BBC Iplayer Downloader Plugin - Beta + Support

[smiler]

Ok, new version of the plugin is available from the wiki with the updated website parser, enjoy

[JEF]

All back to normal -- Thanks

[mark_lt]

Hi Smiler,

Just thought I would pester with more requests while this plug in is in Beta. First off, most the items I raised earlier in the thread are solved i.e. MP3 radio etc, hence me not following up on them.

What I had raised previously was whether HD downloads were downloading as HD. As you said, they were, but the conversion process was converting them to 720 x 586. It would be great if we could do one of two things. Manually edit the conversion string so that we can set it to what ever we like, or have an option to not change the resolution of the downloaded file. Not sure how easy or difficult it is though.

Also, another nice option would be some way to easily list the files we have downloaded for more than 30 days, so that we know which ones we really should have deleted.

Thanks again for all the hard work on this.

[gEd]

It would be great if we could do one of two things. Manually edit the conversion string so that we can set it to what ever we like

exactly what I had been thinking.

Ideally we want ffmpeg to transcode the mp4 file without alteration of bitrate, resolution etc.

FWIW: gbpvr uses the Conversion name xml entries for the the video library transcode option.

e.g
<Conversion name="XviD 4:3" cmd="-y -i {SOURCE_FILE} -f avi -ab 224 -ac 2 -acodec mp3 -deinterlace -vcodec mpeg4 -qscale 5 -aspect 4:3 -vtag XVID {DEST_FILE}" targetExtension=".avi" />

else latest version seems to be working pretty good atm. No other problems to report although I have not been hammering it yet. I will do if we can get HD working at full res as my first ever flat screen TV arrives tomorrow!

[smiler]

What I had raised previously was whether HD downloads were downloading as HD. As you said, they were, but the conversion process was converting them to 720 x 586. It would be great if we could do one of two things. Manually edit the conversion string so that we can set it to what ever we like, or have an option to not change the resolution of the downloaded file. Not sure how easy or difficult it is though.

Should be reasonably straight forward, i'll add it to the wish list.

Also, another nice option would be some way to easily list the files we have downloaded for more than 30 days, so that we know which ones we really should have deleted.

This is more difficult, I rely on the existing GBPVR behaviours, so they would need updating I would guess.

Thanks again for all the hard work on this.

Thanks, I'm happy people use the plugin

[smiler]

Ideally we want ffmpeg to transcode the mp4 file without alteration of bitrate, resolution etc.

FWIW: gbpvr uses the Conversion name xml entries for the the video library transcode option.

e.g
<Conversion name="XviD 4:3" cmd="-y -i {SOURCE_FILE} -f avi -ab 224 -ac 2 -acodec mp3 -deinterlace -vcodec mpeg4 -qscale 5 -aspect 4:3 -vtag XVID {DEST_FILE}" targetExtension=".avi" />

I might use this way of doing it, i'll have a think.

[Society]

I'm close to giving up. With one exception, the best I've achieved so far is a few minutes fragment from the start of a program whereas the next best crashes the MVP back to the mvpmc menu if I try to play a "recording". I can get these results all day long.

I used the get_iplayer complete pack and added the path to its installation directory so that perl is found. get_iplayer itself works independently and downloads programmes which I fail to grab via this plugin.

I have the latest commongbpvrutilities and wiztools. All paths to executables specified in config point to the get_iplayer directory hierarchy as appropriate.

I've turned off postprocessing as that never completed. I've switched to mencoder and can see that it takes over one core of the CPU .

Initial attempts were from Search results - but, for some reason, I was able to select Mock The Week from either highlights or favorites (looking forward to UK spelling in a future release) and it downloaded an mp4 and converted it ALL to (unstable) mpg!

I tried another programme from faves and watched GetIplayerService use all of one core for a few minutes until mencoder joined in on the other core. The result was a few minutes of programme ... but GetIplayerService keeps on using 50% CPU (E2180@2GHz).

A third item from faves "downloaded" a 40-min programme in 4 minutes (just 11.6MB), transcoded in a couple of seconds to a zero-byte file which crashed the MVP when attempted to view from Recordings. Using get_iplayer directly grabbed the 150MB iphone1 mov file in 4:15

What have I missed?

[smiler]

I'm close to giving up. With one exception, the best I've achieved so far is a few minutes fragment from the start of a program whereas the next best crashes the MVP back to the mvpmc menu if I try to play a "recording". I can get these results all day long.

