Beam Media

A common use case with Connect SDK is to beam a simple media file (image, video, audio) to a TV. The following is a quick example of how you can beam an image onto a TV. This example assumes that you have discovered and connected to a device.

Beam an image file

NSURL *mediaURL = [NSURL URLWithString:@"http://www.connectsdk.com/files/9613/9656/8539/test_image.jpg"]; // credit: Blender Foundation/CC By 3.0
NSURL *iconURL = [NSURL URLWithString:@"http://www.connectsdk.com/files/2013/9656/8845/test_image_icon.jpg"]; // credit: sintel-durian.deviantart.com
NSString *title = @"Sintel Character Design";
NSString *description = @"Blender Open Movie Project";
NSString *mimeType = @"image/jpeg";

MediaInfo *mediaInfo = [[MediaInfo alloc] initWithURL:mediaURL mimeType:mimeType];
mediaInfo.title = title;
mediaInfo.description = description;
ImageInfo *imageInfo = [[ImageInfo alloc] initWithURL:iconURL type:ImageTypeThumb];
[mediaInfo addImage:imageInfo];

__block MediaLaunchObject *launchObject;

[self.device.mediaPlayer displayImageWithMediaInfo:mediaInfo
                                           success:
 ^(MediaLaunchObject *mediaLaunchObject) {
     NSLog(@"display photo success");

     // save the object reference to control media playback
     launchObject = mediaLaunchObject;

     // enable your media control UI elements here
 }
                                           failure:
 ^(NSError *error) {
     NSLog(@"display photo failure: %@", error.localizedDescription);
 }];

Beam an audio/video file

NSURL *mediaURL = [NSURL URLWithString:@"http://www.connectsdk.com/files/8913/9657/0225/test_video.mp4"]; // credit: Blender Foundation/CC By 3.0
NSURL *iconURL = [NSURL URLWithString:@"http://www.connectsdk.com/files/7313/9657/0225/test_video_icon.jpg"]; // credit: sintel-durian.deviantart.com
NSString *title = @"Sintel Trailer";
NSString *description = @"Blender Open Movie Project";
NSString *mimeType = @"video/mp4"; // audio/* for audio files

MediaInfo *mediaInfo = [[MediaInfo alloc] initWithURL:mediaURL mimeType:mimeType];
mediaInfo.title = title;
mediaInfo.description = description;
ImageInfo *imageInfo = [[ImageInfo alloc] initWithURL:iconURL type:ImageTypeThumb];
[mediaInfo addImage:imageInfo];

if ([self.device hasCapability:kMediaPlayerSubtitleWebVTT]) {
    NSURL *subtitlesURL = [NSURL URLWithString:@"http://ec2-54-201-108-205.us-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/samples/media/sintel_en.vtt"];
    SubtitleInfo *subtitleInfo = [SubtitleInfo infoWithURL:subtitlesURL
                                                  andBlock:^(SubtitleInfoBuilder *builder) {
                                                      builder.mimeType = @"text/vtt";
                                                      builder.language = @"English";
                                                      builder.label = @"English Subtitles";
                                                  }];
    mediaInfo.subtitleInfo = subtitleInfo;
}

__block MediaLaunchObject *launchObject;

[self.device.mediaPlayer playMediaWithMediaInfo:mediaInfo
                                     shouldLoop:NO
                                        success:
 ^(MediaLaunchObject *mediaLaunchObject) {
     NSLog(@"play video success");

     // save the object reference to control media playback
     launchObject = mediaLaunchObject;

     // enable your media control UI elements here
 }
                                        failure:
 ^(NSError *error) {
     NSLog(@"play video failure: %@", error.localizedDescription);
 }];

Control media playback

In the previous example, you will notice that the success block was called with a mediaControl object. In order to control the media in the current playback session, you will need to store a reference to this mediaControl object and call control methods on that object.

// pause media file
[launchObject.mediaControl pauseWithSuccess:nil failure:nil];

// play media file
[launchObject.mediaControl playWithSuccess:nil failure:nil];

// seek to 10 seconds
[launchObject.mediaControl seek:10 success:nil failure:nil];

// close media file
[launchObject.session closeWithSuccess:nil failure:nil];
// or
[self.device.mediaPlayer closeMedia:launchObject.session success:nil failure:nil];

Beam a playlist

NSURL *mediaURL = [NSURL URLWithString:@"your-playlist.m3u"];
NSURL *iconURL = [NSURL URLWithString:@"http://www.connectsdk.com/files/2013/9656/8845/test_image_icon.jpg"]; // credit: sintel-durian.deviantart.com
NSString *title = @"Playlist";
NSString *description = @"Playlist description";
NSString *mimeType = @"application/x-mpegurl";

MediaInfo *mediaInfo = [[MediaInfo alloc] initWithURL:mediaURL mimeType:mimeType];
mediaInfo.title = title;
mediaInfo.description = description;
ImageInfo *imageInfo = [[ImageInfo alloc] initWithURL:iconURL type:ImageTypeThumb];
[mediaInfo addImage:imageInfo];

__block MediaLaunchObject *launchObject;

[self.device.mediaPlayer playMediaWithMediaInfo:mediaInfo
                                     shouldLoop:NO
                                        success:
 ^(MediaLaunchObject *mediaLaunchObject) {
     // save the object reference to control playlist and media playback
     launchObject = mediaLaunchObject;

     // enable your media control UI elements here
 }
                                        failure:
 ^(NSError *error) {
     NSLog(@"play playlist failure: %@", error.localizedDescription);
 }];

Control a playlist

// play previous track
[launchObject.playListControl playPreviousWithSuccess:nil failure:nil];
// play next track
[launchObject.playListControl playNextWithSuccess:nil failure:nil];
// play a track specified by index (starts from zero)
[launchObject.playListControl jumpToTrackWithIndex:0 success:nil failure:nil];

Note

For beaming media to AirPlay devices, you must set the AirPlayServiceMode to AirPlayServiceModeMedia. See the API docs for more information.