React Record Webcam is a promise-based, zero-dependency webcam library for React, enabling the selection of video and audio inputs for single or multiple concurrent recordings with any mix of video and audio sources.

Demo

Try the example on StackBlitz

Add package

1npm i react-record-webcam

Quick Start

To start recording, create a recording instance using createRecording and manage the recording process with the hook's methods:

1import { useRecordWebcam } from 'react-record-webcam'
2
3const App = () => {
4  const { createRecording, openCamera, startRecording, stopRecording, downloadRecording } = useRecordWebcam()
5
6  const recordVideo = async () => {
7    const recording = await createRecording();
8    await openCamera(recording.id);
9    await startRecording(recording.id);
10    await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 3000)); // Record for 3 seconds
11    await stopRecording(recording.id);
12    await downloadRecording(recording.id); // Download the recording
13  };
14
15  return <button onClick={recordVideo}>Record Video</button>;
16};

Usage and Examples

Each method in the hook always returns an updated instance of a recording. Pass the id of the recording instance to any of the methods from the hook to open camera, start, pause or stop a recording:

Heres an example of uploading the recorded blob to a back-end service:

1const { createRecording, openCamera, startRecording, stopRecording } = useRecordWebcam()
2
3
4async function record() {
5    const recording = await createRecording();
6
7    await openCamera(recording.id);
8    await startRecording(recording.id);
9    await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 3000)); // Record for 3 seconds
10    const recorded = await stopRecording(recording.id);
11
12    // Upload the blob to a back-end
13    const formData = new FormData();
14    formData.append('file', recorded.blob, 'recorded.webm');
15
16    const response = await fetch('https://your-backend-url.com/upload', {
17        method: 'POST',
18        body: formData,
19    });
20};

All recording instances are available in activeRecordings. You can for example access refs for webcam feed and recording preview in your component:

1const { activeRecordings } = useRecordWebcam()
2
3...
4
5  {activeRecordings.map(recording => (
6    <div key={recording.id}>
7      <video ref={recording.webcamRef} autoPlay />
8      <video ref={recording.previewRef} autoPlay loop />
9    </div>
10  ))}

Recording instance

Property	Type	Description
id	string	The ID of the recording.
audioId	string	The ID of the audio device.
audioLabel	string	The label of the audio device.
blob	Blob	The blob of the recording.
blobChunks	Blob[]	Single blob or chunks per timeslice of the recording.
fileName	string	The name of the file.
fileType	string	The type of the file.
isMuted	boolean	Whether the recording is muted.
mimeType	string	The MIME type of the recording.
objectURL	string | null	The object URL of the recording.
previewRef	React.RefObject<HTMLVideoElement>	React Ref for the preview element.
recorder	MediaRecorder	The MediaRecorder instance of the recording.
status	'INITIAL' | 'CLOSED' | 'OPEN' | 'RECORDING' | 'STOPPED' | 'ERROR' | 'PAUSED'	The status of the recording.
videoId	string	The ID of the video device.
videoLabel	string	The label of the video device.
webcamRef	React.RefObject<HTMLVideoElement>	React Ref for the webcam element.

Configuring options

Pass options either when initializing the hook or at any point in your application logic using applyOptions.

1// At initialization
2const { applyOptions, applyConstraints } = useRecordWebcam({
3  options: { fileName: 'custom-name', fileType: 'webm', timeSlice: 1000 },
4  mediaRecorderOptions: { mimeType: 'video/webm; codecs=vp8' },
5  mediaTrackConstraints: { video: true, audio: true }
6});
7
8// Dynamically applying options
9applyOptions(recording.id, { fileName: 'updated-name' }); // Update file name
10applyConstraints(recording.id, { aspectRatio: 0.56 }) // Change aspect ratio to portrait

List of options

Option	property	default value
fileName	File name	Date.now()
fileType	File type for download (will override inferred type from mimeType)	'webm'
timeSlice	Recording interval	undefined

Both mediaRecorderOptions and mediatrackConstraints mirror the official API. Please see on MDN for available options:

MDN: mediaRecorderOptions

MDN: mediatrackConstraints

Codec Support

A codec supported by the current browser will be detected and used for recordings.

To see all video and audio codecs supported by the browser:

1const { supportedAudioCodecs, supportedVideoCodecs } = useRecordWebcam();
2
3console.log({ supportedAudioCodecs, supportedVideoCodecs })

To check the support of a specific codec:

1const { checkCodecRecordingSupport, checkVideoCodecPlaybackSupport } = useRecordWebcam()
2
3const codec = 'video/x-matroska;codecs=avc1'
4const isRecordingSupported = checkCodecRecordingSupport(codec)
5const isPlayBackSupported = checkVideoCodecPlaybackSupport(codec)

To use a specific codec, pass this in the mediaRecorderOptions. Note that MediaRecorder uses a mimeType format for the codec: <container>;codec=<videoCodec>,<audioCodec>

1const codec = 'video/webm;codecs=h264'
2const mediaRecorderOptions = { mimetype: codec }
3const recordWebcam = useRecordWebcam({ mediaRecorderOptions })

For more info see the codec guide on MDN.

Error handling

Error messages are available in the hook. You can import the constant of all messages for error handling from the package.

1import { useRecordWebcam, ERROR_MESSAGES } from 'react-record-webcam';
2
3const { errorMessage } = useRecordWebcam();
4
5if (errorMessage === ERROR_MESSAGES.NO_USER_PERMISSION) {
6  // Handle specific error scenario
7}

API Reference

Method/Property	Arguments	Returns	Description
activeRecordings		Recording[]	Array of active recordings.
applyConstraints	recordingId: string, constraints: MediaTrackConstraints	Promise<Recording | void>	Applies given constraints to the camera for a specific recording.
applyRecordingOptions	recordingId: string	Promise<Recording | void>	Applies recording options to a specific recording.
cancelRecording	recordingId: string	Promise<void>	Cancels the current recording session.
clearAllRecordings		Promise<void>	Clears all active recordings.
clearError		void	Function to clear the current error message.
clearPreview	recordingId: string	Promise<Recording | void>	Clears the preview of a specific recording.
closeCamera	recordingId: string	Promise<Recording | void>	Closes the camera for a specific recording.
createRecording	videoId?: string, audioId?: string	Promise<Recording | void>	Creates a new recording session with specified video and audio sources.
devicesById		ById	Object containing devices by their ID, where ById is a record of string to { label: string; type: 'videoinput' | 'audioinput'; }.
devicesByType		ByType	Object categorizing devices by their type, where ByType has video and audio arrays of { label: string; deviceId: string; }.
download	recordingId: string	Promise<void>	Downloads a specific recording.
errorMessage		string | null	The current error message, if any, related to recording.
muteRecording	recordingId: string	Promise<Recording | void>	Mutes or unmutes the recording audio.
openCamera	recordingId: string	Promise<Recording | void>	Opens the camera for a specific recording with optional constraints.
pauseRecording	recordingId: string	Promise<Recording | void>	Pauses the current recording.
resumeRecording	recordingId: string	Promise<Recording | void>	Resumes a paused recording.
startRecording	recordingId: string	Promise<Recording | void>	Starts a new recording session.
stopRecording	recordingId: string	Promise<Recording | void>	Stops the current recording session.

License

MIT

Credits

webcam by iconfield from Noun Project (CC BY 3.0)