I used the get_iplayer complete pack and added the path to its installation directory so that perl is found. get_iplayer itself works independently and downloads programmes which I fail to grab via this plugin.

I have the latest commongbpvrutilities and wiztools. All paths to executables specified in config point to the get_iplayer directory hierarchy as appropriate.

I've turned off postprocessing as that never completed. I've switched to mencoder and can see that it takes over one core of the CPU .

Initial attempts were from Search results - but, for some reason, I was able to select Mock The Week from either highlights or favorites (looking forward to UK spelling in a future release) and it downloaded an mp4 and converted it ALL to (unstable) mpg!

I tried another programme from faves and watched GetIplayerService use all of one core for a few minutes until mencoder joined in on the other core. The result was a few minutes of programme ... but GetIplayerService keeps on using 50% CPU (E2180@2GHz).

A third item from faves "downloaded" a 40-min programme in 4 minutes (just 11.6MB), transcoded in a couple of seconds to a zero-byte file which crashed the MVP when attempted to view from Recordings. Using get_iplayer directly grabbed the 150MB iphone1 mov file in 4:15

What have I missed?

Sorry to hear you are having some problems.

I cant seem to recreate the problem with my mvp. Ok A couple of things are probably worth trying.

Firstly, I would suggest that you turn off the HD Download if you have it on. Then I would configure the plugin to use the lowest quality setting. This will for the iphone quality download only and this should guarantee that the program completes. This is effectively the same behaviour as the v2 of the plugin.

If this succeeds it could suggest that auto negotiaion/bw throttling could well be the issue or that you using a wireless connection to the internet with a intermittant connection.

As for the cpu, usage that really is strange? :confused: If you attach your logs I will take a look.

[Society]

Thanks for your response. I didn't have HD turned on as I have only MediaMVPs rather than a PCH. I've amended the quality to low and a 236MB mov file was downloaded for a 1Hr programme and then very, very slowly transcoded (slow - high quality) into a 1.54GB mpg file which can be viewed (though a skip causes loss of sync).

Mencoder grabs 42%-47% while transcoding (PVRX2, taskmgr & VNC use balance) but GetIplayerService grabs 50% at all times. I'll bounce the machine and try a download at medium quality but exactly which logs would you want to see? At the moment both MVPs are turned off and no downloads are pending but GetIplayerService is still running and using 50% of the CPU.

As stated, "standalone" get_iplayer itself downloads the same programmes that I attempt via the plugin - though I haven't altered the default sequence of modes so it tries for iPhone1 first. Another machine on the network happily downloads using iPlayer Downloader from po-ru.com so is it really plausible that my (wired) network or connection ("upto 8Meg" but actually 5000-6000) is the problem?

[smiler]

Thanks for your response. I didn't have HD turned on as I have only MediaMVPs rather than a PCH. I've amended the quality to low and a 236MB mov file was downloaded for a 1Hr programme and then very, very slowly transcoded (slow - high quality) into a 1.54GB mpg file which can be viewed (though a skip causes loss of sync).

This does imply that it is a connection issue/BW. Interesting there was a loss of sync. You may want to try using FFMpeg to see if that improves things.

Mencoder grabs 42%-47% while transcoding (PVRX2, taskmgr & VNC use balance) but GetIplayerService grabs 50% at all times. I'll bounce the machine and try a download at medium quality but exactly which logs would you want to see? At the moment both MVPs are turned off and no downloads are pending but GetIplayerService is still running and using 50% of the CPU.

Preferably, Zip them all but really I need the iPlayerServiceMessenger.log and the pvrx2.exe.log or equivalent log for the MVP. The 50% usage is pretty strange. :confused:

As stated, "standalone" get_iplayer itself downloads the same programmes that I attempt via the plugin - though I haven't altered the default sequence of modes so it tries for iPhone1 first. Another machine on the network happily downloads using iPlayer Downloader from po-ru.com so is it really plausible that my (wired) network or connection ("upto 8Meg" but actually 5000-6000) is the problem?

It is more likely that your ISP specifically throttles back all but the lowest bandwidth iphone quality during busy times. My ISP (pipex) will allow HD downloads during the day, but between 6-11pm you can just about get medium quality if you are lucky. The reason they do it is because they suggest that dropping to the lower quality still allows viewing, while maintaing high quality browsing for other customers.

The best way to verify this is to run the download at a non peak time such as first thing in the morning. If the download completes successfully at the higher quality settings then it is likely your ISP.