Anyone out there own a ROKU? These things are pretty awesome. at $100 for the latest model, its a no brainer.

For those of you who don't know what a ROKU is, its basically a streaming media player.

http://www.roku.com/

What do you guys think about creating a private African Hunting Channel?

I'd be willing to put something together with various submitted footage. I have a decent amount of tech knowledge (coding, scripting, video editing, etc...) The channel would not show up on the public ROKU channel list, you would need the code to access it. But if done right, I think we could offer high quality african hunting footage for free to everyone that has ROKU and the code to access the channel.

Would anyone be willing to submit their personal hunt videos for a project like this?

Sounds like a great idea. I have a Roku, but unfortunately I don't have any videos of my hunts.

Wife and I just picked up the latest Roku last night and man- that thing is PACKED with features! I'd be up for a private African Hunting Channel, however I must confess the only Africa footage I had of our hunt was after the hunt, during which I scratched and rubbed a tame warthog. Fun footage, nonetheless, and a great idea, bobby!

-John

Hey at this point, any and all footage would be welcome. Just trying to prove the concept first and then maybe more will be willing to submit.

I'm going to work on this tonight, maybe have a few videos to test for you guys with ROKUs in a few days.

Any ideas on a name for the channel? Primary focus would be African Hunting, but maybe leave it a little more broad so there can be other categories for other types of hunting footage.

Sounds like a great idea Bobby.

Have you done any studies to see what this might cost?

Web site, dedicated server, bandwidth, SD or HD etc.

It would be interesting to know.

the hosting of the files would be the biggest expense. To do things right, something like Amazon s3 would be good (netflix uses Amazon). Its a pay for what you use system which I think makes the most sense. From my limited research, it would seem possible to host 3-4 different files (of various qualities) of the same video, and depending on your connection the ROKU would choose which version to stream at that time. So of course your storage cost would be a bit higher, but I think you save in the end by cutting down on the bandwidth used. Which I like because you can control storage, but bandwidth can get out of control at any moment.

Amazon S3 (storage)
First 1 TB / month $0.095 per GB
Next 49 TB / month $0.080 per GB

data transfer
First 1 GB / month $0.000 per GB
Up to 10 TB / month $0.120 per GB
Next 40 TB / month $0.090 per GB


as far as everything else, costs are minimal. I'd do all the code and scripting. And the website itself, if needed. ROKU gives developers an SDK kit with all the tools they need, and PSD templates for the different screens. So it's really not too complicated if you are somewhat familiar with XML coding.

I'd be willing to front the cost of hosting for a bit just to test the waters. Of course if it becomes popular, the cost could skyrocket pretty quickly. then might need to look at setting up a subscription model to cover cost of the hosting. just thinking of all the possibilities at this point. But streaming is the future, and the ROKU is the top selling device. You alone could save a small fortune in postage and blank DVDs/BluRay

I am open to suggestions on any aspect of this.

I think it sounds great. Please excuse my ignorance, but you quoted prices in gigabytes and terabytes, but how much bandwidth and storage will be required? What do you expect your first three months to cost?
Thanks

Mike

using the amazon simple calculator

http://calculator.s3.amazonaws.com/calc5.html
(s3 tab on left)

Storage of 100 GB & 1 TB of bandwidth/month = $130
Storage of 200 GB & 3 TB of bandwidth/month = $385
Storage of 500 GB & 10 TB of bandwidth/month = $1400

Not too bad really. It all comes down to content and how many people decide to stream the videos. One of those thing that I guess will need to be monitored as it goes. Storage is the cheap part of it all, and easy to manage. If we had 50 full length hunt videos on there, bandwidth could be thru the roof pretty quickly. I will work on creating the channel to just get familiar with how its done. linking the content is the easy part and can be done at the final stages.

Any care to offer a high quality DVD or video file for a test run? preferably in the 3 GB (+-) file size area

I've only had my ROKU a couple months. I've been experimenting a little with streaming video from my computer to my ROKU through my home wireless network.

I used Plex to set up a media server and Handbrake to convert the video files. So far MP4 format is the hands down winner for streaming to my ROKU.

Getting a consistent video format from submissions is one of your biggest hurdles with this project.

Personally, I am not a great fan of streaming.

Does Roku allow you to download and store the films at home?

We use iTunes, and that does allow you to download the content you have purchased.

We have a dedicated 100MB/s fiber Internet connection, and even with that we have problem streaming media from iTunes sometimes.

What I have done is setup a separate account specifically for iTunes to be used by the whole family.

