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Sopcast is another popular TVoIP software that lets you watch hundreds of channels online for free.
In this article I'll describe how you can watch Sopcast on your TV using your Xbox 360.
I'll not cover how to install TVersity, VLC or Sopcast and I assume you can connect to your computer from your Xbox using TVersity and you know how to use TVersity, VLC and Sopcast.
Requirements:
- Xbox 360 (obviously!) already connected to your home computer.
- Spocast (http://www.sopcast.com/ - free download)
- VLC Media Player (www.videolan.org/vlc - free download)
- TVersity (http://www.tversity.com/ - free download)
I used Sopcast 3.0.3, VLC 0.9.9, TVersity 1.5 and Windows Vista.
Updated on 12/27/09: VLC 1.0.3 and Windows 7.
Overview:
Sopcast lets you watch hundreds of channels on your computer for free, it is using a P2P technology to stream the content to the end users. It is very similar to TVUPlayer and I use them both depending on what I want to watch, you can check this article to learn how to watch TVUPlayer with your 360:
http://techhackz.blogspot.com/2009/04/tvuplayer-on-your-xbox-360.html
Out of the box Sopcast cannot be streamed to the Xbox 360 directly but using VLC and TVersity it becomes possible!
Basically you start Sopcast then use VLC to broadcast it on your home network and finally TVersity makes the link between the feed and the Xbox. It sounds more complex than it really is ;)
Let me try to make it easy for you!!
Instructions:
1. Sopcast
Launch Sopcast and select the channel you want to watch. You can click on Live Channels to see a list of all the channels available. If you don't know what to watch you can find many TV guides for Sopcast online, simply google it.
2. VLC Media Player
With Sopcast running in the background start VLC Media Player. VLC is an excellent media player that can play any kind of file!
When you start VLC, you should see something similar to this:
Now click on Media and select Streaming then select the Network tab:
The following screen will appear:
Click on HTTP and enter http://localhost:8902/tv.asf as your URL.
Note: http://127.0.0.1:8902/tv.asf should also work fine.
Click on the Stream button at the bottom of the screen and you should now see this screen:
For older versions of VLC:
Click on MMSH, leave everything else as it is and the Generated stream output string at the bottom should default to :sout=#duplicate{dst=std{access=mmsh,dst=:1234}}, this is fine. Just click on Stream to close the Stream Output window and go back to VLC.
For newer versions of VLC (1.0.3 and above):
The latest versions of VLC introduced a new streaming wizard which made it more difficult to follow this guide.
To make it work, click on Next when you see the Source panel then in the Destinations panel click on Next as well. Finally in the Options panel of the wizard copy and paste the following string:
:sout=#duplicate{dst=std{access=mmsh,dst=:1234}}
Then click on Stream.
To make sure VLC is streaming correctly, click on Tools then Media Information and go to Statistics to see some information about the stream:
You're done with VLC!
Optional:
If you feel like it you can completely automate that process using a batch script, I created one that starts VLC and the streaming for me.
To create a batch script:
- open Notepad or any other text editor.
- type:
"C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe" -vvv http://localhost:8902/tv.asf --sout "#std{access=mmsh,mux=asfh,dst=:1234}"- save the file in any directory as a bat file (sopcast_vlc_stream.bat for example).
- execute the batch script, it should open VLC for you and stream the output.
3. TVersity
We're almost there, the last step is to add an entry for the VLC stream in our TVersity library.
First start TVersity (keep Sopcast and VLC up and running), you should see something similar to this:
Click on Library, then expand Internet Media on your left and click on Internet Video.
Now click on Add Item to add the VLC stream, a new window should pop up in TVersity.
Enter the following information:
- Video URL: mms://localhost:1234
- Give a Title (Sopcast for example)
- click on Public
I use the same item for both TVUPlayer and Sopcast so I named it TVUPlayer but any name will do it!
Once the item has been added to the Library, click on it to highlight it and select Open Item.
Windows Media Player (or another media player associated to mms) should open up and you should see the feed, sometimes I only get the audio but it still works fine on my Xbox 360 (ie Audio+Video).
I always perform that extra step to make sure everything works fine on my computer, if it works then it should also work on the Xbox 360.
4. Xbox 360
Go to your Xbox 360, from the dashboard under My Xbox select Video Library and press A.
You should see an entry called TVersity on COMPUTER_NAME, select it and press A to access the TVersity library on your computer.
If everything works fine, you should now see a list of folders, select Internet and press A.
In the next screen, select Sopcast(name of the item we added to the TVersity Library earlier) and press A.
Select Start or Restart and press A to view the feed on your TV.
The screen should become black for a few seconds and the feed should get started!
That's it, you've done it ;) Pretty simple when you know what to do.
In previous versions of TVersity I noticed that I always had to restart the TVersity Media Server otherwise my Xbox won't see TVersity or won't allow me to access the library. It seems to be fixed in TVersity 1.5, try that if you have some issues or if you're using older versions.
