath = [[self audioPath] stringByAppendingFormat:@"/%@.mp4",[NSDate date]];
        BOOL success = [videoData writeToFile:tempPath atomically:NO];

        NSLog(@"%hhd",success);
    }
    [[picker presentingViewController] dismissViewControllerAnimated:YES completion:nil];
}

Answer 4

Bit of R&D, this worked for me

- (void)imagePickerController:(UIImagePickerController *)picker didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo:(NSDictionary *)info

{

 NSURL *url = [info objectForKey:UIImagePickerControllerMediaURL];
  // Save video to app document directory

NSString *filePath = [url path];
NSString *pathExtension = [filePath pathExtension] ;
if ([pathExtension length] > 0)
{
    NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES) ;
    NSString *documentsDirectory = [paths objectAtIndex:0];

    NSString *localFilePath = [documentsDirectory stringByAppendingPathComponent:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@", [filePath lastPathComponent]]];

   // Method last path component is used here, so that each video saved will get different name.

    NSError *error = nil ;
    BOOL res = [[NSFileManager defaultManager] moveItemAtPath:filePath toPath:localFilePath error:&error] ;

    if (!res)
    {
        NSLog(@"%@", [error localizedDescription]) ;
    }
    else
    {
       NSLog(@"File saved at : %@",localFilePath);
    }
}

}

//Also when you have to check for same video already exist in app document directory and you don't want create multiple copies of it then made some changes as below

NSURL *url = [info objectForKey:UIImagePickerControllerMediaURL];
NSURL *videoAsset = [info objectForKey:UIImagePickerControllerReferenceURL];

__weak typeof(self) weakSelf = self;

ALAssetsLibrary *library = [[ALAssetsLibrary alloc] init];
[library assetForURL:videoAsset resultBlock:^(ALAsset *asset)
{
    weakSelf.selectedFileName = [[asset defaultRepresentation] filename];
    NSLog(@"Video Filename %@",weakSelf.selectedFileName);

    // Save video to doc directory
    NSString *filePath = [url path];
    NSString *pathExtension = [filePath pathExtension] ;
    if ([pathExtension length] > 0)
    {
        NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES) ;
        NSString *documentsDirectory = [paths objectAtIndex:0];

        NSString *localFilePath = [documentsDirectory stringByAppendingPathComponent:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@", weakSelf.selectedFileName]];

        //check if same video is having its copy in app directory.
        //so that multiple entries of same file should not happen.

        BOOL fileExists = [[NSFileManager defaultManager] fileExistsAtPath:localFilePath];

        if (!fileExists)
        {
            NSError *error = nil ;

            BOOL res = [[NSFileManager defaultManager] moveItemAtPath:filePath toPath:localFilePath error:&error] ;

            if (!res)
            {
                NSLog(@"%@", [error localizedDescription]) ;
            }
            else
            {
                NSLog(@"File saved at : %@",localFilePath);
                weakSelf.filePathURL = [NSURL URLWithString:localFilePath];
            }
        }
        else
        {
            NSLog(@"File exist at : %@",localFilePath);
            weakSelf.filePathURL = [NSURL URLWithString:localFilePath];
        }

    }
}

}

//Where weakSelf.selectedFileName & weakSelf.filePathURL are NSString and NSURL type properties of my class respectively.