iOS CAlayer Orientation AVCaptureVideoPreviewLayer doesn't rotate

Question

Summary: I can't force the CALayer to respond correctly to orientation changes. Whenever I try to use cgaffinetransform I am getting weird results (layer is not centered). Any help will be appreciated! thanks,

Process I am adding a preview of video using AVCaptureVideoPreviewLayer subclass. When device is in a portrait orientation everything looks fine. The problem appears when device is rotated to landscape orientation (left or right) or portrait upside down.

I am adding a preview of video using AVCaptureVideoPreviewLayer subclass. When device is in a portrait orientation everything looks fine. The problem appears when device is rotated to landscape orientation (left or right) or portrait upside down.

I am adding a preview layer using the following code:

CGRect layerRect = [[[self view] layer] bounds];
[[[self captureManager] previewLayer] setBounds:layerRect];
[[[self captureManager] previewLayer]setFrame:CGRectMake(0, height, width, height)];
[[[self captureManager] previewLayer] setPosition:CGPointMake(CGRectGetMidX(layerRect),CGRectGetMidY(layerRect))];

And it is displayed properly in portrait mode. When I try to rotate the device, preview layer behaves weird. It seems like it doesn't resize itself, and it doesn't rotate correctly.

I tried to fix it by adding the following method

-(void)rotateLayer{
CALayer * stuckview = [[self captureManager] previewLayer];
CGRect layerRect = [[[self view] layer] bounds];

UIDeviceOrientation orientation =[[UIDevice currentDevice]orientation];

switch (orientation) {
    case UIDeviceOrientationLandscapeLeft:
        stuckview.affineTransform = CGAffineTransformMakeRotation(M_PI+ M_PI_2); // 270 degress
        NSLog(@"Landscape Left");
        [stuckview setPosition: CGPointMake(self.view.bounds.size.width /2.0, self.view.bounds.size.height /2.0)];

        break;
    case UIDeviceOrientationLandscapeRight:
        stuckview.affineTransform = CGAffineTransformMakeRotation(M_PI_2); // 90 degrees
        NSLog(@"Landscape Right");
        [stuckview setPosition: CGPointMake(self.view.bounds.size.width /2.0, self.view.bounds.size.height /2.0)];
        break;
    case UIDeviceOrientationPortraitUpsideDown:
        stuckview.affineTransform = CGAffineTransformMakeRotation(M_PI); // 180 degrees
        NSLog(@"Landscape Upside down");
        break;
    default:
        stuckview.affineTransform = CGAffineTransformMakeRotation(0.0);
        break;
}
 float h1 = stuckview.frame.size.height;
   float w1 = stuckview.frame.size.width;

if(UIDeviceOrientationIsPortrait(orientation))
{
  stuckview.position =CGPointMake(h1/2.0, w1/2.0);
    NSLog(@"Portrait");
}
else{
  stuckview.position =CGPointMake(w1/2.0, h1/2.0);
    NSLog(@"Portrait");
}

}

After adding the method above I can see a progress. Now layer rotates correctly reflecting current device orientation and it's displayed correctly in landscape mode, but NOT in portrait mode.

The layer is not positioned correctly, it isn't centered on the screen (look at the screenshot). To see what's happening I added following debug statements:

CALayer * stuckview = [[self captureManager] previewLayer];
CGRect layerRect = [[[self view] layer] bounds];
float h = stuckview.bounds.size.height;
float w = stuckview.bounds.size.width;

float x = stuckview.bounds.origin.x;
float y = stuckview.bounds.origin.y;

float h1 = stuckview.frame.size.height;
float w1 = stuckview.frame.size.width;

float x1 = stuckview.frame.origin.x;
float y1 = stuckview.frame.origin.y;

NSLog(@"%f %f %f %f ", h,w,x,y );
NSLog(@"%f %f %f %f ", h1,w1,x1,y1 );

NSLog(@"Anchor Point: %f  %f",stuckview.anchorPoint.x, stuckview.anchorPoint.y);
NSLog(@"Position: %f  %f",stuckview.position.x, stuckview.position.y);

CGAffineTransform at = stuckview.affineTransform;

NSLog(@"Affine Transform After : %f %f %f %f %f %f %f", at.a,at.b, at.c, at.d, at.tx,at.tx, at.ty);

And get the following output:

2012-09-30 13:25:12.067 RotatePreviewLayer[2776:907] 1024.000000 768.000000 0.000000 0.000000 

2012-09-30 RotatePreviewLayer[2776:907] 1024.000000 768.000000 128.000000 -128.000000

2012-09-30 13:25:12.070 RotatePreviewLayer[2776:907] Portrait
2012-09-30 13:25:12.072 RotatePreviewLayer[2776:907] Anchor Point: 0.500000  0.500000
2012-09-30 13:25:12.074 RotatePreviewLayer[2776:907] Position: 512.000000  384.000000
2012-09-30 13:25:12.076 RotatePreviewLayer[2776:907] Affine Transform after: -1.000000 0.000000 -0.000000 -1.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000

Notice the second line of the debug output. The frame of the preview layer is moved by 128,-128. Can anyone explain me why is this happening and how to fix the orientation issues with the preview layer? thank you, Janusz

Answer 1

What about this?

- (void)willRotateToInterfaceOrientation:(UIInterfaceOrientation)toInterfaceOrientation duration:(NSTimeInterval)duration
{
    _videoPreviewLayer.connection.videoOrientation = toInterfaceOrientation;
}

Answer 2

This the method I use in the view controller to maintain the orientation of the capture layer so that it is always right-side-up:

- (void)willRotateToInterfaceOrientation:(UIInterfaceOrientation)toInterfaceOrientation duration:(NSTimeInterval)duration
    if (_previewLayer.connection.supportsVideoOrientation)
    {
    switch (toInterfaceOrientation)
        {
        case UIInterfaceOrientationPortrait:
            {
            _previewLayer.connection.videoOrientation = AVCaptureVideoOrientationPortrait;
            break;
            }
        case UIInterfaceOrientationPortraitUpsideDown:
            {
            _previewLayer.connection.videoOrientation = AVCaptureVideoOrientationPortraitUpsideDown;
            break;
            }
        case UIInterfaceOrientationLandscapeLeft:
            {
            _previewLayer.connection.videoOrientation = AVCaptureVideoOrientationLandscapeLeft;
            break;
            }
        case UIInterfaceOrientationLandscapeRight:
            {
            _previewLayer.connection.videoOrientation = AVCaptureVideoOrientationLandscapeRight;
            break;
            }
        }
    }

A little wordy, but safe even if either enumeration ever changes in the future.