In this run down I am going to go over what it takes to share this content freely through my house with no fuss. If you didn’t check out my post on the nuts and bolts of my system, check that out first. That post explains the wiring and how everything is ... Read more]]> Posted in AppleHome TheaterReviews

The Basics

In this run down I am going to go over what it takes to share this content freely through my house with no fuss. If you didn’t check out my post on the nuts and bolts of my system, check that out first. That post explains the wiring and how everything is connected. This post will tackle the software.

What I’m Streaming

Content gets distributed through network. The content I am sharing is pretty standard, its HD videos, photos, and music. I access this content via two different methods. The first method being the Xbox360 & PS3, and the second being Boxee.

The Nitty Gritty

We are an all Mac household, so If you’re on a PC you’re 360 connection solutions should be much easier. Since Xbox 360 is built by Microsoft it is set up out of the box to play nice with Windows, not the Mac. The 360 does not connect to my Macs by default. Thus lies the first problem with streaming video content from the Mac to the 360.

Connect360

Connect 360 is a third party app that makes the 360 play nice with my Mac. It is a very simple application that only makes minutes to set up (depending on your network configuration). I have also heard many people mention Rivet (but I have never tried them myself). If you’re using a PS3 try out Medialink. All these applications get us about halfway there, as you should be able to see the media on your 360 now and access it.

The Content

This next section mainly concerning video content as music these days is mostly DRM free and should play just fine on your 360. I’ll assume you already have video content on your computer. If you’re looking for content ideas stay tuned for part 3. Sharing video files can be a bag of hurt if you have the wrong file type, codec, bit rate, etc. These are the settings I use to get my stuff up and running on my 360′s. The 360′s should be able to stream H.264, DIVX, XVID, MOV, AVI, WMV, ASF. Check the Xbox support site for more details and limitations on each file type. If your video doesn’t meet the specific criteria for playback, you will have to get all fancy pants and convert your video files. If you have a video format other than MKV skip to the Visualhub section, else keep reading or (If (videoFormat != MKV) { $(‘.VisualHub’).show(); } else { $(‘.nextSection’).show(); }; //he he he).

MKV Files

MKV files were the trickiest files for me to wrap my head around. MKV files, like most video types, are just wrappers for your standard video and audio files. These MKV files are not supported by the 360 and will not play by default. You will need to convert your content to one of the supported formats listed above to play it on the 360. I use awesome application called MKVtools. It takes the guess work out of converting your files for the 360. Select the device: "Xbox 360", video: "Pass Thru", and audio: acc. I use "Pass Thru" to give me the original video quality. The conversion is fast and works pretty much without a hitch. If you buy the full version MKVtools allows batch conversion, which is a really great feature. However, if you’re trying to convert a movie you’ll be out of luck with this application. MKVtools has trouble with files longer than an hour or more.

VisualHub

VisualHub is the Swiss army knife for video conversion. Unfortunately VisualHub is no longer supported or sold. If you don’t have a copy check out VideoMonkey which is trying to become the Open Source answer for VisualHub as it uses much of the same source code. Another option is HandBreak to which I speak to below. For those of us lucky to still have VisualHub: you can simply drop your movie into the queue, select MP4, select "go nuts", go to advanced options, select at max bit-rate of "3600", and convert away. I have found this is the optimal settings for streaming movies to the 360. It is a fine science however, so you may have to tweak the settings every now and again for certain encodes. I use "3600" as my bit-rate as anything higher seems to cause major problems for the stream and in some cases won’t even play.

HandBrake

HandBrake was originally a DVD ripper/converter. It would take your DVD and rip it to many different formats. Today it’s the same program but now it has built in presets to help you convert easier. Also you can now load videos such as 3GP, AVI, FLV, MKV, MOD, MOV, MP4, MPG, and WMV. Select the 360 preset and start converting. Even with the presets selected you can still muddle around with the settings to get optimal performance. I love this program. It is heavily supported and they add stability and features with every update.

Video Exhaustion

Getting your content to the 360 can be more than a little time consuming. However, with the right tools you can view almost any video on your 360. I have a wired gigabit connection from my computer to my 360′s so it makes streaming HD video a breeze. If you are new to this whole video from the internet idea you will be interested in part 3 which will deal with getting content on your computer.

UPDATE Part 2 is here!!!

My wife and I host a Super Bowl Party every year. Each year the party seems to get bigger and bigger. I get a lot of questions at and after the party regarding my set up. “How do I do this”, type of questions. I thought it would be great to ... Read more]]> Posted in Home TheaterReviews

UPDATE Part 2 is here!!!

My wife and I host a Super Bowl Party every year. Each year the party seems to get bigger and bigger. I get a lot of questions at and after the party regarding my set up. “How do I do this”, type of questions. I thought it would be great to write up a detailed guide on how I set everything up. Let me give you a quick run down of what I have and what I wanted to accomplish. My system as a whole is very cheap, but I get a lot of bang for my buck. Here’s what I got; I have U-Verse, featuring the Total Home DVR system, but I also have a large collection of DVD’s that I have started to backup. I wanted this content on all my TV’s. I have a Projector, a Plasma, and Projection LCD. Ara from the HTGuys podcast chose to make Mac Mini’s the heart of his set up. Xbox 360′s are at the heart of my set up.

