Unable to record video and take frames from onPreviewFrame callback at the same time
<p>I am recording video in my Android application using <code>MediaRecorder</code> and I also want frame data through the <code>onPreviewFrame</code> callback.</p>

<p><strong>The issue is:</strong> If preview is restarted in <code>surfaceChanged</code> callback then video recording stops working. If it is not restarted, by commenting everything inside <code>surfaceChanged</code>, then video recording keeps working but the <code>onPreviewFrame</code> callback stops working.</p>

<p>How can I make both of them work?</p>

<p>CameraActivity.java</p>

<pre><code>import android.app.Activity;
import android.hardware.Camera;
import android.media.MediaRecorder;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.os.Environment;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.SurfaceHolder;
import android.view.SurfaceView;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.Toast;

import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
import java.io.FileOutputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
import java.util.Date;

public class CameraActivity extends Activity implements SurfaceHolder.Callback, Camera.PreviewCallback {
    private static final String TAG = "CameraActivity";

    public static final int MEDIA_TYPE_IMAGE = 1;
    public static final int MEDIA_TYPE_VIDEO = 2;

    private Camera mCamera;
    private SurfaceView mPreview;
    private SurfaceHolder mHolder;
    private MediaRecorder mMediaRecorder;
    private boolean isRecording = false;

    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_camera);

        // Create an instance of Camera
        mCamera = getCameraInstance();

        if (mCamera != null) {
            // Create our Preview view and set it as the content of our activity.
            mPreview = (SurfaceView) findViewById(R.id.camera_preview);
            // Install a SurfaceHolder.Callback so we get notified when the
            // underlying surface is created and destroyed.
            mHolder = mPreview.getHolder();
            mHolder.addCallback(this);
        }

        startLockTask();
    }

    public void surfaceCreated(SurfaceHolder holder) {
        // The Surface has been created, now tell the camera where to draw the preview.
        try {
            mCamera.setPreviewCallback(this);
            mCamera.setPreviewDisplay(holder);
            mCamera.startPreview();

            prepareMediaRecorder();
            startVideoRecording();
        } catch (IOException e) {
            Log.d(TAG, "Error setting camera preview: " + e.getMessage());
        }
    }

    public void surfaceDestroyed(SurfaceHolder holder) {
        // empty. Take care of releasing the Camera preview in your activity.
    }

    public void surfaceChanged(SurfaceHolder holder, int format, int w, int h) {
        // If your preview can change or rotate, take care of those events here.
        // Make sure to stop the preview before resizing or reformatting it.

        if (mHolder.getSurface() == null) {
            // preview surface does not exist
            return;
        }

        // stop preview before making changes
        try {
            mCamera.stopPreview();
        } catch (Exception e){
            // ignore: tried to stop a non-existent preview
        }

        // set preview size and make any resize, rotate or
        // reformatting changes here

        // start preview with new settings
        try {
            mCamera.setPreviewCallback(this);
            mCamera.setPreviewDisplay(mHolder);
            mCamera.startPreview();
        } catch (Exception e){
            Log.d(TAG, "Error starting camera preview: " + e.getMessage());
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void onPreviewFrame(byte[] bytes, Camera camera) {

    }

    private boolean prepareMediaRecorder() {
        mMediaRecorder = new MediaRecorder();

        mMediaRecorder.setOnErrorListener(new MediaRecorder.OnErrorListener() {
            @Override
            public void onError(MediaRecorder mediaRecorder, int what, int extra) {
                Log.e(TAG, "Media recorder error");
            }
        });

        mMediaRecorder.setOnInfoListener(new MediaRecorder.OnInfoListener() {
            @Override
            public void onInfo(MediaRecorder mr, int what, int extra) {
                if (what == MediaRecorder.MEDIA_RECORDER_INFO_MAX_DURATION_REACHED) {
                    stopVideoRecording();
                    releaseMediaRecorder();
                    prepareMediaRecorder();
                    startVideoRecording();
                }
            }
        });

        // Step 1: Unlock and set camera to MediaRecorder
        mCamera.unlock();
        mMediaRecorder.setCamera(mCamera);

        // Step 2: Set sources
        //mMediaRecorder.setAudioSource(MediaRecorder.AudioSource.CAMCORDER);
        mMediaRecorder.setVideoSource(MediaRecorder.VideoSource.CAMERA);

