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. But I don't have any idea how to do so.

I hope someone can help me or send me a code snippet which does something like I want.

Edit: For future reference - After applying the solution, if the video looks distorted, make sure the width of the images/area you are capturing is a multiple of 16. Found after many hours of struggle here:
Why does my movie from UIImages gets distorted?

Here is the complete solution (just ensure width is multiple of 16)
http://codethink.no-ip.org/wordpress/archives/673

Answer 1

I took Zoul's main ideas and incorporated the AVAssetWriterInputPixelBufferAdaptor method and made the beginnings of a little frameworks out of it.

Feel free to check it out and improve upon it! CEMovieMaker

Answer 2

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 <requestMediaDataWhenReadyOnQueue>
    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 <path> 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<CVPixelBuffer?>.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)")
            }
        }
    }
}

Answer 3

Take a look at AVAssetWriter and the rest of the AVFoundation framework. The writer has an input of type AVAssetWriterInput, which in turn has a method called appendSampleBuffer: that lets you add individual frames to a video stream. Essentially you’ll have to:

1) Wire the writer:

NSError *error = nil;
AVAssetWriter *videoWriter = [[AVAssetWriter alloc] initWithURL:
    [NSURL fileURLWithPath:somePath] fileType:AVFileTypeQuickTimeMovie
    error:&error];
NSParameterAssert(videoWriter);

NSDictionary *videoSettings = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:
    AVVideoCodecH264, AVVideoCodecKey,
    [NSNumber numberWithInt:640], AVVideoWidthKey,
    [NSNumber numberWithInt:480], AVVideoHeightKey,
    nil];
AVAssetWriterInput* writerInput = [[AVAssetWriterInput
    assetWriterInputWithMediaType:AVMediaTypeVideo
    outputSettings:videoSettings] retain]; //retain should be removed if ARC

NSParameterAssert(writerInput);
NSParameterAssert([videoWriter canAddInput:writerInput]);
[videoWriter addInput:writerInput];

2) Start a session:

[videoWriter startWriting];
[videoWriter startSessionAtSourceTime:…] //use kCMTimeZero if unsure

3) Write some samples:

// Or you can use AVAssetWriterInputPixelBufferAdaptor.
// That lets you feed the writer input data from a CVPixelBuffer
// that’s quite easy to create from a CGImage.
[writerInput appendSampleBuffer:sampleBuffer];

4) Finish the session:

[writerInput markAsFinished];
[videoWriter endSessionAtSourceTime:…]; //optional can call finishWriting without specifiying endTime
[videoWriter finishWriting]; //deprecated in ios6
/*
[videoWriter finishWritingWithCompletionHandler:...]; //ios 6.0+
*/

You’ll still have to fill-in a lot of blanks, but I think that the only really hard remaining part is getting a pixel buffer from a CGImage:

- (CVPixelBufferRef) newPixelBufferFromCGImage: (CGImageRef) image
{
    NSDictionary *options = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:
        [NSNumber numberWithBool:YES], kCVPixelBufferCGImageCompatibilityKey,
        [NSNumber numberWithBool:YES], kCVPixelBufferCGBitmapContextCompatibilityKey,
        nil];
    CVPixelBufferRef pxbuffer = NULL;
    CVReturn status = CVPixelBufferCreate(kCFAllocatorDefault, frameSize.width,
        frameSize.height, kCVPixelFormatType_32ARGB, (CFDictionaryRef) options, 
        &pxbuffer);
    NSParameterAssert(status == kCVReturnSuccess && pxbuffer != NULL);

    CVPixelBufferLockBaseAddress(pxbuffer, 0);
    void *pxdata = CVPixelBufferGetBaseAddress(pxbuffer);
    NSParameterAssert(pxdata != NULL);

