Not sure of best way to stream from computer

Search This thread
By:
Advanced…
C

cdrshm

Senior Member
Apr 3, 2010
164
6
Well I have had a Chromecast for some time now. I have been lurking for some time now but can't quite figure out what is the best solution for me.

Here is what I am looking to do.. I have quite a few workout dvd's that the Wife and I use, Yoga and the such. I want to eliminate the need to use the dvd player... my goal is to have everything ripped to my desktop, then use my phone to control what is displayed on the chromecast? especially since i have multiple chromecasts.....I just can't figure out what combination of apps I need to accomplish it... I have used ALLCast but the video will mess up during streaming... (Galaxy S3)

I am assuming I need some sort of media server service running on my desktop..(Plex?)

Any thoughts or suggestions would be great!

cdrshm
 
D

DJames1

Senior Member
Oct 10, 2013
385
115
Rip the DVDs to MP4 files on your computer using some video tool like Handbrake. Enable the DLNA server function in Windows if you haven't already, and add your video folder as one of the shared media folders. Install BubbleUPnP on your Android phone. Select your computer as the source, Chromecast as the destination. Select your desired video and cast it to the Chromecast, controlling it with BubbleUPnP.

Plex is certainly an alternative, but you would have to install and set up Plex Media Server on your computer, and currently you have to pay $4/month for Plex Pass to use Plex with the Chromecast. For what you want to do the above combination is simpler and free.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: EarlyMon, Asphyx and cdrshm
C

cdrshm

Senior Member
Apr 3, 2010
164
6
DJames1 said:
Rip the DVDs to MP4 files on your computer using some video tool like Handbrake. Enable the DLNA server function in Windows if you haven't already, and add your video folder as one of the shared media folders. Install BubbleUPnP on your Android phone. Select your computer as the source, Chromecast as the destination. Select your desired video and cast it to the Chromecast, controlling it with BubbleUPnP.

Plex is certainly an alternative, but you would have to install and set up Plex Media Server on your computer, and currently you have to pay $4/month for Plex Pass to use Plex with the Chromecast. For what you want to do the above combination is simpler and free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

WOW! This works perfect! Thanks for helping me out! It works better than expected!!

Thanks Again!!

cdrshm
 
A

Asphyx

Senior Member
Dec 19, 2007
2,158
378
Android Wear
Google Pixel Watch
+1 to DJ!

Only thing I would quibble with is I'm not sure the Windows Media DLNA is a very good option but it is free and requires no installation.

Bubble requires SOME DLNA server since it does not have this function built in yet and instead aggregates media from other sources.

Something I suspect Bubble will soon add to it's arsenal!
 
indiscriminant

indiscriminant

Senior Member
Jul 23, 2010
465
92
Indianapolis
You can also browse files in the chrome browser, such as your movie folder. And simply cast from that. Works instantly, easily, casts in the same quality the file is in, and requires no additional software or set up.

For instance, my data drive is F, I just browse to file:///F:/ on chrome, select my movies folder and start the video then cast from the browser.
 
D

DJames1

Senior Member
Oct 10, 2013
385
115
^^ That's tab-casting. While it works as long as your computer is fast enough, it has several issues compared to the recommended solution:

1. It puts a heavier workload on your PC due to Google's rather inefficient tab-casting code.
2. Even with a high-performance PC, the video tends to stutter a little when tab-casting.
3. It has to be controlled from the PC. The OP said that he has an Android phone he wants to use as the controller.

If the OP were interested in trying streaming from Chrome, he would be better off to use the newly-renamed Videostream extension for Chrome mentioned in another thread here. It offers much smoother performance than tab-casting.
 
Last edited:
D

DJames1

Senior Member
Oct 10, 2013
385
115
^^ Also good solutions, but Avia isn't quite free, and they would require the OP to install a new media server on his PC.
 
D

DJames1

Senior Member
Oct 10, 2013
385
115
You could use any DLNA server that runs on Mac along with BubbleUPnP as the controller on Android. I would probably choose Serviio.
 
I

impulse101

Senior Member
Mar 17, 2011
450
60
Asphyx said:
+1 to DJ!

Only thing I would quibble with is I'm not sure the Windows Media DLNA is a very good option but it is free and requires no installation.

Bubble requires SOME DLNA server since it does not have this function built in yet and instead aggregates media from other sources.

Something I suspect Bubble will soon add to it's arsenal!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Agreed Windows Media Server sucks. Install the free BubbleUPnP Server side app on your PC. Pay for the pro license of BubbleUPnP on Android and not only can you stream your PC media to Chromecast but you can stream through your PS3 and you can remotely watch all of your videos on your Android device or anyone else's media server in the world

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

r3pwn
  • Locked
[EXPERIMENTAL] Enable Mirroring from any device
Replies
2K
Views
1M
r3pwn
r3pwn
trainriderben
Streaming XBMC to Chromecast
Replies
282
Views
448K
P
punkmexic
V
Cast XBMC from Computer over Chromecast through Avia Player to TV
Replies
19
Views
68K
B
beniboy86
bhiga
  • Sticky
[FAQ] Chromecast Frequently Asked Questions
Replies
282
Views
370K
T
taken21
R
cast local avi and mkv files from chrome browser
Replies
32
Views
86K
fer456
fer456

Top Liked Posts

24 Hours All time
  • There are no posts matching your filters.
  • 3
    D
    DJames1
    Rip the DVDs to MP4 files on your computer using some video tool like Handbrake. Enable the DLNA server function in Windows if you haven't already, and add your video folder as one of the shared media folders. Install BubbleUPnP on your Android phone. Select your computer as the source, Chromecast as the destination. Select your desired video and cast it to the Chromecast, controlling it with BubbleUPnP.

    Plex is certainly an alternative, but you would have to install and set up Plex Media Server on your computer, and currently you have to pay $4/month for Plex Pass to use Plex with the Chromecast. For what you want to do the above combination is simpler and free.
    View

New posts