        // Step 3: Set a CamcorderProfile (requires API Level 8 or higher)
//        mMediaRecorder.setProfile(CamcorderProfile.get(CamcorderProfile.QUALITY_LOW));

        mMediaRecorder.setOutputFormat(MediaRecorder.OutputFormat.THREE_GPP);
        mMediaRecorder.setVideoEncoder(MediaRecorder.VideoEncoder.MPEG_4_SP);
        mMediaRecorder.setVideoFrameRate(3);
        mMediaRecorder.setVideoEncodingBitRate(6000000);
        mMediaRecorder.setVideoSize(800, 480);
        mMediaRecorder.setMaxDuration(60000);

        // Step 4: Set output file
        mMediaRecorder.setOutputFile(getOutputMediaFile(MEDIA_TYPE_VIDEO).toString());

        // Step 5: Set the preview output
//        mMediaRecorder.setPreviewDisplay(mPreview.getHolder().getSurface());

        // Step 6: Prepare configured MediaRecorder
        try {
            mMediaRecorder.prepare();
        } catch (IllegalStateException e) {
            Log.d(TAG, "IllegalStateException preparing MediaRecorder: " + e.getMessage());
            releaseMediaRecorder();
            return false;
        } catch (IOException e) {
            Log.d(TAG, "IOException preparing MediaRecorder: " + e.getMessage());
            releaseMediaRecorder();
            return false;
        }
        return true;
    }

    private void startVideoRecording() {
        mMediaRecorder.start();
        isRecording = true;
    }

    private void stopVideoRecording() {
        // stop recording and release camera
        mMediaRecorder.stop();  // stop the recording
        isRecording = false;
    }

    /** A safe way to get an instance of the Camera object. */
    public static Camera getCameraInstance(){
        Camera c = null;
        try {
            c = Camera.open(); // attempt to get a Camera instance
        }
        catch (Exception e){
            // Camera is not available (in use or does not exist)
        }
        return c; // returns null if camera is unavailable
    }

    @Override
    protected void onDestroy() {
        super.onDestroy();
        releaseMediaRecorder();       // if you are using MediaRecorder, release it first
        releaseCamera();              // release the camera immediately on pause event
    }

    private void releaseMediaRecorder(){
        if (mMediaRecorder != null) {
            mMediaRecorder.reset();   // clear recorder configuration
            mMediaRecorder.release(); // release the recorder object
            mMediaRecorder = null;
            mCamera.lock();           // lock camera for later use
        }
    }

    private void releaseCamera(){
        if (mCamera != null){
            mCamera.release();        // release the camera for other applications
            mCamera = null;
        }
    }

    /** Create a File for saving an image or video */
    private static File getOutputMediaFile(int type){
        // To be safe, you should check that the SDCard is mounted
        // using Environment.getExternalStorageState() before doing this.

        File mediaStorageDir = new File(Environment.getExternalStoragePublicDirectory(
                Environment.DIRECTORY_PICTURES), "MyCameraApp");
        // This location works best if you want the created images to be shared
        // between applications and persist after your app has been uninstalled.

        // Create the storage directory if it does not exist
        if (! mediaStorageDir.exists()){
            if (! mediaStorageDir.mkdirs()){
                Log.d("MyCameraApp", "failed to create directory");
                return null;
            }
        }

        // Create a media file name
        String timeStamp = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyyMMdd_HHmmss").format(new Date());
        File mediaFile;
        if (type == MEDIA_TYPE_IMAGE){
            mediaFile = new File(mediaStorageDir.getPath() + File.separator +
                    "IMG_"+ timeStamp + ".jpg");
        } else if(type == MEDIA_TYPE_VIDEO) {
            mediaFile = new File(mediaStorageDir.getPath() + File.separator +
                    "VID_"+ timeStamp + ".mp4");
        } else {
            return null;
        }

        return mediaFile;
    }
}
</code></pre>

<p>activity_camera.xml</p>

<pre><code>&lt;?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?&gt;
&lt;LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:orientation="horizontal"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    &gt;
    &lt;SurfaceView
        android:id="@+id/camera_preview"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="fill_parent"
        android:layout_weight="1"
        /&gt;
&lt;/LinearLayout&gt;
</code></pre>