efficient_video_recorder 0.1.2

High-efficiency camera video recorder for Flutter. Optimized for low battery usage and zero thermal throttling with CameraX on Android and AVFoundation on iOS.

Efficient Video Recorder for Flutter

A high-efficiency, low-power camera video recorder plugin for Flutter. Purpose-built for dashcams, action cams, driving companions, and background/continuous recording where device thermals, battery life, and smooth UI frame rates matter.

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⚡ The Problem with the Official camera Plugin

The official Flutter camera plugin (camera_android_camerax) was engineered as a general-purpose camera solution for taking photos, analyzing barcodes/ML, and streaming frames. On Android, this design introduces significant overhead during continuous video recording:

1. Dual/Triple CameraX Use Cases: The standard plugin often binds 3 to 4 use cases simultaneously (Preview + ImageCapture + VideoCapture + ImageAnalysis). On most Android devices, exceeding concurrent hardware HAL streams forces CameraX into an OpenGL StreamSharing software-fallback pipeline, doubling GPU & memory bus consumption.
2. Flutter Texture Copy Loop: Preview frames are converted into Flutter GPU textures via SurfaceProducer. Impeller/Skia must redraw every camera frame at 30–60 fps directly inside the Flutter rendering loop—competing with 3D vector maps, animations, and UI widgets.
3. Thermal Accumulation & Battery Drain: Uncapped 30/60 fps capture and active electronic image stabilization (EIS) cause phones to overheat within minutes, leading to aggressive OS thermal throttling.

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🚀 The Solution: efficient_video_recorder

efficient_video_recorder takes a hardware-native, minimal-footprint approach:

Capability	Official camera Plugin	efficient_video_recorder
Active HAL Streams	3–4 (triggers OpenGL fallback)	Strictly 2 (Preview + VideoCapture)
Preview Rendering	Flutter GPU Texture copy	Zero-copy SurfaceView (Hardware Overlay)
Capture FPS	Uncapped (30–60 fps)	Capped to 24 fps (saves ~20–30% ISP load)
Bitrate Control	Platform default (variable)	Explicit Presets (2.5 Mbps SD / 4.5 Mbps HD / 8 Mbps FHD)
Video Stabilization	Always enabled	Disabled by default (eliminates gyro sensor drain)
Direct File Output	Temporary cache + Dart copy	Direct destination write via MediaCodec
Gesture Handling	Requires manual overlay tuning	Automatic pass-through (IgnorePointer & transparent hit-test)

📊 Real Device Benchmarks (Pixel 10a, Android 17)

Testing continuous recording side-by-side with a 3D Google Navigation map:

• cameraserver CPU: Dropped from ~35–45% down to ~9.0%.
• Frame Render Latency: 50th percentile: 5 ms, 95th percentile: 8 ms.
• Janky Frames: 1.69% (zero slow bitmap uploads).
• Thermals: Maintained comfortable ~40.5 °C skin temperature with 0 cooling/throttling events.

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📦 Getting Started

1. Add Dependency

Add efficient_video_recorder to your pubspec.yaml:

dependencies:
  efficient_video_recorder: ^0.1.0

2. Configure Platform Permissions

Android (android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml)

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CAMERA" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.RECORD_AUDIO" />

iOS (ios/Runner/Info.plist)

<key>NSCameraUsageDescription</key>
<string>This app requires camera access to record video.</string>
<key>NSMicrophoneUsageDescription</key>
<string>This app requires microphone access for video audio.</string>

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💻 Usage

Basic Example

import 'dart:io';
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:efficient_video_recorder/efficient_video_recorder.dart';

class DashcamWidget extends StatefulWidget {
  const DashcamWidget({super.key});

  @override
  State<DashcamWidget> createState() => _DashcamWidgetState();
}

class _DashcamWidgetState extends State<DashcamWidget> {
  final _controller = EfficientVideoRecorderController();

  @override
  void initState() {
    super.initState();
    _initRecorder();
  }

  Future<void> _initRecorder() async {
    await _controller.initialize(
      options: const RecorderOptions(
        quality: VideoQuality.sd, // SD 480p @ 2.5 Mbps for battery savings
        facing: CameraFacing.back,
        targetFps: 24,            // 24 fps cuts ISP power consumption
        disableStabilization: true,
      ),
    );
    if (mounted) setState(() {});
  }

  Future<void> _toggleRecord() async {
    if (_controller.isRecording) {
      final File? savedFile = await _controller.stopRecording();
      print('Video saved to: ${savedFile?.path}');
    } else {
      await _controller.startRecording('/path/to/my_clip.mp4');
    }
  }

  @override
  void dispose() {
    _controller.dispose();
    super.dispose();
  }

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    if (!_controller.isInitialized) {
      return const Center(child: CircularProgressIndicator());
    }

    return GestureDetector(
      onTap: _toggleRecord,
      child: SizedBox(
        width: 160,
        height: 120,
        child: Stack(
          children: [
            EfficientVideoPreview(
              controller: _controller,
              borderRadius: BorderRadius.circular(12),
            ),
            if (_controller.isRecording)
              const Positioned(
                bottom: 8,
                right: 8,
                child: Icon(Icons.fiber_manual_record, color: Colors.red),
              ),
          ],
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}

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⚙️ Configuration & Quality Presets

enum VideoQuality {
  sd,   // 480p (2.5 Mbps) — Lowest heat and battery usage. Recommended for dashcam.
  hd,   // 720p (4.5 Mbps) — Balanced detail and efficiency.
  fhd,  // 1080p (8.0 Mbps) — High detail.
}

To switch video quality dynamically on the fly:

await controller.setQuality(VideoQuality.hd);

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🛠️ Lifecycle Management

When your app moves to the background, pause the camera session to release hardware locks:

@override
void didChangeAppLifecycleState(AppLifecycleState state) {
  if (state == AppLifecycleState.paused) {
    _controller.pause();
  } else if (state == AppLifecycleState.resumed) {
    _controller.resume();
  }
}

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🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues, pull requests, and benchmarks.

1. Fork the repo: https://github.com/billylo1/efficient_video_recorder
2. Create your feature branch: git checkout -b feature/my-feature
3. Verify analysis & tests:

   flutter analyze
   flutter test
   

4. Commit your changes: git commit -am 'Add some feature'
5. Push to the branch: git push origin feature/my-feature
6. Open a Pull Request.

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📄 License

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