Native Video Trimmer

pub package License: MIT

A lightweight Flutter plugin for video manipulation using native code. Trim videos without FFmpeg dependency.

IMPORTANT

This library focuses specifically on video trimming functionality. If you need more advanced video editing features (trim, merge, crop, rotate, etc.), consider using easy_video_editor.

Why choose this plugin?

  • No FFmpeg Dependency: Uses platform-native video processing capabilities instead of heavy FFmpeg libraries
  • Lightweight: Smaller app size and faster processing compared to FFmpeg-based solutions
  • Native Performance: Direct use of Media3 (Android) and AVFoundation (iOS) for optimal performance
  • Memory Efficient: Processes videos without loading entire files into memory
  • Privacy Focused: All processing happens locally on the device

Features

  • Video Loading: Load and process video files from any source
  • Precise Trimming: Trim videos with millisecond precision
  • Output Quality: Five presets (original, hd1080, hd720, passthrough, hevc) to trade file size against encode time
  • Thumbnails: Grab JPEG frames at any position, with optional scaling
  • Native Implementation: Clean and efficient platform-specific code

Installation

Add this to your package's pubspec.yaml file:

dependencies:
  native_video_trimmer: ^0.1.0

Or install via command line:

flutter pub add native_video_trimmer

Usage

Import

import 'package:native_video_trimmer/native_video_trimmer.dart';

Initialize

final videoTrimmer = VideoTrimmer();

Load a Video

await videoTrimmer.loadVideo('/path/to/video.mp4');

Trim Video

// Trim the first 5 seconds of the video
final trimmedPath = await videoTrimmer.trimVideo(
  startTimeMs: 0,     // Start time in milliseconds
  endTimeMs: 5000,    // End time in milliseconds (5 seconds)
  includeAudio: true, // Optional, default is true
  quality: VideoQuality.hd1080, // Optional, default is VideoQuality.original
);

Output Quality

quality trades file size against encode time and compatibility. There is no 1440p/1600p step: iOS export presets are a fixed ladder (720p, 1080p, 4K, …), so hd1080 is the finest downscale cap available.

Quality Behavior Best for
original (default) Source resolution, H.264, highest quality Max fidelity, largest files
hd1080 Downscales sources taller than 1080p to 1080p 4K phone footage at sane sizes
hd720 Downscales sources taller than 720p to 720p Previews, uploads on slow networks
passthrough No re-encode; cuts snap to keyframes Fastest, lossless, size follows source
hevc H.265 encode Smallest files; slower export, check playback support

Sources already below a cap are never upscaled, and a low-bitrate source is never re-encoded at a higher bitrate than it already has. If a device can't do what was asked (e.g. no HEVC encoder), the plugin falls back to a supported output instead of failing.

Get Thumbnail

// Grab a frame at 1.5s, scaled to 320x180
final thumbnailPath = await videoTrimmer.getThumbnail(
  positionMs: 1500, // Position in milliseconds
  width: 320,       // Optional, omit both to keep source size
  height: 180,      // Optional, omit both to keep source size
  quality: 80,      // Optional JPEG quality 0-100, default is 80
);

Thumbnails use the loaded video by default. Pass path to thumb a file without loading it first:

final thumbnailPath = await videoTrimmer.getThumbnail(
  positionMs: 1500,
  path: '/path/to/another.mp4',
);

When generating many thumbnails (e.g. a timeline strip), prefer getThumbnailData, which returns the JPEG bytes directly and skips file I/O:

final bytes = await videoTrimmer.getThumbnailData(positionMs: 1500);

Local files only — network URLs are not supported.

Clear Cache

// Clear the cache
await videoTrimmer.clearCache();

Example

Check the example folder for a sample app demonstrating the plugin.

Platform Support

Platform Implementation Minimum Version Status
Android Media3 API 21 (5.0) ✅
iOS AVFoundation iOS 11.0 / 15.6 (SPM) ✅

Requirements

Android

  • Minimum SDK: API 21 (Android 5.0)
  • Target SDK: API 34
  • Kotlin: 1.8.22
  • AndroidX
  • Media3: 1.4.1

iOS

  • Minimum iOS: 11.0 (CocoaPods) / 15.6 (Swift Package Manager)
  • Swift: 5.0 (CocoaPods) / 5.9 (Swift Package Manager)
  • Xcode: Latest version

Contributing

Contributions are always welcome! Here's how you can help:

  1. Report bugs by opening an issue
  2. Suggest new features or improvements
  3. Improve documentation
  4. Submit pull requests

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Author

iawtk2302 thums24

Show Your Support

If you find this plugin helpful, please give it a star on GitHub! It helps others discover the plugin and motivates me to keep improving it.

Libraries

native_video_trimmer