CFUG Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Never had a need for this now wondering what best practice is for viewing home videos through C4. I do have an external drive on the director but never used it for anything. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henniae Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 C4 does not nativity play video stored on a hard drive. You will need a device that can playback the stored video. There are commercial products like the Netgear EVA8000 or EVA9150 and home built systems such as XBMC. C4 has shown a C4 branded video playback device but there have been no announcements as to a ship date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CFUG Posted June 21, 2009 Author Share Posted June 21, 2009 Thanks Alan. For now, what have you installed for your clients? I don't have many opportunities to roll home videos but with the end of the school year here, I have a few videos of graduations... So, storage space should not be a priority. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 I use the EVA9150 for this and it works great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CFUG Posted June 21, 2009 Author Share Posted June 21, 2009 How much dealer involvement associated with the 9150? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecodeman Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 It's installed like a DVD player. Media scanning and adding is up to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shkdxb Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 how are the uploading DVD / BD to NAS / Hardisk are handled?? is it legal? any software you can recommend to upload the DVD /BD's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecodeman Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 That's a discussion for a different forum, but if you google for it there's a myraid of different options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevemcd Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Why is a separate device needed to stream the video?I see that version 1.7 adds the capability to add Video Media. I think this may also add (maybe in an earlier version) the ability to add network storage device. So In my case I have a large hard disk on my PC that my HC500 director is connected to. Just wondering why if I could scan the network drive and if 1.7 adds the Video scan, why you need another separate device to stream video?Wouldn't this work just like audio (in some respects)?TIASteve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henniae Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Why is a separate device needed to stream the video?I see that version 1.7 adds the capability to add Video Media. I think this may also add (maybe in an earlier version) the ability to add network storage device. So In my case I have a large hard disk on my PC that my HC500 director is connected to. Just wondering why if I could scan the network drive and if 1.7 adds the Video scan, why you need another separate device to stream video?Wouldn't this work just like audio (in some respects)?TIASteveThe HC500 can't stream video it only catalogs and manages the files. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecodeman Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Why is a separate device needed to stream the video?I see that version 1.7 adds the capability to add Video Media. I think this may also add (maybe in an earlier version) the ability to add network storage device. So In my case I have a large hard disk on my PC that my HC500 director is connected to. Just wondering why if I could scan the network drive and if 1.7 adds the Video scan' date=' why you need another separate device to stream video?Wouldn't this work just like audio (in some respects)?TIASteve[/quote']The HC500 can't stream video it only catalogs and manages the files.Right, actually none of the control4 gear can stream video at this time. You need a playback device like a PC, Netgear, Zatabit, etc. to play the files on your network and output them to component, hdmi, etc for viewing on your tv. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CFUG Posted June 23, 2009 Author Share Posted June 23, 2009 ^Zatabit? Do you have some install experience with any of the various models? Any reason not to just go with the Netgear since we know it works OK? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Zatabit is a really cool system (my dealer sells them) but it is insanely priced. You can spend $10k on one of those.The zatabit is a built in raid 6 NAS, with the software and licensing agreements to where you can just put a movie (DVD or BlueRay) in the units internal drive and it will rip it to it's internal storage and automatically add it to your C4 library. They are really cool, just insanely high priced.They do claim however that it can simultaneously (sp?) broadcast 10+ video streams at full 1080P without any hiccups. My dealer sells them a lot in commercial applications. He says there is nothign better, if you can afford it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akg4y Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 I didnt think there were any legal ways to put DVDs or Blu-ray discs on a hard drive for playback as of yet... there are some in the works but are you sure that the Zatabit is allowed to actually do that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CFUG Posted June 23, 2009 Author Share Posted June 23, 2009 Well, anyways, I only need to display digital home movies to the family members before I get hit over the head with a SR-250. What is the quickest way to accomplish this without jumper cables all over the back of the rack? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 I am 100% sure that zatabit is allowed to do that. So is Kaleidoscape (that is probably spelled wrong).That is probably why they are so expensive. The software license must be uber pricey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CFUG Posted June 23, 2009 Author Share Posted June 23, 2009 I use the EVA9150 for this and it works great.So far, this is what I'm thinking... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Well, anyways, I only need to display digital home movies to the family members before I get hit over the head with a SR-250. What is the quickest way to accomplish this without jumper cables all over the back of the rack?Use your EVA9150. Just sync the video files to a folder that the EVA9150 can see and access them that way.I don't add mine to the C4 library where you can browse by cover art, I browse for the home videos from within the EVA9150 GUI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CFUG Posted June 23, 2009 Author Share Posted June 23, 2009 I'm just wondering how to do that when the 9150 is in a rack three flights down. Is the Netgear brought into the project somehow? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 The netgear is in the project currently if you are using it.In my setup I can go into video, and select it as the source. I can then use its GUI to browse for my vidoe files.Is your EVA9150 in the project currently? Mine is ran through the matrix switch. MOst the time I just select videos using C4's cover art GUI, but for the home videos I do what I mentioned above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecodeman Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Here's how most people setup the playback devices:1) Obtain files that you wish to playback. See other forums for how to get your media into a file format compatible with the player of your choosing.2) Obtain a network player that will playback those files and/or integrate into control4.3) Put all files on a network file share (NAS, PC, etc).4) Dealer adds a file share, installs the driver for your player, connects player to the network and your tv.5) Dealer/customer scans the files in the file share. This tells c4 and you (through the on-screen navigator or touchpanels) what files can be played back. 6) Use the remote and browse the coverart or listing, choose the movie. c4 tells the player to play back that file from the NFS. The file starts playing and you see the playback on your tv.We use the 9150 and XBMC on PC depending on the customer. Both have great 2-way control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 I use the C4 GUI for selection of "movies" which have been archived in a digital format. In this scenario the end user really has no knowledge the netgear EVA9150 is the playback device, they just see the movie.For "home video's", videos without cover art and videos I don't want to display in the C4 gui, I just make available to the EVA9150. I can then select the EVA9150 as the video source (it is under the video tab) and use that GUI to browse my home videos.My EVA9150 is two stories below in the rack as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevemcd Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 Is XBMC a hardware device or just software?In my setup, my PC is networked (via Ethernet hardwire) to my Denon 4308 AVR. I do not think that you can stream vids to the AVR but maybe I am wrong... The HC500 is also on the same network. I like the looks of the 9150 but just wondering if there is another way also.ThanksSteve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henniae Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 Is XBMC a hardware device or just software?In my setup, my PC is networked (via Ethernet hardwire) to my Denon 4308 AVR. I do not think that you can stream vids to the AVR but maybe I am wrong... The HC500 is also on the same network. I like the looks of the 9150 but just wondering if there is another way also.ThanksSteveXBMX is software that runs on a variety of hardware platforms. Choices range from a old little XBox to a souped up custom built system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akg4y Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 www.xbmc.orgIloveC4, Im not sure how you are 100% certain the zatabit allows you to copy DVDs & Blu-ray. On their own website it specifically says 'Zatabit does not ship, offer or induce the use of any unlicensed decrypting software.' Now, I understand that means that you could theoretically still copy the unencrypted version of the DVDs and Blu-ray to the drives, however there is not even a mention of Blu-ray on the site and a feature like that I would think would be a MAJOR selling point. Im sure it can play DVDs and Blu-rays that have been decrypted already, but still seems odd to me that this would be left off of the website. Have you seen it in action? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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