    CGColorSpaceRef rgbColorSpace = CGColorSpaceCreateDeviceRGB();
    CGContextRef context = CGBitmapContextCreate(pxdata, frameSize.width,
        frameSize.height, 8, 4*frameSize.width, rgbColorSpace, 
        kCGImageAlphaNoneSkipFirst);
    NSParameterAssert(context);
    CGContextConcatCTM(context, frameTransform);
    CGContextDrawImage(context, CGRectMake(0, 0, CGImageGetWidth(image), 
        CGImageGetHeight(image)), image);
    CGColorSpaceRelease(rgbColorSpace);
    CGContextRelease(context);

    CVPixelBufferUnlockBaseAddress(pxbuffer, 0);

    return pxbuffer;
}

frameSize is a CGSize describing your target frame size and frameTransform is a CGAffineTransform that lets you transform the images when you draw them into frames.

Answer 4

Swift 4 version for macOS (not iOS), based on @Mikita Manko.

import AVFoundation
import AppKit

class VidWriter {

    var assetWriter: AVAssetWriter
    var writerInput: AVAssetWriterInput
    var bufferAdapter: AVAssetWriterInputPixelBufferAdaptor!
    var videoSettings: [String : Any]
    var frameTime: CMTime!
    var fileUrl: URL!

    init(url: URL, vidSettings: [String : Any]) {
        self.assetWriter = try! AVAssetWriter(url: url, fileType: AVFileType.mov)
        self.fileUrl = url
        self.videoSettings = vidSettings
        self.writerInput = AVAssetWriterInput(mediaType: AVMediaType.video, outputSettings: self.videoSettings)

        assert(self.assetWriter.canAdd(self.writerInput), "Writer cannot add input")

        self.assetWriter.add(self.writerInput)

        let bufferAttributes = [kCVPixelBufferPixelFormatTypeKey as String : Int(kCVPixelFormatType_32ARGB)]
        self.bufferAdapter = AVAssetWriterInputPixelBufferAdaptor(assetWriterInput: self.writerInput, sourcePixelBufferAttributes: bufferAttributes)
        self.frameTime = CMTimeMake(1, 5) // Default value, use 'applyTimeWith(duration:)' to apply specific time.
    }

    static func videoSettings(codec: String = AVVideoCodecJPEG, width: Int, height: Int) -> [String : Any] {

        // AVVideoCodecJPEG also works, but result in a much bigger file.
        return [
            AVVideoCodecKey : AVVideoCodecH264, //AVVideoCodecJPEG,
            AVVideoWidthKey : width,
            AVVideoHeightKey : height
        ]
    }

    /**
    Update the movie time with the number of images and the duration per image.

    - Parameter duration: The duration per frame (image)
    - Parameter frameNumber: The number of frames (images)
    */
    func applyTimeWith(duration: Float, frameNumber: Int) {

        let scale = Float(frameNumber) / (Float(frameNumber) * duration)

        self.frameTime = CMTimeMake(1, Int32(scale))
    }

    func createMovieFrom(images: [NSImage], completion: @escaping (URL) -> Void) {

        self.assetWriter.startWriting()
        self.assetWriter.startSession(atSourceTime: kCMTimeZero)

        let mediaInputQueue = DispatchQueue(label: "MediaInputQueu")

        var i = 0
        let frameNumber = images.count

        self.writerInput.requestMediaDataWhenReady(on: mediaInputQueue) {

            while i < frameNumber {
                if self.writerInput.isReadyForMoreMediaData {

                    var sampleBuffer: CVPixelBuffer?

                    autoreleasepool(invoking: {

                        let img = images[i]

                        var imgRect = CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: img.size.width, height: img.size.height)
                        sampleBuffer = self.newPixelBufferFrom(cgImage: img.cgImage(forProposedRect: &imgRect, context: nil, hints: nil)!)

