[gluteus maximus]

I have a large collection of .avi video clips which I want to stream over my Windows home network. Of course, I can play them with no problem, but I want to stream them continuously, like a TV channel which I can connect to when the mood takes me.

VLC, which claims not to be able to stream .avi files, actually does a pretty good job, but on some clips it's overloading even a fastish (3500+) processor. I don't want to have to transcode all the files into a different format, or buy any more hardware or software.

Any suggestions on how to stream these files with less load on the cpu?

gm

[Bobwhite]

Originally Posted by gluteus maximus

I have a large collection of .avi video clips which I want to stream over my Windows home network. Of course, I can play them with no problem, but I want to stream them continuously, like a TV channel which I can connect to when the mood takes me.

VLC, which claims not to be able to stream .avi files, actually does a pretty good job, but on some clips it's overloading even a fastish (3500+) processor. I don't want to have to transcode all the files into a different format, or buy any more hardware or software.

Any suggestions on how to stream these files with less load on the cpu?

gm

Hey GM,

How about the sling media catcher

Sling Media SlingCatcher Video Players and Recorder reviews - CNET Reviews

Edit: I didn't catch that you didn't want to buy any more equipment, but this might answer all your problems

[gluteus maximus]

Originally Posted by Bobwhite

Hey GM,

How about the sling media catcher

Sling Media SlingCatcher Video Players and Recorder reviews - CNET Reviews

Edit: I didn't catch that you didn't want to buy any more equipment, but this might answer all your problems

Hi Bobwhite

Interesting product, thanks for the link. I'm really trying to do this with PCs only, generating a stream on a server running Win2K Server so that if I connect to it from 2 clients, they are both showing the same thing, as opposed to just playing the clips over the network which is easy. If I have to spend on hardware, I'd prefer to upgrade the server, rather than having another add-on box. But I'll keep it in mind

gm

[Ashleyj]

Originally Posted by gluteus maximus

Hi Bobwhite

Interesting product, thanks for the link. I'm really trying to do this with PCs only, generating a stream on a server running Win2K Server so that if I connect to it from 2 clients, they are both showing the same thing, as opposed to just playing the clips over the network which is easy. If I have to spend on hardware, I'd prefer to upgrade the server, rather than having another add-on box. But I'll keep it in mind

gm

GM,

Have you though of trying to off-load some of the processing to the graphics card?
I am no expert but I have read that a GPU can be better at certain tasks than the CPU.
I have no idea how your set-up works but it might be something worth looking into.

[gluteus maximus]

Originally Posted by Ashleyj

GM,

Have you though of trying to off-load some of the processing to the graphics card?
I am no expert but I have read that a GPU can be better at certain tasks than the CPU.
I have no idea how your set-up works but it might be something worth looking into.

Thanks Ashleyj, I hadn't thought of that At the moment the server processor is a Duron 1100, and that handles most clips OK, but there are some that wipe it out. I've tried streaming them from an Athlon 3500, and they floor that too. I'm not sure that just throwing more processing power at it is the answer, but I'll check out the possibilities.

It's a shame it's not a memory problem; it would be a great excuse to try out this intriguing plug-in ramdisk from Gigabyte http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/...ProductID=2180

gm

[Ashleyj]

Originally Posted by gluteus maximus

Thanks Ashleyj, I hadn't thought of that At the moment the server processor is a Duron 1100, and that handles most clips OK, but there are some that wipe it out. I've tried streaming them from an Athlon 3500, and they floor that too. I'm not sure that just throwing more processing power at it is the answer, but I'll check out the possibilities.

It's a shame it's not a memory problem; it would be a great excuse to try out this intriguing plug-in ramdisk from Gigabyte GIGABYTE - Product - PC Peripherals - Storage - Products - GC-RAMDISK

gm

Yes shame about that!

It seems to me that it could be overloading the processor trying to encode two streams at once, but how you go about fixing the problem I have no idea other than what I suggested.

Good luck anyway.

[gluteus maximus]

Originally Posted by Ashleyj

Yes shame about that!

It seems to me that it could be overloading the processor trying to encode two streams at once, but how you go about fixing the problem I have no idea other than what I suggested.

Good luck anyway.

Actually its just encoding the stream once, and then serving it as http to any client that requests it, so I don't think the number of clients should be too much of an issue. VLC when running just as a player uses twice the processing power of other players, and they do say it doesn't stream .avi files I'm really hoping to find an alternative streamer, but there just doesn't seem to be anything else for Windows.

I do like VLC; it works fine for doing the same thing with mp3s, and will even take the output of a TV card and stream that to another computer. It's just this task it's failing on.

I'll keep trying, and if I get a resolution I'll post back, on the off-chance that someone else is contrary enough to want to do this

gm

[Ashleyj]

Originally Posted by gluteus maximus

Actually its just encoding the stream once, and then serving it as http to any client that requests it, so I don't think the number of clients should be too much of an issue. VLC when running just as a player uses twice the processing power of other players, and they do say it doesn't stream .avi files I'm really hoping to find an alternative streamer, but there just doesn't seem to be anything else for Windows.

I do like VLC; it works fine for doing the same thing with mp3s, and will even take the output of a TV card and stream that to another computer. It's just this task it's failing on.

I'll keep trying, and if I get a resolution I'll post back, on the off-chance that someone else is contrary enough to want to do this

gm

It might be useful as we are in the process of setting up a streaming network at work. At the moment it is only going to be used for audio.
One central server is going to supply music to any room in the house via a CAT6 network. The whole system should be able to be controlled wirelessly from a PDA or iPod Touch with each room being able to source unique media streams.
The media being stored on a Netgear 1Tb four drive NAS device.

As I say it's audio only at the moment but knowing my boss video could be next!

[gluteus maximus]

Originally Posted by Ashleyj

It might be useful as we are in the process of setting up a streaming network at work. At the moment it is only going to be used for audio.
One central server is going to supply music to any room in the house via a CAT6 network. The whole system should be able to be controlled wirelessly from a PDA or iPod Touch with each room being able to source unique media streams.
The media being stored on a Netgear 1Tb four drive NAS device.

As I say it's audio only at the moment but knowing my boss video could be next!

I've had three instances of VLC running on the server, doing random play, one stream playing flvs and two playing different audio streams, outputting to different ports. There is a web-based remote control for it, which still needed some work when I last looked a while ago. I'm not sure how stable it is over time, or how scalable, but it's free, and it's fun

But if each stream is going to just one room, why not just have a player there running off a playlist, playing on demand from the file server?

gm

[Ashleyj]

Originally Posted by gluteus maximus

I've had three instances of VLC running on the server, doing random play, one stream playing flvs and two playing different audio streams, outputting to different ports. There is a web-based remote control for it, which still needed some work when I last looked a while ago. I'm not sure how stable it is over time, or how scalable, but it's free, and it's fun

But if each stream is going to just one room, why not just have a player there running off a playlist, playing on demand from the file server?

gm

I'm not too up on all this all I do is the grunt work - making up and running the cables etc.

But the impression I get is that he wants to be able to walk from room to room and the music to follow him around.

We are still in early stages and only have the kitchen and garden room up and running at the moment with the speakers hard wired back to a couple of amps connected to the streamer. the rest of the rooms will have to get their source either by cable or from wireless links.

It is all controlled wirelessly by a laptop at the moment - hopefully one day it will all be up and running.