How do I export UIImage array as a movie?

Question

I have a serious problem: I have an NSArray with several UIImage objects. What I now want to do, is create movie from those UIImages.

Answer 1

Here's a Swift 2.x version tested on iOS 8. It combines answers from @Scott Raposa and @Praxiteles along with code from @acj contributed for another question. The code from @acj is here: https://gist.github.com/acj/6ae90aa1ebb8cad6b47b. @TimBull also provided code as well.

Like @Scott Raposa, I had never even heard of CVPixelBufferPoolCreatePixelBuffer and several other functions, let alone understood how to use them.

What you see below was cobbled together mostly by trial and error and from reading Apple docs. Please use with caution, and provide suggestions if there are mistakes.

Usage:

import UIKit
import AVFoundation
import Photos

writeImagesAsMovie(yourImages, videoPath: yourPath, videoSize: yourSize, videoFPS: 30)

Code:

func writeImagesAsMovie(allImages: [UIImage], videoPath: String, videoSize: CGSize, videoFPS: Int32) {
    // Create AVAssetWriter to write video
    guard let assetWriter = createAssetWriter(videoPath, size: videoSize) else {
        print("Error converting images to video: AVAssetWriter not created")
        return
    }

    // If here, AVAssetWriter exists so create AVAssetWriterInputPixelBufferAdaptor
    let writerInput = assetWriter.inputs.filter{ $0.mediaType == AVMediaTypeVideo }.first!
    let sourceBufferAttributes : [String : AnyObject] = [
        kCVPixelBufferPixelFormatTypeKey as String : Int(kCVPixelFormatType_32ARGB),
        kCVPixelBufferWidthKey as String : videoSize.width,
        kCVPixelBufferHeightKey as String : videoSize.height,
        ]
    let pixelBufferAdaptor = AVAssetWriterInputPixelBufferAdaptor(assetWriterInput: writerInput, sourcePixelBufferAttributes: sourceBufferAttributes)

    // Start writing session
    assetWriter.startWriting()
    assetWriter.startSessionAtSourceTime(kCMTimeZero)
    if (pixelBufferAdaptor.pixelBufferPool == nil) {
        print("Error converting images to video: pixelBufferPool nil after starting session")
        return
    }

    // -- Create queue for 
    let mediaQueue = dispatch_queue_create("mediaInputQueue", nil)

    // -- Set video parameters
    let frameDuration = CMTimeMake(1, videoFPS)
    var frameCount = 0

    // -- Add images to video
    let numImages = allImages.count
    writerInput.requestMediaDataWhenReadyOnQueue(mediaQueue, usingBlock: { () -> Void in
        // Append unadded images to video but only while input ready
        while (writerInput.readyForMoreMediaData && frameCount < numImages) {
            let lastFrameTime = CMTimeMake(Int64(frameCount), videoFPS)
            let presentationTime = frameCount == 0 ? lastFrameTime : CMTimeAdd(lastFrameTime, frameDuration)

            if !self.appendPixelBufferForImageAtURL(allImages[frameCount], pixelBufferAdaptor: pixelBufferAdaptor, presentationTime: presentationTime) {
                print("Error converting images to video: AVAssetWriterInputPixelBufferAdapter failed to append pixel buffer")
                return
            }

            frameCount += 1
        }

        // No more images to add? End video.
        if (frameCount >= numImages) {
            writerInput.markAsFinished()
            assetWriter.finishWritingWithCompletionHandler {
                if (assetWriter.error != nil) {
                    print("Error converting images to video: \(assetWriter.error)")
                } else {
                    self.saveVideoToLibrary(NSURL(fileURLWithPath: videoPath))
                    print("Converted images to movie @ \(videoPath)")
                }
            }
        }
    })
}


func createAssetWriter(path: String, size: CGSize) -> AVAssetWriter? {
    // Convert  to NSURL object
    let pathURL = NSURL(fileURLWithPath: path)

    // Return new asset writer or nil
    do {
        // Create asset writer
        let newWriter = try AVAssetWriter(URL: pathURL, fileType: AVFileTypeMPEG4)

        // Define settings for video input
        let videoSettings: [String : AnyObject] = [
            AVVideoCodecKey  : AVVideoCodecH264,
            AVVideoWidthKey  : size.width,
            AVVideoHeightKey : size.height,
            ]

        // Add video input to writer
        let assetWriterVideoInput = AVAssetWriterInput(mediaType: AVMediaTypeVideo, outputSettings: videoSettings)
        newWriter.addInput(assetWriterVideoInput)

        // Return writer
        print("Created asset writer for \(size.width)x\(size.height) video")
        return newWriter
    } catch {
        print("Error creating asset writer: \(error)")
        return nil
    }
}


func appendPixelBufferForImageAtURL(image: UIImage, pixelBufferAdaptor: AVAssetWriterInputPixelBufferAdaptor, presentationTime: CMTime) -> Bool {
    var appendSucceeded = false

    autoreleasepool {
        if  let pixelBufferPool = pixelBufferAdaptor.pixelBufferPool {
            let pixelBufferPointer = UnsafeMutablePointer.alloc(1)
            let status: CVReturn = CVPixelBufferPoolCreatePixelBuffer(
                kCFAllocatorDefault,
                pixelBufferPool,
                pixelBufferPointer
            )

            if let pixelBuffer = pixelBufferPointer.memory where status == 0 {
                fillPixelBufferFromImage(image, pixelBuffer: pixelBuffer)
                appendSucceeded = pixelBufferAdaptor.appendPixelBuffer(pixelBuffer, withPresentationTime: presentationTime)
                pixelBufferPointer.destroy()
            } else {
                NSLog("Error: Failed to allocate pixel buffer from pool")
            }

            pixelBufferPointer.dealloc(1)
        }
    }

    return appendSucceeded
}


func fillPixelBufferFromImage(image: UIImage, pixelBuffer: CVPixelBufferRef) {
    CVPixelBufferLockBaseAddress(pixelBuffer, 0)

    let pixelData = CVPixelBufferGetBaseAddress(pixelBuffer)
    let rgbColorSpace = CGColorSpaceCreateDeviceRGB()

    // Create CGBitmapContext
    let context = CGBitmapContextCreate(
        pixelData,
        Int(image.size.width),
        Int(image.size.height),
        8,
        CVPixelBufferGetBytesPerRow(pixelBuffer),
        rgbColorSpace,
        CGImageAlphaInfo.PremultipliedFirst.rawValue
    )

    // Draw image into context
    CGContextDrawImage(context, CGRectMake(0, 0, image.size.width, image.size.height), image.CGImage)

    CVPixelBufferUnlockBaseAddress(pixelBuffer, 0)
}


func saveVideoToLibrary(videoURL: NSURL) {
    PHPhotoLibrary.requestAuthorization { status in
        // Return if unauthorized
        guard status == .Authorized else {
            print("Error saving video: unauthorized access")
            return
        }

        // If here, save video to library
        PHPhotoLibrary.sharedPhotoLibrary().performChanges({
            PHAssetChangeRequest.creationRequestForAssetFromVideoAtFileURL(videoURL)
        }) { success, error in
            if !success {
                print("Error saving video: \(error)")
            }
        }
    }
}