Android SDK - camera2 - Draw rectangle over TextureView

  1. First, for the camera2 api android example there is open source google sample code. https://github.com/googlesamples/android-Camera2Basic
  2. Second, for the part where you want to draw a rectangle(touch to focus), follow these steps -
    • Create a custom class extending SurfaceView.
    • Call the onTouchListener method in this custom class to detect finger coordinates and draw your rectangle using paint class in android. -Add this custom class above your TextureView that is displaying preview from camera2.
    • Turn the custom view transparent.
    • When you touch at some point on device screen then onTouchListener will be called which will draw on the canvas of custom view you added above you camera preview.
    • Finally, clear your canvas so you don't keep adding rectangles to the custom view since you only need one rect at one point of time.
    • Also, if not touched for some time the rectangle should disappear. Do this using a handler from custom view.

I am giving you some tested code to do this. I hope it helps you. BEST OF LUCK.

 private class CustomView extends SurfaceView {

    private final Paint paint;
    private final SurfaceHolder mHolder;
    private final Context context;

    public CustomView(Camera2BasicFragment context) {
        super(context.getActivity().getBaseContext());
        mHolder = getHolder();
        mHolder.setFormat(PixelFormat.TRANSPARENT);
        this.context = context.getActivity().getBaseContext();
        paint = new Paint(Paint.ANTI_ALIAS_FLAG);
        paint.setColor(Color.WHITE);
        paint.setStyle(Paint.Style.STROKE);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onDraw(Canvas canvas) {
        super.onDraw(canvas);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onTouchEvent(MotionEvent event) {
        if (event.getAction() == MotionEvent.ACTION_DOWN) {
            invalidate();
            if (mHolder.getSurface().isValid()) {
                final Canvas canvas = mHolder.lockCanvas();
                Log.d("touch", "touchReceived by camera");
                if (canvas != null) {
                    Log.d("touch", "touchReceived CANVAS STILL Not Null");
                    canvas.drawColor(Color.TRANSPARENT, PorterDuff.Mode.CLEAR);
                    canvas.drawColor(Color.TRANSPARENT);
                    canvas.drawCircle(event.getX(), event.getY(), 100, paint);
                    mHolder.unlockCanvasAndPost(canvas);
                    new Handler().postDelayed(new Runnable() {
                        @Override
                        public void run() {
                            Canvas canvas1 = mHolder.lockCanvas();
                            if(canvas1 !=null){
                                canvas1.drawColor(0, PorterDuff.Mode.CLEAR);
                                mHolder.unlockCanvasAndPost(canvas1);
                            }

                        }
                    }, 1000);

                }
                mHolder.unlockCanvasAndPost(canvas);
            }
        }

        return false;
    }
}

I solved it -I had to set my surface view to drawColor(Color.TRANSPARENT) with a clear flag and all was fine.


For those who are looking for a full code, this sample code draws a small rectangle over the camera preview. Just add the surface view and modify the onViewCreated function in the Camera2BasicFragment project.

public class Camera2BasicFragment extends Fragment
        implements View.OnClickListener, ActivityCompat.OnRequestPermissionsResultCallback {

    SurfaceView surfaceView;

    @Override
    public void onViewCreated(final View view, Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        view.findViewById(R.id.picture).setOnClickListener(this);
        view.findViewById(R.id.info).setOnClickListener(this);
        mTextureView = (AutoFitTextureView) view.findViewById(R.id.texture);

        surfaceView = (SurfaceView) view.findViewById(R.id.surfaceView);
        surfaceView.setZOrderOnTop(true);
        SurfaceHolder mHolder = surfaceView.getHolder();
        mHolder.setFormat(PixelFormat.TRANSPARENT);
        mHolder.addCallback(new SurfaceHolder.Callback() {
            @Override
            public void surfaceCreated(SurfaceHolder holder) {
                Canvas canvas = holder.lockCanvas();
                if (canvas == null) {
                    Log.e(TAG, "Cannot draw onto the canvas as it's null");
                } else {
                    Paint myPaint = new Paint();
                    myPaint.setColor(Color.rgb(100, 20, 50));
                    myPaint.setStrokeWidth(10);
                    myPaint.setStyle(Paint.Style.STROKE);
                    canvas.drawRect(100, 100, 200, 200, myPaint);

                    holder.unlockCanvasAndPost(canvas);
                }
            }

            @Override
            public void surfaceChanged(SurfaceHolder holder, int format, int width, int height) {

            }

            @Override
            public void surfaceDestroyed(SurfaceHolder holder) {

            }
        });
    }

And the fragment_camera2_basic.xml file has an additional surface view

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent">

        <com.example.android.camera2basic.AutoFitTextureView
            android:id="@+id/texture"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_alignParentStart="true"
            android:layout_alignParentTop="true" />
        <SurfaceView
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="match_parent"
            android:id="@+id/surfaceView"/>

        <FrameLayout
            android:id="@+id/control"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="112dp"
            android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
            android:layout_alignParentStart="true"
            android:background="@color/control_background">



            <Button
                android:id="@+id/picture"
                android:layout_width="wrap_content"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:layout_gravity="center"
                android:text="@string/picture" />

            <ImageButton
                android:id="@+id/info"
                android:contentDescription="@string/description_info"
                style="@android:style/Widget.Material.Light.Button.Borderless"
                android:layout_width="wrap_content"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:layout_gravity="center_vertical|right"
                android:padding="20dp"
                android:src="@drawable/ic_action_info" />

        </FrameLayout>

    </RelativeLayout>