Can't play mp4 on Android from Azure Blob Storage

Question

I am creating a mobile application that does the following

Record a *.mp4 video
Save the *.mp4 locally
Upload the *.mp4 to Azure Blob Storage
Play (progressive download) the *.mp4 from the Azure Storage location

The sequence has been perfectly implemented on iOS.

On Android however, I can record the video, save the video, upload the video, but cannot stream (progressive download) the file from Azure using VideoView and MediaController.

I get the "Can't play this video"

The video I uploaded from the Android app does work on iOS and HTML5 and pretty much any other media player.

If I choose to play the *.mp4 I saved locally (before uploading the *.mp4) through VideoView, it works fine. So at this stage, before uploading to Azure, the video seems in a working condition.

Another test I did, was to upload Big Buck Bunny, through Azure Storage Explorer, and that seems to work perfectly.

So I suspect I am might be missing a header when I upload the file to Azure or incorrect encoding for streaming.

Here is my code, nothing extraordinary:

MediaRecorder Settings to display and record the video:

mediaRecorder.setAudioSource(MediaRecorder.AudioSource.MIC);
mediaRecorder.setVideoSource(MediaRecorder.VideoSource.SURFACE);
mediaRecorder.setOutputFormat(MediaRecorder.OutputFormat.MPEG_4);
mediaRecorder.setOutputFile(getVideoFile(activity).getAbsolutePath());
mediaRecorder.setVideoEncodingBitRate(1000000);
mediaRecorder.setVideoFrameRate(5);
mediaRecorder.setVideoSize(videoSize.getWidth(), videoSize.getHeight());
mediaRecorder.setVideoEncoder(MediaRecorder.VideoEncoder.H264);
mediaRecorder.setAudioEncoder(MediaRecorder.AudioEncoder.AAC);

Upload the file by using CloudBlockBlob:

StorageCredentials credentials = new StorageCredentialsSharedAccessSignature(sasQueryString);
URI containerUri = new URI(blobUri);
CloudBlockBlob blob = new CloudBlockBlob(URI.create(blobUri), credentials);
blob.getProperties().setContentType("video/mp4");
blob.uploadFromFile(imageUri);

Trying to play the uploaded file:

videoView = (VideoView) findViewById(R.id.videoView);
MediaController mediaController = new MediaController(this);
videoView.setVideoURI(Uri.parse("http://xox.blob.core.windows.net/container/movie.mp4"));
videoView.setMediaController(mediaController);
videoView.start();

At which point I get "Can't play this video"!

As I said to start off with, this uploaded file works seemingly on every other media player including iOS and HTML5. And if I play the locally saved version of the file on Android, it works.

But I can't play the file on Android from Azure after uploaded. Nor can I play the file created and uploaded by iOS created on Android.

Is it encoding the issue? Am I uploading the blob incorrectly? What makes Android's ViewVideo stricter on which video's it will play as oppose to other media players

Peter Peter · Accepted Answer · 2016-02-17T13:30:08

You probably calling the start() to early, start the video when the mediaplayer is ready to start playing: Reference MediaPlayer

videoView.setOnPreparedListener(new MediaPlayer.OnPreparedListener() {
  public void onPrepared(MediaPlayer mp) {
    videoView.start();
  }
});

Can't play mp4 on Android from Azure Blob Storage

3 Answers