Internet TV Streaming?

[seamonkey420]

Originally Posted by Crashless

Very interesting....did you try opening the wmv file before it was done encoding?

I wonder if it's possible to trigger the encoding and start watching the file immediately. This would be a great first step to getting TRUE streaming out of Sage.

do you mean watching the video in sagetv (mpg) and have it encoded the mpg to wmv?
the main prob might be trying to watch it since encoding can take up some system resources..

i know that with wme, you can have it broadcast a specific channel, live from your tuner card...
from the command line using this:

cscript.exe wmcmd.vbs -input "f:\encoded\test.wmv" -author seamonkey420 -description "test file" -broadcast 8080 -loadprofile tvshows.prx

my tvshows.prx profile has channel 34 selected as the input, and the .prx files is located in the windows media encoder folder, along with running this command...


however, if you want to just stream the wmv thats being made, you prob could setup a batch file to do that, have it call a function that starts encoding, then have it wait for a given time period and then trigger wme to broadcast the same files thats being encoded.. the only other prob i could see is that the broadcast would catchup to the encoder pretty fast...

peace
seamonkey420

[rickw]

Something to note about using WME to stream is that once you start the session it begins the broadcast start immediately. It doesn't matter if a client is connected or not. It appears to be more geared to stream "live" events and on-demand.

Rick...

[rickw]

This may or may not be news to anyone, but you don't need the Windows Media Encoder to stream WMV files. I setup my SageTV webserver with a hand written videos.html that includes a simple hyperlinks to the WMV files I had encoded. After several attempts to the get the aliases.properties file correct I was able to create a working link

http://myserver.net/sage/videos/myTVshow.wmv

When I clicked on the link, Windows Media Player opens the file, prompts for my username/password and then begins to buffer/play the file.

My plan now is to create a vbscript to encode the files and build the videos.html file with the correct links. Another possibility would be to write a cgi-bin app or maybe even a java servlet to dynamically create the html file based on the contents of the folder.

Rick...

[Enormous]

Just wanted to say that I've been lurking in the thread since it started, and all of this is very exciting. If anyone needs some cgi/java/whatever help, please let me know!

[seamonkey420]

yea.. this is a fun topic.. hehe.. and is very useful too... i mean, my 100GB partition was getting full in like 2 days of not watching any shows....

but i think that the batch i have created almost does everything i want..
-can be called at a certain time by windows scheduler
-will check for a specific file type to start encoding
-uses virtualdub and divx to encode avis
-keeps the FULL sagetv filename (thus makes it keep info in sagetv, see the other posts about this and another way to do it using gknot)
-creates subfolders based on the date the encoding was started (mmddyyyy format)
-then cleansup old mpg and other files related to movie
-and flexible..

however!
i want to do what rickw did using the webserver, i want to have webpage made in the folder i encode the files that will embed the movie into a webpage using windows media player (ie <EMBED> commands/tags )...
the batch file i can send the filename parameters... so. maybe.. i can have the bottom sections of my batch file create a webpage and echo the html code into a file...

hmmmm....
anyone else have any other thoughts?

i really would be interested to see if any stv's will start including encoding options.. i'd love it if cayars implemented a similar thing that my batch files do into his stv, seems very feasible.. just have the stv setup a schedule to run the batch file and add a few more options to the gui...

peace
seamonkey420

[Enormous]

I second both seamonkey420's and Rick's ideas. Sounds perfect to me!

[seamonkey420]

Originally Posted by Enormous

I second both seamonkey420's and Rick's ideas. Sounds perfect to me!

cool..

well.. i've been doing some more batch file work and think i'm VERY CLOSE to accomplishing all of what i wanted to do..

i decided to use two text files, embedS.txt and embedE.txt for the webpage code to be created, but had to have the batch create two lines that point to the file location... i have tested the batch and it works great!!!!

However, i realized that my batch file WILL NOT keep the sagetv info in sagetv... since i'm not updating the new avi files with the same date/timestamp as teh original mpg, however i might include this in my next update...

i also included an encode.cmd to put in C:\Program Files\Frey Technologies\SageTV\STVs\OriginalV2\cayars\External
so you can add the menu/option into Cayars STV!

the new batch file i created and have attached does the following:

1. checks the sagetv folder for a any .VPrj files
2. if there is a .VPrj file and a mpg with teh same file name it then
creates a new folder with the current date in the mmddyyyy format
3. then it willl recencode the mpg file into a divx encoded avi, based on the tvshows.vcf profile/settings
4. once it finished encoding, it then goes back and cleans up the old .log, .txt, .VPrj, .ccno, and the original movie file
5. then it creates a new webpage for each new movie it encoded that will
embed the new avi into a windows media player embeded webpage.
6. finally, it goes back through and then cleans up any orphaned files..


