Starling Forum

1. 

   Artemix
   

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   Artemix

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   I never implemented video on mobile, never needed, but now a client wants to create an app that will feature videos, and I need to be certain that is technically viable.

   I've been reading about this topic and I got a few doubts about it, for what I understand the VideoTexture feature would solve/help with this, but is not ready for mobile yet, not even in the beta 16 AFAIK.

   So, what I'd like to know is, what is the current situation of playing video on mobile?.

   What I know for this project is:

   - it will need to run in iPad 2
   - the videos will be presented in fullscreen, with a button or 2 to control the display.

   For what I've read, displaying the video using StageVideo and on top of it using native display list controls would do the trick, since the video is being shown behind of the Starling layer (which cannot have transparency), and behind the native display list.

   Is this feasible to do?, or will I run into performance/memory problems?.

   Any experience is welcome!.

   Posted 2 years ago #
2. 

   Al_Birdie
   

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   Al_Birdie

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   After struggling with AIR (Starling/Feathers and Flex) for mobile and video for a couple of weeks myself pretty much exactly a year ago, I can only recommend you to stop wasting time with days of research, failed experiments and overall frustration and go native instead, especially if the project is mentioned for a single platform only (you named the iPad2 exclusively). Seriously, don't even think about doing it in AIR!

   The situation with AIR and video hasn't changed at all since then and it really isn't worth putting any effort in implementing an inferior solution with AIR as long as VideoTexture isn't available.
   Even with no experience in native development at all, I'd bet that you'll end up with a proper solution in just a couple of days, especially with Swift around (which is just easier to pick up for AS3 developers than ObjC). Everything is documented properly and all the examples you'll find are actually working.
   The contrary is true for AIR and video on mobile.

   Posted 2 years ago #
3. 

   Artemix
   

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   Artemix

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   Unfortunately I need this working on an Android tablet, which model I don't know yet.

   And even if it is only for iPad, to run Swift I'd need a mac with xCode. Which I don't own :P.

   Posted 2 years ago #
4. 

   mrpinc
   

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   mrpinc

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   I've done several projects like the one you are describing. Pretty much you are correct. You'll need to use StageVideo to for fullscreen video playback, then you'll need to hide your stage3D instances and use Native display list to control the video. There are definitely some quirks you'll discover but ultimately it works fine on an iPad2 (which is our lowest target iPad). You can also use FLVs on the native display list and they work fine so long as you don't need fullscreen vids. Currently I have a 464 x 261 and it plays back fine with other content on screen - and it animates (translation) fine as well

   Posted 2 years ago #
5. 

   Artemix
   

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   Artemix

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   mrpinc, thanks for your input, I will give it a try, any extra info you think it's relevant I will appreciate it!.

   Posted 2 years ago #
6. 

   Al_Birdie
   

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   Al_Birdie

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   mrpinc, how did you resolve the issue of StageView not releasing any memory?
   Last time I checked there was no workaround for this, which eventually results in Stage3D having to run on very, very low memory resources.

   I also tried moving the Stage3D content off stage and then setting it back to 0.0 after video playback was done. There were definitely some big issues with black textures that wouldn't go back to normal.

   Please make sure you fully understand the limits and quirks with the workarounds mrpinc mentioned, as well as the memory and texture issues. Unless you are confident that you can solve them in a very short time, I wouldn't take the project if I were you. It took me about 7 days to get a decent solution working with AIR last week, including all the trial and error, research and so on.
   Given that the project has been estimated for no more than 2 days, I actually didn't get paid very well as you can imagine.
   Today, using native code for iOS and Android, I wouldn't estimate more than a day for each platform for a basic video player with some overlays as you described it and that's probably what your employer is going for as well.

   Posted 2 years ago #
7. 

   Artemix
   

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   Artemix

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   I understand, it seems like a challenge, let see what mrpinc comment about the issue you mentioned. But yea, I can see your frustration about this topic :P.

   Posted 2 years ago #
8. 

   mrpinc
   

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   mrpinc

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   Al_Birdie - not sure waht you mean by StageView not releasing memory? I use StageVideo - and I've found it releases memory just fine. I have several apps on the App Store that use stage video and have not had any issues with that causing any memory leaks.

   Posted 2 years ago #
9. 

   Artemix
   

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   Artemix

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   mrpinc, if it happens that I have to show a video that only occupies a rectangular region of the screen, let say, half right screen there is a video and the left half some menu and controls, I should then reduce the width of the Starling stage so the video can show up, right?.

   Posted 2 years ago #
10. 

    Al_Birdie
    

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    Al_Birdie

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    mrpinc, of course I meant StageVideo, sorry for that.

    Glad to hear that it finally releases memory and resources to Stage3D again.
    I was referring to the numerous reports regarding StageVideo not releasing resources and memory properly, for instance;

    http://forum.starling-framework.org/topic/stagevideo-and-starling
    https://bugbase.adobe.com/index.cfm?event=bug&id=3360651

    Posted 2 years ago #
11. 

    Artemix
    

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    Artemix

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    Yeah, it is a good thing it's resolved then!.

    Posted 2 years ago #
12. 

    mrpinc
    

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    mrpinc

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    I can't say there are not quirks (aka bugs) but currently using AIR 15 I've not seen any serious memory issues that would cripple an app.

    Posted 2 years ago #
13. 

    Al_Birdie
    

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    Al_Birdie

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    How's the framerate then? Back to 60 after disposing the StageVideo object for a starling based app, or are your projects display list only?

    Posted 2 years ago #
14. 

    mrpinc
    

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    mrpinc

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    I dont use starling but I do use stage3d (Away3D). I have not noticed any framerate drops.

    Posted 2 years ago #
15. 

    Artemix
    

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    Artemix

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    I will make some tests on an iPad 2 and report back, give me some time to get consistent results.

    Posted 2 years ago #
16. 

    Artemix
    

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    Artemix

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    My tests were all satisfactory, no issues at all, but, I have the following doubt, in the app sometimes I need to show a video that wont be filling the screen, but instead the top right corner, like this:

    

    The thing is, I need this to work in mobile, and if I've read correctly, there is no way to have more than one stage3D instance, so this approach wont work.

    The other option is, to convert the static (cyan) area to native display list, which solves the problem, but I could maybe run into performance issues?, I will need to test.

    Posted 2 years ago #
17. 

    mrpinc
    

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    mrpinc

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    Artemix - thanks for the update - very useful. Great to hear that my rudimentary findings were validated.

    It seems like you are correct - you won't be able to have 2 staged 3d instances - although I am not 100% certain about this limitation.

    Having your static (cyan) content be display list should be fine so long as you are using bitmaps/cacheAsBitmap objects and are avoiding realtime filters (on the display list).

    I've got several apps that have stage3d content with display list content on top - on iPad 2 i get between 20-30 fps depending on the 3d detail - i understand this is not acceptable for games but for my purposes it is fine. On iPad Air it is 60fps without breaking a sweat.

    Posted 2 years ago #
18. 

    Artemix
    

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    Artemix

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    I made some more tests and it seems like iPad 2 wont accept another Stage3D instance no matter what. I've tried all the different context3D options, and even if an error doesn't popup I can only use/see one stage3D object.

    Also, BASELINE_CONSTRAINED only allows one Stage3D it seems, in the simulator when I use 2, it twinkles between them instead of showing two not sure if it's a mistake I'm making or that it's intended. I need to learn a bit more about the different modes and how they work, but I don't want to go overkill and stop the development, nor my client wants it :P.

    Posted 2 years ago #

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