MP4 unsupported in JavaFX?

Question

So I've recently started working with JavaFX to try and insert video and audio into my java programs. Audio has worked just fine, but for some reason every time I try and play a video file, it returns a MEDIA_UNSUPPORTED exception. I've read around and saw that the video file needed to be MP4 (which it is), so I tried converting it to a different type then re-converting it to MP4 (H.264 & AAC) with a few different converters and nothing changes.

Here's the code I'm working with:

import java.net.URL;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
import javafx.application.Platform;
import javafx.beans.value.ChangeListener;
import javafx.beans.value.ObservableValue;
import javafx.embed.swing.JFXPanel;
import javafx.event.ActionEvent;
import javafx.event.EventHandler;
import javafx.scene.Scene;
import javafx.scene.control.Button;
import javafx.scene.layout.VBox;
import javafx.scene.media.Media;
import javafx.scene.media.MediaPlayer;
import javafx.scene.media.MediaView;
import javafx.util.Duration;


public class CallVideo extends JFrame{

public static final String VID_URL = "file:/C:/Users/Public/Videos/Videos/testCon.mp4"; //http://static.clipcanvas.com/sample/clipcanvas_14348_H264_320x180.mp4

private JFXPanel panel;

public CallVideo(String url)
{   
    panel = new JFXPanel();
    Platform.runLater(new Runnable()
    {
        public void run()
        {
            final Media clip = new Media(VID_URL);
            final MediaPlayer player = new MediaPlayer(clip);
            final MediaView viewer = new MediaView(player);
            viewer.setFitHeight(200);
            viewer.setFitWidth(200);
            final Button button = new Button("Bing Zzzzt!");
            button.setOnAction(new EventHandler<ActionEvent>() {
                @Override
                public void handle(ActionEvent event)
                {
                    viewer.getMediaPlayer().seek(Duration.ZERO);
                    viewer.getMediaPlayer().play();
                }
            });

        setMediaEventHandlers(viewer);
            VBox vid = new VBox();
            vid.getChildren().addAll(viewer, button);
            Scene aScene = new Scene(vid, 200, 200);
            panel.setScene(aScene);
        }
    });
    this.add(panel);
    this.setSize(500, 500);
    this.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
    this.setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
    this.setVisible(true);
}

private void setMediaEventHandlers(final MediaView view) {
    final MediaPlayer player = view.getMediaPlayer();

    System.out.println("Initial: " + player.getStatus());
    player.statusProperty().addListener(new ChangeListener<MediaPlayer.Status>() {
      @Override
      public void changed(ObservableValue<? extends MediaPlayer.Status> observable, MediaPlayer.Status oldStatus, MediaPlayer.Status curStatus) {
        System.out.println("Current: " + curStatus);
      }
    });

    if (player.getError() != null) {
      System.out.println("Initial Error: " + player.getError());
    }

    player.setOnError(new Runnable() {
      @Override public void run() {
        System.out.println("Current Error: " + player.getError());
      }
    });
  }

public static void main(String[] args)
{
    SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable()
    {
        public void run()
        {
            new CallVideo(VID_URL);
        }
    });
}

}

The error occurs on the line where the "Media" object is initialized (beginning of constructor). I'm at a total loss to see what the problem is. I've seen questions about the audio playing but the video not showing up, but it doesn't even do that for me...

In case someone needs it:

Eclipse

JDK 7

JavaFX 2.0

Windows 7 Pro

EDIT:

First off, I noticed I'm actually using JavaFX 2.0... Might that be the problem?

I've tested both versions provided in the answer, and both return this error (called by the statusListener) when using the URL provided by that answer:

Current Error: MediaException: MEDIA_UNSUPPORTED : com.sun.media.jfxmedia.MediaException: "Error enter code herelocator unsupported media format" : com.sun.media.jfxmedia.MediaException: "Error locator unsupported media format"

When using my own file, the program returns this error immediately upon calling the Media constructor, as before:

Exception in thread "AWT-EventQueue-0" MediaException: MEDIA_UNSUPPORTED : Unrecognized file signature!
at javafx.scene.media.Media.<init>(Media.java:382)
at CallVideo.<init>(CallVideo.java:27)
at CallVideo$5.run(CallVideo.java:90)
at java.awt.event.InvocationEvent.dispatch(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEventImpl(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventQueue.access$000(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventQueue$3.run(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventQueue$3.run(Unknown Source)
at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
at java.security.ProtectionDomain$1.doIntersectionPrivilege(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEvent(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpOneEventForFilters(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForFilter(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForHierarchy(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.run(Unknown Source)

I've updated the code I'm using above.

SOLVED! The reason is really I was using an inappropriate JavaFX (and possibly JDK) for the job. I'm not really in control of that stuff since these are school computers, but that messed me up something good... Thanks for the help! I updated it with my final code.

