The DVBViewer features a sophisticated plugin interface. In this chapter some of the available plugins will be introduced. Such plugins enhance the functionality of the DVBViewer and add numerous new functions. The plugins can be downloaded at www.dvbviewer.com/members. Here you can also download the Plugin SDK. Please note that you should always use the latest version of the DVBViewer.

 

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GraphSelector Plugin

You can create own graphs with GraphEdit to be used in combination with the different source-filters and DVD/Video playback via the GraphSelector Plugin (by Griga).

For example you can create a graph for the SkyStar 4.2, DVBViewer or Marfi 1.1 source-filter for recording with A/V-rendering disabled. Now you may even use different decoders in combination with the SkyStar 4.2 source-filter. Now there is also a graph for directly recording radio broadcasts in the mp3-format (currently using the LAME encoder, 192 kbit/sec., high quality, CBR), although the Audiorecorder Plugin is better suited for this task.

Proceed as follows (a more detailed description can be found in the Readme file):

Copy the GRFSelector.dll into your Plugins folder at \dvbviewer\plugins. Then extract the Graph folder into the plugins folder as a subfolder.

The different graphs can be selected in the Plugins menu. In the picture above the options for the SkyStar 4.2 source-filter are grayed out due to the use of the SkyAVC source-filter, so that you can't accidentally activate them. With this plugin you can now use different audio and video decoders for playback of multimedia files and DVDs. For more information please refer to the plugins readme file and chapter 10.

 

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Audiorecorder Plugin 2.8

The Audio Recorder Plugin (by Griga) adds the following features to the DVBViewer:

 

• Direct MP3, Ogg Vorbis or Wave recording of (audio) broadcasts
• Audio recording as MP3, Ogg Vorbis or Wave while playing a media file with DVBViewer. Thus the plugin may be used for conversion, e. g if you play a recorded mp2 file, you can record it again as MP3 or WAV.
• Real-time conversion to 44.1 kHz for creating audio-CD compatible recordings
• Can be used in conjunction with timed recordings, programmable via the DVBViewer's recorder interface.
• Recording a video with DVBViewer, and at the same time recording the sound as MP3/OGG/WAV to an extra file. Proceed as follows:

The package contains the following files:

• AudioRec.dll: Just put it into the DVBViewer/Plugins folder.
• Readme.rtf
• VorbisFile.dll
• VorbisEnc.dll
• Vorbis.dll
• Ogg.dll

The last 5 files must be copied into the DVBViewer main directory. Important: For MP3 recording you additionally need the file lame_enc.dll, which is not included in this package, but can be easily found in the web (try http://mitiok.free.fr/lame-3.92.zip and copy lame_enc.dll to the DVBViewer folder. The other files in the ZIP are not needed). The plugin has been testet with version 3.92 of the Lame MP3 Encoder. You may try other (later) versions, but the functioning of the plugin can not be guaranteed in this case.

How to use it

On the first page you should always select "stay connected to audio stream", otherwise you may encounter problems with the SkyStar 4.2 source-filter. Checking the second box, file-names will be automatically created. Now you must choose the audio format. Selecting a format, the corresponding tab-sheets will become visible. For MP3 for example there two additional pages for adjusting the format, for example setting the bit-rate and the sample-rate. You can also choose VBR (variable bit rate), CBR (constant bit rate) and ABR (average bit rate). For a detailed description have a look at the provided readme file.

 

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TVgenial Plugin

With the TVgenial Plugin (by Michael Maroszek) you can comfortably program the recorder timer via the program guide TVgenial.

Installation:

At first you must download the TV Genial Plugin and the Plugin Channel File [R12]. Both files must be copied into the DVBViewer's main folder. You must also download the TVgenial-software at www.tvgenial.de. In TVgenial you must set the interface at Aufnahmeschnittstelle to unbekanntes Gerät (unknown device). In the first field you must type in the path of the plugin's .exe-file, in the second the .txt-file and the third field remains empty.

