Streaming Movies (How is this done...easily for a newbie?)

[Mucx]

Hi,

I have heard little snippets in my time browsing around forums like this about streaming your movies to another computer. I would like to give this a go. I back up all the DVDs I own using HandBrake or FfmpegX to a nicely compressed .avi file.

I know this question is random but instead of transferring the movies I want to take with me from my iMac to my parents or my girlfriends or wherever on my Windows PC laptop (yeah I know PC)...is there anyway to stream them over a net connection? Would allow for example my girlfriend to choose what movie she wanted to watch once Im there.

I'm sure I have heard things about being able to access all your movies on one comptuer via ADSL to another and stream the movies through and onto Internet Explorer or any other web browser.

I have looked at things like Quicktime Streaming Server, but not sure if this sort of thing would be possible. I think reading up on VLC it might also be possible this way but...I gave it a go once upon a time to be able to view, or tried to view my EyeTV recordings from my Mac and lay with my laptop upstairs and view them (movies too) but I just couldnt work it out. (that venture ended when I got an EyeHome)

Anyone got any advice or links and URLs for me to visit?

Thanks in Advance
David.

[terryj]

I've used quicktime Streaming Server,
and you have to have the movies converted over to
a streamable format, like QT .mov, or mpeg-4.

The server hosts the file at an IP address,
and users login and click a link ( reference)
that streams the feed to their QT Player.

It calls for a major ( ie. money) investment,
but it works...

For what you are trying to accomplish, why not get some webspace, and store copies of your movies
in MPEG-4 format, and play them using QT?
Set your self up a web page, with links to the
files stored in your webspace, and then you'd click
on the weblinks and your browser would play them?

downside: you'd have copies of your movies in MPEG-4,
which would be small and average quality.
upside: you could watch whereever, whenever....

[Mucx]

Hmm interesting thanks...

just wondered if people where doing this type of thing and if so how. What about Darwin Streaming Server...its a free Opensource project/download (though I dont see a direct download link)...or is the financial investment in some other form I ahven't seen?

Thansk though..

David

[sctele]

The easiest method to stream movies is using VLC video player. I believe there was a new guide that was just recently posted. You could also try Peercast, but it is pretty difficult to use and useful only if you are streaming to a wide audience.

edit: just saw that you had tried to use VLC! Try using Baldrick's guide:

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=259354

I used it and it worked perfectly! I used it to stream an avi file to about 4 different computers. I installed VLC on all of the computers, and used VLC to both broadcast and recieve the stream.

[Mucx]

Thanks, I will give that a go this weekend when I ahve time...wish that guide was up or I had seen it 6months or so ago.

I like to find out about the different things I can do with my Mac like that...very interesting and worth a go. Hopefully it is as easy as it sounds and as easy as you seem to have found it. (not that Im dense just...you know lol)

Cheers
David

[Mucx]

Hmm, gave it a quick look...thing is all the windows and options look totally different o a Mac ...same kind of problems I had before when looking at and asking for help...everyone seems to be doing this on Windows and not a Mac.

It would be fun to try though...setting up my iMac as the server and the Windows Laptop as the reciever (or client), could sit an watch mvies with friends while typing away on ichat (dont think thats warez..just they arent watching my movie in my living room)...hope I can figure it out though.

Dunno why, this always frustrates me when it comes to network stuff..

David

[thoughton]

Hrmmm ... I don't think you're going to be streaming many movies over ADSL.

Assuming you compressed your movies to single CD avis of 700MB or so, and assuming your movies are 90 minutes long, the data rate is 7.77MB/min or 1.03megabit/sec. Perhaps you've got an awesome internet connection, but where I live most people have 2 megabit download and 0.25 megabit upload. You'd need at least 1megabit upload to stream the movie to _one_ friend, and that's without taking overheads and ichat into account. You'd be so close to the limit that any network slowdown would make the movie pause, so you'd probably really need a 1.5megabit upload.