Answer 1

This worked for me after I modified your program a little bit to fix a couple of issues.

Some changes I applied:

1. A MediaView is necessary to view the video, so one needs to be created and added to an active JavaFX scene in order for the video to be seen.
2. Some JavaFX controls need to be created on the JavaFX application thread rather than the main thread, otherwise you get java.lang.IllegalStateException: Toolkit not initialized.
3. Monitoring media error events and adding some diagnostic logs helps troubleshoot media encoding issues.

---

A JavaFX only solution

Your program embeds JavaFX in a Swing application which is a bit more complex then just playing Media in a standard JavaFX application. Corresponding code for playback of an mp4 in a standard JavaFX application is supplied in my answer to: Can't play mp4 converted file - JavaFX 2.1. Using just JavaFX is recommended unless you have a specific need for Swing (such as embedding your JavaFX based media player inside an existing large Swing application).

Oracle provide a good tutorial for Incorporating Media Assets Into JavaFX Applications.

---

The JavaFX media package description documents the media playback encodings, containers and protocols which JavaFX supports.

---

Sample for playing back mp4 video from a Swing App using a JavaFX MediaPlayer

Note the sample only catches a subset of the possible media errors. For a code template which can catch and log all media errors see the JavaFX media error handling documentation.

import javax.swing.*;
import javafx.application.Platform;
import javafx.beans.value.*;
import javafx.embed.swing.JFXPanel;
import javafx.event.*;
import javafx.geometry.Pos;
import javafx.scene.Scene;
import javafx.scene.control.*;
import javafx.scene.layout.VBox;
import javafx.scene.media.*;
import javafx.util.Duration;

public class VideoPlayer extends JFrame {

  public static final String VID_URL = 
    "http://static.clipcanvas.com/sample/clipcanvas_14348_H264_320x180.mp4";

  private static final int VID_WIDTH     = 320;
  private static final int VID_HEIGHT    = 180;
  private static final int PLAYER_WIDTH  = 320;
  private static final int PLAYER_HEIGHT = 265;

  private void play(final String url) {
    final JFXPanel panel = new JFXPanel();
    Platform.runLater(new Runnable() {
      @Override public void run() {
        initFX(panel, url);
      }
    });
    this.add(panel);
    this.setSize(PLAYER_WIDTH, PLAYER_HEIGHT);
    this.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
    this.setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
    this.setVisible(true);
  }

  private void initFX(JFXPanel panel, String url) {
    MediaView mediaView = createMediaView(url);

    final Scene playerScene = new Scene(
      createPlayerLayout(mediaView), 
      PLAYER_WIDTH, 
      PLAYER_HEIGHT
    );

    setMediaEventHandlers(
      mediaView
    );

    panel.setScene(playerScene);
  }

  private MediaView createMediaView(String url) {
    final Media clip = new Media(url);
    final MediaPlayer player = new MediaPlayer(clip);
    final MediaView view = new MediaView(player);
    view.setFitWidth(VID_WIDTH);
    view.setFitHeight(VID_HEIGHT);
    return view;
  }

  private VBox createPlayerLayout(final MediaView view) {
    final Button button = new Button("Play From Start");
    button.setOnAction(new EventHandler<ActionEvent>() {
      @Override public void handle(ActionEvent event) {
        view.getMediaPlayer().seek(Duration.ZERO);
        view.getMediaPlayer().play();
      }
    });

    final VBox layout = new VBox(8);
    layout.setAlignment(Pos.CENTER);
    layout.getChildren().addAll(
      view,
      button
    );

    layout.setStyle("-fx-background-color: linear-gradient(to bottom, derive(lightseagreen, -20%), lightseagreen);");

    return layout;
  }

  private void setMediaEventHandlers(final MediaView view) {
    final MediaPlayer player = view.getMediaPlayer();

    System.out.println("Initial: " + player.getStatus());
    player.statusProperty().addListener(new ChangeListener<MediaPlayer.Status>() {
      @Override
      public void changed(ObservableValue<? extends MediaPlayer.Status> observable, MediaPlayer.Status oldStatus, MediaPlayer.Status curStatus) {
        System.out.println("Current: " + curStatus);
      }
    });

    if (player.getError() != null) {
      System.out.println("Initial Error: " + player.getError());
    }

    player.setOnError(new Runnable() {
      @Override public void run() {
        System.out.println("Current Error: " + player.getError());
      }
    });
  }

  public static void main(String[] args) {
    SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
      @Override public void run() {
        VideoPlayer player = new VideoPlayer();
        player.play(VID_URL);
      }
    });
  }
}

---

SOLVED!

Nice to see that original poster was able to get video playback working and the final error was just using an old JavaFX version (2.0) which does not support mp4 playback. Updating to JavaFX 2.2+ (which does support mp4 playback) fixed the issue.