Boxee Box as an extender? (xbmc perhaps?)

[PiX64]

Slugger has the basic concept already.. I am testing it out.

I would like to build this into something that people already have on their sage systems..mainly the sage web ui and the jars that go along with it. My thought here is to create a restful api that can be called from boxee. the restful api will run the code that slugger created ( i will translate into a servlet)

once complete the sageboxee.xml rss feed file will be made available on the web server and can be called directly from the boxee app. This way if we want to get fancy like making sure the media is there before playing, etc we can call on the api and regenerate the file whenever we need.

[Slugger]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

I agree with Slugger in that we need to decide the basic structure first. From what I've seen Boxee is RSS-centric so IMHP we should use that as a starting point.

As a POC and to get more familiar with the Boxee UI I am going to work on the main screen. This will not require any backend work so it gives Slugger and whoever else wants to muck with that think about things a little.

Originally Posted by PiX64

Slugger has the basic concept already.. I am testing it out.

I would like to build this into something that people already have on their sage systems..mainly the sage web ui and the jars that go along with it. My thought here is to create a restful api that can be called from boxee. the restful api will run the code that slugger created ( i will translate into a servlet)

once complete the sageboxee.xml rss feed file will be made available on the web server and can be called directly from the boxee app. This way if we want to get fancy like making sure the media is there before playing, etc we can call on the api and regenerate the file whenever we need.

PiX64, you should really have a chat with tmiranda and see what he's thinking as far as UI. Because the type of RSS feeds he'd need will really drive what it is you need to create as far as the REST API goes. Really, Tom should whip up his UI and then be able to tell you what he's needing as far as RSS feeds go. But I also suspect he'll need other queries, such as show names (for grouping type listings, etc.).

I'd be willing to take on the role of PM for this endeavor and chip in with some code here and there. I spent some time on the RSS stuff earlier today and kind of realized I'm still enjoying my Sage code break and really don't want to dive back into a lot of coding at this stage of the summer. However, I would be willing to try and help organize this effort and attempt to keep it moving forward.

I think we need to do a roll call for all interested parties, figure out who's in and who's out, who wants to do what and then start with a high level design discussion, including some mock ups of the UI we're aiming for here and then discussing the functionality behind the UI screens that are mocked up. From there I'm willing to throw my design hat on and see what I can come up with and then let those who want to dive in and code UI and/or backend have at it and see what we can't piece together.

Would a Google Group be appropriate for communication?

[PiX64]

Snds like a plan.

G+ huddle could work nicely.

Tmiranda do u have an idea of what elements u will need off the bat? I will start with transforming the groovy ap into an API. And we can go from there. I'll also reach out to jreichen and stuckless to see if they have an opinion on where the best place for this boxeexml creator API can live.

[Slugger]

If G+ is superior to a Google Group then fine, but I can't sign up for G+ because my Google Account is tied to my domain name, which is a Google Apps domain, which isn't allowed to register with G+ for whatever reason. I really don't want to create a gmail account/a 2nd Google Account, but if G+ is that much better than a Google Group then I'll bite the bullet.

[PiX64]

Google group is fine with me... Just never used one. :-)

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by Slugger

Would a Google Group be appropriate for communication?

OK by me. Right now I don't know enough about the Boxee UI to know what I need or even what questions to ask. Give me a few days to experiment. Like I said, I'm going to work on the main screen just to learn. My intention is to make it look very close to what the Sage (default UI) menu looks like. If I can get all of those elements looking halfway decent I'll be on my way to learning the UI.

I am certain when it comes to the recordings menu I'll need functionality similar to what the Sage core has, namely:
- A way to get recordings filtered by various criteria (for example Show, Watched, Archived, Favorite)
- A way to group
- A way to sort by various criteria (for example title, date recorded, original air date, season/episode)

Tom

[Slugger]

Google Group it is...

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!fo...getv-boxee-dev

The first thread is a roll call... if you're interesting in developing this project please head over there and introduce yourself.

I like Tom's approach, especially w.r.t. Boxee UI. Experiment with small little PoC ideas. Get comfortable with the Boxee UI process.

Hopefully over the next couple days all interested people will checkin at the Google Group and then we'll see what we have and go from there.

[LehighBri]

Not to sidetrack this thead, but noticed Plex just came out with a newer version today with a lot of new stuff/fixes.

Looks like they also are enhancing their XML-based APIs... would any of the Boxee coding be able to be re-used in the Plex world given they're all XBMC-based? Something to consider, especially since Plex works on Rokus, which you can get as a very cheap extender (cheaper than Boxee).

http://elan.plexapp.com/2011/07/20/p...-to-the-stars/

XML API:

Along with the new core features and fixes, we keep enhancing the Plex Media Server’s API. There are new clients appearing all the time, the most recent of which is for Samsung TVs and Bluray players (I’ve tried it, works great!), and we like to provide a rich HTTP interface for these clients. Full documentation for the API will be available shortly.

