Video

React Native Skia enables rich multimedia experiences by allowing you to load video frames as images. Video frames can be used anywhere a Skia image is accepted: Image, ImageShader, and Atlas components.

Requirements

React Native Reanimated version 3 or higher
Android API level 26 or higher
Web Fully supported

useVideo Hook

The useVideo hook loads video files and provides the current frame as a shared value.

Basic Example

import { Canvas, Image, useVideo } from "@shopify/react-native-skia";
import { useWindowDimensions } from "react-native";
import { useSharedValue } from "react-native-reanimated";

const VideoExample = () => {
  const { width, height } = useWindowDimensions();
  const { currentFrame } = useVideo("https://bit.ly/skia-video");
  
  return (
    <Canvas style={{ flex: 1 }}>
      <Image
        image={currentFrame}
        x={0}
        y={0}
        width={width}
        height={height}
        fit="cover"
      />
    </Canvas>
  );
};

Returned Values

The useVideo hook returns an object with:

Property	Type	Description
currentFrame	`SharedValue<SkImage \| null>`	Current video frame or null if not loaded
currentTime	`SharedValue<number>`	Current playback position in milliseconds
duration	`number`	Total video duration in milliseconds
framerate	`number`	Video frame rate (frames per second)
rotation	`0 \| 90 \| 180 \| 270`	Video rotation in degrees
size	`{ width: number, height: number }`	Video dimensions

Using Returned Values

import { Canvas, Image, useVideo, Text } from "@shopify/react-native-skia";
import { useDerivedValue } from "react-native-reanimated";

const VideoWithInfo = () => {
  const { currentFrame, currentTime, duration, framerate, size } = useVideo(
    "https://bit.ly/skia-video"
  );
  
  const timeText = useDerivedValue(
    () => `${Math.floor(currentTime.value / 1000)}s / ${Math.floor(duration / 1000)}s`
  );
  
  return (
    <Canvas style={{ flex: 1 }}>
      <Image
        image={currentFrame}
        x={0}
        y={0}
        width={size.width}
        height={size.height}
        fit="contain"
      />
      <Text x={10} y={30} text={timeText} />
    </Canvas>
  );
};

Playback Options

Control video playback with options:

Option	Type	Description
paused	`SharedValue<boolean>`	Controls pause state
looping	`SharedValue<boolean>`	Enables looping
seek	`SharedValue<number \| null>`	Seek to specific time in milliseconds
volume	`SharedValue<number>`	Volume level (0-1, where 0 is muted)

Pause and Play

import { Canvas, Image, useVideo } from "@shopify/react-native-skia";
import { Pressable } from "react-native";
import { useSharedValue } from "react-native-reanimated";

const PauseableVideo = () => {
  const paused = useSharedValue(false);
  const { currentFrame } = useVideo(
    "https://bit.ly/skia-video",
    { paused }
  );
  
  return (
    <Pressable
      style={{ flex: 1 }}
      onPress={() => {
        paused.value = !paused.value;
      }}
    >
      <Canvas style={{ flex: 1 }}>
        <Image
          image={currentFrame}
          x={0}
          y={0}
          width={400}
          height={300}
          fit="cover"
        />
      </Canvas>
    </Pressable>
  );
};

Looping Video

import { useSharedValue } from "react-native-reanimated";

const LoopingVideo = () => {
  const looping = useSharedValue(true);
  const { currentFrame } = useVideo(
    "https://bit.ly/skia-video",
    { looping }
  );
  
  return (
    <Canvas style={{ flex: 1 }}>
      <Image image={currentFrame} x={0} y={0} width={400} height={300} />
    </Canvas>
  );
};

