The Canal+ Plugin is now officially in the Unsuported Plugins page...
The [Canal+ plugin](http://wiki.plexapp.com/index.php/Canal%2B) is now in the Plex [Unsupported plugin](http://wiki.plexapp.com/index.php/Unsupported_plugins) page !
You can Download it and test it. We need your reviews.
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Version 0.5 :
Several videos could not be played anymore. This is resolved by using Canal+ player. As a result, the plugin now uses a Site configuration file.
Pausing the video is supported, but not seeking.
Removed video's quality choice, as it can't be done anymore using Canal+ player. The player probably automatically chooses the best quality available.
Added a list of related videos once one is selected. This allow, for example, to have a list of all parts of a show (Le Grand Journal for instance is split in multiple videos), or see shows from previous days (Le Zapping for example).
Version 0.4 :
Added support for HD videos. Well, the few that are available at least.
Version 0.3 :
Added even nicer background images and icons, for each category.
Version 0.2 :
Added nicer background images.
Version 0.1 :
Initial release.
[Download latest version here...](http://tailszefox.free.fr/canalplus/)
Canal+ provides some videos in HD, and I wondered if they were available trough HTTP. Well, guess what : they are! The plugin now shows HD as a choice, alongside HQ and LQ.
The bad news is that Canal+ seems to provide HD for only a handful of videos. The only ones I can find right now are the “ZapSport” videos, and some videos from “Les Guignols de l’info”. But still, it’s better than nothing, and we can only hope that other videos will be available in HD. If a video isn’t available in HD, you will only be able to choose between HQ and LQ.
Canal+ also seems to have a strange definition of “HD”, those videos aren’t true HD (don’t expect anything in 720 or 1080p), they’re only of better quality than the HQ ones. But again, better than nothing.
Sorry for the double post, but, well, it’s been a while.
For some days it seems the Canal+ Plugin isn’t working properly, for me at least. I don’t know about other people using the plugin, but I suppose it’s the same thing. Well…Is anyone even using the plugin, in any case? If not, I guess there’s no point in fixing it…Tell me if you do, and if it works properly for you (probably not for now).
Here’s the problem right now : the plugin retrieves XML files containing URL to the videos. However, they use the RTMP protocol. I’m not sure if Plex supports this protocol or not, but in any case it isn’t able to play the videos when provided with URLs from the XML files, as I get an “unsupported video codec” error. It’s just a regular FLV file so I’m not sure if it really has to do with the codec, but anyway.
For now, the solution has been to replace these URL with ones pointing to the videos using the HTTP protocol. It isn’t as simple as replacing “rtmp://” with “http://”, though it just replaced part of the URL with another one. The problem is, those URLs now points to an error “Forbidden” page on Canal+ website, which essentially means that the video won’t be played in Plex.
The plugin will need a rewrite for the “List videos” part. Fortunately Canal+ has a Flash player on its website, and it wouldn’t be too hard (I think) to use that to play the video from now on. Finding the URL for the player is pretty easy too, so it’s just a matter of writing a website configuration for Plex, and changing the script to point to the right page. However, as I said, it depends on if anyone is using the plugin or not. Though I’ll probably fix it if only for myself .
Well, that’s it. Once again don’t hesitate to tell us if you’re using the plugin!
you can use the rtmp streams with the plex universal flash player, which also has the advantage of you not having to worry about a site config. if i’m not mistaken, you use it as a WebVideoItem with an address like:
Th player loads but doesn’t display anything. It does the same thing inside Plex. I may have to resort to using a Site configuration anyway.
EDIT: I’ve just used a tool called FLVStreamer that can connect to a RTMP server and save the stream as an FLV file. I tried with the exact same URL I provided to the Plex Flash Player, and it worked and created a working FLV file of the show, which means the URL is valid. So I don’t know. Either there’s a incompatibility with the player, or I’m not using it correctly.
Oh wait, there’s a WHOLE page on the Wiki about that. Sorry, I didn’t know. I’ll try reading it to see if I can make it work.
More EDIT: It works! The player needs to parameters, that’s why it wasn’t working. Well, I’m off to modify the script then. Thanks for your help!
Even more EDIT: Canal+ XML files are a tangled mess. There seems to be three categories of URLs : some already in RTMP that work fine with the Plex player, some in HTTP that points to an invalid URL but works when changed to the RTMP protocol, and even some that point to a valid HTTP URL and don’t even work when changed to the RTMP protocol.
It seems Canal+ is slowly changing its videos to only use the RTMP protocol, but it’s not done for all of them. The script has to create hybrids : sometimes a WebVideoItem is used, sometimes it’s a regular VideoItem.
