Play local (hard-drive) video file with HTML5 video tag?
Solution 1:
It is possible to play a local video file.
<input type="file" accept="video/*"/>
<video controls autoplay></video>
When a file is selected via the input element:
- 'change' event is fired
- Get the first File object from the
input.filesFileList - Make an object URL that points to the File object
- Set the object URL to the
video.srcproperty -
Lean back and watch :)
http://jsfiddle.net/dsbonev/cCCZ2/embedded/result,js,html,css/
(function localFileVideoPlayer() {
'use strict'
var URL = window.URL || window.webkitURL
var displayMessage = function(message, isError) {
var element = document.querySelector('#message')
element.innerHTML = message
element.className = isError ? 'error' : 'info'
}
var playSelectedFile = function(event) {
var file = this.files[0]
var type = file.type
var videoNode = document.querySelector('video')
var canPlay = videoNode.canPlayType(type)
if (canPlay === '') canPlay = 'no'
var message = 'Can play type "' + type + '": ' + canPlay
var isError = canPlay === 'no'
displayMessage(message, isError)
if (isError) {
return
}
var fileURL = URL.createObjectURL(file)
videoNode.src = fileURL
}
var inputNode = document.querySelector('input')
inputNode.addEventListener('change', playSelectedFile, false)
})()video,
input {
display: block;
}
input {
width: 100%;
}
.info {
background-color: aqua;
}
.error {
background-color: red;
color: white;
}<h1>HTML5 local video file player example</h1>
<div id="message"></div>
<input type="file" accept="video/*" />
<video controls autoplay></video>Solution 2:
That will be possible only if the HTML file is also loaded with the file protocol from the local user's harddisk.
If the HTML page is served by HTTP from a server, you can't access any local files by specifying them in a src attribute with the file:// protocol as that would mean you could access any file on the users computer without the user knowing which would be a huge security risk.
As Dimitar Bonev said, you can access a file if the user selects it using a file selector on their own. Without that step, it's forbidden by all browsers for good reasons. Thus, while his answer might prove useful for many people, it loosens the requirement from the code in the original question.