In this article I'll describe how you can watch Sopcast on your TV using your Xbox 360.
I'll not cover how to install TVersity, VLC or Sopcast and I assume you can connect to your computer from your Xbox using TVersity and you know how to use TVersity, VLC and Sopcast.
Requirements:
- Xbox 360 (obviously!) already connected to your home computer.
- Spocast (http://www.sopcast.com/ - free download)
- VLC Media Player (www.videolan.org/vlc - free download)
- TVersity (http://www.tversity.com/ - free download)
I used Sopcast 3.0.3, VLC 0.9.9, TVersity 1.5 and Windows Vista.
Updated on 12/27/09: VLC 1.0.3 and Windows 7.
Overview:
Sopcast lets you watch hundreds of channels on your computer for free, it is using a P2P technology to stream the content to the end users. It is very similar to TVUPlayer and I use them both depending on what I want to watch, you can check this article to learn how to watch TVUPlayer with your 360:
http://techhackz.blogspot.com/2009/04/tvuplayer-on-your-xbox-360.html
Out of the box Sopcast cannot be streamed to the Xbox 360 directly but using VLC and TVersity it becomes possible!
Basically you start Sopcast then use VLC to broadcast it on your home network and finally TVersity makes the link between the feed and the Xbox. It sounds more complex than it really is ;)
Let me try to make it easy for you!!
Instructions:
1. Sopcast
Launch Sopcast and select the channel you want to watch. You can click on Live Channels to see a list of all the channels available. If you don't know what to watch you can find many TV guides for Sopcast online, simply google it.
2. VLC Media Player
With Sopcast running in the background start VLC Media Player. VLC is an excellent media player that can play any kind of file!
When you start VLC, you should see something similar to this:
Now click on Media and select Streaming then select the Network tab: The following screen will appear:Click on HTTP and enter http://localhost:8902/tv.asf as your URL.Note: http://127.0.0.1:8902/tv.asf should also work fine.
Click on the Stream button at the bottom of the screen and you should now see this screen:
For older versions of VLC:
Click on MMSH, leave everything else as it is and the Generated stream output string at the bottom should default to :sout=#duplicate{dst=std{access=mmsh,dst=:1234}}, this is fine. Just click on Stream to close the Stream Output window and go back to VLC.For newer versions of VLC (1.0.3 and above):
The latest versions of VLC introduced a new streaming wizard which made it more difficult to follow this guide.
To make it work, click on Next when you see the Source panel then in the Destinations panel click on Next as well. Finally in the Options panel of the wizard copy and paste the following string:
:sout=#duplicate{dst=std{access=mmsh,dst=:1234}}
Then click on Stream.
To make sure VLC is streaming correctly, click on Tools then Media Information and go to Statistics to see some information about the stream:
You're done with VLC!Optional:
If you feel like it you can completely automate that process using a batch script, I created one that starts VLC and the streaming for me.
To create a batch script:
- open Notepad or any other text editor.
- type:
"C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe" -vvv http://localhost:8902/tv.asf --sout "#std{access=mmsh,mux=asfh,dst=:1234}"- save the file in any directory as a bat file (sopcast_vlc_stream.bat for example).
- execute the batch script, it should open VLC for you and stream the output.
3. TVersity
We're almost there, the last step is to add an entry for the VLC stream in our TVersity library.
First start TVersity (keep Sopcast and VLC up and running), you should see something similar to this:
Click on Library, then expand Internet Media on your left and click on Internet Video. Now click on Add Item to add the VLC stream, a new window should pop up in TVersity.Enter the following information:
- Video URL: mms://localhost:1234
- Give a Title (Sopcast for example)
- click on Public
I use the same item for both TVUPlayer and Sopcast so I named it TVUPlayer but any name will do it!
Once the item has been added to the Library, click on it to highlight it and select Open Item.Windows Media Player (or another media player associated to mms) should open up and you should see the feed, sometimes I only get the audio but it still works fine on my Xbox 360 (ie Audio+Video).
I always perform that extra step to make sure everything works fine on my computer, if it works then it should also work on the Xbox 360.4. Xbox 360
Go to your Xbox 360, from the dashboard under My Xbox select Video Library and press A.
You should see an entry called TVersity on COMPUTER_NAME, select it and press A to access the TVersity library on your computer. If everything works fine, you should now see a list of folders, select Internet and press A.In the next screen, select Sopcast(name of the item we added to the TVersity Library earlier) and press A. Select Start or Restart and press A to view the feed on your TV.The screen should become black for a few seconds and the feed should get started!That's it, you've done it ;) Pretty simple when you know what to do.In previous versions of TVersity I noticed that I always had to restart the TVersity Media Server otherwise my Xbox won't see TVersity or won't allow me to access the library. It seems to be fixed in TVersity 1.5, try that if you have some issues or if you're using older versions.
I hope this guide was helpful, I welcome any feedback don't hesitate to leave a comment.
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