                    }) // End of autoreleasepool

                    if sampleBuffer != nil {
                        if i == 0 {
                            self.bufferAdapter.append(sampleBuffer!, withPresentationTime: kCMTimeZero)
                        }
                        else {
                            let value = i - 1
                            let lastTime = CMTimeMake(Int64(value), self.frameTime.timescale)
                            let presentTime = CMTimeAdd(lastTime, self.frameTime)

                            self.bufferAdapter.append(sampleBuffer!, withPresentationTime: presentTime)

                        }

                        i += 1
                    }

                } // End of isReadyForMoreMediaData

            } // End of while loop

            self.writerInput.markAsFinished()
            self.assetWriter.finishWriting {
                DispatchQueue.main.async {
                    // At this point, the given URL will already have the ready file.
                    // You can just use the URL passed in the init.
                    completion(self.fileUrl)
                }
            }
        }
    }

    func newPixelBufferFrom(cgImage: CGImage) -> CVPixelBuffer? {

        let options: [String : Any] = [kCVPixelBufferCGImageCompatibilityKey as String : true, kCVPixelBufferCGBitmapContextCompatibilityKey as String : true]

        var pxbuffer: CVPixelBuffer?

        let frameWidth = self.videoSettings[AVVideoWidthKey] as! Int
        let frameHeight = self.videoSettings[AVVideoHeightKey] as! Int

        let status = CVPixelBufferCreate(kCFAllocatorDefault, frameWidth, frameHeight, kCVPixelFormatType_32ARGB, options as CFDictionary?, &pxbuffer)

        assert(status == kCVReturnSuccess && pxbuffer != nil, "newPixelBuffer failed")
        CVPixelBufferLockBaseAddress(pxbuffer!, CVPixelBufferLockFlags(rawValue: 0))
        let pxData = CVPixelBufferGetBaseAddress(pxbuffer!)
        let rgbColorSpace = CGColorSpaceCreateDeviceRGB()
        let context = CGContext(data: pxData, width: frameWidth, height: frameHeight, bitsPerComponent: 8, bytesPerRow: CVPixelBufferGetBytesPerRow(pxbuffer!), space: rgbColorSpace, bitmapInfo: CGImageAlphaInfo.noneSkipFirst.rawValue)

        assert(context != nil, "context is nil")

        context!.concatenate(CGAffineTransform.identity)
        context!.draw(cgImage, in: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: cgImage.width, height: cgImage.height))
        CVPixelBufferUnlockBaseAddress(pxbuffer!, CVPixelBufferLockFlags(rawValue: 0))

        return pxbuffer
    }
}

Usage:

let settings = VidWriter.videoSettings(width: cgImg.width, height: cgImg.height)

// Note: There should be no file at the targetUrl or nothing will be written.
self.vidWriter = VidWriter(url: targetUrl!, vidSettings: settings)
self.vidWriter.applyTimeWith(duration: durationPerFrame, frameNumber: images.count)

self.vidWriter.createMovieFrom(images: images, completion: { (finalUrl) in
    print("Completed")
})

Answer 5

Use AVAssetWriter to write images as movie. I already have answered here:- https://stackoverflow.com/a/19166876/1582217

Answer 6

Just translated @Scott Raposa answer to swift3 (with some very little changes):

import AVFoundation
import UIKit
import Photos

struct RenderSettings {

    var size : CGSize = .zero
    var fps: Int32 = 6   // frames per second
    var avCodecKey = AVVideoCodecH264
    var videoFilename = "render"
    var videoFilenameExt = "mp4"


    var outputURL: URL {
        // Use the CachesDirectory so the rendered video file sticks around as long as we need it to.
        // Using the CachesDirectory ensures the file won't be included in a backup of the app.
        let fileManager = FileManager.default
        if let tmpDirURL = try? fileManager.url(for: .cachesDirectory, in: .userDomainMask, appropriateFor: nil, create: true) {
            return tmpDirURL.appendingPathComponent(videoFilename).appendingPathExtension(videoFilenameExt)
        }
        fatalError("URLForDirectory() failed")
    }
}


class ImageAnimator {

    // Apple suggests a timescale of 600 because it's a multiple of standard video rates 24, 25, 30, 60 fps etc.
    static let kTimescale: Int32 = 600

    let settings: RenderSettings
    let videoWriter: VideoWriter
    var images: [UIImage]!

    var frameNum = 0

    class func saveToLibrary(videoURL: URL) {
        PHPhotoLibrary.requestAuthorization { status in
            guard status == .authorized else { return }