Seeking

import { Canvas, Image, useVideo } from "@shopify/react-native-skia";
import { Pressable } from "react-native";
import { useSharedValue } from "react-native-reanimated";

const SeekableVideo = () => {
  const seek = useSharedValue<number | null>(null);
  const { currentFrame, currentTime } = useVideo(
    "https://bit.ly/skia-video",
    { seek, looping: true }
  );
  
  return (
    <Pressable
      style={{ flex: 1 }}
      onPress={() => {
        // Seek to 2 seconds
        seek.value = 2000;
      }}
    >
      <Canvas style={{ flex: 1 }}>
        <Image
          image={currentFrame}
          x={0}
          y={0}
          width={400}
          height={300}
          fit="cover"
        />
      </Canvas>
    </Pressable>
  );
};

Volume Control

import { useSharedValue } from "react-native-reanimated";
import { Slider } from "react-native";

const VideoWithVolume = () => {
  const volume = useSharedValue(1.0);
  const { currentFrame } = useVideo(
    "https://bit.ly/skia-video",
    { volume }
  );
  
  return (
    <>
      <Canvas style={{ flex: 1 }}>
        <Image image={currentFrame} x={0} y={0} width={400} height={300} />
      </Canvas>
      <Slider
        value={volume.value}
        onValueChange={(value) => {
          volume.value = value;
        }}
        minimumValue={0}
        maximumValue={1}
      />
    </>
  );
};

Loading Videos

From Network

const { currentFrame } = useVideo("https://example.com/video.mp4");

From Local File

const { currentFrame } = useVideo("file:///path/to/video.mp4");

From Assets with Expo

import { useVideo } from "@shopify/react-native-skia";
import { useAssets } from "expo-asset";

const useVideoFromAsset = (
  mod: number,
  options?: Parameters<typeof useVideo>[1]
) => {
  const [assets, error] = useAssets([mod]);
  
  if (error) {
    throw error;
  }
  
  return useVideo(assets ? assets[0].localUri : null, options);
};

// Usage
const VideoFromAsset = () => {
  const { currentFrame } = useVideoFromAsset(
    require("./assets/BigBuckBunny.mp4")
  );
  
  return (
    <Canvas style={{ flex: 1 }}>
      <Image image={currentFrame} x={0} y={0} width={400} height={300} />
    </Canvas>
  );
};

Handling Rotation

Videos can have rotation metadata. Use the fitbox function to handle rotation:

import { Canvas, Image, useVideo, fitbox, rect } from "@shopify/react-native-skia";
import { useWindowDimensions } from "react-native";

const RotatedVideo = () => {
  const { width, height } = useWindowDimensions();
  const { currentFrame, rotation, size } = useVideo(
    "https://bit.ly/skia-video"
  );
  
  const src = rect(0, 0, size.width, size.height);
  const dst = rect(0, 0, width, height);
  const transform = fitbox("cover", src, dst, rotation);
  
  return (
    <Canvas style={{ flex: 1 }}>
      <Image
        image={currentFrame}
        x={0}
        y={0}
        width={width}
        height={height}
        fit="none"
        transform={transform}
      />
    </Canvas>
  );
};

Using with Shaders

Video frames can be used as shader inputs:

import {
  Canvas,
  Fill,
  ImageShader,
  ColorMatrix,
  useVideo,
} from "@shopify/react-native-skia";
import { useWindowDimensions } from "react-native";

const VideoWithShader = () => {
  const { width, height } = useWindowDimensions();
  const { currentFrame } = useVideo("https://bit.ly/skia-video");
  
  return (
    <Canvas style={{ flex: 1 }}>
      <Fill>
        <ImageShader
          image={currentFrame}
          x={0}
          y={0}
          width={width}
          height={height}
          fit="cover"
        />
        <ColorMatrix
          matrix={[
            0.95, 0, 0, 0, 0.05,
            0.65, 0, 0, 0, 0.15,
            0.15, 0, 0, 0, 0.5,
            0, 0, 0, 1, 0,
          ]}
        />
      </Fill>
    </Canvas>
  );
};