YES!! confirmed!! i added a new menu item with these parameters into Cayar's STV:

when it asks for external program use:
cmd.exe

for parameters:
/C "C:\Program Files\Frey Technologies\SageTV\STVs\OriginalV2\cayars\External\Encode.cmd"

copy the DVDrip.cmd in the C:\Program Files\Frey Technologies\SageTV\STVs\OriginalV2\cayars\External folder to Encode.cmd

then right click the Encode.cmd and Edit.
Then add these lines:
__________
REM Modified by seamonkey420
REM 3/19/05 for Cayars Ultimate STV
REM This will let you add a new menu item in Cayars STV
REM to encode archived/watched shows in SageTV!!!
REM below i first go to the P: drive
REM Then change directory to the where my virtualdub is installed
REM Then run it in a miminized window, in the background!!!!


P:
cd "Audio Video and DVD\DVD Ripping\VirtualDub1.5"
start /MIN cmd /C "P:\Audio Video and DVD\DVD Ripping\VirtualDub1.5\convert.bat"
exit
__________
NOTE ( you can add a /HIGH or /LOW or /REALTIME parameter to the start line to up the processing priority..
ie start /MIN /HIGH cmd /C "P:\Audio Video and DVD\DVD Ripping\VirtualDub1.5\convert.bat"

but the higher the priority the more resources that are used..


and save it... (see the notes i wrote,added in the convert.bat for install notes, basically put all of the files in your virtual dub folder and put the encode.cmd in the cayars folder.. and change variables in the convert.bat to point to where your tv shows are saved and where you want the new encoded files saved to)


:-)

again, any feedback is nice..!
i know that i'm planning on using this baby for my webserver so i can access my archived, encoded movies anywhere!

also, just a geek note.. i watched my first tv show live at work.. hehe.. had to see if my gophers would win but they didnt...

so i wonder if Cayars would include this in his STV now? hehe....


peace
seamonkey420

[eobiont]

Let me preface this with I have very little idea of what I am talking about.

I have done a fair amount of hacking with Tivo and Tivoweb and streaming video off of Tivoweb. The key component on that end is VLC which, you probably know, is both a Player and a server. This program allows your computer to transcode and stream video in real time.

I think that is the way to go because you can leave the original video in its full quality while shrinking the stream down to something manageable. I had this working using my Mac as the streaming server. Basically, the video was FTPed from the Tivo into a buffer on my Mac. Then, VLC was used to shrink the video and stream it out. The mac acted as an interface to the Tivo. The Tivo gang has a little more trouble because they are dealing with mangled mpeg files. The stuff Sage records should be standard for the most part - so no mystery custom demuxers.

In the case of Sage, you could just ignore the whole thing. The web server would just need to call VLC with the proper command-line and then the video would play out to the client's web browser via Quicktime or another browser plug-in. VLC can be used to compress the video so that it could be streamed over a cable modem uplink. I hope that I figure this out soon, because I want to be able to watch Cubs games from work.

I think that there should be a thread started so we can discuss streaming video from SageTV to other clients. This thread has totally been hijacked.

Someone who knew what they were doing could probably make something out of this. http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=42332

[seamonkey420]

yea, i was thinking of using VLC, i've used it for a short time to stream my dvds before but never got too deep in the command line usuage.. i'm going to look into this even more...

peace
seamonkey420

[nielm]

I did a little playing with VLC (with an aim to using it as a streaming server with my web server)...

A couple of issues I found was that VLC in streaming mode is broadcast only, not on-demand -- once you start the server streaming, the broadcast has in effect already started, and there is no rewinding possible in the client. There is also no easy way of stopping the server once the broadcast has finished

The second issue was that my ADSL uplink bandwidth was 128Kbit/s... Way to small for video.

[eobiont]

I think there is an rtsp streaming mode from VLC that allows RW and FF.