            PHPhotoLibrary.shared().performChanges({
                PHAssetChangeRequest.creationRequestForAssetFromVideo(atFileURL: videoURL)
            }) { success, error in
                if !success {
                    print("Could not save video to photo library:", error)
                }
            }
        }
    }

    class func removeFileAtURL(fileURL: URL) {
        do {
            try FileManager.default.removeItem(atPath: fileURL.path)
        }
        catch _ as NSError {
            // Assume file doesn't exist.
        }
    }

    init(renderSettings: RenderSettings) {
        settings = renderSettings
        videoWriter = VideoWriter(renderSettings: settings)
//        images = loadImages()
    }

    func render(completion: (()->Void)?) {

        // The VideoWriter will fail if a file exists at the URL, so clear it out first.
        ImageAnimator.removeFileAtURL(fileURL: settings.outputURL)

        videoWriter.start()
        videoWriter.render(appendPixelBuffers: appendPixelBuffers) {
            ImageAnimator.saveToLibrary(videoURL: self.settings.outputURL)
            completion?()
        }

    }

//    // Replace this logic with your own.
//    func loadImages() -> [UIImage] {
//        var images = [UIImage]()
//        for index in 1...10 {
//            let filename = "\(index).jpg"
//            images.append(UIImage(named: filename)!)
//        }
//        return images
//    }

    // This is the callback function for VideoWriter.render()
    func appendPixelBuffers(writer: VideoWriter) -> Bool {

        let frameDuration = CMTimeMake(Int64(ImageAnimator.kTimescale / settings.fps), ImageAnimator.kTimescale)

        while !images.isEmpty {

            if writer.isReadyForData == false {
                // Inform writer we have more buffers to write.
                return false
            }

            let image = images.removeFirst()
            let presentationTime = CMTimeMultiply(frameDuration, Int32(frameNum))
            let success = videoWriter.addImage(image: image, withPresentationTime: presentationTime)
            if success == false {
                fatalError("addImage() failed")
            }

            frameNum += 1
        }

        // Inform writer all buffers have been written.
        return true
    }

}


class VideoWriter {

    let renderSettings: RenderSettings

    var videoWriter: AVAssetWriter!
    var videoWriterInput: AVAssetWriterInput!
    var pixelBufferAdaptor: AVAssetWriterInputPixelBufferAdaptor!

    var isReadyForData: Bool {
        return videoWriterInput?.isReadyForMoreMediaData ?? false
    }

    class func pixelBufferFromImage(image: UIImage, pixelBufferPool: CVPixelBufferPool, size: CGSize) -> CVPixelBuffer {

        var pixelBufferOut: CVPixelBuffer?

        let status = CVPixelBufferPoolCreatePixelBuffer(kCFAllocatorDefault, pixelBufferPool, &pixelBufferOut)
        if status != kCVReturnSuccess {
            fatalError("CVPixelBufferPoolCreatePixelBuffer() failed")
        }

        let pixelBuffer = pixelBufferOut!

        CVPixelBufferLockBaseAddress(pixelBuffer, CVPixelBufferLockFlags(rawValue: 0))

        let data = CVPixelBufferGetBaseAddress(pixelBuffer)
        let rgbColorSpace = CGColorSpaceCreateDeviceRGB()
        let context = CGContext(data: data, width: Int(size.width), height: Int(size.height),
                                bitsPerComponent: 8, bytesPerRow: CVPixelBufferGetBytesPerRow(pixelBuffer), space: rgbColorSpace, bitmapInfo: CGImageAlphaInfo.premultipliedFirst.rawValue)

        context!.clear(CGRect(x:0,y: 0,width: size.width,height: size.height))

        let horizontalRatio = size.width / image.size.width
        let verticalRatio = size.height / image.size.height
        //aspectRatio = max(horizontalRatio, verticalRatio) // ScaleAspectFill
        let aspectRatio = min(horizontalRatio, verticalRatio) // ScaleAspectFit

