I need to take a picture of the screen and load it into an NSImage or some derivation of that. Right now I am using NSTask and the “screencapture” command line utility. Is there another way because this way sucks. Thanks. http://goo.gl/Cx9sQ
This works fairly well for me and takes a surprisingly little amount of code - and best of all, it’s 100% Cocoa. The downside is that it’s slow if you are trying to capture the entire screen.
(NSImage *)captureImageForRect:(NSRect)rect { NSWindow *window; NSBitmapImageRep *rep; NSImage *image;
window = [[NSWindow alloc] initWithContentRect:rect styleMask:NSBorderlessWindowMask backing:NSBackingStoreNonretained defer:NO]; [window setBackgroundColor:[NSColor clearColor]]; [window setLevel:NSScreenSaverWindowLevel + 1]; [window setHasShadow:NO]; [window setAlphaValue:0.0]; [window orderFront:self]; [window setContentView:[[[NSView alloc] initWithFrame:rect] autorelease]]; window contentView] lockFocus]; rep = [[[[NSBitmapImageRep alloc] initWithFocusedViewRect:window contentView] bounds; window contentView] unlockFocus]; [window orderOut:self]; [window close];
image = [[[[[NSImage alloc] initWithSize:[rep size]] autorelease]; [image addRepresentation:rep];
return image; }
You might need to use some Carbon if you want to get the best results. I believe Apple had some sample code on how to do this, but I can’t find it at the moment.
– RyanBates
Thank you Ryan. I tried your code and it is very cool but a little too slow for my needs (the whole screen). But that is a very helpful snippet. With your permission I would like to post it to http://osnippets.org/. I ended up just using NSTask and screencapture. I made sure that the task was finished before proceeding with my screensaver. I wanted to basically freeze the screen by displaying a screenshot of the computer right before the screensaver activated but I kept getting part of the fade in the screenshot. Now it just takes a second to activate. As soon as I post it for download I will post a link in here or something. Hm, I just noticed that link you (or someone else) gave me. I am at school on a PeeCee so I can’t try it, but I will try it when I get home. Thanks! -Zac
Credit for the code given above goes to Ben Haller from Stick Software. So, it would be most appropriate to ask him for permission to post it on osnippets.org. See his post at: http://cocoa.mamasam.com/MACOSXDEV/2002/02/1/24720.php
– RyanBates
Man, the code in the above link in the original post is great. It is lightning fast for the entire screen. I haven’t put it into my program yet, but I will later. I still can’t get over how fast it is. Less than a second for the entire screen!! -Zac
Apple’s sample code has been deprecated. Exactly why it was deprecated is unclear, but it’s now in their archive section at http://developer.apple.com/samplecode/Sample_Code/Archive/Graphics/glGrab.htm. “This sample shows how to use OpenGL to grab the contents of the screen via a DMA transfer to reduce the load on the CPU.”
glGrab is by far the fastest grabbing routine I’ve come across. With a bit of hacking around I’ve managed to take a 1024*768 screendump and map it onto a gl quad in 0.11 seconds (with the addition of Apple’s GL extensions ofcourse). -ascii
There’s also the Snapshot ( http://developer.apple.com/samplecode/Sample_Code/Archive/Graphics/Snapshot.htm ) and Super Snapshot ( http://developer.apple.com/samplecode/Sample_Code/Archive/Graphics/SuperSnapshot.htm ) archived examples.
Does anybody have a saved copy of the GLGrab example?
