Remote camera control

The Video SDK for Android lets one user request control of another user's camera by panning, tilting, and zooming it remotely. This is useful for remote-assistance, inspection, and remote-monitoring workflows where one participant needs to direct what another participant's camera shows.

The control flow has four steps:

1. The requester asks for control of a specific user's camera.
2. The receiver approves or declines the request.
3. If approved, the requester pans, tilts, or zooms the receiver's camera.
4. The requester releases control when done.

Both users must support the PTZ-compatible camera capabilities for the operations to take effect on the receiver's device.

Request control of a remote camera

Get the remote-control helper from the target ZoomVideoSDKUser and call requestControlRemoteCamera().

val helper = targetUser.remoteCameraControlHelper
val result = helper.requestControlRemoteCamera()
// result is ZoomVideoSDKErrors.Errors_Success on success

ZoomVideoSDKRemoteCameraControlHelper helper = targetUser.getRemoteCameraControlHelper();
int result = helper.requestControlRemoteCamera();
// result is ZoomVideoSDKErrors.Errors_Success on success

The requester is notified of the outcome via the onCameraControlRequestResult callback on ZoomVideoSDKDelegate.

Approve or decline an incoming request

When a request arrives on the receiver's side, the onCameraControlRequestReceived callback fires with a ZoomVideoSDKCameraControlRequestHandler. Show a confirmation UI, then call approve() or decline() on the handler.

override fun onCameraControlRequestReceived(
    user: ZoomVideoSDKUser?,
    requestType: ZoomVideoSDKCameraControlRequestType?,
    requestHandler: ZoomVideoSDKCameraControlRequestHandler?
) {
    // Display a confirmation dialog to the user, then either:
    requestHandler?.approve()
    // ...or:
    requestHandler?.decline()
}

@Override
public void onCameraControlRequestReceived(ZoomVideoSDKUser user,
                                           ZoomVideoSDKCameraControlRequestType requestType,
                                           ZoomVideoSDKCameraControlRequestHandler requestHandler) {
    // Display a confirmation dialog to the user, then either:
    requestHandler.approve();
    // ...or:
    requestHandler.decline();
}

Both approve() and decline() return an int status (ZoomVideoSDKErrors.Errors_Success on success, otherwise an error code).

Pan, tilt, and zoom

Once a request is approved, the requester can move the remote camera using turnLeft, turnRight, turnUp, turnDown, zoomIn, and zoomOut. Each method takes a range parameter between 10 and 100 that controls how far the camera moves per call.

val helper = targetUser.remoteCameraControlHelper
helper.turnLeft(20)
helper.turnRight(20)
helper.turnUp(20)
helper.turnDown(20)
helper.zoomIn(15)
helper.zoomOut(15)

ZoomVideoSDKRemoteCameraControlHelper helper = targetUser.getRemoteCameraControlHelper();
helper.turnLeft(20);
helper.turnRight(20);
helper.turnUp(20);
helper.turnDown(20);
helper.zoomIn(15);
helper.zoomOut(15);

Smaller range values produce finer movement, which makes UI controls (such as press-and-hold arrow buttons) feel responsive without overshooting the target.

Give up control

When the requester is finished, call giveUpControlRemoteCamera() to release control of the camera.

targetUser.remoteCameraControlHelper.giveUpControlRemoteCamera()

targetUser.getRemoteCameraControlHelper().giveUpControlRemoteCamera();