Add-on:VideoScreensaver

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VideoScreensaver
icon.png

Author: robwebset

Type: Screensaver
Repo:

License: GPL v2.0
Source: Source code
Summary: Screensaver that plays a video file
Home icon grey.png   ▶ Add-ons ▶ VideoScreensaver
Attention talk.png Need help with this add-on? See here.

Plays a video when the screensaver starts, this can be a custom video or one of the built in videos



Introduction

VideoScreensaver is a screensaver that will play a video file when the screensaver starts. It will support playing either a user specified video file, or one of several pre-defined video files.

Forum And Issue Report Pages

If you have any questions, found an issue to report or would just like to know a little more you can take part in the forum discussions at:

VideoScreensaver Forum

Built-In Screensaver Videos

The following screensaver videos are supplied with the addon.

Note These videos will be downloaded when they are selected from the settings screen, this can take several minutes, but once downloaded they will be cached and will not need downloading again.


Important These videos are stored on a public share (as it is free) and have bandwidth limits - So if there are several people downloading videos at the same approximate time, then the limit will be exceeded and downloads will not work correctly until the following day (When the limit is reset)


Aquarium 1 - [846MB] - 400p

Aquarium001.png

Aquarium 2 - [2.7GB] - 720p

Aquarium002-720p.png

Aquarium 3 - [2.4GB] - 720p

VideoScreensaver-Aquarium003.PNG

Aquarium 4 - [780MB] - 720p

VideoScreensaver-Aquarium004.JPG

Aquarium 5 - [3.0GB] - 720p

VideoScreensaver-Aquarium005.png

Beach 1 - [2.5GB] - 720p

VideoScreensaver-Beach001.JPG

Beach 2 - [838MB] - 720p

VideoScreensaver-Beach002.JPG

Beach 3 - [3.4GB] - 720p

VideoScreensaver-Beach003.JPG

Christmas 1 - [777MB] - 1080p

VideoScreensaver-Christmas001.JPG

Clock 1 - [1.5GB] - 720p

VideoScreensaver-Clock001.JPG

Clock 2 - [1.3GB] - 360p

VideoScreensaver-Clock002.JPG

Fireplace 1 - [965MB] - 720p

Fireplace001-720p.png

Fireplace 2 - [827MB] - 480p

Fireplace002.png

Fireplace 3 - [2.1GB] - 1080p

Fireplace003-1080p.png

Fireplace 4 - [2.7GB] - 720p

VideoScreensaver-Fireplace004.PNG

Johnny Castaway 1 - [75MB] - 480p

VideoScreensaver-JohnnyCastaway001.JPG

Matrix 1 - [909MB] - 720p

VideoScreensaver-Matrix001.JPG

Ocean 1 - [1.1GB] - 720p

VideoScreensaver-Ocean001.JPG

Retro Sci-Fi 1 - [200MB] - 1080p

VideoScreensaver-RetroSciFi001.JPG

Snow 1 - [1.3GB] - 720p

VideoScreensaver-Snow001.JPG

Snow 2 - [677MB] - 1080p

VideoScreensaver-Snow002.JPG

Snow 3 - [1.2GB] - 720p

VideoScreensaver-Snow003.JPG

Space 1 - [970MB] - 720p

VideoScreensaver-Space001.PNG

Space 2 - [563MB] - 1080p

VideoScreensaver-Space002.JPG

Space 3 - [2.2GB] - 720p

VideoScreensaver-Space003.png

Star Trek TNG 1 - [54MB] - 720p

VideoScreensaver-StarTrekTNG001.JPG

Waterfall 1 - [1.3GB] - 720p

VideoScreensaver-Waterfall001.JPG

Waterfall 2 - [1.3GB] - 720p

VideoScreensaver-Waterfall002.JPG

Waterfall 3 - [2.4GB] - 720p

VideoScreensaver-Waterfall003.JPG

Watermill 1 - [549MB] - 1080p

VideoScreensaver-Watermill001.JPG

Woodland 1 - [1.3GB] - 720p

VideoScreensaver-Woodland001.JPG



Built-In Overlay Images

The following overlay images are supplied with the addon.

Picture Frame 1

PictureFrame1.png

Window Frame 1

WindowFrame1.png

Window Frame 2

WindowFrame2.png



Clocks

VideoScreensaver has special handling for clock videos. This enables the correct current time to be displayed. This is assuming the video is either 12 hours (for an analog clock) or 24 hours (for a digial clock) and starts at midnight/12 o'clock. The built in "Clock" screensaver videos will handle this and show the correct time. If you have a custom video you wish to be shown as a clock, then this can be done my naming it with the name "clock" in the filename.

Schedule

It is possible to schedule which video is used at which time of day via the Schedule Settings. The rules to apply for schedules can either be defined directly in the settings, or defined in an XML file which is then referenced from the settings.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="yes"?>
<schedule>
    <rule id="1" start="10:24" end="14:37" video="myvideo.mkv" overlay="myoverlay.png" />
    <rule id="2" start="16:00" end="18:00" video="myvideo2.mkv" overlay="myoverlay2.png" />
</schedule>

If no video is specified in the schedule settings, then it will fall back to the default rules from the screensaver settings.

