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Improved UPnP serving and client
#31
(2012-09-12, 15:06)Jako Wrote:
(2012-09-11, 22:12)alcoheca Wrote:
(2012-09-08, 12:28)Starstream Wrote: I don't know if this is in any way useful to you alcoheca but Serviio wiki has public info on device profiles, might save you some work hunting down info on whats supported for some devices.
Hi, yeah that's useful, I've also been looking at this http://www.upnp-database.info/listDevices.jsp
Plex Media Serve have similar DLNA client profiles in XML format for UPnP devices that that can override the default device fields, maybe borrow that idea too?

http://forums.plexapp.com/index.php/topi...a-devices/

Would be nice if XBMC's UPnP server could also support DLNA profiles via XML format so that users can edit them themselves without writing C++ code.

I believe that they use matching headers by regular expression their DLNA profiles, kind of similar to XBMC's scraper format that could be updated as addons?

http://elan.plexapp.com/2012/03/29/this-...hers-dlna/
Quote:Secondly, there are like seven bazillion DLNA devices. At least. We’ve focused on support for two of them primarily (the PS3, and the Xbox360) and one other (the WD TV Live). The good news is that we have a very simple yet powerful XML-based configuration (see here for the current one) system which can be used to describe new DLNA clients’ capabilities. We can push out new profiles to everyone automatically, and you can extend it with your own profiles. (For those who care, just make your own dlnaclientprofiles.xml file in the Plex Media Server application support folder. And please, please, share your new profiles with us so that everyone can benefit!)
Otherwise like Starstream said, looking at Plex's DLNA client profiles might save you some work hunting down info on whats supported for some devices.

hi yeah the plan is to handle these quirks via a text file, probably update through the addons system. Currently they're hard coded in C++.
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#32
By the way, did on-the-fly audio and video transcoding make it into your GSoC project for the UPnP server in XBMC this year?


Been using Serviio media server for UPnP recently and have to admit that I'm mightily impressed with that feature and more!

http://www.serviio.org

Serviio is a DLNA compatible media server similar to Plex Media Server in many ways, including real-time transcoding.

I highly recommend trying out both Serviio and Plex Media Server to compare its features with XBMC's functions for UPnP.
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#33
Its not there..yet - I'm working on player/client tracking and these changes will make transcoding all the easier.

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#34
Hi Alcoheca,

I saw that you merged a few things into the nightlies, so I dl'd the Sept. 17th build (Windows) and ran some tests, and I thought I would provide some feedback in case you're interested. The tests were run using free DLNA client Media Link Player Lite on iOS:

1) There are no thumbnails. Plex and Twonky both pass thumbnails across without a problem
2) Video Library --> Recently added movies list is sorted alphabetically which is a little weird. Again, Plex and Twonky sort by most recently added item at top of list (which is more 'humanly natural').
3) The video lists (e.g. Video Library --> Movies etc) don't respect the system setting telling it to ignore articles such as "The". As such all videos with a title that starts with (for example) "The" are all bunched together under "T"

A feature from Plex which is handy (other than their awesome 'On Deck': A "Recently Released" virtual folder (based on Theatre release date)).

And yes, as others (and yourself) have mentioned, Transcoding would definitely be a HUGE step forward.

Thanks again Alcoheca for taking an active role on the DLNA side of the fence. Your skills are greatly appreciated!!! Smile

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#35
Hi,

Thanks for trying it out, big help.

1 is a known issue, should have it fixed soon.

2. And 3. Are fixed in my 'sorting' branch which should be merged in October.
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#36
The sorting changes and most of the improvements aren't in as yet.

One thing I'm undecided on is whether the client should show the layout configured in XBMC or whether it should show only the default layout. Problem mainly is that XBMC is acting as both client and server ATM, and the layout makes sense for the client, not necessarily for other clients. Plus, the layout includes file and add on nodes that can't be shared currently.
Always read the XBMC online-manual, FAQ and search the forum before posting.
Do not e-mail XBMC-Team members directly asking for support. Read/follow the forum rules.
For troubleshooting and bug reporting please make sure you read this first.


Image
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#37
Although I agree with you about the "GUI'd" XMBC acting as a client and server (and the related notes around that), on the DLNA front XBMC is still the server, which should present its data to the best of its ability to the external clients (which may or may not respect that order)... This is especially true of the sorting etc, but also of the 'tree' presented in the DLNA client.

