WIP Hulu using Chrome/Flashplayer projector - Alpha Release
#1
I would like to know if there is any interest in a continued Hulu Addon development which integrates Chrome or the Standalone Flash Player (projector) support into the existing Hulu plugin.

Some of the details below are slightly technical in nature, but I want folks to know how I'm proposing to do things, as well as the limitations:

1 - Such a development would be only for the Windows/Linux/OSX platforms which support Chrome or Chromium+Pepper Flash, or the Standalone Flashplayer (projector). To the best of my knowledge, this will NOT work on the AppleTV,Android, OpenElec or Raspberry PI platforms.
2 - Such a development would NOT remove prerolls or ads.
3 - Controls in the flash player (volume, skipping, video quality, captions(subtitles)) will most likely require a keyboard and mouse and differ from the internal XBMC controls.
4 - There is a chance that by changing from a plugin to a script addon, I may be able to map remote keystokes/events into the flashplayer keystrokes. I have this working with a third party SendKeys module, but window focus is still an issue.
5 - The addon will most likely require some tweaking on each install, so it may not be the solution of choice for folks who expect a turn-key solution.

What you will have is the ability to login to a user account, play, search, add/remove to queue, add/remove to subscriptions, vote, export to library and play from library in exactly the same manner as the original Hulu plugin. I believe that Hulu Plus works fine.

I currently have this functional for Windows 7 with Chrome or Flashplayer projector. It works for me though it isn't quite as integrated as the original addon due to the player controls differences.
There are pros and cons to using Chrome vs. Flashplayer projector which I will highlight in another post, but basically the standalone player is easier to install, whereas Chrome integrates into XBMC slightly better. The Flashplayer doesn't seem to store any info about what's played so it doesn't go to the point where you left off next time you play a video. If you log into your Hulu account under Chrome and leave it logged in, you will be able to return to where you left off.

Before I clean this up for release and the Linux/OSX platforms, I want to know if this is something that people are interested in.

If it's the wrong idea, platform or doesn't work for you don't bother commenting. At this point, I'm only interested in knowing if there are folks interested in such a development. It isn't intended to be a solution for everyone.
Reply
#2
I would be interested in this. I had mentioned, because of all the problems, the best bet would be a browser 'backend'. I know this is not that, but can still be very nice. I have been using chrome launcher since the plugin broke, to launch to the shows I watch on hulu. Addonscriptors chrome launcher for Netflix is fairly popular, and in the long run i think this one would be too.
Reply
#3
A Windows 7 or 8 only version of plugin.video.huluchrome can be downloaded from my repo:

https://github.com/learningit/plugin.video.huluchrome/

This is very much an experiment to see what kind of difficulties folks have installing the addon and you can assume that things will break.

In the .zip you will find 'setup instructions.txt' and a .rtf of the same. Read them carefully before running the addon. You must restart XBMC if you make any changes to xbmcplayercore.xml as I believe that it is only read once upon initialization. If you try it, let me know if it works for you. If the Windows version works for most folks and is stable, I will release for Linux and OSX as well. Brave folks can try on their own, but I've found that non-Windows versions need a bit of work to get going.

This version really needs a keyboard and mouse to use the player controls properly.
Reply
#4
This is a great idea for a script!

(2014-06-05, 06:20)learningit Wrote: If the Windows version works for most folks and is stable, I will release for Linux and OSX as well. Brave folks can try on their own, but I've found that non-Windows versions need a bit of work to get going.
Exactly how many differences are there between Windows and the others? If it's just launching Chrome, then that's an easy fix. Just add a custom path option in the settings. Early OSX and Linux users will just have to change it themselves.

Also, does this support Gotham (13.1)?
XBMC Kodi is awesome!
Image
Reply
#5
What was so great about the old plugin was the lack of commercials...
Reply
#6
I'm not sure that it's as simple as a custom path, but it may be. I've had better luck with the projector (standalone) on OS/X and Ubuntu, but haven't tested extensively. Some versions of chrome (chromium) apparently don't support flash player. There hasn't been much interest in this, so I haven't put any time in on it.

It works for me on Gotham 13.1 Windows 7
Reply
#7
(2014-07-14, 18:01)DaAwesomeP Wrote: Exactly how many differences are there between Windows and the others? If it's just launching Chrome, then that's an easy fix. Just add a custom path option in the settings. Early OSX and Linux users will just have to change it themselves.

Also, does this support Gotham (13.1)?

Actually all that needs to be changed is the path in xbmcplayercore.xml to point to either chrome or the flash projector and the addon works under Linux or OS/X. There may need to some tweaking of command line parms for the projector, I can't remember at this point.
Reply
#8
(2014-07-14, 22:36)learningit Wrote: Actually all that needs to be changed is the path in xbmcplayercore.xml to point to either chrome or the flash projector and the addon works under Linux or OS/X. There may need to some tweaking of command line parms for the projector, I can't remember at this point.

Great! I'll try it out soon when I get some time.

Lubuntu 14.04 LTS i386
XBMC Gotham 13.1
XBMC Kodi is awesome!
Image
Reply
#9
I'm downloading it now, will test in my HTPC (Win 7 Pro, Frodo 12.1) it over the weekend.

Since the original plugin broke, I have been using the old Hulu Desktop windows app, launched from XBMC. Works fine, but Hulu has been clear that is expected to be broken at some point in the future.

Thanks for sharing your work!
Reply
#10
Just a short reply to say thanks for the hard work on this.
I don't have an issue with the inclusion of ads, if it means keeping a legal subscription free Hulu addon alive then that can only be a good thing.

Working well here on Vista running Gotham 13.1
Reply
#11
I can also verify that this works without issue on LinuxMint 17.1

Great work! I just had to change the playercorefactory.xml to reflect the right path to chrome.
Reply
#12
technically flash can be installed on Fire TV and chrome or other browsers.

So how would this work?
Reply
#13
I have been trying to get Chrome or Firefox to run on my fire stick but haven't had any luck. If anyone is aware of how to install either, I'd be interested. I also can't find a projector version of Flash that runs on Android on the Adobe website, so I'm unable to test the Hulu addon.
Reply
#14
This works pretty nicely in Windows. Is it possible to add a Control Utility like the one used in NetfliXBMC to convert remote signals to keypresses? WAF would be greatly increased if this could run with only a remote.
Reply
#15
(2014-12-31, 00:49)mathgeek97 Wrote: This works pretty nicely in Windows. Is it possible to add a Control Utility like the one used in NetfliXBMC to convert remote signals to keypresses? WAF would be greatly increased if this could run with only a remote.
Which remote are you using? I have tried a couple of ways to do this and have had limited success with Hulu. I'll have another look at NetflixXBMC to see if I can borrow something.
Reply

Logout Mark Read Team Forum Stats Members Help
Hulu using Chrome/Flashplayer projector - Alpha Release0