2010-02-01, 04:59
Hi there, I'm not sure if this is a support question, a feature suggestion or something else altogether, please feel free to move.
Since I got XBMC I tried using it in a client-server fashion. With moderate to no success this far. What I'd like to have is one server containing all my movies and a couple of clients connecting to that server, showing my central library as well as having means of playing it on various clients.
The closest way of acomplishing this thus far was through "UPnP", but I could only play short videos until now. Right now, I'm working with the "AV Media Controller" ( http://opentools.homeip.net/dev-tools-for-upnp ) on an old Windows XP notebook.
Things I've noticed:
a) The AV Media Controller gives me mixed result for the initial library lookup ("Content Directories" | "XBMC Media Server" | "Video Library"). It starts out with a "Music Library" and a "Video Library" but neither contains anything. I can see what the AV Media Controller is doing through View | Event Panel -- there's nothing happening. After a couple of clicks to the "+" sign of "Video Library" it starts working
b) As soon as the Library is scanned, I need to wait 20 (!) minutes for the scan to complete. Tons of actor names, studios, etc. show up in the Event Source, I currently have around 350 movies and 24 TV shows, the largest having 122 episodes. Still, I don't understand why it takes so long. There seem to be short bursts and then a lag of a couple of seconds, then a data burst again, etc.
c) Is it possible, as a short term solution, to stop XBMC transmitting the actor / studio / director informations in the content directory? I'd be happy enough with the directory only containing genres and titles, this should make the whole thing more performant.
d) Is it possible, as a medium term solution, to somehow compress the data transmitted so it would run faster?
e) Are there better clients available that are performant yet don't need Direct X and work similar to VLC?
f) Has anyone tried something similar yet and was successful doing it? All I got, after waiting 20 minutes, was being able to remotely control my server. But I could not see the videos on the client :-( I could use the web interface for that, but I'd rather see the videos on my clients than use them as fancy remote controls.
Thanks
Since I got XBMC I tried using it in a client-server fashion. With moderate to no success this far. What I'd like to have is one server containing all my movies and a couple of clients connecting to that server, showing my central library as well as having means of playing it on various clients.
The closest way of acomplishing this thus far was through "UPnP", but I could only play short videos until now. Right now, I'm working with the "AV Media Controller" ( http://opentools.homeip.net/dev-tools-for-upnp ) on an old Windows XP notebook.
Things I've noticed:
a) The AV Media Controller gives me mixed result for the initial library lookup ("Content Directories" | "XBMC Media Server" | "Video Library"). It starts out with a "Music Library" and a "Video Library" but neither contains anything. I can see what the AV Media Controller is doing through View | Event Panel -- there's nothing happening. After a couple of clicks to the "+" sign of "Video Library" it starts working
b) As soon as the Library is scanned, I need to wait 20 (!) minutes for the scan to complete. Tons of actor names, studios, etc. show up in the Event Source, I currently have around 350 movies and 24 TV shows, the largest having 122 episodes. Still, I don't understand why it takes so long. There seem to be short bursts and then a lag of a couple of seconds, then a data burst again, etc.
c) Is it possible, as a short term solution, to stop XBMC transmitting the actor / studio / director informations in the content directory? I'd be happy enough with the directory only containing genres and titles, this should make the whole thing more performant.
d) Is it possible, as a medium term solution, to somehow compress the data transmitted so it would run faster?
e) Are there better clients available that are performant yet don't need Direct X and work similar to VLC?
f) Has anyone tried something similar yet and was successful doing it? All I got, after waiting 20 minutes, was being able to remotely control my server. But I could not see the videos on the client :-( I could use the web interface for that, but I'd rather see the videos on my clients than use them as fancy remote controls.
Thanks