I’ve been fiddling with various carbon screen shot examples trying to find an alternative to the method posted above. I finally came up with this method:
(NSImage *)imageWithScreenShotInRect:(NSRect)cocoaRect { PicHandle picHandle; GDHandle mainDevice; Rect rect; NSImage *image; NSImageRep *imageRep;
// Convert NSRect to Rect SetRect(&rect, NSMinX(cocoaRect), NSMinY(cocoaRect), NSMaxX(cocoaRect), NSMaxY(cocoaRect));
// Get the main screen. I may want to add support for multiple screens later mainDevice = GetMainDevice();
// Capture the screen into the PicHandle. picHandle = OpenPicture(&rect); CopyBits((BitMap )(mainDevice).gdPMap, (BitMap )(mainDevice).gdPMap, &rect, &rect, srcCopy, 0l); ClosePicture();
// Convert the PicHandle into an NSImage // First lock the PicHandle so it doesn’t move in memory while we copy HLock((Handle)picHandle); imageRep = [NSPICTImageRep imageRepWithData:[NSData dataWithBytes:(*picHandle) length:GetHandleSize((Handle)picHandle)]]; HUnlock((Handle)picHandle);
// We can release the PicHandle now that we’re done with it KillPicture(picHandle);
// Create an image with the representation image = [[[NSImage alloc] initWithSize:[imageRep size]] autorelease]; [image addRepresentation:imageRep];
return image; }
This basically does the same thing as the above code, but it uses QuickDraw functions to capture the screen which are much faster. However, because it’s QuickDraw, the point of origin (0,0) is at the top left of the screen instead of the bottom left. I didn’t have to add the Carbon framework to my target, but you may need to if you get compilation errors. – RyanBates
How fast? I would like to make a program that can capture “screen movies” (like SnapzPro – the reviews on that page are not really accurate) at 10 fps or better…but I can’t find a way to take frames that fast. The only alternative seems to be moving the mouse reeeeaaaaallllllyyyy ssssllllloooowwwllllllyyyyyy –JediKnil
It depends on the resolution and the speed of the computer. Testing it on a 733 Mhz G4 (yes, I know it’s old), it takes about 0.3 seconds to capture at 1024 x 768. That glGrab example was probably faster, if only someone had a copy of it. I remember trying it out a while ago, but can’t find it anywhere now. – RyanBates
No time to check right now, but is this glGrab? –JediKnil
http://developer.apple.com/samplecode/Carbon_GLSnapshot/Carbon_GLSnapshot.html
No, it appears that just captures an OpenGL view and not the screen. – RyanBates
I dug around the web a while ago and found the glGrab in some obscure ftp repository. I copy below the essential part of the glGrab routine. I hope this helps everyone ! at least glGrab is very fast, but not as fast as SnapzPro… I’m not sure why Apple engineer decided to remove this from their sample code list. It may be in conflict with Quartz (2D) extreme, but this is only my naive guess. One sure thing is that this won’t run properly on Intel Macs, due to endian issues :-)
/*
*
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IN NO EVENT SHALL APPLE BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE, REPRODUCTION, MODIFICATION AND/OR DISTRIBUTION OF THE APPLE SOFTWARE, HOWEVER CAUSED AND WHETHER UNDER THEORY OF CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF APPLE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. * */
#import “glGrabController.h”
#import <ApplicationServices/ApplicationServices.h>
#import
@implementation glGrabController
(id)init { CGLPixelFormatObj pixelFormatObj ; long numPixelFormats ; CGOpenGLDisplayMask displayMask = CGDisplayIDToOpenGLDisplayMask( CGMainDisplayID() ) ; CGLPixelFormatAttribute attribs[] = { kCGLPFAFullScreen, kCGLPFADisplayMask, displayMask, NULL } ; [super init];
/* Build a full-screen GL context */
CGLChoosePixelFormat( attribs, &pixelFormatObj, &numPixelFormats ); CGLCreateContext( pixelFormatObj, NULL, &glContextObj ) ;
CGLDestroyPixelFormat( pixelFormatObj ) ;
CGLSetCurrentContext( glContextObj ) ; CGLSetFullScreen( glContextObj ) ;
return self; }
(void)dealloc { if ( saveFile ) [saveFile release]; if ( bitmap ) [bitmap release];
CGLSetCurrentContext( NULL ) ; CGLClearDrawable( glContextObj ) ; CGLDestroyContext( glContextObj ) ;
[super dealloc]; }
static inline void swapcopy32(void * src, void * dst, int bytecount ) { uint32_t *srcP; uint32_t *dstP; uint32_t p0, p1, p2, p3; uint32_t u0, u1, u2, u3;
srcP = src;
dstP = dst; #define SWAB_PIXEL(p) (((p) << 8) | ((p) >> 24)) /* ppc rlwinm opcode results */
while ( bytecount >= 16 )
{
/*
* Blatent hint to compiler that we want
* strength reduction, pipelined fetches, and
* some instruction scheduling, please.
