camera - iPhone SDK 4 AVFoundation - How to use captureStillImageAsynchronouslyFromConnection correctly?

Question

I am trying to use the new AVFoundation framework for taking still pictures with the iPhone.

With a button press this methos is called. I can hear the shutter sound but I can't see the log output. If I call this method several times the camera preview will freeze.

Is there any tutorial out there how to use captureStillImageAsynchronouslyFromConnection?

[[self stillImageOutput] captureStillImageAsynchronouslyFromConnection:
                [[self stillImageOutput].connections objectAtIndex:0]
                     completionHandler:^(CMSampleBufferRef imageDataSampleBuffer,
                            NSError *error) {
                                              NSLog(@"inside");
                            }];

- (void)initCapture {
    AVCaptureDeviceInput *captureInput = [AVCaptureDeviceInput 
                                          deviceInputWithDevice:[AVCaptureDevice defaultDeviceWithMediaType:AVMediaTypeVideo] 
                                          error:nil];

    AVCaptureVideoDataOutput *captureOutput = [[AVCaptureVideoDataOutput alloc] init];

    captureOutput.alwaysDiscardsLateVideoFrames = YES; 

    dispatch_queue_t queue;
    queue = dispatch_queue_create("cameraQueue", NULL);
    [captureOutput setSampleBufferDelegate:self queue:queue];
    dispatch_release(queue);

    NSString* key = (NSString*)kCVPixelBufferPixelFormatTypeKey; 
    NSNumber* value = [NSNumber numberWithUnsignedInt:kCVPixelFormatType_32BGRA]; 
    NSDictionary* videoSettings = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObject:value forKey:key]; 
    [captureOutput setVideoSettings:videoSettings]; 

    self.captureSession = [[AVCaptureSession alloc] init];
    self.captureSession.sessionPreset = AVCaptureSessionPresetLow;

    [self.captureSession addInput:captureInput];
    [self.captureSession addOutput:captureOutput];

    self.prevLayer = [AVCaptureVideoPreviewLayer layerWithSession: self.captureSession];

    [self.prevLayer setOrientation:AVCaptureVideoOrientationLandscapeLeft];

    self.prevLayer.frame = CGRectMake(0.0, 0.0, 480.0, 320.0);
    self.prevLayer.videoGravity = AVLayerVideoGravityResizeAspectFill;

    [self.view.layer addSublayer: self.prevLayer];


    // Setup the default file outputs
    AVCaptureStillImageOutput *_stillImageOutput = [[[AVCaptureStillImageOutput alloc] init] autorelease];
    NSDictionary *outputSettings = [[NSDictionary alloc] initWithObjectsAndKeys:
                                    AVVideoCodecJPEG, AVVideoCodecKey,
                                    nil];
    [_stillImageOutput setOutputSettings:outputSettings];
    [outputSettings release];
    [self setStillImageOutput:_stillImageOutput];   

    if ([self.captureSession canAddOutput:stillImageOutput]) {
        [self.captureSession addOutput:stillImageOutput];
    }

    [self.captureSession commitConfiguration];
    [self.captureSession startRunning];

}

Answer 1

After a lot of trial and error, I worked out how to do this.

Hint: Apple's official docs are - simply - wrong. The code they give you doesn't actually work.

I wrote it up here with step-by-step instructions:

http://red-glasses.com/index.php/tutorials/ios4-take-photos-with-live-video-preview-using-avfoundation/

Lots of code on the link, but in summary:

-(void) viewDidAppear:(BOOL)animated
{
    AVCaptureSession *session = [[AVCaptureSession alloc] init];
    session.sessionPreset = AVCaptureSessionPresetMedium;

    CALayer *viewLayer = self.vImagePreview.layer;
    NSLog(@"viewLayer = %@", viewLayer);

    AVCaptureVideoPreviewLayer *captureVideoPreviewLayer = [[AVCaptureVideoPreviewLayer alloc] initWithSession:session];

    captureVideoPreviewLayer.frame = self.vImagePreview.bounds;
    [self.vImagePreview.layer addSublayer:captureVideoPreviewLayer];

    AVCaptureDevice *device = [AVCaptureDevice defaultDeviceWithMediaType:AVMediaTypeVideo];

    NSError *error = nil;
    AVCaptureDeviceInput *input = [AVCaptureDeviceInput deviceInputWithDevice:device error:&error];
    if (!input) {
        // Handle the error appropriately.
        NSLog(@"ERROR: trying to open camera: %@", error);
    }
    [session addInput:input];

stillImageOutput = [[AVCaptureStillImageOutput alloc] init];
NSDictionary *outputSettings = [[NSDictionary alloc] initWithObjectsAndKeys: AVVideoCodecJPEG, AVVideoCodecKey, nil];
[stillImageOutput setOutputSettings:outputSettings];

[session addOutput:stillImageOutput];

    [session startRunning];
}

-(IBAction) captureNow
{
    AVCaptureConnection *videoConnection = nil;
    for (AVCaptureConnection *connection in stillImageOutput.connections)
    {
        for (AVCaptureInputPort *port in [connection inputPorts])
        {
            if ([[port mediaType] isEqual:AVMediaTypeVideo] )
            {
                videoConnection = connection;
                break;
            }
        }
        if (videoConnection) { break; }
    }

    NSLog(@"about to request a capture from: %@", stillImageOutput);
    [stillImageOutput captureStillImageAsynchronouslyFromConnection:videoConnection completionHandler: ^(CMSampleBufferRef imageSampleBuffer, NSError *error)
    {
         CFDictionaryRef exifAttachments = CMGetAttachment( imageSampleBuffer, kCGImagePropertyExifDictionary, NULL);
         if (exifAttachments)
         {
            // Do something with the attachments.
            NSLog(@"attachements: %@", exifAttachments);
         }
        else
            NSLog(@"no attachments");

        NSData *imageData = [AVCaptureStillImageOutput jpegStillImageNSDataRepresentation:imageSampleBuffer];
        UIImage *image = [[UIImage alloc] initWithData:imageData];

        self.vImage.image = image;
     }];
}