How to setup transcoding with FreeNas for iPad use?

[whiskeyjack]

I'm looking for some pointers/tips/info on how to setup transcoding with FreeNas. I know MiniDLNA is available, but that only serves up the files in a specific way and doesn't do any transcoding (right?). I want to get a better understanding on how this is supposed to work.

What I would like to do is stream video files (mostly mkv, but also some dvd iso's and mpg) and photos to my iPad. Is this possible? What software would I need and how would it work (are the files served via Samba/NFS/FTP and then transcoded? Does it tie in with MiniDLNA? Is there another protocol? Are there iPad players that have proven to work with this?). There doesn't seem to be a plugin for this, but I'm fairly capable in Linux so I will probably find my way around FreeBSD if necessary.

It is not an absolute necessity for me to get this working, but it does seem an interesting project ;-)

 

[Theflu]

Look into emit app and air video for the ipad.

They wont run on freenas so you will have to set them up on a different computer and point them to the shares. Emit supports windows/liunx/mac and airvideo is winodws/mac

 

[whiskeyjack]

thanks, Emit looks promising as it has linux support.

But there is no way to get this working on a FreeNAS machine? The point was really to have it all on the same machine.

 

[joeschmuck]

Simple answer is no, FreeNAS 8 currently does not support transcoding. If you're up for it you could install a transcoding DLNA server into the jail PBI, which is the proper and only place to load something up in FreeNAS 8. You also need to has a powerful enough FreeNAS machine to handle transcoding on the fly.

My recommendation is to convert your videos into a suitable format and then play those files.

 

[whiskeyjack]

That's too bad, but thanks for the clear answer.

Follow up question then, is there maybe a plugin that converts files automatically whenever a new file is placed in a specific folder?

 

[joeschmuck]

That's too bad, but thanks for the clear answer.

Follow up question then, is there maybe a plugin that converts files automatically whenever a new file is placed in a specific folder?

Simple answer is No. Complex answer is you might be able to create something that would to this automatically for you but I doubt it's worth the effort unless you know your way around programming.

 

[Theflu]

The auto transcoding is not that hard to do it could be done with handbrake, bash script and a cron job. I have set this up before. Also emit can convert your files for you but it not automatic.

 

[whiskeyjack]

Ok, that doesn't sound too hard (I know my way around in Bash). Might give it a shot just for fun, once I get the machine up and running (still ordering parts).

Thanks all for the pointers, I had hoped more was possible, but at least I now know the options.