I am using an old editing computer to store all the content we purchase.

Last weekend the kids wanted to watch a movie from iTunes. The streaming was very patchy.

It took me a few minutes to transfer the film from my computer to an ipad, and I connected the ipad to projector by the pool and they were able to enjoy the movie.

Saeed,

The Roku does not store movies. However you can do exactly as I have done. I stream movies on a home wireless network to a Roku connected to a television. You have to install Plex on the Roku and computer. You can then stream downloaded content from your computer (movies, music, pictures...) to your Roku. Your success streaming is also limited by the speed of your home network.

I use a dual band simultaneous n-router. This gives you two wireless channels for devices to latch into. One channel is dedicated to the Roku. Other devices like printers and laptops latch into the other. Depending on your home wireless demands you may need to do something similar. The main thing is to setup a high priority channel for the Roku in your network system.

Cool idea! I've not grabbed a Roku 3 yet but it's pretty much on my list within the next month.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Personally, I am not a great fan of streaming.

Does Roku allow you to download and store the films at home?

We use iTunes, and that does allow you to download the content you have purchased.

We have a dedicated 100MB/s fiber Internet connection, and even with that we have problem streaming media from iTunes sometimes.

What I have done is setup a separate account specifically for iTunes to be used by the whole family.

I am using an old editing computer to store all the content we purchase.

Last weekend the kids wanted to watch a movie from iTunes. The streaming was very patchy.

It took me a few minutes to transfer the film from my computer to an ipad, and I connected the ipad to projector by the pool and they were able to enjoy the movie.

I was the same way. Disappointed with other streaming devices, they all seem to fall short. I would just move files around on flash drives, etc... But honestly the ROKU does a pretty good job where others have failed. Like TheBigGuy said above, ROKU + Plex Server and you are set. It works very well across a home network. Just tell Plex what folder(s) your stuff is in, and it will update the ROKU with all of the information. I would give it a try, it has worked very well for me. Even when streaming content that isn't local via the basic ROKU channels (vimeo, youtube, HBO GO, etc...) it has been very solid. True HD picture with little to no buffering at all. And I'm only on a 15mb connection at home.

As far as the idea for the channel. If we were all tech savy, then sure we could setup a public FTP and just share actual video files that way, or thru some peer-to-peer sharing... but I think a ROKU channel would be a very easy "do from your remote in about 2-3 clicks" solution for those who just want simplicity.

quote:

Originally posted by bobby7321:

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Personally, I am not a great fan of streaming.

Does Roku allow you to download and store the films at home?

We use iTunes, and that does allow you to download the content you have purchased.

We have a dedicated 100MB/s fiber Internet connection, and even with that we have problem streaming media from iTunes sometimes.

What I have done is setup a separate account specifically for iTunes to be used by the whole family.

I am using an old editing computer to store all the content we purchase.

Last weekend the kids wanted to watch a movie from iTunes. The streaming was very patchy.

It took me a few minutes to transfer the film from my computer to an ipad, and I connected the ipad to projector by the pool and they were able to enjoy the movie.

I was the same way. Disappointed with other streaming devices, they all seem to fall short. I would just move files around on flash drives, etc... But honestly the ROKU does a pretty good job where others have failed. Like TheBigGuy said above, ROKU + Plex Server and you are set. It works very well across a home network. Just tell Plex what folder(s) your stuff is in, and it will update the ROKU with all of the information. I would give it a try, it has worked very well for me. Even when streaming content that isn't local via the basic ROKU channels (vimeo, youtube, HBO GO, etc...) it has been very solid. True HD picture with little to no buffering at all. And I'm only on a 15mb connection at home.

As far as the idea for the channel. If we were all tech savy, then sure we could setup a public FTP and just share actual video files that way, or thru some peer-to-peer sharing... but I think a ROKU channel would be a very easy "do from your remote in about 2-3 clicks" solution for those who just want simplicity.

One of the reasons the Roku works so well is it doesn't get bogged down juggling other tasks like laptops and smart phones do. The Roku is a dedicated streamer. That's ALL it does.

Now if you have a "busy" wireless network. You might have some issues. I have a wireless printer that seemed was always trying to download updates while I was watching a movie. That sucked the bandwidth out of the stream and made for a stuttering movie. Dedicating a wireless channel to the Roku eliminated that issue.

Can't say enough about streaming across my home wireless n network utilizing a Roku and Plex. It flat works brilliantly for me. Pictures, music and video. It is excellent.