Building a Video Conference App with Python

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Prerequisites
  3. Setting Up the Project
  4. Creating the User Interface
  5. Handling Video Stream
  6. Implementing Video and Audio Communication
  7. Conclusion

Introduction

In this tutorial, we will learn how to build a video conference app using Python. We will use the Flask framework for building the web application and the OpenCV library for handling video streams. By the end of this tutorial, you will have a basic video conference app that allows users to communicate using video and audio.

Prerequisites

To follow along with this tutorial, you should have basic knowledge of Python programming language, HTML, and CSS. You should also have the following software installed on your machine:

  • Python (version 3.6 or higher)
  • Flask (version 1.1.2 or higher)
  • OpenCV (version 4.5.1 or higher)

Setting Up the Project

  1. Create a new directory for your project and navigate to it in the terminal: 
     mkdir video_conference_app
 cd video_conference_app
  2. Create a virtual environment to isolate the project dependencies: 
     python3 -m venv venv
  3. Activate the virtual environment: 
     source venv/bin/activate
  4. Install Flask and OpenCV: 
     pip install flask opencv-python-headless

    Creating the User Interface

  5. Create a new file called app.py in the project directory: 
     touch app.py
  6. Open app.py in a text editor and import the necessary libraries: 
     from flask import Flask, render_template
	
 app = Flask(__name__)
	
 @app.route('/')
 def index():
     return render_template('index.html')
  7. Create a new directory called templates in the project directory: 
     mkdir templates
  8. Create a new file called index.html inside the templates directory and add the following code: 
     <!DOCTYPE html>
 <html>
 <head>
     <title>Video Conference App</title>
 </head>
 <body>
     <h1>Welcome to the Video Conference App</h1>
 </body>
 </html>
  9. Start the Flask development server: 
     export FLASK_APP=app.py
 flask run
  10. Open your web browser and navigate to http://localhost:5000. You should see the message “Welcome to the Video Conference App” displayed on the page.

Handling Video Stream

  1. Open app.py in a text editor and import the necessary libraries: 
     import cv2
 from flask import Flask, render_template
	
 app = Flask(__name__)
	
 cap = cv2.VideoCapture(0)
	
 @app.route('/')
 def index():
     ret, frame = cap.read()
     ret, jpeg = cv2.imencode('.jpg', frame)
     return render_template('index.html', frame=jpeg.tobytes())
  2. Open index.html in a text editor and add the following code to display the video stream: 
     <!DOCTYPE html>
 <html>
 <head>
     <title>Video Conference App</title>
 </head>
 <body>
     <h1>Welcome to the Video Conference App</h1>
     <img src="data:image/jpeg;base64," width="640" height="480" />
 </body>
 </html>
  3. Restart the Flask development server.

Implementing Video and Audio Communication

  1. Install the flask_socketio library for handling real-time communication between clients: 
     pip install flask-socketio
  2. Open app.py in a text editor and import the necessary libraries: 
     import cv2
 from flask import Flask, render_template
 from flask_socketio import SocketIO
	
 app = Flask(__name__)
 app.config['SECRET_KEY'] = 'secret'
 socketio = SocketIO(app)
	
 cap = cv2.VideoCapture(0)
	
 @app.route('/')
 def index():
     ret, frame = cap.read()
     ret, jpeg = cv2.imencode('.jpg', frame)
     return render_template('index.html', frame=jpeg.tobytes())
	
 @socketio.on('message')
 def handle_message(message):
     print('Received message: ', message)
	
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     socketio.run(app)
  3. Open index.html in a text editor and add the following JavaScript code to enable real-time communication: 
     <!DOCTYPE html>
 <html>
 <head>
     <title>Video Conference App</title>
     <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/socket.io/2.3.1/socket.io.js"></script>
 </head>
 <body>
     <h1>Welcome to the Video Conference App</h1>
     <img src="data:image/jpeg;base64," width="640" height="480" />
	
     <script>
         var socket = io.connect(location.protocol + '//' + document.domain + ':' + location.port);
	
         socket.on('message', function(message) {
             console.log('Received message: ', message);
         });
     </script>
 </body>
 </html>
  4. Restart the Flask development server.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully built a basic video conference app with Python. In this tutorial, we learned how to create a user interface, handle video streams, and implement video and audio communication using Flask and OpenCV. You can further enhance this app by adding features like user authentication, chat functionality, and screen sharing.

In summary, you have learned:

  • How to set up a Flask project and create a user interface using HTML and CSS.
  • How to handle video streams and display them in the browser.
  • How to implement real-time communication using Flask-SocketIO.

Now you can experiment with the app and customize it according to your needs.

Happy coding!

Published:

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