Flutter video_player is played with a delay after initialize

I'm using the flutter video_player to display videos in a loop. I show a loading indicator as long as the video player is not initialized yet. The problem is that after initialize().then() is called, the video still needs about 3 - 5 seconds until it plays the video.

Another problem is that I want to play the video in a loop. I cut the video in such a way that no transition can be seen in the loop. The problem is that the video_player shortly stops the video and then restarts it.

Does someone have an idea if I can make any improvements to get the desired result?

Here is my code:

  void initVideo() {
    setState(() {
      isLoading = true;
    });

    _controller = VideoPlayerController.network(
      videoUrl,
    );

    _controller!.addListener(() {
      setState(() {});
    });

    _controller!.initialize().then((_) async {
      setState(() {
        _controller!.play();
        isLoading = false;
      });
    });

    _controller!.setLooping(true);
    _controller!.setVolume(0.0);
  }