Complete Player Example

import { Canvas, Image, useVideo } from "@shopify/react-native-skia";
import { View, Pressable, Text, StyleSheet } from "react-native";
import { useSharedValue } from "react-native-reanimated";
import { useState } from "react";

const VideoPlayer = () => {
  const [isPlaying, setIsPlaying] = useState(true);
  const paused = useSharedValue(false);
  const looping = useSharedValue(true);
  
  const { currentFrame, currentTime, duration, size } = useVideo(
    "https://bit.ly/skia-video",
    { paused, looping }
  );
  
  const togglePlay = () => {
    paused.value = !paused.value;
    setIsPlaying(!isPlaying);
  };
  
  return (
    <View style={styles.container}>
      <Canvas style={styles.canvas}>
        <Image
          image={currentFrame}
          x={0}
          y={0}
          width={size.width}
          height={size.height}
          fit="contain"
        />
      </Canvas>
      <View style={styles.controls}>
        <Pressable style={styles.button} onPress={togglePlay}>
          <Text>{isPlaying ? "Pause" : "Play"}</Text>
        </Pressable>
        <Text>
          {Math.floor(currentTime.value / 1000)}s / {Math.floor(duration / 1000)}s
        </Text>
      </View>
    </View>
  );
};

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  container: {
    flex: 1,
  },
  canvas: {
    flex: 1,
  },
  controls: {
    flexDirection: "row",
    justifyContent: "space-between",
    padding: 10,
    backgroundColor: "#000",
  },
  button: {
    padding: 10,
    backgroundColor: "#007AFF",
    borderRadius: 5,
  },
});

Performance Tips

Use appropriate video resolution for your use case
Consider using lower frame rates for better performance
Limit the number of simultaneous videos
Pause videos when not visible
Use hardware acceleration when available

Video Encoding

To encode videos from Skia images:

Use ffmpeg for command-line encoding
Check out react-native-skia-video for video encoding support

Supported Formats

Supported formats vary by platform: iOS:

Android:

MP4
3GP
WebM
MKV

Web:

MP4
WebM
OGG

Troubleshooting

Video Not Playing

Check that the video URL is accessible
Verify the video format is supported
Ensure Reanimated is properly installed
Check Android API level (26+)

Poor Performance

Reduce video resolution
Lower frame rate
Use hardware-accelerated formats
Limit number of simultaneous videos

Audio Issues

Check volume settings
Verify audio is present in source file
Test with different video files

Getting Started

Canvas

Shapes

Paint & Styling

Shaders

Images & Media

Text

Effects

Animations

Advanced

Requirements

useVideo Hook

Basic Example

Returned Values

Using Returned Values

Playback Options

Pause and Play

Looping Video

Seeking

Volume Control

Loading Videos

From Network

From Local File

From Assets with Expo

Handling Rotation

Using with Shaders

Complete Player Example

Performance Tips

Video Encoding

Supported Formats

Troubleshooting

Video Not Playing

Poor Performance

Audio Issues

See Also

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Getting Started

Canvas

Shapes

Paint & Styling

Shaders

Images & Media

Text

Effects

Animations

Advanced

​Requirements

​useVideo Hook

​Basic Example

​Returned Values

​Using Returned Values

​Playback Options

​Pause and Play

​Looping Video

​Seeking

​Volume Control

​Loading Videos

​From Network

​From Local File

​From Assets with Expo

​Handling Rotation

​Using with Shaders

​Complete Player Example

​Performance Tips

​Video Encoding

​Supported Formats

​Troubleshooting

​Video Not Playing

​Poor Performance

​Audio Issues

​See Also

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Requirements

useVideo Hook

Basic Example

Returned Values

Using Returned Values

Playback Options

Pause and Play

Looping Video

Seeking

Volume Control

Loading Videos

From Network

From Local File

From Assets with Expo

Handling Rotation

Using with Shaders

Complete Player Example

Performance Tips

Video Encoding

Supported Formats

Troubleshooting

Video Not Playing

Poor Performance

Audio Issues

See Also