XBMC Command

[starwarsmike]

Hi

Does anyone know if there is a command to play a song within XMBC, e.g. If I had adele album/Song on XBMC on PC, was thinking I could create my own media player within DemoPad, with my own covers/design. I would just need the command to play a song. Appreciate would need to setup a command for each song.

Appreciate any comments/help? Or just to know if possible or not, or if there is another way I could play/start a song on my PC, sending a command from, within DemoPad?

Thanks

[trevorst]

Hi Mike,
You sure are a glutton for punishment

Sure you can do it but is it worth it...
Here is the link to the Api http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=JSON-RPC_API/v6

The Api has all the commands needed to build your file lists and play, it would be a pain to try and do it within Demopad.
Much easier to use the Demopad iTunes module.

[starwarsmike]

Cheers Trevor, yes I am a glutton for punishment! Too much time on my hands! Will give it a go!

[cv27]

Cheers Trevor, yes I am a glutton for punishment! Too much time on my hands! Will give it a go!

Before you do...

I did give a shot and was disappointed, disappointed because I didn't think too deep before shelling out the $12.99.

I have over 1000 songs that I originally ripped as WMA lossless (on a USB stick for playing in the car); the songs also sit on a PC server for listening in the house. But some of my home DLNA players couldn't deal with WAM lossless, so I converted the bunch to FLAC. Then I started looking for an IOS app that would allow me to play music on my AV system; my requirements were that the app be able to :
1- Power up the Amp
2- Get the music streamed from my server to the Amp
3- Show me the music collection and let me pick which song or playlist to play, from the iPad (and not looking at the TV to do so).

Then I read again on the iTunes DemoPad module, which seemed to meet all my requirements... almost.

What I soon but too late realized is that iTunes ignores the rest of the world. When I added FLAC folders to its library, it didn't even come up with a "no can do", pure silence. When I added WMA lossless folders, it converted those into a lossy .m4a format, giving me a 3rd instance of my collection, with less audio fidelity.

I could have saved $12.99 if I had researched ahead of time. So be sure of your requirements.

I'm curently looking into alternatives, unfortunately exterior to DemoPad.

As others have expressed, I too hope that DemoPad will come up with other options for a DLNA Media Controller.

[starwarsmike]

Hi

I have found an easier way to do this....

Using MCE Controller, using a start command, e.g.

<StartProcess Cmd="Start_ADELE" File="E:\Music\Adele\21\01 Rolling in the Deep.wav" />

This command will play the song to your chosen default media player.

[starwarsmike]

CV27

Have you tried to convert them to AIFF files? Then import to iTunes? AIFF is high-bit audio format.

[cv27]

StarwarsMike,

Good point. I had reinstalled iTunes and it reverted to the default import lossy encoder, AAC (M4a). I did change it back to AIFF.

So now I have a lossless version, but a 3rd one as I complained earlier. Plus the fact that not all my devices can play AIFF. I guess it's obvious I don't live in an Apple exclusive ecosystem.

The other point is that AIFF is uncompressed. One sample went from 32MB to 55MB, that's an explosion factor of 1.7.

After hours of research and installation of failing IOS apps, I found a solution: iControlAV from Pioneer. Ironically, years back I had played with this app when I initially acquired Pioneer amps, but had forgotten about it. This app is slick, if you have Pioneer gear. I also found a more generic app, AudioRemote from Sony, pretty solid, but not as pretty.

There is a definite need for a audio media player module within DemoPad. Pictures and video will necessarily have you in front of a display device to view them, so DemoPad device commands can do the job. But for listening to music, I may be sitting in the kitchen or laying in bed so I need to visualize on my iPad what choices I have. So we need a DemoPad friendly DMC module.

P.S. BTW, my intention wasn't to knock down iTunesLinkv1, it does its job, but in a restricted ecosystem.

[starwarsmike]

The more DemoPad can do without other apps the better,

I started creating my own music media player last night, MCE controller will handle the commands from DemoPad to start the song, then connect my PC sound card with an optical cable to my Cyrus DAC.

Will let you know if worth doing in a month, I've estimated will take at least a month, 5 hours per day. On a very sizeable library.