Visual Wiring Guide

First off I want to apologize for everything sounding very elementary, I wanted this to be easily understandable to everyone. Let me also say that the wiring diagram does not include surround sound wiring, nor does it include the wiring for my U-Verse setup. However, the surround sound wiring is pretty straight forward, I just ran the wires through the walls and out through the celling. The U-Verse part simply used my existing cable wiring and phone lines to connect the U-Verse system. All of the cables and wires were purchased from monoprice.com. If you are buying cables anywhere else, STOP. I opted for a wired connection to most of my devices I stream to. All of the ethernet wires are run through the wall, so there is no mess.

Media Room

As you can see in my wiring guide, I have a Dell 2400MP projector and an 80″ homemade screen. The screen itself is MDF with several coats of primer and paint. The surrounding frame is painted flat black and wrapped in felt. The screen is very smooth and I get great results. I am about to add some ScreenGoo to give me even more contrast. I have a 360, a PS3, and U-Verse box all using component and optical cables. These cables run into a switcher which allows me to easily have multiple devices on one input. The Harmony 520 remote makes it easy to press one button and have everything turn on. These remotes are cheap, easy to use, and I have one in every room. The optical out from the switch connects to my surround sound system. I can stream Netflix movies, and access content on my computer, all through the Xbox 360. Not to mention playing Gears of War 2 on an 80″ screen is not too shabby either. I can also access most of the same content on the PS3, but I primarily use it as a Blu-Ray player.

Living Room

There is not as many wires running through the walls in this room. I got a 52″ Panasonic Projection LCD couple of years ago, and it only has 1 HDMI input. I have an HDMI switch that takes care of the multiple inputs for me and handles all the switching. This is the most complicated part about this system as I have my U-Verse DVR and Sony Blu-Ray player both running into the the switch. The optical runs out of the TV and connects to my surround sound system. If I want to stream from my computer, I just hook up the MacBook to HDMI switch and fire up Boxee. Boxee is a great media center program that also gives me access to my content as well as other great content available on the internet (I’ll talk more about it in Part 2). Again, this is all controlled with 1 Harmony Remote. This room is my only room that is wireless. I was worried about the streaming ability of the wireless connection, but to my surprise it works just as good though.

Bed Room

This room has the least going on. I have an awesome wife that bought me a second 360 for valentines day. This 360 is primarily used for streaming my content, and streaming Netflix movies. This is a great way to add media center like functionality with very little cost. This 360 is the arcade unit, and it also has HDMI built right in. If I want to play games I just pop my 360 hard-drive from my other 360 in, and start playing. The 360 and my U-Verse receiver are running into another HDMI switcher. It is all being controlled by a Harmony Remote.

Baby’s Room

This room is my project room. I have got and old Dell lying around, so I loaded Ubuntu on it (Windows is outlawed) and loaded up Boxee. I also have a PowerMac G4 that I’m not using. I might end up swapping the Dell with the Mac. I have a 19″ monitor hanging on the wall. We will use this as a TV for that room. Again this is my project room, so things will probably change several more times before the baby comes, but I enjoy figuring out solutions.

The Office

The office is the central hub for this little setup. The content on my network is being shared from my MacPro. Again, the direct connection to the AirPort Extreme makes it easy for me to share 1080P videos over the network with ease. I wanted to have all the devices that I don’t need to see, well outta sight. So all of the network devices are in the closet. I have room in the closet, so I can continue to add pieces to the mix and have space for them.

What I want to add next

Of course one of the first things I want to upgrade is my surround sound systems. I am partial to Onkyo, and I want a 7 speaker surround sound system with multiple HDMI inputs. Next I want to pick up a sound bar system for my bedroom. I really don’t want to deal with surround sound speakers and wires in the bedroom, so a sound-bar is really tempting. One of the next big items I am going to add to the house is speakers in every room of the house. This would be great to play my iTunes library over the entire house. My plan is to place the main receiver in the office closet, but I still haven’t figured out exactly what I need and how much control I need in each room. If anyone wants to weigh in, feel free. The baby’s room is going to eventually contain a webcam that is always running. That way we can easily video monitor the baby through our computers. I might end up adding a MacMini to that room to make it easier for a much cleaner solution. However I still haven’t decided between using a webcam/iChat, or an IP network camera solution.

Conclusion

Using 360′s are great ways to extend media center functionality on your network without costing an arm and a leg. If you shop right and do all the wiring yourself, then you can have a system like mine for a small price too. For example I only paid around 2400 for everything in my media room.

Part 2 is coming soon here. In part 2 I will discuss the software I use for video sharing, conversion, torrenting, and network configurations. Questions? Add a comment below or send me an email.