UPnP2Podcast (PlayOn) version updates

[evilpenguin]

UPnP2Podcast v1.1

Release Notes:

• Fixed missing time at end of videos that have commercials inserted.
• Added "Browse Hulu" item to Online Services menu which takes advantage of the new sub-categories so you can browse by Network and Genre.

The hardest part about this update was writing the script that auto-generates the "Browse Hulu" menu, now that i've got the hang of it I should be able to make one for Netflix too.

As always, make sure to back up your customOnlineServices files, as this will overwrite them!

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[evilpenguin]

UPnP2Podcast v1.2

Release Notes:

• Fixed Hulu shows that began with 'The'
• Removed pointless quotes from links file
• Added graceful way to fail if there are no videos available.

As always, make sure to back up your customOnlineServices files, as this will overwrite them!

DOWNLOAD

[evilpenguin]

UPnP2Podcast v1.3

Release Notes:

• As of Default STV version 2009101301 you no longer need to import an STVi. Sage added support for the way I generate the podcast feeds straight into the core. A *gigantic* thanks to Opus4 Please update your default STV's to the latest version as indicated by the install instructions.
• Moved my feeds into separate files so people can maintain their own feed files without mine overwriting them.
• Fixed a few bugs in the Hulu feeds
• Added a "Browse Netflix" item

VERY IMPORTANT: If you are upgrading from a previous version (v1.0, v1.1, v1.2) you need to delete the previous customOnlineFeed files (\SageTV\STVs\SageTV3\OnlineVideos). From now on this plug-in's feeds will be in separate files and there will be conflicts if you still have the old ones.

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[evilpenguin]

UPnP2Podcast v1.5

Release Notes:

• Automatically checks for and downloads feed updates if they are available.
• Checks if you have a plug-in installed before downloading its feed
• Added PlayON Settings menu for manually updating feeds as well as restarting PlayOn server and seeing a list known issues.
• Reworked logging so now a UPnP2Podcast.log file gets created every time you try and view a feed. Please post this along with any bug reports other wise i'll have no idea what's going on.

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[evilpenguin]

UPnP2Podcast v1.6

Release Notes:

• Updated Hulu feeds (finally!)
• Fixed a random hang people were seeing that was being caused by folders with that had no videos

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[evilpenguin]

PlayOn released an update that fixes some issues but also breaks this plug-in, see this post for a temp fix until i'm able to crank out an official feed update.

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...&postcount=958

[evilpenguin]

I managed to run a *really* long extension cord to my dev machine so I could turn it on and crank out a feed update for Hulu that's compatible with the latest PlayOn (version 2.59.3664.62). You should get it automatically next time you try and view a video list.

Or, if your the impatient type, you can force an update by going into

Online Services -> PlayOn Settings -> Update Feeds

or manually running UPnP2Podcast.exe.

I also updated the feeds in the download for new users to save them some headache.

DOWNLOAD

Just a little note about about the PlayOn update so people understand what happened:

Previously how Hulu worked was to...

1. Reverse Engineer the Hulu video download links
2. Download the actual video from Hulu's servers.
3. Re-encode/stream it into mpeg2 while also inserting commercials.

And while this solution provided fairly high quality video, it had some problems.

• First and formost it was technically very difficult to maintain as Hulu updates their security fairly often requiring them to make changes on their end to keep up.
• It didn't allow Hulu to insert the ads it choose and i'd be surprised if Hulu actually received credit for the ads PlayOn played back.
• Downloading the actual videos is ridiculously against Hulu's TOS and, in my uneducated opinion, a legal grey area.

So their new Hulu solution is actually the method they've been developing/perfecting for Netflix playback where, rather than downloading the actual video you're trying to play, PlayOn play back the video in the websites official flash/silverlight player in a virtual IE window and encode/streams that output to the PC. Aside from the encoding part, its exactly the same method that Boxee uses to playback its online content.

So in the short term, you may experience a slight drop in Hulu's video quality and the occasionally annoying flash overlay and pauses for buffering, but in the long term this is a very good move for PlayOn.

1. It's almost completely unblockable. As long as you can Playback the video in IE PlayOn will be able to stream it to your UPnP device
2. Its frees up their development effort for adding additional content rather than having to constantly be keeping up with video sites behind the scenes changes.
3. It makes adding new content almost trivial. It would take me a few days with a network analyzer to figure out the actual video links, but about 30 seconds to pull out the flash/silverlight video player object and wrap it up for viewing by itself. I expect this last one to trickle down to the PlayOnPlugIns people to enable faster, easier, and more reliable plug-in development and put previously broken plug-ins like Justin.TV back into play.

[evilpenguin]

You may or may not know, but as of 3/9/10 Comedy Central is pulling the Daily Show and Colbert Report off Hulu. But if you're like me and depend on PlayOn for your daily dose of Colbert fear not, PlayOn Plug-ins to the rescue! Here's all you need to do to ensure that you're able to watch the 3/10/10 episodes without interruption...

1. Download and Install the PlayOn Scripts plug-in.
2. Download the Comedy Central Script and place it in

   ...\Program Files\MediaMall\Plugins\Scripts\Comedy Central.lua

3. Stop/Start your PlayON Service
4. Wait for 3/10/10 when i'll push out a feed update which will make the Comedy Central folder in your Online Services menu use new scripts you just installed. The load times are a bit slow and it takes a bit longer for the episodes to start-up, but once the video starts you won't even care.

Hopefully this break up is just temporary and they'll be back on Hulu ASAP, but until then i'll do my best to keep things as up to date as possible.

[evilpenguin]

Updated feed files to support latest version of PlayOn (Version 2.59.3729):

• MLB.tv
• Pandora Radio
• Official Comedy Central
• March Madness (Go Boilers!)

No need to download anything, feeds will update automatically next time you load up a PlayON video (or if you're impatient, you can just double click UPnP2Podcast.exe and it'll update the feeds immediately).

Once again, this requires the latest (3/18/10) version of PlayOn so make sure you're completely updated!! They've even updated since yesterday's (3/17/10) update so make sure you double check!!

[evilpenguin]

PlayON updated their Hulu folder structure yesterday so I need to push out some new feeds which aren't backwards compatible. . Please update your PlayON to the latests version (4/18/10 - 2.59.3761) or this feed update will cause your plug-in to stop working.