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Basic Content Streaming Help

762 views 13 replies 6 participants last post by  Irishdoom 
#1 ·
Hi All.


I am looking to reduce the library of Bluray and DVDs I have by ripping them to a NAS and playing them from my network AVR but I am having issues. I have explored AVS Forum and XBMC forums for hours and I can not seem to find what I am trying to do, if it is even possible under my current configuration.

Here is my current setup:

PC:

Windows Vista 64 Home Premium HP Media PC - AMD Phenom 9150e Quad Core 1.80Ghz/4GB RAM

XBMC EDEN - AEON NOX Skin installed to PC

Connected over WiFi to FiOS Router


NAS:

WD MyBook Live 2TB WiFi w/ Twonky


Main AV Config:

Pioneer VSX 52 AVR - UPnP/DLNA certified hard wired to VZ FIOS Router

Sony PS3 hard wired to VZ FIOS Router

Samsung 50' DLP


Bedroom AV Config:

Samsung WiFi Network BluRay

Samsung 36' LCDTV

Here is what I would like to do.

After storing the majority of my DVD collection to the NAS (using XBMC/MakeMKV) Primarily I would like to have access to the XBMC GUI from my AVR using the AVR Remote in the main room. The AVR shows Twonky as a selection but XBMC shows up "not available" but still in the list of available options. Is there something missing from my config that I am overlooking or possibly a setting I have failed to enable? Can this set up actually work?


Secondly, if possible, could I access the movies from the Samsung network BluRay player as well?


Any help would be appreciated!
 
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#2 ·
I don't think there's a way to "view" your XBMC skin remotely over the network. The idea behind having XBMC on either a device or PC is that device is connected directly to the television or projector. Now, you may be able to stream the movie FILES you have stored using your PS3, or maybe your Bluray player, but you wont be able to "see" XBMC itself. If what you're looking for is the ability to stream files over the network and have a pretty UI to select those files, you need to look into getting some devices that can do just that. The Boxee Box is likely the easiest, as that has a pretty UI with a movie wall right out of the box. You can also do something similar with Dune and PCH players with a little work.


Try to think of it this way. You have a media streamer, your PS3, or whatever, which is attached to your TV. You stream movie files over your network to that player and then display it on your TV. You aren't streaming XBMC or anything like that, you're just streaming the files. Some players will give you a pretty UI, some will give you just a list of files to choose from. My guess, based on what you have, that your best current streamer is the PS3, but it is far from perfect. I'd suggest trying to learn to stream to that PS3, and then go from there. That's how I got started, and it gave me a good idea of how it worked, and also what I really wanted out of a streamer.
 
#3 ·
Thanks Irish - I appreciate the feedback. I have a better understanding now of what XBMC is used for. I do know after some research that the PS3 can not handle MKV files well so now my next step is to determine the best file type to rip and store with the best audio/video playback over the PS3. I also have DVD Decrypter which rips to ISO and Handbrake to compress if needed. I have read good and bad on Handbrake. I wonder if this is the best choice for ripping to my NAS and then just config the PS3 to play the file. I have a tutorial on PS3 Media Server (PMS) from http://www.ps3mediaserver.org to get that set up. Will I still be able to use XBMC to manage the collection and make the file selection that will trigger the NAS to stream to the PS3?


Hoping for the best!
 
#4 ·
When I first began streaming, I ripped my movies to MP4s using Handbrake and played them directly through my PS3. If you elect to go the PS3 MediaServer route, you don't have to use any special containers. PS3 MediaServer transcodes the file on the fly so your PS3 can play it. XBMC really doesn't do anything for you unless you connect the PC running it directly to your TV, in which case you are basically using an HTPC. What I might suggest is try PS3 MediaServer first, and see if you like how it works. If it isn't giving you what you want, you might want to think about investing in a dedicated media streamer. You could get an Apple TV2, jailbreak it, put XBMC on it, and stream your content that way. Heck, one of my early streamers was an original Xbox that I hacked to run XBMC.
 
#5 ·
I used Handbrake, ripped a few DVDs to M4V, updated/reorganized XBMC and my NAS and it works flawlessly. Takes about an hour per DVD. Sound and video quality is just like the DVD. I can access XBMC right from the PS3 media control and it is good enough for what I am looking for (for now). Soon enough I will build a large NAS, but this is my first foray and it is a good start.


Thanks for the guidance Irishdoom.
 
#6 ·
With storage as cheap as it is I cannot fathom why anyone would want to compress a DVD rip. It takes needless time and you don't gain much spacewise but loose quality videowise.


For DVDs I use DVD decrypter, Make MKV for Blu Rays. I drop out all the crappy add on and just rip the movie, and the DD and DTS soundtracks. A DVD takes 10-15 minutes and a BD under an hour on my system. My main concern is quality not quantity so YMMV...


I would suggest picking up a good basic streamer, I use several, the WD products do well at reasonable prices, but they lack the pretty interface of other pricier units. Again, I care about the content not pretty pictures in the menu so the WD is fine for my needs.
 
#7 ·
Mi Matt L - i am not really trying to conserve space, i just want an easy, no hassle way to rip to a file I can stream from WD HD to my PS3.


I keep running into issues with DVD Decrypter as it continues to retry when I select the FILE mode which only selects the main movie file (to my knowledge). Is there a best practice type setting I could use? I tried reading Doom9 post but I get lost with the jargon, I am not that tech savvy. I am trying MakeMKV and will try to convert with Handbrake to the M4V file type which seems to work best on my system. It has in the past, just having a few issues on a couple of my kids movies.


I would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks!
 
#9 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Irishdoom  /t/1422840/basic-content-streaming-help#post_22290314


You could also give DVDFab or AnyDVD a try. Both have free trial periods and are more user friendly in my experience. You would have to buy the software if you like it, however, but if you're going to get serious about ripping it would be a worthwhile investment.

Not necessarily, you can just decrypt with DVDFab which is free to use and then encode using Handbrake.
 
#11 ·
You could save some time and try out tversity to stream your ripped movies from your PC to the PS3. That way you can do a 1 to 1 rip and not worry about converting to a PS3 friendly format. Also I would look into an unRAID server setup. It would be a shame to lose all your rips once the NAS dies.
 
#12 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Joeforsale  /t/1422840/basic-content-streaming-help#post_22291941


You could save some time and try out tversity to stream your ripped movies from your PC to the PS3. That way you can do a 1 to 1 rip and not worry about converting to a PS3 friendly format. Also I would look into an unRAID server setup. It would be a shame to lose all your rips once the NAS dies.

I began streaming by doing something similar to this using PlayON and PS3MediaServer. IMO, using a dedicated streamer and ripping everything to ISO or MKV formats is far superior.
 
#13 ·
I am also using WD Live NAS drive wanting to stream to the PS3, New iPad, and a Sony BDP S-580. I am having all kinds of trouble using in finding a program that will rip my current DVDs into a File that I can stream to all the different devices. I have tried DVD Decrypter to take off the copy protection, and then use Handbrake to rip. But I can't figure Handbrake out. I have tried Any DVD Converter again no luck. The best luck I have had was with Freemake Video Converter, however the movie has some parts where it's not as smooth as I would like. It is however very easy to use and it decodes, rips, and encodes all at the same time. I just can't get it to stream to the Sony BDP S-580 in a format it will recognize. All other devices will recoginze it.


What have software have you found that works for your decrypting, ripping, and encoding since we both have the WD Live NAS drive and the PS3 for viewing.


Thanks for your response and advice.
 
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