iPhone interface for MediaPortal (iPiMP) - original thread (now closed) (10 Viewers)

[cheezey]

I get .net errors when trying to use the transcode client. Am just gonna pay a visit to windows update to see if there's any updates for .net.

Looks like I've missed something - I'll have a look....

 

[allanp81]

Maybe. I've done all available updates on Windows update and still get the errors.

 

[cheezey]

Doh! - copy C:\Program Files\iPiMP\utils\iPiMPTranscodeClient.exe to C:\Program Files\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal TV Server and run it from there. - I'll fix this in the next drop.

 

[jonaskp]

Are you still planning to support ForTheRecord at some point? I have now switched over entirely because its such an improvement over the regular scheduler.

I would gladly try out the transcode settings on my iPhone (Edge and 3G) as soon as I can use this with ForTheRecord - otherwise I'll have nothing to view

 

[benjerry]

To transcode recordings on the fly you'de need VLC as FFMPEG doesn't stream. So has anyone got VLC streaming any kind of input file and the stream watchable on the iPhone?

I have tried this:

vlc E:\TV\Friends\Season1\Friends.S01E24.DVDrip.XviD-SAiNTS.avi --sout=#transcode{vcodec=mp4v,vb=512,canvas-height=272,width=480,acodec=mp4a,ab=96,channels=2}:duplicate{dst=std{access=http,mux=mp4,dst=:81}}

I've tried a number of options but keep getting this..

Hi. I've done some testing as well and it looks like mp4 by http stream is not supported in VLC. Log says that mp4 is only supported for file output.

See also the table Output method / muxer matrix here: http://www.videolan.org/streaming-features.html

 

[allanp81]

OK tried setting my transcode settings as 128k for video and 64k for audio and the file size still seems pretty huge to me to try and stream via 3g, so much though that it doesn't even start streaming. Also since updating my iphone to 2.2 logging on is troublesome, as by default to makes the A in the admin username a capital, so you have to type it, then backspace and then click shift to un-capitalise it.

 

[mts]

BIG THANKS!

Now everything works for me very well.
But, ... how does this transcoding work? When does the plugin start any transcoding? What will be transcoded?

 

[cheezey]

Are you still planning to support ForTheRecord at some point? I have now switched over entirely because its such an improvement over the regular scheduler.

I would gladly try out the transcode settings on my iPhone (Edge and 3G) as soon as I can use this with ForTheRecord - otherwise I'll have nothing to view

Yes - I will be having a look at 4TheRecord at some point.

To transcode recordings on the fly you'de need VLC as FFMPEG doesn't stream. So has anyone got VLC streaming any kind of input file and the stream watchable on the iPhone?

I have tried this:

vlc E:\TV\Friends\Season1\Friends.S01E24.DVDrip.XviD-SAiNTS.avi --sout=#transcode{vcodec=mp4v,vb=512,canvas-height=272,width=480,acodec=mp4a,ab=96,channels=2}:duplicate{dst=std{access=http,mux=mp4,dst=:81}}

I've tried a number of options but keep getting this..

Hi. I've done some testing as well and it looks like mp4 by http stream is not supported in VLC. Log says that mp4 is only supported for file output.

See also the table Output method / muxer matrix here: VideoLAN Streaming - Features list

Thanks - the more I read on this the harder it seems to get - I did read that the iPhone quicktime player was 'coded' to start streaming an actual complete MP4 file, it's not actually a stream it just renders the file as it's downloading. We need to keep on looking for a solution though.

OK tried setting my transcode settings as 128k for video and 64k for audio and the file size still seems pretty huge to me to try and stream via 3g, so much though that it doesn't even start streaming. Also since updating my iphone to 2.2 logging on is troublesome, as by default to makes the A in the admin username a capital, so you have to type it, then backspace and then click shift to un-capitalise it.

I'll look at the username case thing for the next drop - you could delete your user and recreate i with a Capital in the meantime

 

[allanp81]

I've also noticed that transcoded recordings go out of seek if you seek to a different position. This is the case even when playing back through quicktime on Windows.

 

[cheezey]

BIG THANKS!

Now everything works for me very well.
But, ... how does this transcoding work? When does the plugin start any transcoding? What will be transcoded?

The plugin recognises when an MP recording finishes and does 1 of 2 things depending on how you've got it configured.

If you selected 'Transcode immediately' in the setup program or iPiMPTranscodeMP4 plugin setup screen, it will immediately start transcoding the finished recording and generate a thumbnail in the MP4 folder you have also supplied. (I found that when multiple recordings finished at the same time they would be transcoded at the same time and if I was also watching a program then some skipping may occur - which did not go down well with the other viewers <- Mrs Cheezey )

If you did not select 'Transcode immediately' in the setup program or iPiMPTranscodeMP4 plugin setup screen, it will log the finished recording and transcode it at (or near) the time you selected in the setup program or iPiMPTranscodeMP4 plugin setup screen. At that time the recordings will be transcoded one after the other until all have completed, the transcoded files are also stored in the MP4 folder you have also supplied. (I added this option to overcome the constructive feedback I have described above.)

All the transcoding actually does is launch FFMPEG with a bunch of parameters which make for good viewing on the iPhone screen - if you look in your TV server log you'll see the parameters.

I've also noticed that transcoded recordings go out of seek if you seek to a different position. This is the case even when playing back through quicktime on Windows.

I haven't noticed this - I'll try a few more.