NEW: Media XML contains width and height for video and photos.
NEW: New endpoint GET /library/sections/X/allLeaves (returns all tracks, episodes, etc.)
NEW: New endpoint DELETE /library/metadata/X
NEW: Ability to search by filename.
FIX: Clipping bug in the container paging API.
FIX: Files with ‘%’ characters were not encoded correctly in XML.

[PiX64]

i don't know much about plex or roku, but i know when i was looking into roku it was very limited on what it could do.

if xbmc is the underlying framework used, and plex has python support, its possible that once i get the python scripts created which will act as our content gatherers, we could just use the same python sccripts and make differen front end xmls for plex, xbmc, roku, etc.

thats a bit off as of right now. WE are focusing on just boxee for the time being. I will keep that in mind and as we are developing i will continue to reserach other solutions in order to figure out how this concept could be reused.

[LehighBri]

Originally Posted by PiX64

i don't know much about plex or roku, but i know when i was looking into roku it was very limited on what it could do.

if xbmc is the underlying framework used, and plex has python support, its possible that once i get the python scripts created which will act as our content gatherers, we could just use the same python sccripts and make differen front end xmls for plex, xbmc, roku, etc.

thats a bit off as of right now. WE are focusing on just boxee for the time being. I will keep that in mind and as we are developing i will continue to reserach other solutions in order to figure out how this concept could be reused.

Sounds good... and just to be clear, no Roku development or even understanding is needed. Plex provides a way to install a plex client on the Roku box (aka... installing a new app on the boxee box).

But yes, would LOVE to see this working first in Boxee Box, then we can have fun on where else this could go in the XBMC ecosystem

I use Boxee a ton too so happy to help you test anything as/when you're ready (against my Sage 7.1.9 setup)

[MattHelm]

First, I've been thinking of getting a Boxee for an extender, and with what I see here, I will be soon, so count me in as a tester soon.

Second, can the Boxee handle high bit rate (Blu-ray) MKV files? (VC-1 and MPEG-4 AVC) Audio downconvert and/or passthru?

[Zippster]

Originally Posted by MattHelm

Second, can the Boxee handle high bit rate (Blu-ray) MKV files? (VC-1 and MPEG-4 AVC) Audio downconvert and/or passthru?

Yes, I have all my Sage drives shared and Boxee Box streams mkvs and other HD formats from it without a hitch.

[reggie14]

Can the Boxee Box handle ripped DVDs in video_ts folders? I've heard some complaints that they don't. Do they support DVD menus?

Is the music interface really as bad as I've heard it is?

[jreichen]

Originally Posted by Slugger

Someone interested in the video playback area might want to start playing with live tv to see how that will playback on Boxee. Can it be supported? Will it require an HTTP live streaming implementation? If so, is that something to be taken on?

You do realize there's already a plugin for HTTP live streaming, right? The source is on SourceForge. It might require a few changes but the heavy lifting is already there and it should work with any properly written client (e.g. not the initial Android player implementations). Currently it works with the mobile web UI and TiSageTV plugins on iOS.

I like what you guys have going here. However, I'm taking a break from Sage development so I won't be a contributor to it. Hopefully things will settle down pretty soon and I'll have a better idea of how much time I'll have to spend on plugins.

[tmiranda]

Download and put into your userdata apps dir. It doesn't do anything yet but it looks nice

[PiX64]

I cant wait to see it!!! Gotta feed the kiddo first. I'll get u some screens of the API working...

[PiX64]

NICE JOB DUDE!!! that looks awesome!

I can't wait to get some stuff working here. I have the basic structure of some generic apis setup, and will provide you with some screens so you can see them working. After i get the basics working, what would you like me to work on for you so you have some functionality? recordings list?

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by PiX64

NICE JOB DUDE!!! that looks awesome!

I can't wait to get some stuff working here. I have the basic structure of some generic apis setup, and will provide you with some screens so you can see them working. After i get the basics working, what would you like me to work on for you so you have some functionality? recordings list?

My wishlist:

- First just the basic status APIs I've discussed before. I want to start with something easy just to make sure I know how to integrate the APIs into the UI.

- Second I'd like a recording list and a way to group them. (The equivalent of GroupByMethod(GetMediaFiles("T"), "GetAiringTitle")) My intention is a two pane browser where the left pane has the recording name and the right pane has the episodes.

I'm done for tonight....

[crusing]

I am really happy that you guys are looking into this. I just can't go back to PC's attached to my TV's after being spoiled by the HD300. Plex/XBMC/Boxee are the only hope for a decent extender anytime in the near future i fear.

[PiX64]

Thanks for the support... Good things are going to come out of this! At least in my version of this story :-)