        let newSize = CGSize(width: image.size.width * aspectRatio, height: image.size.height * aspectRatio)

        let x = newSize.width < size.width ? (size.width - newSize.width) / 2 : 0
        let y = newSize.height < size.height ? (size.height - newSize.height) / 2 : 0

        context?.draw(image.cgImage!, in: CGRect(x:x,y: y, width: newSize.width, height: newSize.height))
        CVPixelBufferUnlockBaseAddress(pixelBuffer, CVPixelBufferLockFlags(rawValue: 0))

        return pixelBuffer
    }

    init(renderSettings: RenderSettings) {
        self.renderSettings = renderSettings
    }

    func start() {

        let avOutputSettings: [String: Any] = [
            AVVideoCodecKey: renderSettings.avCodecKey,
            AVVideoWidthKey: NSNumber(value: Float(renderSettings.size.width)),
            AVVideoHeightKey: NSNumber(value: Float(renderSettings.size.height))
        ]

        func createPixelBufferAdaptor() {
            let sourcePixelBufferAttributesDictionary = [
                kCVPixelBufferPixelFormatTypeKey as String: NSNumber(value: kCVPixelFormatType_32ARGB),
                kCVPixelBufferWidthKey as String: NSNumber(value: Float(renderSettings.size.width)),
                kCVPixelBufferHeightKey as String: NSNumber(value: Float(renderSettings.size.height))
            ]
            pixelBufferAdaptor = AVAssetWriterInputPixelBufferAdaptor(assetWriterInput: videoWriterInput,
                                                                      sourcePixelBufferAttributes: sourcePixelBufferAttributesDictionary)
        }

        func createAssetWriter(outputURL: URL) -> AVAssetWriter {
            guard let assetWriter = try? AVAssetWriter(outputURL: outputURL, fileType: AVFileTypeMPEG4) else {
                fatalError("AVAssetWriter() failed")
            }

            guard assetWriter.canApply(outputSettings: avOutputSettings, forMediaType: AVMediaTypeVideo) else {
                fatalError("canApplyOutputSettings() failed")
            }

            return assetWriter
        }

        videoWriter = createAssetWriter(outputURL: renderSettings.outputURL)
        videoWriterInput = AVAssetWriterInput(mediaType: AVMediaTypeVideo, outputSettings: avOutputSettings)

        if videoWriter.canAdd(videoWriterInput) {
            videoWriter.add(videoWriterInput)
        }
        else {
            fatalError("canAddInput() returned false")
        }

        // The pixel buffer adaptor must be created before we start writing.
        createPixelBufferAdaptor()

        if videoWriter.startWriting() == false {
            fatalError("startWriting() failed")
        }

        videoWriter.startSession(atSourceTime: kCMTimeZero)

        precondition(pixelBufferAdaptor.pixelBufferPool != nil, "nil pixelBufferPool")
    }

    func render(appendPixelBuffers: ((VideoWriter)->Bool)?, completion: (()->Void)?) {

        precondition(videoWriter != nil, "Call start() to initialze the writer")

        let queue = DispatchQueue(label: "mediaInputQueue")
        videoWriterInput.requestMediaDataWhenReady(on: queue) {
            let isFinished = appendPixelBuffers?(self) ?? false
            if isFinished {
                self.videoWriterInput.markAsFinished()
                self.videoWriter.finishWriting() {
                    DispatchQueue.main.async {
                        completion?()
                    }
                }
            }
            else {
                // Fall through. The closure will be called again when the writer is ready.
            }
        }
    }

    func addImage(image: UIImage, withPresentationTime presentationTime: CMTime) -> Bool {

        precondition(pixelBufferAdaptor != nil, "Call start() to initialze the writer")

        let pixelBuffer = VideoWriter.pixelBufferFromImage(image: image, pixelBufferPool: pixelBufferAdaptor.pixelBufferPool!, size: renderSettings.size)
        return pixelBufferAdaptor.append(pixelBuffer, withPresentationTime: presentationTime)
    }

}