then this is a must have: http://code.google.com/p/streambaby/
* Random access streaming of MP4 & MPG video files. Able to seek to anywhere in the video. Also removes need for qt-faststart.
* Ability to FF/RWD to points in the video that have not been buffered yet. When outside of the buffer, a "preview" of the movie (low-quality static images) will appear, and when play is pressed the video stream will be repositioned to start streaming at that point (ala Netflix/TiVo)
* Currently streambaby supports real-time preview generation, however MPEG files do not seem to do well with real-time preview generation. For MPEG files as soon as you start playing, a small (30mb or so) file of static thumbnail images is created. It usually takes around 5 minutes for a 2 hour movie for the complete thumbnail file to be created. It is used as it is created, so as the images are generated they will be available for use for previewing. The pvw file will be cached and automatically next time the movie is played.
* Ability to transcode and stream video that is not inherently TiVo compatible. Supports most wmv, avi, and mkv. Preview mode and random-positioning work with most transcoded files.
* Attempts to work around the 1.1G limit for streaming videos on the TiVo. If you reach the 1.1G limit, the video you are watching will be paused and restarted with a fresh buffer at the position you were in before.
* Remembers your position in the video when you stop watching and automatically starts at that position next time you watch. Works even when exiting playing via the "TiVo" button.
* Random access streaming of MP4 & MPG video files. Able to seek to anywhere in the video. Also removes need for qt-faststart.
* Ability to FF/RWD to points in the video that have not been buffered yet. When outside of the buffer, a "preview" of the movie (low-quality static images) will appear, and when play is pressed the video stream will be repositioned to start streaming at that point (ala Netflix/TiVo)
* Currently streambaby supports real-time preview generation, however MPEG files do not seem to do well with real-time preview generation. For MPEG files as soon as you start playing, a small (30mb or so) file of static thumbnail images is created. It usually takes around 5 minutes for a 2 hour movie for the complete thumbnail file to be created. It is used as it is created, so as the images are generated they will be available for use for previewing. The pvw file will be cached and automatically next time the movie is played.
* Ability to transcode and stream video that is not inherently TiVo compatible. Supports most wmv, avi, and mkv. Preview mode and random-positioning work with most transcoded files.
* Attempts to work around the 1.1G limit for streaming videos on the TiVo. If you reach the 1.1G limit, the video you are watching will be paused and restarted with a fresh buffer at the position you were in before.
* Remembers your position in the video when you stop watching and automatically starts at that position next time you watch. Works even when exiting playing via the "TiVo" button.