*/
p3 = srcP[3];
p2 = srcP[2];
p1 = srcP[1];
p0 = srcP[0];
u3 = SWAB_PIXEL(p3);
u2 = SWAB_PIXEL(p2);
u1 = SWAB_PIXEL(p1);
u0 = SWAB_PIXEL(p0);
srcP += 4;
dstP[3] = u3;
dstP[2] = u2;
dstP[1] = u1;
dstP[0] = u0;
bytecount -= 16;
dstP += 4;
}
while ( bytecount >= 4 )
{
p0 = *srcP++;
bytecount -= 4;
*dstP++ = SWAB_PIXEL(p0);
} }
static void swizzleBitmap(NSBitmapImageRep * bitmap) { int top, bottom; void * buffer; void * topP; void * bottomP; void * base; int rowBytes;
rowBytes = [bitmap bytesPerRow];
top = 0;
bottom = [bitmap pixelsHigh] - 1;
base = [bitmap bitmapData];
buffer = malloc(rowBytes);
while ( top < bottom )
{
topP = (top * rowBytes) + base;
bottomP = (bottom * rowBytes) + base;
/* Save and swap scanlines */
swapcopy32( topP, buffer, rowBytes );
swapcopy32( bottomP, topP, rowBytes );
bcopy( buffer, bottomP, rowBytes );
++top;
--bottom;
}
free( buffer ); }
(IBAction)grab:(id)sender { GLint viewport[4]; /* Current viewport */ long bytewidth; GLint width, height; long bytes;
/* Get OpenGL aimed at FB */ CGLSetCurrentContext( glContextObj ) ; glReadBuffer(GL_FRONT); glGetIntegerv(GL_VIEWPORT, viewport);
width = viewport[2]; height = viewport[3];
bytewidth = width * 4; // Assume 4 bytes/pixel for now bytewidth = (bytewidth + 3) & ~3; // Align to 4 bytes bytes = bytewidth * height; // width * height
/* Build NSBitmapImageRep */ if ( bitmap ) [bitmap release]; bitmap = [[NSBitmapImageRep alloc] initWithBitmapDataPlanes:NULL pixelsWide:width pixelsHigh:height bitsPerSample:8 samplesPerPixel:3 hasAlpha:NO isPlanar:NO colorSpaceName:NSDeviceRGBColorSpace bytesPerRow:bytewidth bitsPerPixel:8 * 4];
/* Read FB into NSBitmapImageRep / glFinish(); / Finish all OpenGL commands / glPixelStorei(GL_PACK_ALIGNMENT, 4); / Force 4-byte alignment */ glPixelStorei(GL_PACK_ROW_LENGTH, 0); glPixelStorei(GL_PACK_SKIP_ROWS, 0); glPixelStorei(GL_PACK_SKIP_PIXELS, 0);
/*
(void)saveToFile:(NSString *)file { if ( bitmap == NULL ) return; if ( saveFile ) [saveFile release]; saveFile = file; [saveFile retain];
[self save:self]; }
(IBAction)save:(id)sender { NSData * tiff;
if ( bitmap == NULL ) return; if ( saveFile == NULL ) { [self saveAs:sender]; return; } tiff = [bitmap TIFFRepresentation]; [tiff writeToFile:saveFile atomically:YES]; }
(IBAction)saveAs:(id)sender { NSSavePanel * savePanel = [NSSavePanel savePanel]; NSData * tiff;
[savePanel setRequiredFileType: @”tiff”]; [savePanel runModal]; if ( saveFile ) [saveFile release]; saveFile = [savePanel filename]; if ( saveFile == NULL ) return; [saveFile retain];
tiff = [bitmap TIFFRepresentation]; [tiff writeToFile:saveFile atomically:YES]; }
@end
If you like, I can post the entire sample code package on my web site. (The license at the top of the file explicitly says we can redistribute at will.) E-mail me at mike@mikeash.com if you’re interested. – MikeAsh
I replaced ‘(NSString *)CFSTR(“tiff”)’ with ‘@”tiff”’ – there’s no need to use CFStrings in Cocoa code like that. :) - JonathanGrynspan
How does remote descktop work ? If remote descktop can work at near real time then all that is needed is a way to redirect remote desktop to a movie.
