# Channel to View VLC Stream **URL:** \ **Category:** Dev/API Corner\ **Tags:** plugin-dev\ **Created:** [April 17, 2013, 9:42pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/channel-to-view-vlc-stream/32979 "2013-04-17T21:42:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FRITZ\_FRITZ](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/fritz_fritz/32/3558_2.png) [@FRITZ\_FRITZ](https://forums.plex.tv/u/FRITZ_FRITZ)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 9:42pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/channel-to-view-vlc-stream/32979/1 "2013-04-17T21:42:37Z")
Essentially what i'm trying to do is create a plex plugin that will allow me to watch a live stream.   I am currently using vlc to successfully tune my tvtuner and can stream to other vlc clients. I have the best success using an RTP stream with no transcoding simply providing the ts encapsulation as it is received over the air.    ``` cvlc atsc://frequency=605029000 --sout '#rtp{dst=10.0.1.8,port=5004,mux=ts,ttl=1}' --sout-keep -d ``` Using a separate instance of vlc I can open the network stream using rtp://10.0.1.8:5004 and it streams butter smooth.     I have also successfully streamed content using HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) as designed by Apple:   ``` cvlc -I dummy --ffmpeg-hw atsc://frequency=605000000 :live-cache=5000 --sout='#transcode{vcodec=h264,vb=200,fps=30,scale=.5,venc=x264{aud,level=50,keyint=15,bframes=0,ref=1},acodec=aac,ab=40,channels=2,samplerate=22050}:duplicate{dst=std{mux=ts,dst=-,access=livehttp{seglen=30,delsegs=true,numsegs=20,index=/var/www/stream/live.m3u8,index-url=content/live-######.ts},mux=ts{use-key-frames},dst=/var/www/stream/content/live-######.ts,ratecontrol=true}}'  ``` This generates a .m3u8 file which is dynamically updated as new clips are processed. It is accessible in safari on the iphone.   What I'm trying to do is create a plugin that will grab that live feed (preferably an rtp stream) and transcode it on the fly for my clients.     I have created a plugin which I thought would essentially look at that address (10.0.1.8:5004) and transcode it for whichever client I am using. However, I can't get it to actually find the stream!   ############################# Here's my init.py: ############################# ``` # Autor: Roland Fritz # Date: 7/31/2012 # About: This plugin is designed to enable live TV viewing on Plex clients. Required for this to # to work is a usb DTV tuner and vlc. # # NOTE: I do not make any guarantees that this will work for you. I do not endorse using this for # anything beyond personal use. This has been tested to work on Ubuntu server 12.04 running PMS. # # Version: 0.1 # #import mechanize VIDEO\_PREFIX = “/video/fritztv” NAME = L(‘Title’) ART = ‘art-default.jpg’ ICON = ‘icon-default.jpg’ NAMESPACES = {‘a’:‘[http://xspf.org/ns/0/](http://xspf.org/ns/0/)’} #################################################################################################### def Start(): ``` Plugin.AddPrefixHandler(VIDEO_PREFIX, MainMenu, NAME, ICON, ART) Plugin.AddViewGroup("InfoList", viewMode="InfoList", mediaType="items") Plugin.AddViewGroup("List", viewMode="List", mediaType="items") MediaContainer.title1 = NAME MediaContainer.viewGroup = "List" MediaContainer.art = R(ART) DirectoryItem.thumb = R(ICON) VideoItem.thumb = R(ICON) ``` # HTTP.CacheTime = CACHE\_1HOUR def MainMenu(): oc = ObjectContainer(title1=“VLC Player”) ``` mo = MediaObject(parts=[PartObject(key=HTTPLiveStreamURL("10.0.1.8:5004"))]) vco = VideoClipObject(title="Play local VLC stream", url='10.0.1.8:5004') vco.add(mo) oc.add(vco) return oc ``` ```         ############################# And Here's the Log ############################# ``` 2013-04-17 13:44:50,161 (-48d91700) : INFO (core:336) - Starting framework core - Version: 2.3.4, Build: 7570849 (Tue Apr 9 16:23:58 UTC 2013) 2013-04-17 13:44:50,161 (-48d91700) : DEBUG (core:348) - Using the standard policy 2013-04-17 13:44:50,162 (-48d91700) : DEBUG (core:437) - Starting runtime component. 2013-04-17 13:44:50,164 (-48d91700) : DEBUG (core:437) - Starting caching component. 2013-04-17 13:44:50,165 (-48d91700) : DEBUG (core:437) - Starting data component. 2013-04-17 13:44:50,166 (-48d91700) : DEBUG (core:437) - Starting networking component. 2013-04-17 13:44:50,177 (-48d91700) : DEBUG (networking:318) - Loaded HTTP cookies 2013-04-17 13:44:50,237 (-48d91700) : DEBUG (networking:504) - Setting the default network timeout to 20.0 2013-04-17 13:44:50,238 (-48d91700) : DEBUG (core:437) - Starting localization component. 2013-04-17 13:44:50,249 (-48d91700) : INFO (localization:408) - Setting the default locale to en-us 2013-04-17 13:44:50,250 (-48d91700) : DEBUG (localization:426) - Loaded en strings 2013-04-17 13:44:50,250 (-48d91700) : DEBUG (core:437) - Starting messaging component. 2013-04-17 13:44:50,251 (-48d91700) : DEBUG (core:437) - Starting debugging component. 2013-04-17 13:44:50,251 (-48d91700) : DEBUG (core:437) - Starting services component. 2013-04-17 13:44:50,252 (-48d91700) : DEBUG (core:437) - Starting myplex component. 2013-04-17 13:44:50,252 (-48d91700) : DEBUG (core:437) - Starting notifications component. 2013-04-17 13:44:50,275 (-4dd054c0) : DEBUG (networking:172) - Requesting 'http://127.0.0.1:32400/system/messaging/clear_events/com.plexapp.plugins.fritztv' 2013-04-17 13:44:50,563 (-48d91700) : DEBUG (accessor:68) - Creating a new model access point for provider com.plexapp.plugins.fritztv in namespace 'metadata' 2013-04-17 13:44:50,646 (-48d91700) : DEBUG (networking:172) - Requesting 'http://127.0.0.1:32400/:/plugins/com.plexapp.system/resourceHashes' 2013-04-17 13:44:50,967 (-48d91700) : DEBUG (runtime:1090) - Created a thread named 'load_all_services' 2013-04-17 13:44:50,968 (-4dd054c0) : DEBUG (services:265) - Plug-in is not daemonized - loading services from system 2013-04-17 13:44:50,972 (-48d91700) : DEBUG (runtime:1090) - Created a thread named 'get_server_info' 2013-04-17 13:44:50,975 (-48d91700) : DEBUG (core:149) - Finished starting framework core 2013-04-17 13:44:50,975 (-48d91700) : DEBUG (core:547) - Loading plug-in code 2013-04-17 13:44:50,973 (-4ed074c0) : DEBUG (networking:172) - Requesting 'http://127.0.0.1:32400' 2013-04-17 13:44:50,991 (-48d91700) : DEBUG (core:553) - Finished loading plug-in code 2013-04-17 13:44:51,034 (-4dd054c0) : DEBUG (networking:172) - Requesting 'http://127.0.0.1:32400/:/plugins/com.plexapp.system/messaging/function/X0J1bmRsZVNlcnZpY2U6QWxsU2VydmljZXM_/Y2VyZWFsMQoxCmxpc3QKMApyMAo_/Y2VyZWFsMQoxCmRpY3QKMApyMAo_' 2013-04-17 13:44:51,042 (-48d91700) : DEBUG (runtime:623) - Adding a prefix handler for 'FRITZTV' ('/video/fritztv') 2013-04-17 