Does anyone else use xbmc to watch tv, movies, and music videos? If so, you guys should really check it out… 
Yeah, it’s quite handy.
I use plex. It’s based off of xbmc, but a bit nicer interface. I use in on a Mac Pro and hdmi to projector for movie room. Really an amazing program
I’ve been down this rabbit hole, and full circle back again.
I have a Control4 system with Apple Tv doing my media now. Simple and easy. I have found that whatever your phone OS you prefer, will be your media player.
iTunes is not perfect, but it works well enough for me. I use a mac mini to do the lifting of the ripped movies. However, I haven’t bought a disc in years (and I have/had a 800+ movie catalog from ripped media).
can someone explain this in 40 words or less?
That video is a nasally nerd talking for 12 minutes, and I can’t do it.
It’s a nice way to organize media. Movies, tv, music. Plex puts it into a layout similar to what osx front row did. Just a nice GUI that auto grabs and organizes metadata (media info like description and artwork). Also plex is a RIDICULOUS way to encode/stream media when you’re away from the home. And you can share your server with friends.
A little more than 40 words, but you know I’m no good at the short and sweet.
Thanks
So you need to first download /own the content…? You can’t stream other content I guess?
Absolutely NOT… I don’t pay for any movies, cable tv, etc. Everything is free and streamed off the internet in HD. I’m actually debating on canceling cable TV/Netfix all together because I haven’t watched either in months. Using the ‘Mashup’ plugin you can actually watch live sports as well!
As there are obviously a bunch of different ways to set things up I figured I’d share my setup (+ cost) if anyone is interested.
I use a small basic media play “ouya” ($100 that’s it, plus internet) which has a native XBMC app and leave it permanently connected to my TV (This works even better on laptops just a bit annoying plugging them in and out).
Once I’ve installed the XBMC app that’s it for downloading! I go into setting and input two URL’s to access the zip files and load all the plugins from there.
Two of my favourite plugins are ‘Mashup’ and ‘Icefilms’. With these plugins you basically get access to all the latest TV shows (Scandal, Suits, Homeland, etc.) update the day the latest episode is released. You also get tens of thousands of movies from theater releases to old favourites. For example, I watched the new Hunger Games Catching Fire in R6 format (not quite DVD but close) a few days back. A week ago I went through all the F&F films after I heard Paul Walker had died(I was amazed at how long ago the first one was release 2001). Lives sports and so much more.
You also have access to Youtube, Hulu, Vimeo, 1 Channel, project free tv, etc. the list really goes on and on and on… It’s actually a very useful program…
I.e. It’s a media manager program that acts as a server on one computer which it is set up on and which holds your content. And then you use client programs to access it via log in. However, the programs are free (except for the mobile apps, but they’re worth it due to streaming ability).
Again, basically like Apple TV just more open source. You can access your own content anywhere based on a log in, or you can have plug ins that are just web links that act as an app would on the Apple TV to watch 3rd party programming. Such as hulu, netflix, YouTube, etc.
I’m on another forum and several people shared their plex severs with one another so different people could watch shows etc. kinda a cool feature in plex is being able to grant access to certain content.
I’m gonna have to look into the mashup. And I knew about ice films, I just hate having to go through the multiple links and maybe works maybe doesn’t when using the computer.
Anyone else here (on a Mac) use SABBZB, TV shows, Sick Beard, or Couch Potato? With those apps it pretty much takes care of all you downloading needs. Pretty cool. SickBeard auto grabs tv shows based on your directory, and couch potato grabs movies you want, you can even just link it to an imdb watch list and it gets em that way. Tie them all together and it’ll auto rename the files and relocate them to the right directory for plex to stream for you wherever you are.
neat.
I need a way to watch the Leafs.
I cancelled our cable a year ago. Haven’t missed it other than hockey. We have an HD antenna that gets a better picture than cable or satellite but only for ‘local’ channels (this includes the CDN networks CBC, CTV, CHCH, TVO, Global as well as a bunch of the US ones CBS, ABC, NBC, PBS, and about 4-5 others I forget. So I can watch the golf majors, and a bunch of Leafs games on HNIC. I always watched a bunch of shows on PBS like Nature.
Otherwise, who cares about TV. You can download full seasons of shows, or buy DVD boxed sets if you want to watch something.
I came to this realisation when the only shows we watched were hockey, Top Gear, Dexter and Boardwalk Empire. Top Gear I would just download Sunday nights after it aired in the UK. It made me wonder…why don’t I do this for the 13episodes of Dexter? Why am I paying $20/month for TMN when I really just want 2 shows? $240/year+tax for TMN (HBO, Showtime package) when I can buy the season on DVD for $25 for both?
They really need to change the content delivery system for stuff like this. I will pay $2 an episode for the 5 shows I want. But I won’t pay $135/month = $1620/year for them because they’re packaged in with hundreds of shit movies and 90 other channels of mindless carp I don’t want. That’s absurd.
p.s. Homeland FTW. I’m straight hooked on that.
So it sounds like there’s no HD option for this? Near-DVD quality (is that like VHS?) movies/tv shows would be unacceptable for me. I really enjoy my home theater set-up and would not give that up for a more centralized hub of content.
Also, as we know nothing is “free,” how does that work? Are we talking content “sharing” as in the old days of Napster where the music companies were getting raped left and right?
Also, seems like the program was originally developed for Xbox but has not moved to other devices as well.
Thinking of getting into this on Netflix. Was a huge fan of 24, and Homeland seems to be something similar.
haha a friend of mine played a terrorist in the first season of 24
Almost everything is in HD! My point was that movies that are CURRENTLY in the theatre can be watch in near dvd quality. All movies/TV shows/Sports casts that are available in HD are available in HD through XBMC plugins.
The cost is the device (laptop/Ouya/etc.) and internet bandwith. I don’t download anything to share I only stream from sources. XBMC is home theatre software, you provide the URL links for it to access the plugins, once the plugins are installed and enabled it provides a direct link to the source media contained on a server…
Yeah, I’ve been told Plex is great for accessing your data across a number of different devices. That is something I’m not really into. The main purpose for XBMC, to me, is to have a source that I can access mainstream media, in high quality, instantly, without having to download and store (share) content. I know couch potato will search and download automatically but I’d rather not download anything. I’m super lazy! lol!
Mashup can be had through URL http://xfinity.xunitytalk.com and icefilms can be found through URL http://fusion.xbmchub.com
In some cases… yes! lol! avoid the ‘cams’ and you’ll be fine. I use XBMC as a repository of media that I can access at anytime without having to download and store.
Ah gotcha. HD ftw! Regarding the content providers, I was just wondering whether they were actually just people who shared their tv shows/movies a la Napster .mp3 files.
LOL @ Brodie!
Mashup is a little messy. 1Channel seems work well for TV shows.