Video Player with Chromecast Support

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ETFoneHome

Senior Member
Jun 11, 2012
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My favorites are Web Video Caster for casting videos from websites (ie. couchtuner) and BubbleUPnP for everything else.
 

ermacwins

Senior Member
Aug 25, 2009
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@Asphyx you seem to know quite abbit about chromecast. Can you point me in the direction of what is need to play local files from a code point of view? We were thinking of making a video player with cast support built in. From what we tried from viral (app in my sig), it plays online streams (non youtube) but doesnt show cast icon for local files.

Thanks
 

Asphyx

Senior Member
Dec 19, 2007
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@Asphyx you seem to know quite abbit about chromecast. Can you point me in the direction of what is need to play local files from a code point of view? We were thinking of making a video player with cast support built in. From what we tried from viral (app in my sig), it plays online streams (non youtube) but doesnt show cast icon for local files.

Thanks

Coding isn't really my forte, I can code (most of my work is on OS/Firmware) and do debug code but most of my work with it is from the engineering side of the equation. @bubbleguuum or @EarlyMon might be better suited to answer your request. But most all of what you need is in the CCast SDK. The rest is all part of the Android SDK (things like Media Router which you probably already use (or should be) to find your available CCast devices)

Not familiar with your App or how your doing your CCast icon. (so forgive any wrong assumptions here) Cast Icon should be displayed anytime there is a CCast detected on the network regardless of the content, but I'm guessing your just using the YouTube Cast Icon that is built into the YouTube web based player app which is why when other content is displayed your not getting a cast Icon.

A solution will soon be available as JW Player (a VERY popular way to embed HTML5 Video into Web pages) has announced they will add CCast support to their Web Player. Since that can also play You Tube it might solve all of your problems except the navigation part of browsing which files to cast.

But until it is actually available your really going to have to use the CCast SDK and create your own Cast Icon, detect available units and send the proper linkage to the CCast. How that needs to be done will vary based on the Player/receiver app you have created to run on the CCast side.
 

jmac8544

Member
Feb 25, 2013
6
0
oakdale
The official vlc media player for android coupled with v-get is the best and easiest method I found for casting any media off of chrome browser. No PC involved and its extremely easy. I still would love a way to cast unsupported media formats off of native apps the same way without a PC though.

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Jersey846

Senior Member
Jul 20, 2011
778
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Washington DC
Tried Avia around January and absolutely hated it. It was horrendous for what I was trying to do. Which was simply stream videos from my phone to the Chromecast. Constant buffering. It's possible that they have improved the app, but I have always been pleased with AllCast from the beginning. It's all I used it's worked flawlessly for streaming to Chromecast, xbox 360, xbox one, and Apple TV. Never had an issue. Would never use Avia again.

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ermacwins

Senior Member
Aug 25, 2009
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Probably not as I'm on a new job and slammed.

Regardless, drop me a PM, let me know where you are with the SDK and any other details since the conversation started and I'll be happy to chip in as time allows.

Well the app is pretty much done but doesn't cast local videos. You can try with viral (see my sig) open a video and press cast, it will show viral starting up on TV but that's it, video doesn't play
 

steelydan9918

Member
Apr 8, 2014
16
1
I used Avia as well. Not the best player, but best solution out there IMO. I'd love to run a Plex server, but don't really have a dedicated PC/server to do so with. Either way, the streaming apps play nice enough with Avia so that I can stream just about any movie/tv show that I can think of. Anyways, here's to hoping CC supports more formats in the future.
 

Jersey846

Senior Member
Jul 20, 2011
778
208
Washington DC
I used Avia as well. Not the best player, but best solution out there IMO. I'd love to run a Plex server, but don't really have a dedicated PC/server to do so with. Either way, the streaming apps play nice enough with Avia so that I can stream just about any movie/tv show that I can think of. Anyways, here's to hoping CC supports more formats in the future.

Have you tried AllCast? Being that you've said Avia is the best around I was curious what you didn't like about AllCast.

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blownupp

Member
Nov 18, 2014
14
3
I believe VLC now supports casting...

I did have pretty good results by casting my screen and just going full screen in a video player as well.

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farley jones

New member
May 2, 2019
1
0
You can use Cnx video player as I am also using it for casting for my mobile to my tv via chromecasthttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pathwin.cnxplayer&hl=en :cowboy:
 

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  • 1
    Share the page to either vGet or Web Video Caster, and cast from there.

    It's one extra step - sharing the link - but it works great for supported video formats.

    vGet has more options and is a paid app. Web Video Caster just casts and is free.

    for thus you can also use chrome for android (free from google obviously), go to chrome://flags and turn on chromecast support
    1
    I think that the limitions are not in the players but in the software of ccast that can play only a few format and codecs.

    Do you think that, in future, ccast will be updated and so it will play other video format? Is a feature that can be implemented with a firmware upgrade?

    Thanks!
    1
    Not doubting you here...I know the Hardware is close to being an Egg Cooker even under normal usage....

    But I'm curious as to why would he software decode H.264? No need to do that as it's already supported.

    I'm just wondering if he was trying to do transcode from unsupported codec to H.264 on the device.

    That method I would expect to not work at all.

    But by adding loadable Software codecs it should not require the same proc cycles and speed as trying to transcode as it's really just a decoding operation which is roughly half the intense of transcoding which both decodes then re-encodes.
    The Tricky part would be getting the player to load codecs on an as needed basis which is where I expect it might make the approach impossible.

    I'm personally less concerned with codec support as I am with Containers, Subtitles and Audio Track selection being done on the Player side.

    All of my Library is already H.264 But I much prefer MKV container for keeping Subs and Multiple Audio (for Commentary) so once a player comes out that supports all of those without transcoding I'll be a very happy puppy.
    1
    I don't know but I imagine that he was simply following a standard best practice -

    Comparing known quantities to map the solution space before proceeding into the unknown.

    The H.264 routine (just a software codec attached to a simple player from what I recall looking at the time) made sense for that, precisely because it was a mature, known quantity that could be compared to the existing feature in hardware.

    Apples to apples.
    1
    @EarlyMon can you help with coding local content to play?

    Probably not as I'm on a new job and slammed.

    Regardless, drop me a PM, let me know where you are with the SDK and any other details since the conversation started and I'll be happy to chip in as time allows.