 

Multicast Plugin 1.3

This plugin adds multicast network streaming to the DVBViewer for streaming one or more stations to one or more clients in a network. The usage is quite simple:

• Copy the multicast.dll into your plugins folder.
• After tuning a channel in the DVBViewer you need to open the multicast plugin via the plugins menu and select the channel(s) to be broadcast.
• Select the IP-address of your local network at the “network IP-address” field (usually 192.168.0.1).
• Do not change the Multicast IP-Address and the Multicast-Port!
• Now enable streaming with the corresponding check box and click OK, the video may be distorted for a few moments.
• Now start a program on your network client being able to receive network streams, for example the VideoLAN client (VLC).
• With the VLC you simply open a network stream (File->Open Networkstream)
• Then enable the radio-button UDP/RTP Multicast and enter the address 224.0.0.1 and the port displayed in the plugin (7792 is always the channel tuned, the next selected one is 7793, then 7794). After clicking OK the playback starts.

These Screenshots show an example with Pro7 tuned on the server and N24 selected for streaming to the client.

For streaming the tuned channel (not listed) just mark the checkbox "enable streaming" and click OK. In VLC you must select port 7792, this is always the channel tuned on the server.

You can also use any application that supports opening URLs in combination with the Moonlight UDP Streaming Application. After installation you can open the stream in any application with the address moonlight://224.0.0.1:7792/udp (replace 7792 with the value of the desired channel).

 

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Videorecorder Plugin (VRP) 3.0

 

The VRP (by Griga) offers additional recording features.

Recorder Tab

• Output Format lets you select the desired format. The plugin exclusively uses the Transport Stream format, all other formats are converted on the fly.
• Split Now will create a new file when reaching the selected size.
• Playback On/Audio/Off either disabled audio/video rendering or only the video-rendering (without changing the graph). Full playback is re-activated with the On-button.
• Timeshift starts/stops timeshift. Therefore the A/V rendering in the DVBViewer will be disabled and the TS Player will be opened for playback.
• Stream Errors informs about errors already during the recording!
• Video and Audio show the current format.

Settings Tab

• Execute All Scheduled DVBViewer Recordings. All recordings are executed by the VRP and not the internal recorder.
• Use Smartbuffer. Have a look here.
• Set First Videoheader to Average Bitrate. The bit rate in the first video sequence header of MPEG files is patched in a way that most players will show the correct length in their trackbar.
• Write AC3 Substream Header. In case of AC3 recordings, the plugin optionally writes a DVD-like substream-header, that should solve problems with playback and DVD authoring software (e.g. TMPGEnc)
• Packet Size. The Packet Size section contains three radio buttons: Unchanged / Max. 2048 / Always 2048 (DVD). The first 'Unchanged' option lets the plugin create MPGs with an unchanged packet sizes (like the DVBViewer). The second one creates packets with a maximum size of 2048 bytes. By allowing sizes that are smaller, it avoids the 10% stuffing/padding overhead of the former 'Create DVD Packet Size' option, but should be sufficient to avoid playback problems e.g. with WinDVD. It is quite likely that this option will be included in the next DVBViewer release. The third option - like the former 'Create DVD Packet Size' option - creates always 2048 bytes packets, or more precisely, lets the plugin align the data packets to 2048 byte borders by filling the remaining space with stuffing bytes. This may be suitable for stand-alone DVD players, but increases the file size.
• Write log file lists all occuring errors and format changes in a text file.

Channels Tab

• Here you can select the PIDs for TS recordings.
• Keep PIDs. The PID settings are stored for timer recordings.
• Default PID selection: When enabled, the corresponding PIDs are always added, too.

Timer Tab

The features of the Sleeptimer Plugin have been integrated into the VRP.

For more information please refer to the detailed readme file or have a look here.

 

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Preview Plugin 1.2

The new preview plugin is the successor of the formerly integrated preview function that was only available with Marfi's source-filter. It works with all source-filters now and it is far more comfortable to use.

After having started the plugin a new windows opens where you can select another channel via the context menu. This way you can also adjust the appearance. A double-click into the preview window enlarges it to full-screen mode and disables the audio in the DVBViewer's main window. Another double-click returns to window mode.

You can also preview audio for both windows simultaneously, you can swap the channels and so on. For more details please refer to the readme file.