Network VLC for multiple devices, one shared library
Posted: 29 Nov 2024 13:06
Hi folks,
My home LAN setup is probably fairly common: several Windows systems, a few Android mobiles, DLNA / UPnP TV, Wi-Fi router, and some NAS devices. I like what VLC does on an individual Windows device, and have been happy with it for years now, although I'm embarrassed to confess that only today have I started to play with its library functions.
But we need to scale up, which I think needs:
1. Sharing one library file, which VLC clients on each of the various devices can access, add media to, edit media metadata, playlists, and of course play and enjoy the media using that device to view/hear/etc.
2. Library "knows" where various media files, folder trees, and the like are (NAS, local device memory, etc.)
3. Library supports tagging with metadata, such as genre, release date, key cast / crew members, type (animation, claymation, live, CG-intensive, made-for-TV, tv series, film 1 of 7-film set, etc.)
4. Manage or keep track of back up / multiple copies: DVD ripped to ISO or to MPEG, for example, to let the DVD stay in the physical backup shelf; 1080p vs other resolutions or format; dubs from VHS in PAL or NTSC; that sort of stuff
5. "remote control" -- use Android or phablet to control display on TV, select from library, control playback, etc., but without streaming to the remote and from remote to the display.
And so on.
I see a lot of threads for parts of this evolution that I want to start doing... like genre and tags, and using folder trees to segregate media by language... I could be wrong, but I think the crux here is whether one library file can be in shared use by multiple instances of VLC, running on different devices on the network.
Any thoughts, help, suggestions, most welcome!
Thanks!
My home LAN setup is probably fairly common: several Windows systems, a few Android mobiles, DLNA / UPnP TV, Wi-Fi router, and some NAS devices. I like what VLC does on an individual Windows device, and have been happy with it for years now, although I'm embarrassed to confess that only today have I started to play with its library functions.
But we need to scale up, which I think needs:
1. Sharing one library file, which VLC clients on each of the various devices can access, add media to, edit media metadata, playlists, and of course play and enjoy the media using that device to view/hear/etc.
2. Library "knows" where various media files, folder trees, and the like are (NAS, local device memory, etc.)
3. Library supports tagging with metadata, such as genre, release date, key cast / crew members, type (animation, claymation, live, CG-intensive, made-for-TV, tv series, film 1 of 7-film set, etc.)
4. Manage or keep track of back up / multiple copies: DVD ripped to ISO or to MPEG, for example, to let the DVD stay in the physical backup shelf; 1080p vs other resolutions or format; dubs from VHS in PAL or NTSC; that sort of stuff
5. "remote control" -- use Android or phablet to control display on TV, select from library, control playback, etc., but without streaming to the remote and from remote to the display.
And so on.
I see a lot of threads for parts of this evolution that I want to start doing... like genre and tags, and using folder trees to segregate media by language... I could be wrong, but I think the crux here is whether one library file can be in shared use by multiple instances of VLC, running on different devices on the network.
Any thoughts, help, suggestions, most welcome!
Thanks!