Skip to main content
Version: 0.12

Movies

In Etro, movies composite layers and apply global effects.

Constructor

Options:

  • canvas: HTML <canvas> element to draw to. Required.
  • actx: Web Audio rendering context to play all audio layers through. Defaults to a new context that plays through the default output device.
  • background: Background color to fill the canvas with before drawing the visual layers. Defaults to #000.
  • repeat: If true, playback loops endlessly while playing or streaming (but not while recording). Defaults to false.

Example:

const movie = new etro.Movie({
canvas: document.querySelector("canvas"),
});

Rendering

There are several ways to access a movie's output.

play()

Draws all the movie's visual layers to the canvas and plays all its audio layers to the audio context in real time.

Options:

  • duration: How long to play for, in seconds. By default, the movie plays to the end.
  • onStart(): void: Optional callback function that is called when the movie is fully loaded and starts playing.

Returns:

  • Promise<void>: Resolves when the movie has finished playing.

Example:

await movie.play({
duration: 3,
onStart: () => {
// Playback has started
},
});
// Playback has stopped

stream()

Draws the movie to the canvas, plays it through the audio context and sends the result to a new WebRTC stream.

Options:

  • frameRate: Max video frames per second.
  • duration: How long to stream for, in seconds. By default, the movie streams to the end.
  • video: If true, the movie's visual layers are included in the stream. Defaults to true.
  • audio: If true, the movie's audio layers are included in the stream. Defaults to true.
  • onStart(stream: MediaStream): void: Optional callback function that is called when the movie is fully loaded and starts streaming.

Returns:

  • Promise<void>: Resolves when the movie has finished streaming.

Example:

await movie.stream({
frameRate: 60,
duration: 5,
video: true,
audio: true,
onStart: (stream: MediaStream) => {
// Streaming has started
},
});
// Streaming has stopped

record()

Draws the movie to the canvas, plays it through the audio context and saves the result as a video or audio blob in memory.

Options:

  • frameRate: Max video frames per second.
  • duration: How long to record for, in seconds. By default, the movie records to the end.
  • type: MIME type for the recording. Defaults to video/webm.
  • video: If true, the movie's visual layers are included in the recording. Defaults to true.
  • audio: If true, the movie's audio layers are included in the recording. Defaults to true.
  • onStart(recorder: MediaRecorder): void: Optional callback function that is called when the movie is fully loaded and starts recording.

Returns:

  • Promise<Blob>: Resolves with the recording.

Example:

const blob = await movie.record({
frameRate: 30,
duration: undefined,
type: "video/webm;codecs=vp8",
video: true,
audio: true,
onStart: (recorder: MediaRecorder) => {
// Recording has started
},
});
// The recording has completed

refresh()

Draws a single frame to the canvas, without playing any audio.

Returns:

  • Promise<void>: Resolves when the frame has been loaded and drawn to the canvas.

Example:

await movie.refresh();
// The current frame has been loaded and drawn to the canvas.

Advanced playback control

pause()

Stops playback.

stop()

Stops playback and resets currentTime to the beginning of the movie.

seek()

Exactly the same as setting the currentTime property:

movie.seek(0);

Properties

layers (readonly, mutable)

Layers that are composited to form the movie's output.

effects (readonly, mutable)

Effects that are applied globally after all the layers are composited.

currentTime

Current playback position (in seconds). Setting this property seeks the movie to the new position.

duration (readonly)

The movie's duration (the last end time of all its layers).

paused (readonly)

True if the movie is paused or false if it is playing, streaming or recording.

ended (readonly)

True if the movie played, streamed or recorded to the end without interruption.

ready (readonly)

True if the movie is ready to play, that is, if enough of the resources belonging to all its layers and effects are loaded to play through.

The movie will automatically wait until it is ready before playing, streaming, recording and refreshing, and it will temporarily pause whenever a resource becomes unavailable.

canvas (readonly)

HTML <canvas> element to render the movie to.

cctx (readonly)

Convenience getter for the canvas's 2D canvas rendering context.

actx (readonly)

Web Audio rendering context used to play all audio layers.

width / height

Dimensions of the movie.

background

tip

This is a Dynamic Property.

Background color to fill the canvas with before drawing the visual layers.

repeat

If true, playback loops endlessly while playing or streaming (but not while recording).