Settings

This section details all the settings options for VideoScreensaver

Screensaver

Video Selection
Select if one of the "Preset" videos should be used, or a user provided video
Selected Screensaver (Preset-Only)
Shows the name of the selected Screensaver
Set/Download Preset Video File (Preset-Only)
Prompts for a selection for the preset screensaver to download
Use All Files In A Folder (User-Defined-Only)
Will play a selection of video files from a directory instead of a single file
Include Nested Folders (User-Defined-Folder-Only)
Will include video files from sub directories as well as the root directory
Select Video Folder/File (User-Defined-Only)
Prompts for the video files to use as a screensaver
Repeat Type For Multiple Files (User-Defined-Only)
Repeat All - Will loop through all the videos in the folder
Repeat One - Will randomly select one video and keep repeating that video
Overlay Image
Allows for either a built in or user defined image to be overlayed on top of the video file
Debugging
Enable Debug logging
Enables VideoScreensaver debug logging into the Kodi log file
Settings1.JPG
Settings2.JPG
Set/Download Preset Video File (Preset-Only)
Displays a list of available default screensaver videos, if they start with * then they have already been downloaded.
*** All Downloaded Videos *** (Preset-Only)
This option will use all of the videos that have already been downloaded - it will not download any videos, but instead make use of any that have previously been downloaded.
Settings3.JPG

Configuration

Show Time
Displays the current time and data in the top right hand corner when the screensaver is active
Start Video At Random Point
When the video starts, will start at a random point into the duration of the video
Prevent Screensaver Starting If Playing Media
If there is media playing (i.e. Music or Video) and the screensaver is due to start, then if this is enabled, the screensaver will be prevented from starting.
Change Volume When Screensaver Starts
Allow the volume to be changed when the screensaver starts
- Set Volume To
The value to set the volume to when the screensaver starts
- Use Audio Engine Suspend For 0 Volume
If the screensaver volume is set to 0, then this option will suspend the Kodi Audio Engine rather than just reducing the volume to zero (This is useful if your system is set to passthrough audio)
Dim Level
How much to dim the screensaver video when it starts (0 = No Dim)
Stop Screensaver Automatically
Allow the screensaver to stop automatically after it has been playing for a given length of time. After stopping, the screensaver will start again after the default time of inactivity.
- Stop Screensaver After (Minutes)
Duration to let the screensaver play before stoping it
- Shutdown After Automatic Stop
After automatic shutdown has been triggered perform the default shutdown method set in the System -> Power Saving -> Shutdown Function
Settings4.JPG

Startup

Reset Volume On Startup
Will reset the Kodi volume on startup of the system - this is useful if you always run your system at a set volume and use the TV or external audio system to change the volume (This way if the system crashes while playing a Video Screensaver, it will not leave the volume in an inconsistent state)
- Set Volume On Startup To
The value to set the Kodi volume to on startup
Launch Screensaver On Startup
When Kodi first starts the screensaver will start playing
VideoScreensaver-Settings5.JPG

Schedule

Schedule Settings
This can take the following values: Off (No scheduling enabled), Settings (Configure via the settings menu, see options below) and File (Load configuration from a file, see the schedule section)
Number Of Schedule Rules
The number of different schedule rules to be configured
Rule X
Start Time
The time of day that this rule starts being used
Stop Time
The time of day that this rule stops being used
Select Video File
The video file to play while this rule is active
Overlay Image
The overlay image to use while this rule is active
VideoScreensaver-Settings6.JPG



Detecting If VideoScreensaver Is Running

The way that VideoScreensaver has been implemented in order to play a video as a screensaver, it will not be recorded via the normal "xbmc.Monitor" onScreensaverActivated() or onScreensaverDeactivated() method. In fact when the screensaver starts you will get both an onScreensaverActivated() and onScreensaverDeactivated() message before the VideoScreensaver starts playing.
If you wanted to work out if VideoScreensaver is active from another script then you can check for the "VideoScreensaverRunning" property being set:

xbmcgui.Window(10000).getProperty("VideoScreensaverRunning")

This will return the value "true" if it is running.
It is also worth noting, that while the screensaver is starting up it will set the "VideoScreensaverStarting" property, that can be checked as follows:

xbmcgui.Window(10000).getProperty("VideoScreensaverStarting")

This will return the value "true" if it is currently starting.

Known Issues

Auto-Shutdown Will Not Activate While VideoScreensaver Is Running

If you enable Kodi Auto-Shutdown options in Kodi System Settings they will not trigger while VideoScreensaver is active - this is because the video being played as part of the screensaver will make Kodi "active". The impact of this can be lessened by enabling "Stop Screensaver Automatically" and setting "Shutdown After Automatic Stop"

Changing Screensaver volume will not work when using audio Pass-Through

If you have Audio-Passthrough enabled in your audio settings then the ability to reduce the volume of the screensaver will not function. This is because you have removed Kodi's control of the audio. If you wish to set the volume to zero, then there is an option to "Suspend The Audio Engine"

Using password protected profiles will prompt before screensaver starts

If you have a password protected profile and try and launch VideoScreensaver, then you will be prompted for the password before the screensaver starts instead of after. One alternative is to use PinSentry instead of profiles.

FAQ

Where are the built in videos stored after download?

The location of the video files will vary depending on the OS where Kodi is installed. The location can be retrieved by switching the "Video Selection" option in settings to "User Defined". This will then display the full path in the "Select Videos Folder/File" setting.

Can Kodi play music or radio while showing a screensaver video?

Unfortunately this is not possible. This is because Kodi can only play one media type at a time.

Debugging

If reporting a problem, please also provide a debug log. To do this you need to enable BOTH:

  • Kodi logging from the main setting menu
  • VideoScreensaver debug from the VideoScreensaver addon settings menu

Please do not paste the log into the forum thread, just link to it.

Donations

If you have found the VideoScreensaver Addon useful and would like to help support future development and bug fixes, then please feel free to make a small donation.

Please use the link on the top of the VideoScreensaver Forum