It looks like Apple recently posted an updated OpenGL screen shot example to http://developer.apple.com/samplecode/OpenGLScreenSnapshot/index.html
However, there is a note in the READ ME for that example that says that glReadPixels() (which the example uses) is simple, but not very efficient. There’s more information about an alternative approach using asynchronous texture fetching at http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn2004/tn2093.html#TNTAG9 and http://developer.apple.com/documentation/GraphicsImaging/Conceptual/OpenGL-MacProgGuide/opengl_texturedata/chapter_10_section_6.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40001987-CH407-SW13
As for how remote desktop works… I’d expect that instead of capturing the entire display, it uses something comparable to CGRegisterScreenRefreshCallback() to only be notified about discrete screen updates and pass those along. Although remote desktop is not open source, Chicken of the VNC is… so you could always check http://sourceforge.net/projects/cotvnc/ for ideas (but note the GPL license). [Update: scratch that… Chicken is only a VNC client, not a server.]
Sample code that uses the more efficient asynchronous texture fetching to grab the screen can be found in the FrameReader class of the Composer QCTV example at http://developer.apple.com/samplecode/QuartzComposer_WWDC_QCTV/index.html
Probably want to include a release of rep after adding it to the NSImage in the code at the top to avoid a leak. -tm
The latest sample code shows how to use FrameReader to capture OpenGL to a quicktime movie. http://developer.apple.com/samplecode/OpenGLScreenCapture/index.html
Check out CGWindow.h for some cool new ways to capture individual windows and the screen. There’s also some new sample code up called “Son of Grab” at http://developer.apple.com/samplecode/SonOfGrab/index.html
Quick example I just typed up:
// add in an NSImage category
(NSImage*)imageWithWindow:(int)wid {
// snag the image CGImageRef windowImage = CGWindowListCreateImage(CGRectNull, kCGWindowListOptionIncludingWindow, wid, kCGWindowImageBoundsIgnoreFraming);
// little bit of error checking if(CGImageGetWidth(windowImage) <= 1) { CGImageRelease(windowImage); return nil; }
// Create a bitmap rep from the window and convert to NSImage… NSBitmapImageRep *bitmapRep = [[NSBitmapImageRep alloc] initWithCGImage: windowImage]; NSImage *image = [[NSImage alloc] init]; [image addRepresentation: bitmapRep]; [bitmapRep release]; CGImageRelease(windowImage);
return [image autorelease];
}
Here is a quick (i.e. untested) example of how to capture the screen beneath a window, which is useful if you want to have a faux transparent window that does something with the image underneath (like FlySketch), or a window that applies a filter to achieve an interesting visual effect (like the semi-transparent blur applied by menus in Leopard).
(NSImage *) imageBelowWindow: (NSWindow *) window { // Get the CGWindowID of supplied window CGWindowID windowID = [window windowNumber];
// Get window’s rect in flipped screen coordinates CGRect windowRect = NSRectToCGRect( [window frame] ); windowRect.origin.y = NSMaxY(window screen] frame]) - [[NSMaxY([window frame]);
// Get a composite image of all the windows beneath your window CGImageRef capturedImage = CGWindowListCreateImage( windowRect, kCGWindowListOptionOnScreenBelowWindow, windowID, kCGWindowImageDefault );
// The rest is as in the previous example… if(CGImageGetWidth(capturedImage) <= 1) { CGImageRelease(capturedImage); return nil; }
// Create a bitmap rep from the window and convert to NSImage… NSBitmapImageRep *bitmapRep = [[[NSBitmapImageRep alloc] initWithCGImage: capturedImage] autorelease]; NSImage *image = [[[NSImage alloc] init] autorelease]; [image addRepresentation: bitmapRep]; CGImageRelease(capturedImage);
return image; }