The two best Servers IMHO right now are Twonky (which if you know how to mess around in their XML tree builds awesome structures), and Plex (which came out of no-where, but the hardcoded tree is quite well thought out).

I would suggest having a look at Plex even for their tree structure. It's quite useful on all devices we (my wife included in that) have tried:
- iPhone/iPad
- Sony PS3
- Sony TV

For devices which have less navigation friendliness, a "Title (ABC)" branch might also be beneficial. e.g.
Videos --> Title --> ABC ---> Videos starting with A or B or C
DEF ---> Videos starting with D or E or F
GEH ---> Videos starting with G or E or H
...
XYZ ---> Videos starting with X or Y or Z


Honestly can't wait for the rest of your work though!
As it stands my wishlist is already on your GSoC list as I recall: Transcoding, better support, more metadata, better navigation... That's Plex right now which I use, but I prefer the open nature of XBMC...
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#38
I can't run plex, so what is their tree structure? can you write it up somewhere?
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#39
Hi,

I drew the basics of the Plex DLNA menu, and have uploaded to ImageShack.
Here is the link
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#40
I was looking at Frodo's upcoming support for customizable library nodes via .xml files. I realize this would probably be a huge undertaking, but would it be technically feasible to extend this to also customize the DLNA nodes?
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#41
(2012-09-16, 15:01)alcoheca Wrote: Its not there..yet - I'm working on player/client tracking and these changes will make transcoding all the easier.

Great feature ideas here, much love to alcoheca!
I'm working on learning skins (wish there were a few tutorial videos in english out there, I'll have to make some when I get to know my hand from my a$$), not that savvy on the programming side yet. Hope I can contribute soon though.
Just wanted to add a feature request that may be in line with your project goals alcoheca.
Details are listed here: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=34059

Basically be able to drop xbmc "client" nodes, or any other type of node for that matter, around the house to receive multi-streaming audio content. Setup of various zones like "Sonos" players, to play different music everywhere or play the same music in any rooms you choose to group! I have been testing a lot of audio systems lately and I think this is one of the best features I've come across in a while. I'm surprised that XBMC does not have multi-streaming support?? (or did I miss this in XBMC 101 class?). Maybe some additional info here: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=78431

Thanks for listening.

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#42

Just installed the latest nightly, and although there are a few issues to iron out (as already mentioned), my mkv files now play fine on my WDTV Live which is great news.
I think this work on the UPnP side is really important, as although we're moving toward getting XBMC on many more devices now, if we want it to be the core of our media solution, it has to be able to serve to other devices.

My only issue now is with Pictures, I know there's some work going on to improve the Picture handling side of things, but should XBMC currently serve up the picture "library" and if so, what should I be doing other than simply adding a path to the Picture section. If it doesn't, is this planned, as it would be really useful to be able to views pictures on tablets around the house.

Thanks to everyone for all the effort they put in to this incredible solution, it's really exciting to see all the development that's going on at the moment.

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#43
(2012-09-23, 17:47)smb_uk Wrote: My only issue now is with Pictures, I know there's some work going on to improve the Picture handling side of things, but should XBMC currently serve up the picture "library" and if so, what should I be doing other than simply adding a path to the Picture section. If it doesn't, is this planned, as it would be really useful to be able to views pictures on tablets around the house.

Sadly as there's no pictures library in XBMC, there's no sharing of photos. I don't know why this has never been tackled in all honesty..

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#44
(2012-09-19, 23:59)Jules Wrote: Basically be able to drop xbmc "client" nodes, or any other type of node for that matter, around the house to receive multi-streaming audio content. Setup of various zones like "Sonos" players, to play different music everywhere or play the same music in any rooms you choose to group! I have been testing a lot of audio systems lately and I think this is one of the best features I've come across in a while. I'm surprised that XBMC does not have multi-streaming support?? (or did I miss this in XBMC 101 class?). Maybe some additional info here: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=78431

hi, synchronized playback is a long way off, I don't know of any UPnP devices which support the AVTransport3 service (which introduced the CLOCKSYNC feature). I'm not also sure this is the way we'd do it if we decided to implement is at all.

I suggest looking at Logitech squeezebox (is opensource, clients can run on most hardware) - that's what I use at home for synchronized music playback.

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#45
(2012-09-19, 21:16)edrikk Wrote: Hi,

I drew the basics of the Plex DLNA menu, and have uploaded to ImageShack.
Here is the link

Thanks
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