And after testing, it seems some videos aren’t even hosted on Canal+ website! The plugin doesn’t yet work with them.
At this rate I think I might as well use a Site configuration and just let Canal+ player handle this mess.
I had to use Canal+ player for that, it works well even though seeking is broken. Don’t know why.
While testing the script I also saw that the XML misses several videos available. This is fixed by adding a list “related videos” once one is selected. If it’s not clear, just use the script and you’ll see that it’s quite convenient!
I love this plugin and I use it every day. Since I also use Boxee (specially for the trailers) I’d like to see a boxee version of this plugin. I might even look at it myself.
archaos: Thanks! Never tried Boxee before, so I can’t help you with that, but if you manage to make it yourself don’t hesitate to tell us!
Romsfou: I don’t know, I never used that software. It it’s compatible with Plex plugins there’s no reason this one couldn’t work, as it’s no different from the others.
I kind of remember seeing a video allowing you to watch Canal+ live, when a unencrypted show is currently broadcast. But usually when I use the plugin, it’s not the case, so I’m not sure. I’ll have to take a look at that once I get the chance.
EDIT : Yep. When Canal+ is broadcasting unencrypted, you can watch it by going to “Emissions” > “Les émissions quotidiennes” > “Canal +”, and then “Canal +” again. If Canal+ is broadcasting an encrypted program, I think the link won’t be available.
So, it is already possible, it’s just a little hidden! Do you think it should be moved elsewhere, like putting a “Watch Canal+ live” on the main menu?
Hey everyone. I’m happy to announce a new version of the Canal+ plugin. The biggest change is that I finally got rid of the Canal+ player, as the plugin now uses Plex’s player for RTMP content. It means two things : no more ads (hooray!), and the ability to pause and seek correctly (yay!). It also means no more live feeds (boo!) because I couldn’t find the correct address to make them play. Sorry about that, but the live feeds have a strange address that looks nothing like the other videos. Maybe they’re just not compatible with Plex’s player.
Anyway, the plugin has been rewritten from scratch and now uses v.1 of Plex’s framework. You can also select the quality of the videos, by choosing “Preferences” at the bottom of the plugin’s main menu: HD is the default and is the best quality available, but if your connection can’t take it, you can select HQ or even LQ. If a quality isn’t available for a video the plugin will choose the next best quality available.
So if you’re getting tired of ads and want the seek properly while watching a video (useful for very long shows), don’t hesitate to upgrade! I’ll probably submit the plugin to the App Store soon, too.
The plugin can be downloaded here : CanalPlus.plexapp (don’t directly click on the link, apparently Safari opens it like a regular webpage instead of asking you where to save it. Do a Ctrl+Click to save it). Just execute this file and you’re good to go.
That’s it. I hope everyone will enjoy this new version!
In another post you write about watching La semaine du petit journal, but I can’t see it in the lists, did I miss it?
I really like Le petit journal de Yann Barthes, and forwarding (= seeking ?) in Le grand journal Partie 2 seems to malfunction sometimes (progess bar reduces when pressing right arrow).
Because of the way videos are listed by Canal+, you have to search a little to be able to watch La semaine du petit journal. But you just have to select one of the current videos for Le Petit Journal to see a list of others related videos, La semaine du petit journal being one of them.
Maybe that’s not very clear…Basically, just go to to Divertissements > L’humour du grand journal, and choose one of the two videos for “Le petit journal” available. You should then see ‘La semaine du petit journal’ inside the list of related videos. If it’s not there, then it may have been deleted for being too old. But most of the time, it’s there. Right now it should be at the bottom of the list. Obviously you’ll only be able to watch La semaine du petit journal for the past week, since Canal+ doesn’t keep most videos for a very long time.
I know it’s a little confusing, but if you go to http://player.canalplus.fr/ you’ll see they use the exact same categories as the plugin, and that you have to select a video before being able to have a full list of related videos. Hope that helps!
That’s strange, I have the video right in front of me. Here’s the exact path I followed :
Divertissement > Tout l’humour dans le grand journal > Le petit journal people 29/04/10 > Le petit journal de la semaine, at the bottom of the list. If you follow this path, don’t you end up on the exact same video? Because if you don’t, either the plugin has some strange bug, or Canal+ has some kind of restriction in effect.
I was surprised myself actually, to see that they went from “La semaine du petit journal” to “Le petit journal de la semaine”. Seems they changed the name not long ago.
Well anyway, as long as you found it, then everything is right!
