Synchronize music/video multicast-stream playback to multiple instances of XBMC

FYI, there is a open source patch availble for MPlayer (for Linux/Win32) that enables synchronization between multiple MPlayer players on the network, it is called CMplayer (see http://persephone.cps.unizar.es/~spd/cmplayer/ for more information)

Quote:CMplayer is a patch for MPlayer which lets you synchronise several players running on several computers (hence the name, Cluster MPlayer; but I may change it in the future) connected to a dedicated LAN.

So, every host will load a movie from its internal storage media, and all of them will be played at the same speed, i.e., all of them will start at the same moment and after some time, all of them will have played the same number of frames at a fixed framerate.

However that is problely not an ideal solution 'as is', however a developer might get some good ideas from the code(?)

Softsqueeze (and the SlimServer software) from Slim Devices, is another open source software music player which allows multiple players to be syncronized (via "SqueezeNetwork"). SoftSqueezeis is written in Java but again, maybe a develper can just get some ideas from it(?):
http://softsqueeze.sourceforge.net
http://www.slimdevices.com

PS! Also see the feature suggestion topic-thread about the request for:
XBMC act as ESD (Enlightenment Sound Daemon) or PulseAudio server

Would like to use XBMC as a multi room/floor audio system. I have several XBMC Xbox's hooked up around the house. For parties and such I would like them to all play the same playlists and of course be in sync, or at least very close. If this is already implemented... sorry for the request.

I too would love to see this. It's been brought up before, but I don't remember what the devs thought about it. Personally, I think I would use this quite a lot.

Kind of neat feature to add i guess. One way, seeing as the xbox's would have to have the same library. I would think of 2 ways to do it.
1) One way could have an auto-send/receive info specially for the xbox units, so you could have a sub-menu option (Play to All, under Play- for song/playlist/etc.), and it would the send that file's (using same methods of control by built in web control) info to the other xbox's, which would tell it to start playing on those machines, which ever file it is.
2) Other method, albeit more complicated, Would be similar, however, the one xbox would send the music file to the HD cache of the other xbox, and start playing it.

Just a thought on the workings to make it happen, if either are possible. Seems feasible at least.

Seems like sending the file to the other xbox would make more sense, since you wouldn't have to worry about it if you have xbox with different libraries set up (perhaps its a roomates or a spouses or girlfriends or something, but you still want to share music for a party, for example), and you shouldn't have to worry about much lag when everything's on a local network.

Thanks for linking my request with the others; I knew I was not the first to think this up, but searching last night for this thread was fruitless for me. It seams like since we are not past 2.0, that this would be somewhere on the drawing table.

Folks,

Ive 2 xboxs one downstairs another upstairs - What id love to be able to do is to play the same song on both at the same time. I remember years ago winamp used to have ampsync and you could sync 2 together over a network.

Any ideas on how this could be done for XBMC.. would be a great one for complete in house entertainment

Shane

Thanks for linking me to this - I might give the stream on the server ago - in the mean time would love to see this build into XBMC

Fab piece of software..

S

another vote here, i had thought about it before but unfortunately i don't have any talent when it comes to writing software, so it won't be me making this happen. there goes my one chance at internet infamy.

shanedoyle Wrote:Thanks for linking me to this - I might give the stream on the server ago - in the mean time would love to see this build into XBMC

Fab piece of software..

S

Contact LiquidIce... he's working on an AJAX interface and 'previously' had been working on multi-zone audio...