Roku Developer Program

[jdevane]

I purchased a Roku 3 about 2 weeks ago and I have been working with it now about a week... I can play single mp4 files off my IIS server all day...

What i really want to do is have a server computer playing several streams, I would like to setup (my original intent was to use VLC) VLC to have one service streaming my movies, one streaming music videos, one streaming kids movies, etc.... I had no intention of these streams leaving the LAN... so the HTTP sreaming function from VLC worked great across the pcs in my network, so I wanted to do something for my TVs... that's when I found Roku... I hoped it would do what I wanted, but I have not conquered it yet... I want to be able to set my local server to stream a playlist, or just randomly play files... so that the Roku doesn't start at the beginning, I actually want to have it seem like we have flipped the channel... I did find one package where it would play a json playlists, and if I could randomize that, I maybe satisfied, but for now... I'm trying tracking to get where my own channel can play local streams, on the LAN.. I guess I don't see why I can't get this accomplished... if VLC is streaming HTTP on my 192.168.0.1:6000 PC and I package and upload a channel to Roku for an HLS stream using the player samples to view the stream from 192.168.0.1:6000, why can't it just see it? I have the trancoding settings correct, I have even pre-encoded files... Is there any hope of this working without me paying for a 3rd party service, I'm just trying to basicaly develop my own in house cable system, so I can cut 60 bucks from my bills? I noticed when I tried working on something with m3u8 files that VLC writes those a little different... so I'm not sure if I off there, but realisticly, an option for the Roku to just see and read a compatible format stream from a local Ip and Port would be awesome...

Oh, and I'm a Windows user... so I'm not really up to speed with anything mac or linux, if push comes to shove, I could pull out an older machine and linux it if I have too...

Otherwise, I'm afraid I my $100 Roku is not going to serve what I hoped for...

[RokuJoel]

Well, assuming that VLC is properly doing HLS transcoding according to the spec (I would really be surprised if it is) then try dropping the URL into the simplevideoplayer example in the SDK. Be sure to add SRT="" and make sure streamformat="hls". I suggest replacing the Big Buck Bunny section with something like this and commenting out the other examples:

bitrates  = [0]
    urls = ["http://192.168.0.1:6000/playlist.m3u8"]
    streamformat = "hls"
    title = "My HLS Stream"
    srt=""
     di = CreateObject("roDeviceInfo")
	if di.GetDisplayType() = "HDTV" then  
			  qualities=["HD"]
	else
			  qualities=["SD"]
	end if

[jdevane]

Yeah... I've tried that... for about 2 weeks... I think I'm probably going to try something different... thanks anyway..

[destruk]

You could try a lower bitrate for encoding the stream, or a much faster computer to support multiple streams. Or, as you say, try something different. An older machine for HLS transcoding isn't going to make your experience any better.
It only takes a 486 to stream an mp4 file - transcoding/hls needs a bit more power to do realtime streaming. The main issue is with an inhouse cable system (as you say) with pre-encoded files, to save money off your cable bill, that would have the drawback of only playing old content you already have. Most cable providers constantly push out "NEW" or never-before-seen content, so you would still have to be paying for cable access, or dish access, or internet access to let's say, 'Acquire' new content. You might check into competing devices to do what you want, like western digital's TVPlay set top box, Boxee, or other, which is more friendly to the types of content you are looking for, rather than investing money into an expensive computer that always has to be on sucking hundreds of watts of electricity for your roku devices to pull from.

[jdevane]

Well, considering I can't even get it to work on my practically brand new HP all in one touchscreen, I'm not even concerned with using my older machine at this time...

As far as content... I realize that I would have to generate new material, and that would be my plan.. with the money I don't spend on cable, I will purchase content and get a netflix or hulu, maybe both... my situation is I have a two year old, and to be honest, I would much rather create two or three cartoon channels for her (since after about 11am the cartoons and shows are then for bigger kids) when she wants to watch, and not have her end up on something I dont want her to watch... I watch new TV very little, really, the only I really ever want to watch live are sports events, which you can just about see online nowadays... my wife watchs HGTV and Law and Order SVU reruns... so I know either Hulu or netflix will cover me for most of that stuff... other than having my local OTA channels for News and Weather (which I was hoping to use a couple of tuner cards to pull those off -we don't have many free channels here, only 4 or 5 tops) I just want to be able to do it in a way that still looks and feels like TV, channel surfing, rather than just thumbing thru and picking something... the shows my wife and I like to watch are generally reruns, so my files are better left up to a random play type format, so that's why I want it to be like a live channel... where the content is handled for me.. I guess I like the theory behind the pseudotv plugin for XBMC I guess... but instead of having a pc at every tv or going the mini android route, I'd rather use the roku and utilize the built in channel like netflix and hulu and a few others...

[gonzotek]

"jdevane" wrote:
Well, considering I can't even get it to work on my practically brand new HP all in one touchscreen, I'm not even concerned with using my older machine at this time...

As far as content... I realize that I would have to generate new material, and that would be my plan.. with the money I don't spend on cable, I will purchase content and get a netflix or hulu, maybe both... my situation is I have a two year old, and to be honest, I would much rather create two or three cartoon channels for her (since after about 11am the cartoons and shows are then for bigger kids) when she wants to watch, and not have her end up on something I dont want her to watch... I watch new TV very little, really, the only I really ever want to watch live are sports events, which you can just about see online nowadays... my wife watchs HGTV and Law and Order SVU reruns... so I know either Hulu or netflix will cover me for most of that stuff... other than having my local OTA channels for News and Weather (which I was hoping to use a couple of tuner cards to pull those off -we don't have many free channels here, only 4 or 5 tops) I just want to be able to do it in a way that still looks and feels like TV, channel surfing, rather than just thumbing thru and picking something... the shows my wife and I like to watch are generally reruns, so my files are better left up to a random play type format, so that's why I want it to be like a live channel... where the content is handled for me.. I guess I like the theory behind the pseudotv plugin for XBMC I guess... but instead of having a pc at every tv or going the mini android route, I'd rather use the roku and utilize the built in channel like netflix and hulu and a few others...

If you're capable of extending the brightscript code examples, instead of driving yourself nuts getting the HLS stream to work(I too have a feeling VLC is behind the issues in your situation), you could just set it up to immediately start another stream whenever the current one ends. Generate separate xml files for the different types of content you'd want to appear as a 'channel', and present the channels as selectable items in the Roku app. You could even get fancy and throw in a random/ordered preference. That way, it would also be easy to update the xml as you acquire more content and the host pc wouldn't be burdened by the VLC transcode/remux overhead each time you watched the channel; although it would require pre-encoding the content as well as maintaining a http server for hosting the xml for the channel.

[jdevane]

I think I'm following you gonzotek, and I guess that would be an option... but if I am following you correctly, that would only work for my saved content, I would not be able to view my live local channels that way, since I have no way to stream them to the roku...

[destruk]

Maybe what you're actually looking for is a few htpc's connected to an NAS box. You can get a cheap htpc for each tv, use wireless or wired, and it'll do everything you can think of.

[jdevane]

I have actually been looking at that route over the last 3 or 4 days... which is fine... I just really like how the Roku was setup...