13:44:51,068 (-48d91700) : INFO (core:598) - Started plug-in 2013-04-17 13:44:51,068 (-48d91700) : DEBUG (socketinterface:144) - Starting socket server 2013-04-17 13:44:51,076 (-4ed074c0) : DEBUG (core:525) - Machine identifier is b51c1396cf6dfd857daa78c4ee9ddd57f97f76d1 2013-04-17 13:44:51,077 (-4ed074c0) : DEBUG (core:526) - Server version is 0.9.7.22.510-8faeab3 2013-04-17 13:44:51,080 (-48d91700) : DEBUG (runtime:1090) - Created a thread named 'start' 2013-04-17 13:44:51,080 (-48d91700) : INFO (socketinterface:168) - Socket server started on port 60346 2013-04-17 13:44:51,081 (-48d91700) : INFO (pipeinterface:25) - Entering run loop 2013-04-17 13:44:51,081 (-48d91700) : DEBUG (runtime:700) - Handling request GET /:/prefixes 2013-04-17 13:44:51,084 (-48d91700) : DEBUG (runtime:797) - Found route matching /:/prefixes 2013-04-17 13:44:51,102 (-48d91700) : DEBUG (runtime:897) - Response: [200] MediaContainer, 442 bytes 2013-04-17 13:44:51,429 (-4dd054c0) : DEBUG (services:362) - Loaded services 2013-04-17 13:44:51,437 (-4e5064c0) : DEBUG (services:438) - No shared code to load 2013-04-17 13:45:08,839 (-4dd054c0) : DEBUG (runtime:700) - Handling request GET /:/plugins/com.plexapp.plugins.fritztv/resources/icon-default.jpg?t=1366169333 2013-04-17 13:45:08,912 (-4e5064c0) : DEBUG (runtime:700) - Handling request GET /:/plugins/com.plexapp.plugins.fritztv/resources/icon-default.jpg?t=1366169333 2013-04-17 13:45:08,920 (-4dd054c0) : DEBUG (runtime:797) - Found route matching /:/plugins/com.plexapp.plugins.fritztv/resources/icon-default.jpg 2013-04-17 13:45:08,920 (-4e5064c0) : DEBUG (runtime:797) - Found route matching /:/plugins/com.plexapp.plugins.fritztv/resources/icon-default.jpg 2013-04-17 13:45:08,943 (-4e5064c0) : DEBUG (runtime:897) - Response: [200] DataObject, 23789 bytes 2013-04-17 13:45:08,973 (-4dd054c0) : DEBUG (runtime:897) - Response: [200] DataObject, 23789 bytes 2013-04-17 13:45:10,923 (-4dd054c0) : DEBUG (runtime:700) - Handling request GET /video/fritztv 2013-04-17 13:45:10,925 (-4dd054c0) : DEBUG (runtime:49) - Received packed state data (80 bytes) 2013-04-17 13:45:10,927 (-4dd054c0) : DEBUG (runtime:797) - Found route matching /video/fritztv 2013-04-17 13:45:10,927 (-4dd054c0) : WARNING (objectkit:193) - The 'platforms' attribute is deprecated and should not be assigned. 2013-04-17 13:45:10,928 (-4dd054c0) : WARNING (objectkit:193) - The 'protocols' attribute is deprecated and should not be assigned. 2013-04-17 13:45:10,929 (-4dd054c0) : DEBUG (base:123) - Checking if com.plexapp.plugins.fritztv is broken 2013-04-17 13:45:10,930 (-4dd054c0) : DEBUG (networking:172) - Requesting 'http://127.0.0.1:32400/:/plugins/com.plexapp.system/messaging/function/X1N0b3JlU2VydmljZTpJc0NoYW5uZWxCcm9rZW4_/Y2VyZWFsMQoxCmxpc3QKMApyMAo_/Y2VyZWFsMQoxCmRpY3QKMQpzMjcKY29tLnBsZXhhcHAucGx1Z2lucy5mcml0enR2czEwCmlkZW50aWZpZXJyMAo_' 2013-04-17 13:45:10,943 (-4dd054c0) : WARNING (objectkit:193) - Media part has no streams - attempting to synthesize 2013-04-17 13:45:10,949 (-4dd054c0) : DEBUG (services:602) - No service found for URL '10.0.1.8:5004' 2013-04-17 13:45:10,949 (-4dd054c0) : DEBUG (services:617) - No matching services found for '10.0.1.8:5004' 2013-04-17 13:45:10,956 (-4dd054c0) : DEBUG (services:41) - Loading service code for Fallback (URLServiceRecord) 2013-04-17 13:45:11,178 (-4dd054c0) : DEBUG (runtime:49) - Received packed state data (80 bytes) 2013-04-17 13:45:11,181 (-4dd054c0) : DEBUG (runtime:106) - Sending packed state data (108 bytes) 2013-04-17 13:45:11,182 (-4dd054c0) : DEBUG (runtime:897) - Response: [200] MediaContainer, 774 bytes 2013-04-17 14:14:36,146 (-4dd054c0) : DEBUG (runtime:700) - Handling request GET /video/fritztv 2013-04-17 14:14:36,149 (-4dd054c0) : DEBUG (runtime:797) - Found route matching /video/fritztv 2013-04-17 14:14:36,151 (-4dd054c0) : DEBUG (base:123) - Checking if com.plexapp.plugins.fritztv is broken 2013-04-17 14:14:36,172 (-4dd054c0) : DEBUG (networking:172) - Requesting 'http://127.0.0.1:32400/:/plugins/com.plexapp.system/messaging/function/X1N0b3JlU2VydmljZTpJc0NoYW5uZWxCcm9rZW4_/Y2VyZWFsMQoxCmxpc3QKMApyMAo_/Y2VyZWFsMQoxCmRpY3QKMQpzMjcKY29tLnBsZXhhcHAucGx1Z2lucy5mcml0enR2czEwCmlkZW50aWZpZXJyMAo_' 2013-04-17 14:14:36,183 (-4dd054c0) : DEBUG (services:602) - No service found for URL '10.0.1.8:5004' 2013-04-17 14:14:36,183 (-4dd054c0) : DEBUG (services:617) - No matching services found for '10.0.1.8:5004' 2013-04-17 14:14:36,187 (-4dd054c0) : DEBUG (runtime:106) - Sending packed state data (108 bytes) 2013-04-17 14:14:36,188 (-4dd054c0) : DEBUG (runtime:897) - Response: [200] MediaContainer, 774 bytes ``` Thanks,   **FRITZ|FRITZ** ---
**Author:** ![mikedm139](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/mikedm139/32/96909_2.png) [@mikedm139](https://forums.plex.tv/u/mikedm139)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 10:51pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/channel-to-view-vlc-stream/32979/2 "2013-04-17T22:51:16Z")
You won't have much luck with a RTP stream. PMS doesn't support it. Yes, FFMPEG does but PMS does not. Oh well. In theory, the HLS stream should work but you're constructing your VideoClipObject improperly.  The current plugin framework is designed around URL Services. In your case, an URL Service isn't really going to add much benefit but going without one makes the \_\_init\_\_.py look a little more confusing. When you're not using an URL Service, you must not set the 'url' attribute of the VideoClipObject. Instead you need to set the "key" and "rating\_key" attibutes.  Usually the key is a callback and the rating\_key is a unique string to identify the video. Often the URL can be used as the rating\_key. I just re-wrote the [channel for Sesame Street](https://github.com/plexinc-plugins/Sesame-Street.bundle/blob/master/Contents/Code/ __init__.py#L86) using this method. It uses MP4 videos rather than m3u8, but the concept for structuring the VideoClipObject is pretty much the same. ---
**Author:** ![Murderous\_Moppet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/db5fbb/32.png) [@Murderous\_Moppet](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Murderous_Moppet)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 12:22am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/channel-to-view-vlc-stream/32979/3 "2013-04-18T00:22:38Z")
[this thread](http://forums.plexapp.com/index.php/topic/41588-how-can-i-open-a-vlc-stream/) may provide you some useful information. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2019, 11:14pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/channel-to-view-vlc-stream/32979/4 "2019-12-20T23:14:27Z")
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