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greeder
join:2008-04-25
Beaverton, OR

greeder

Member

[How to] Any WinAmp users?

I have WinAmp installed on my machine to manage my MP3s and iPod. Works Very well for that.

Well, now that I am exploring the world of TV over IP, I have been exploring WinAmp's Video capabilities. So far, the only videos I have been able to watch are from the sources preloaded into the media library. I can't figure out how to add sites like Hulu, Youtube, etc. I have done some cut/paste of URLs into WinAmp with limited success. Mostly I get "Error Syncing to Stream" messages.

Anyone know what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks

DracoFelis
Premium Member
join:2003-06-15

DracoFelis

Premium Member

said by greeder:

So far, the only videos I have been able to watch are from the sources preloaded into the media library. I can't figure out how to add sites like Hulu, Youtube, etc. I have done some cut/paste of URLs into WinAmp with limited success. Mostly I get "Error Syncing to Stream" messages.
You often have to mix and match programs with TVoIP. Get used to it.

In the case of WinAmp, I too have found that they mostly work best with their own "preloaded" video streams. However, that's not too surprising, when you consider that the main streaming video format that WinAmp natively supports is their own "ShoutCast Video" format. And one thing that makes ShoutCast Video semi-unique, is that it has support to allow the video publisher to publicly "announce" the existence of their stream. And since many ShoutCast video "stations" do in fact use this feature, and WinAmp will display (in it's "native" list of stations) all such stations, it's not surprising that you find that WinAmp mostly works with the stations that it lets you know about.

NOTE:
WinAmp looks "slick" (and you can "skin" it to look pretty much however you want). However, WinAmp also can be a CPU pig, and can have all sorts of subtle playback (especially video playback) issues. So when it comes to selecting a program for TVoIP, I prefer a simpler but better written (and less CPU intensive) interface. That's why my preferred TVoIP application for those sites that will allow it (I still am stuck watching HULU in my browser, do to HULU's flash video interface) is "Media Player Classic" (NOT the built in Windows Media Player, the freeware "Media Player Classic") combined with the FFDSHOW CODEC (FFDSHOW is a CODEC that will decode most audio and video formats in common usage, and also allow you to do fancy post-processing to clean up the quality of your video/audio while you are watching). Properly setup (you might find yourself wanting to turn on some decoding options that are not on "by default" when you install the software), this combination (Media Player Classic + FFDSHOW) does an amazing job of decoding a huge range of video/audio formats (both streaming and download) + it gives you a lot of filtering options to tweak the quality of the video/audio you are watching (I especially like FFDSHOW's ability to do decent "upscaling", automatic "deblocking", and automatic brightness adjusting automatically while viewing a video). Again, even this combo won't handle everything (for example, I can't use those with either HULU or my netflix streaming), but this pair of freeware downloads still are a very good combination to have in your video/audio/TVoIP tool kit.

FWIW: In addition to many other places on the net, both freeware packages (Media Player Classic, and FFDSHOW CODEC) are available for free download from: »www.free-codecs.com/down ··· ssic.htm

greeder
join:2008-04-25
Beaverton, OR

greeder

Member


I got tired of paying $50.00 per month for the privilege of watching TV. So I have disconnected the CATV. I was hoping to build a "Set top box" to tune in the TVoIP streams and display them on the TV. So one of my primary concerns is ease of use for my family. I was hoping to avoid loading a half dozen programs to watch TVoIP.

In the case of WinAmp; Since I am using it for my MP3s and to manage my iPod, it was natural to extend it's use to video. I guess that's not the way to go.

I am familier with the open source Media Player Classic. I used it a lot under Win98. I never could get it to work with video, tho. Thanks for the pointer to FFDshow.

DracoFelis
Premium Member
join:2003-06-15

1 recommendation

DracoFelis

Premium Member

said by greeder:

So one of my primary concerns is ease of use for my family. I was hoping to avoid loading a half dozen programs to watch TVoIP.
Understood. The trouble is that different services seem to want to do things differently.

Which is why I think one option to consider (that still works with multiple programs) is to setup a folder with TVoIP links in it. That way the family should (in theory) just be able to click on the link to the TVoIP software they currently want to use (and that link will launch the proper TVoIP software for that service). For example, I have a "NetFlix streaming" link that automatically connects me to NetFlix (and logs in), so I can watch streaming stuff from NetFlix. Likewise I have two HULU browser links (one to the HULU alphabetical list of TV shows, and a 2nd link for the HULU movies). Likewise, you could easily have a "WinAmp TV" link that brings up WinAmp (and shows you the WinAmp available TV stations).

While I admit that having a folder full of TVoIP shortcuts/links isn't as "friendly" as a single integrated program, it at least puts all the different TVoIP programs in one place (for the family to click on). So it is one option to try to make multiple TVoIP programs "more friendly".
said by greeder:

I am familier with the open source Media Player Classic. I used it a lot under Win98. I never could get it to work with video, tho. Thanks for the pointer to FFDshow.
Media Player Classic (at least the latest one) does an extremely good job with video. However, by itself MPC only handles a handful of video formats. So the "trick" to get it to work (on a large variety of formats) is in the CODECs you have installed (ideally "Direct Show" CODECs, but the later MPC can also be configured to use QuickTime and RealPlayer CODECs).

That's why FFDSHOW is so key. FFDSHOW is a single "Direct Show" CODEC, that can be configured to handle a huge number of video formats (as well as also giving additional advanced audio/video cleanup options). So if you configure Media Player Classic to use FFDSHOW as it's primary CODEC, and configure FFDSHOW to try to display most video/audio types, than you have a single player that can decode/display most video and audio formats, uses less CPU than many players, and (as an added bonus) has (due to the FFDSHOW CODEC) advanced "filters" for cleaning up the video/audio while you are watching it.