How to take screenshots or stream video files from your seedbox with VLC media player
Following on from my previous tutorials, creating MediaInfo and Screenshots with rutorrent's WEBGUI or Command Line/SSH, it was brought to my attention that the method will not work with m2ts files. With their popularity nowadays I wanted to offer a solution without requiring you to download said files which can take an eternity.
This tutorial was specifically designed to work with m2ts files contained within a BDMV folder, but not m2ts files contained within an ISO file. There is a third party software which I may test at a later date for this, but I will need to get my hands on a Windows PC first. All other videos files should work with this method.
1) You'll need a HTTP directory listing of your downloads folder in your seedbox. If you are running seedboxes.cc or another seedbox provider and have access to a URL address like the one below, you may skip to part 5.
Code:
http://server.seedboxname.com/username/downloads
2) If your seedbox does not provide such a service, you will need to establish your own SimpleHTTPServer via command line. First step is to login into your seedbox via SSH and navigate to your downloads directory. You can follow my Command Line/SSH tutorial if you don't know how.
3) You can check what directory you are currently in with the following code,
Once you are in downloads directory, type in the following command,
Code:
python -m SimpleHTTPServer
If done correctly, you should get the following message.
Quote:
Serving HTTP on 0.0.0.0 port 8000 ...
4) Go to your browser and type in your IP address followed with the 8000 port number. It should look something like this,
Code:
http://***.***.**.***:8000
(Obviously replace * with your IP)
Once you login you will begin to notice your SSH client begin to log your activity.
5) Right click on the m2ts file of your choice and copy link address. (Note: Remember to choose the correct m2ts file, generally it is no. 800 but just to make sure its the one with the largest file size)
6) Open up VLC, go to 'File' > 'Open Network', alternatively you can use (Control + N) or (Command + N), paste your URL into the text box and click 'Open'.
7) It may ask you to authenticate you details and once completed your file should begin to play. Depending on your network, computer speed and file size, this may take a bit of time to load and even stutter or freeze during playback. However, since you are only taking screenshots this should not be an issue. You can use 'Video' > 'Snapshot' or (Control + S) or (Command + Option + S) to take your screenshots.
8) If you had to set up a SimpleHTTPServer, remember to exit this by pressing (Control + C) in your SSH client.
Notes:
1) Again I repeat, this method will not work for ISO files.
2) The playback will be smoother if the file is smaller in size. This is a good alternative for streaming your files remotely if your seedbox does not support Plex and/or you do not wish to download the file to your desktop.
All that’s left to do is upload your screenshots to a web host and paste the URLs into your desired tracker.
Hope this tutorial helped someone out there and as usual, if you find any errors or have any suggestions please let me know. :)
P.S. Many thanks to @RossoBreitner for testing this for me!
