Are you looking for a way to stream video content to your TiVo HD or Series 3 DVR? If yes, you are definitely going to want to checkout StreamBaby. For those of you who don’t know, StreamBaby is a wonderful free cross platform (ie: Java) application which allows you to stream almost any video file to your DVR. The software is relatively easy to install and configure. Note that if you are running a Mac you should try pyTiVoX (TiVoBlog posts) since it bundles both StreamBaby and pyTiVo (TiVoBlog posts) into a simple to use application.
Main Features:
- Random access streaming of MP4 & MPG video files. Able to seek to anywhere in the video. Also removes need for qt-faststart.
- Ability to FF/RWD to points in the video that have not been buffered yet. When outside of the buffer, a “preview” of the movie (low-quality static images) will appear, and when play is pressed the video stream will be repositioned to start streaming at that point (ala Netflix/TiVo)
- Currently streambaby supports real-time preview generation, however MPEG files do not seem to do well with real-time preview generation. For MPEG files as soon as you start playing, a small (30mb or so) file of static thumbnail images is created. It usually takes around 5 minutes for a 2 hour movie for the complete thumbnail file to be created. It is used as it is created, so as the images are generated they will be available for use for previewing. The pvw file will be cached and automatically next time the movie is played.
- Ability to transcode and stream video that is not inherently TiVo compatible. Supports most wmv, avi, and mkv. Preview mode and random-positioning work with most transcoded files.
- Attempts to work around the 1.1G limit for streaming videos on the TiVo. If you reach the 1.1G limit, the video you are watching will be paused and restarted with a fresh buffer at the position you were in before.
- Remembers your position in the video when you stop watching and automatically starts at that position next time you watch. Works even when exiting playing via the “TiVo” button.
This looks really hot, we can finally stream MKV. Did you try it out with a high def file? Would be interested to know if it’s playing the actual h.264 file itself or if the software is transcoding into a lower resolution file. My TiVo is in the shop right now, but this is definitely getting installed when it gets back.
I have not tried to stream HD content however, I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. I mainly stream h.264 encoded backup copies of my son’s favorite DVDs.
My understanding is that StreamBaby streams the video content similar to how Netflix and YouTube work on TiVo (ie: streaming h.264). Checkout this wiki entry for additional video compatibility info:
http://code.google.com/p/streambaby/wiki/video_compatibility
http://code.google.com/p/streambaby/wiki/QualitySettings
you might also want to checkout this TiVoCommunity thread:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=416858
Make sure you stop by and let us know what you think once you get your TiVo out of the shop. BTW, what’s wrong with your DVR?
I hooked it up to an unreliable electric system and more or less fried my power source. Luckily replacement parts are on the way, so I’ll get a little bit of practice at breaking into mine. I’m hoping my old programs will survive once I can get it kick started again.
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Can I use StreamBaby to play internet video streams like HULU.COM on my TivoHD?
It may be possible however, StreamBaby does not offer this functionality out of the box.
I have been using StreamBaby for over six months via pyTivoX and it has been great. Coming from ReplayTV which streamed shows (either from box to box or from a central server), I never liked the way that Tivo copies files the hard drive vs. streaming. Great solution for watching additional content on one’s Tivo and not having to worry about the kids forgetting to delete the shows after watching them.
I have to say I’m a bit puzzled about this program. I installed it fine I guess and I get no errors in the .bat terminal window (I’m running windows vista). I don’t see the streambaby item though under the videos, photos, etc menu. Do I need tivo desktop or something in addition to this or should this run standalone?
Have you enabled home network applications under the music photos and more menu? I don’t have access to my TiVo right now so I don’t know the exact menu item.
Yes.
try turning on debug and reply back with your log output.
http://code.google.com/p/streambaby/wiki/debugging_problems
Frank, yes, you’ll need the TiVo Media Access Key. Downunder we have to pay for that as part of the “Home Networking Pack”, not sure about other parts of the TiVo world.
Well I know my media access key. I assume it needs to be added to the .ini file somewhere but I don’t see any mention of doing that or what parameter it is.
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