BTV 3.5 Preview at Anandtech

[ambitious_llama]

Anandtech's got a review of the beta and it looks pretty good. However, there are some things that *seem* to be lacking, which I posted at Anandtech:

I really wish they could find a way to allow streaming over networks if at least one of the tuner cards is a software encoder. For example, one could have a PVR-250 and an ATI TV-Wonder, with the latter being used to stream over the network.

No idea why they haven't done this, but if it is a technical possibility, I wish they would do it.

Another nicety would be the ability to add program info to edited files (e.g., after removing commercials, we could add the air date, channel, and synopsis).

Can't wait for the list be folders option.

N

[Sandbag]

Here's the link:

AnandTech Beyond TV 3.5 Beta Preview

[ATguy]

Originally Posted by ambitious_llama

I really wish they could find a way to allow streaming over networks if at least one of the tuner cards is a software encoder. For example, one could have a PVR-250 and an ATI TV-Wonder, with the latter being used to stream over the network.

No idea why they haven't done this, but if it is a technical possibility, I wish they would do it.

Another nicety would be the ability to add program info to edited files (e.g., after removing commercials, we could add the air date, channel, and synopsis).

Can't wait for the list be folders option.
N

They do allow streaming/buffering over the network. The ATI AIW/TV Wonder will still be allowed to stream live tv to other BTV Link clients, but it will depend on the setting.

As for regular video, once it is transcoded, it should be able to be streamed via the IE web admin interface. The all or nothing feature I was refering to in the article was the streaming live TV capability in the web admin.

Andrew Ku, AnandTech writer

[Brett]

Originally Posted by ambitious_llama

Another nicety would be the ability to add program info to edited files (e.g., after removing commercials, we could add the air date, channel, and synopsis).

Uhh... you could always do this? Goto webadmin->library->[show]->edit. It hasn't changed for 3.5.

-Brett

[rkuo]

It's also possible to add properties to edited files with the Framework methods in 3.5.

[ambitious_llama]

Andrew,

It's just that, I'd love to be able to stream liveTV and pre-recorded mpeg2 using at least one software card at least one hardware card.

Brett,

As another poster clarified on my behalf, my desire for editing program info was for edited/modified recordings. If I remove the commercials from a recorded show, the new file has no info in it and even if I add it through the web admin, it gets lost the next time I try to access/view that info. At any rate, it appears that 3.5 will allow us to do this, so, ... Woohoo!

Thanks all!

[Brett]

Ok...now you got me confused. Perhaps I am missing something, but if I am understanding you correctly, all you want to do is have the correct info in your editted videos, and as I explained this is actually already possible with the current version of BTV.

Once you edit/cut a show it DOES indeed lose its details/info. However, when you place the editted show back in the BTV folder, it will be imported into your library. From here you can goto the webadmin and edit the information and reinsert the correct info.

Now, as Rkuo pointed out. With the API one could create an application that will AUTOMATICALLY reinsert the information, but as far as I can tell from your request, you just wanted the ability, which am positive already exist.

-Brett

[ambitious_llama]

Brett,

You are understanding me perfectly. I have tried doing exactly what you describe serveral times and it has never worked. The info stays as long as BTV is not shutdown and restarted.

Nevertheless, I just went to try it again. However, BTV crashed so I'll have to wait until I get home to restart it and try again.

I'll report back.

N

[ambitious_llama]

Well, it happened again. I inserted new program info for a modified mpeg and after restarting BTV, it was all gone. Any ideas Brett?

On top of that Showsqueeze is systematically crashing the system. It locks up or reboots within minutes of starting a show squeeze to WMV. Weird considering that it was 100% stable while serving as my desktop and as the BTV box. It's no whimp either with a P4 2.6C, 512MB DDR, and PVR-250, all powered by a Zalman 300W PS. If anyone has ideas on this front, they're welcome, too.

Hope 3.5 resolves all of this and that it comes out soon.

N

[Brett]

For the showsqueeze issue I highly recommend you send it to Robert/Tuck (http://www.snapstream.com/support) they can gather the right files and figure out the problem. You should not be relying on 3.5 to fix that issue, since my first impression is it is likely something "particular" to your computer.

Tomorrow when I get home, I will check 3.5 and see if I am able to edit and save the details. Its quite possible you found a bug in 3.4.4 (there are a few ), as it is definitely suppose to be saving the information.

-Brett

[ambitious_llama]

Thanks Brett. Before contacting support, I'm going to try and reinstall BTV and see what happens.

As for the program info thing, I'm curious to know the outcome of your checking 'cause it will be great to be able to add the info as I edit everything that I keep.

N

[Brett]

With v3.5 the information sticks after restarting BTV, I did not try restarting the machine, but I doubt this will make a difference.

Obviously this can mean one of two possible things. Either there was a bug in 3.4.4 that was fixed in 3.5, or its an issue with your particular machine.

The call is yours, but I would suggest resolving the crashing issue first, as there is no "official" support for the betas. Then I would suggest trying the beta to see if it resolves your original issue.

-Brett

[ambitious_llama]

##Edit##: Brett, where would I get the 3.5 Beta?

I reinstalled and the crashing is still there. I'll be following your advice and fixing the crash prior to worrying about the show info stuff.

Thanks!