Serving Media Remotely

[Rathji]

I have video files that I have on my home PC that I occasionally forget to transfer to my devices (Windows, Windows 8 RT, Android, iOS).

I would like to be able to access those files remotely in a manner that is simple enough that I can do it on my phone. If possible, with both streaming and download options.

I don't mind putting a little bit of money into it, if the solution is good.

Right now, I have an ATV2 and iTunes setup at home, and I would prefer if the solution didn't break anything with those (or even better, worked with them directly).

Thanks in advance.

[silentsim]

Plex. It would need a jailbroken ATV2 to have the client- but easy to do and works great. I believe they have clients for OS X, Win, Android and iOS.

I think to download requires a premium subscription- but the streaming service is all free.

[MolsonInBothHands]

BubblePnP is an android app (with a PC app to go with it) that I have used to stream media from my PC to my phone.

[TorqueDog]

I use Orb, but it's a streaming-only solution - don't believe there is an option to download. Works pretty well for what I use it for.

[MickMcGeough]

Originally Posted by silentsim

Plex. It would need a jailbroken ATV2 to have the client- but easy to do and works great. I believe they have clients for OS X, Win, Android and iOS.

I think to download requires a premium subscription- but the streaming service is all free.

Seconded. Note that the iOS client supports AirPlay streaming - so you can use an iPhone/iPad as a client and stream to AppleTV without jailbreaking.

The real-time transcoding options for Plex are quite good - you can stream in very high bitrates when streaming locally and scale it back when remote.

Also - Plex has a Samsung BluRay Player client even. Interface isn't special on mine but playback of 720p MKVs is smooth.

[sa226]

Not to Hijack the thread, but is there a one stop shop for Plex?

I have been a bit frustrated with XBMC lately so I'm giving Plex a shot, but I'm having trouble finding plugins, guides etc etc.

[Barnes]

Yup. Plex. It's how I watch my stories on the toilet.

[Rathji]

Checking out Plex now.

[Rathji]

So I checked it out and I am seriously impressed. It works good and looks awesome, but not perfect right now.

Problems include:

- Downloads are limited to iOS clients, although Android due 'soon'
- Windows 8 RT browser doesn't support it since it is not in the 'flash allowed sites'. I looked into it briefly and there is a hack to get it to work so will check that out today. Even if it does, without a client it won't ever support the download feature, which is a drawback. I wonder, can you save content via one of the flash download plugins? Would be a suitable workaround.

Now to jailbreak the ATV and get rid of video in iTunes completely.

[Hack&Lube]

Sure there are a lot of different applications and front ends but when you get down to it you can always just connect to the network share via SMB on Windows or Samba on Android/iPhone/Linux.

Unless by remotely - you mean outside of your home network. It would take a lot of excess bandwidth and upload speed to stream outside of my home network so I would never consider it myself.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Sure there are a lot of different applications and front ends but when you get down to it you can always just connect to the network share via SMB on Windows or Samba on Android/iPhone.

Unless by remotely - you mean outside of your home network. It would take a lot of excess bandwidth and upload speed to stream outside of my home network so I would never consider it myself.

I do mean outside of my home.

The problem is, I occasionally have videos that appear on my computer during the night. I forget to copy these files to my tablet, so in order to watch them before I get home, I need to do a convoluted process involving getting the video placed into my Google drive, wait for it to upload, then download it at work. This isn't a huge issue, but as a 3 step process with the upload delay, it often gets started and not finished.

Bandwidth is not an issue, but since my primary content consumption method is on transit, I would prefer to be able to download the video directly on Wifi while at work and watch it on the way home, rather than rely on my wireless data plan and likely spotty connection.

Plex does look like it will work, depending on LTE performance. Once the Android download feature comes in, it should be very good solution. If I get it working on Windows RT, that will be a bonus.

[MickMcGeough]

Originally Posted by Rathji

I do mean outside of my home.