In working with the Tivo stuff on my Mac I can remember using the scroll wheel to jump ahead and back in 3-4 minute chunks. I am going to look to see if I can find some source information. The project, IIRC was called TyStreamer.

edit--
I don't recall correctly. The project that did all the cool stuff was called MPLAYER with another app called vserver. MPlayer on the client - vserver on the server (Tivo). Both are open source. I don't think they are key though. I think the key is to use RTSP as the streaming mode out of VLC.

edit #2 --
Quicktime Streaming Server might also be a way to go. With the QTSS installed on the Sage computer, the movies directory could point to the directory where TV programs are stored. The problem with QTSS is that there isn't the ability to reencode as the video is sent. Another drawback is that I don't think it would be possible to stream the program that is currently being recorded. I think that Windows doesn't dig having the video file opened by two processes at once, but again, I don't know what I'm talking about. QTSS would alow FF and RWD however.

[rickw]

Originally Posted by nielm

A couple of issues I found was that VLC in streaming mode is broadcast only, not on-demand -- once you start the server streaming, the broadcast has in effect already started, and there is no rewinding possible in the client. There is also no easy way of stopping the server once the broadcast has finished

I've found the same issue with MS Encoder. It can be set to broadcast and it works well, but no pause, rewind or fast forward.

It worked better just to link to an encoded WMV file and let it download it. Windows Media Player would start playing the video and it lets you pause. No RW/FW until the file is completly downloaded.

[seamonkey420]

yea, i agree with rickw on this.. streaming wmv files works way better for a cable modem connection; i embed my .wmv files into a media player webpage and make links to the webpages... however, when i was doing divx avi's files, i noticed that the load time seemed to take forever and would sometimes make my internet explorer window "not respond".. but that might also be due to my compression/divx settings..


but if somehow the nielm server could point the http link of the mpg files to a .html file with the same exact name or a .wmv with the same exact name, that would be so sweet!!! or even have that set as an option of file type to launch.. :-)
peace
seamonkey420

[mtnwing]

www.orbnetworks.com - provides a service and some software that does exactly this to convert files to Windows Media and then stream live TV and recordings to your phone or other devices. Seems like a simple feature to add to SageTV and the webserver to enable the same functionality (minus the nasty service fee). 90% there already with the current sage functionality - just the streaming and WMV format missing.

On a side note, I was pleasantly humored to find that I can access my Sage webserver with no problems at all via my new Microsoft MPX 220 Smart Phone phone from Cingular. I was able to login and schedule a recording via the web browser from the standard interface. Now if I could stream the recording back to my phone, I might never return home again!!! The current web interface is a bit clumsy and not well optimized for the phone use but perhaps we can find a few folks to work on that piece and build a better web phone interface now that the word is out that it works. All and all it was still pretty simple to login and schedule a recording from my phone. Very cool!

[mtnwing]

http://www.allformp3.com/mpeg-to-wmv.html
Wonder if any of these can be driven in an automated form to do the conversion to WMV/ASF

[seamonkey420]

Originally Posted by mtnwing

http://www.allformp3.com/mpeg-to-wmv.html
Wonder if any of these can be driven in an automated form to do the conversion to WMV/ASF

check out the other posts we have going on cayars and divx encoding...

might be of interest to ya..

peace
seamonkey420

[eobiont]

I have gotten VLC to transcode and stream. It is going to take some PHP or other scripting language to build a web interface and I have no idea how to do that.

Basically, you have VLC start sreaming, and then serve a config file for the client to launch VLC with.

I haven't gotten this to work with live TV yet - which is mostly what I want. I want to watch live Cubs games over the internet (with the implied oral consent of Major League Baseball of course)

[ajuhawk]

Check out this thread. I just posted a program to replace the batch files so hopefully it's a little easier to use.

Encoder Thread

-Adam

[rickw]

Just ran across a media server that very interesting, "Unreal Media Server.

http://www.umediaserver.net/

It's a server and player combo that can stream AVI (DivX, XVid, any other encoding), MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPA, WMV, WMA, ASF, MP3, QuickTime (version 2 and lower).

I set it up in minutes and had it streaming my content. Biggest plus is that it's free. I'm using it to make my re-encoded WMV files available, but it can also stream the MPEG files. You just have to have the bandwidth to do it.

Once the player is available it makes allows URL like the following to work from web pages.

ums:\\TCP:192.168.0.100\videos\AliasTheIndex-1745684-0.wmv

Only been using it for a few days, but it's working on my 700Mhz SageTV server with no problems.


Rick...