The problem is, I occasionally have videos that appear on my computer during the night. I forget to copy these files to my tablet, so in order to watch them before I get home, I need to do a convoluted process involving getting the video placed into my Google drive, wait for it to upload, then download it at work. This isn't a huge issue, but as a 3 step process with the upload delay, it often gets started and not finished.

Bandwidth is not an issue, but since my primary content consumption method is on transit, I would prefer to be able to download the video directly on Wifi while at work and watch it on the way home, rather than rely on my wireless data plan and likely spotty connection.

Plex does look like it will work, depending on LTE performance. Once the Android download feature comes in, it should be very good solution. If I get it working on Windows RT, that will be a bonus.

Couple things that might be of interest.

- The new Android app is in beta. It supports PlexSync, which unfortunately is part of the PlexPass pay service, (but if auto-transcoding and mobile device pushing is a necessary part of your workflow, I doubt $2.50 a month will be a big deal)
- Does this not work on the Surface RT?

[Rathji]

Strange, I never saw the RT app when I searched last night. I assume it will work suitably.

I do think I will be signing up for PlexPass, as long as it works with my primary devices.

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by silentsim

Plex. It would need a jailbroken ATV2 to have the client- but easy to do and works great. I believe they have clients for OS X, Win, Android and iOS.

I think to download requires a premium subscription- but the streaming service is all free.

At the risk of jacking the thread, can a jailbroken ATV2 access the USB port on the device? If so, what kind of performance do you get from a USB drive hooked up to the ATV? Could you reliably serve media to your TV and the rest of your network?

[silentsim]

Originally Posted by fredr123

At the risk of jacking the thread, can a jailbroken ATV2 access the USB port on the device? If so, what kind of performance do you get from a USB drive hooked up to the ATV? Could you reliably serve media to your TV and the rest of your network?

ATV2 cannot use an external HD hooked up through the micro USB.

[bomber317]

Rathji,

Do you have a NAS that you store your videos on?

Something like a Synology NAS device will let you access the files remotely with some setup on the NAS and on your router (some port forwarding). I haven't done it myself, but co-worker has it setup.

You can access the files off your phone with the Synology apps as well.

You can also setup a Sync on your computer so it will sync any changes to the NAS device.

Edit : The beta Synology software can stream video to your ATV as well. It's not quite at the point when you can use your ATV to select the videos from your NAS yet. You have to start the video in iTunes on your device and then select ATV as your output. More information is located here, http://forum.synology.com/enu/viewto...?f=225&t=62261
see the posts by Jeremie. I believe he works for Synology.

[Rathji]

That is a good idea.

All my videos are located on a media server on my network at the present time, but I am considering moving to a NAS at such time that it isn't suitable for my needs. Will keep Synology in mind, as it would simplify many things.

[Rathji]

Question about metadata.

I have several sets of about 100 short videos each that are not TV/Movies/etc, and have nothing that is tagged automatically. As a result, they are all sorted alphabetically, which intermixes them and makes it pretty much impossible to navigate.

I would like group into collections or as shows, so I can more easily find/watch them. Hopefully so that the next one in the series will show up in the "On Deck" section.

Is there some way I can bulk tag these videos?

[MickMcGeough]

Originally Posted by Rathji

Question about metadata.

I have several sets of about 100 short videos each that are not TV/Movies/etc, and have nothing that is tagged automatically. As a result, they are all sorted alphabetically, which intermixes them and makes it pretty much impossible to navigate.

I would like group into collections or as shows, so I can more easily find/watch them. Hopefully so that the next one in the series will show up in the "On Deck" section.

Is there some way I can bulk tag these videos?

Plex has a web interface for managing metadata in your library - not sure how it does for bulk tagging though.

[Rathji]

You mean the regular PlexWeb? or is there something else?

Because at 10 or so seconds to open the edit screen, enter the collection, save it and then go onto the next, that will take a huge amount of time. If I want to add something else, like an image, that easily doubles or triples.

edit: Just played around with it and realized that you can select several at once and add them to a collection, so that will work. Also, you can merge the clips, so that might actually be better.