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[[Image:Xbmc.JPG|right|thumb|350px|Default XBMC main menu (Project Mayhem 3 [[skin (computing)|skin]])]]
==The XboxMediaCenter Project==
[[Image:Xbmc666.jpg|right|thumb|350px|[[XLink Kai]], a free [[online gaming]] game-console tunneling service, is integrated into XBMC (MC360 skin)]]
[[Image:Xbmc2.JPG|right|thumb|350px|XBMC displaying a music collection (MC360 [[skin (computing)|skin]])]]
'''Xbox Media Center (XBMC)''' is a feature-rich [[open source]] [[media player]] for the [[Xbox]] -- a [[Computer_program|software program]] which plays video, music and displays pictures/images from the Xbox DVD-ROM drive, built-in harddisk drive, [[Local area network|local-area-network]] or the internet.


XBMC is the successor to [[Xbox Media Player|Xbox Media Player (XBMP)]] (XBMP). XBMC is a complete rewrite of XBMP by the same developer-team. XBMC was publicly announced in October [[2003]].
XBMC (XBox Media Center) is a [http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html free open source (GPL)] multimedia-player for the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox Xbox™ from Microsoft]. Currently XBMC can be used to play/view most popular video/audio/picture formats such as DVD-Video, VCD/SVCD, MPEG-1/2/4, DivX, XviD, MP3, AAC, JPG, GIF, PNG, and most other popular multimedia formats (plus many more less known formats) directly from a CD/DVD in the Xbox DVD-ROM drive or from the Xbox built-in harddrive, XBMC can also play multimedia-files from a computer over a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_area_network local-network] and even stream media-streams directly from the internet. XBMC can parse DVD-Video movies (with and without menus) from ISO/IMG-images and even ZIP/RAR-archives. XBMC has playlist and slideshow functions, a weather forecast feature and many audio visualizations. XBMC can in addition use python-scripts written for XBMC as plugin widgets. All these features enable the Xbox™ running XBMC to fully function as a multimedia-jukebox. XBMC has a simple anbd user-friendly user-interface, it's easy to use, it's convenient, flexible and offers a great price/performance ratio. (This, The XboxMediaCenter Project is also known as "XBox Media Center" or simply "XBMC"). Note! XBMC is a non-profit hobby project that is only developed by volunteers in their spare-time for free. (Remember that XboxMediaCenter does require a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox#Modding_the_Xbox modded Xbox] to run on or it will not function).


==1.0.0 Point Release==


==Features==
The 1.0.0 Point Release of XBMC was released 29th June 2004.
XBMC can play media from CD/DVD media using the Xbox's built-in DVD-ROM drive. It can also play media from the Xbox's built-in harddisk-drive, stream it over an [[Server Message Block|SMB/SAMBA/CIFS]] share (Windows File-Sharing), [[Universal Plug and Play]] (UPnP) share, XBMSP (XBox Media Stream Protocol) share, or stream [[iTunes]]-shares via [[Digital Audio Access Protocol|DAAP]]. XBMC takes advantage of the Xbox ethernet-network-port and broadband internet if available, using the [[Internet Movie Database|IMDb]] to obtain [[thumbnails]] and reviews on movies, [[CDDB]] (via [[FreeDB]]) for Audio-CD track-listings) and album-[[thumbnails]] via [[All Music Guide|AMG]], stream internet-video-streams, and play internet-radio-stations (such as [[SHOUTcast]]). XBMC also includes the option to submit music usage statistics to [[Audioscrobbler]] and [[Last.fm]], it has music/video-playlist and picture/image-[[slideshow]] functions, a weather-forecast (via [[Weather.com]]) and MP3+CDG [[karaoke]] function, plus many audio-visualizations. XBMC can also upconvert all 480p/576p [[SDTV|standard-resolution]] videos and output them to [[HDTV|720p or 1080i HDTV]]-resolutions. In addition is a frontend for an [[Xbox Live]] alternative (called "[[XLink Kai]]") integrated, enabling you to control the engine running separately and play system-link/LAN-enabled Xbox games online whitout leaving your television.


==Running XBMC==
XBMC requires a [[modchip]] or software exploit/hack to run, as it is not an authorized (a.k.a. "signed") [[Microsoft]] product. XBMC can be run as an application, or a dashboard that appears directly when the [[Xbox]] is turned on, it takes appox 10-seconds to fully load. Also included in XBMC is international translations to many languages, (and if your language is not available then you can easily make your translation by simply editing an [[XML]]-file, plus by submitting that into the project you contribute to the experience of others who use the software). In addition because XBMC is an open source software program, it constantly undergoes minor to major changes on a daily basis (sometimes noted by the tags "[[Concurrent Versions System|CVS]]").


XBMC supports [[Python programming language|Python scripts]] as [[Widget]] [[plugins]], so users can add new functionality to XBMC (using the [[Python programming language]]) without an illegal copy of the [[XDK]] and without knowledge of the C/C++ programming language. Current scripts include functions like internet-TV and movie-trailer browsers, cinema and weather guides, e-mail clients, messaging, train-timetables, scripts to front-end control [[Personal video recorder|PVR]] software and hardware (like: [[MediaPortal]], [[MythTV]], [[TiVo]], [[ReplayTV]], [[Dreambox]]), internet-radio-station browsers (example [[SHOUTcast]], [[Xm_radio]], [[Sirius_Satellite_Radio]]), [[Peer-to-peer|P2P]] file-sharing downloaders ([[BitTorrent]]), [[Internet Relay Chat|IRC]], and mini-games such as [[Space Invaders]] and [[Sudoku]], and much more.
==1.1.0 Point Release==


At present, XBMC is in a "feature freeze" cycle, which means that the developers are concentrating on fixing bugs and only adding features that concern them. The result will be a stable point release, 2.0.0.
The [[1.1.0 Point Release]] of XBMC was released 18th October 2004.


==Format support==
XBMC can be used to play/view all common [[multimedia]] formats 'straight-out of the box'. For a detailed list see the "Supported Formats" list in XBMC online-manual [http://www.xbmc.xbox-scene.com/wiki/index.php?title=Supported_File_Formats here].


XBMC uses two different multimedia player cores for video playback.
==Upcoming 2.0.0 Point Release==


The first is a ported version of the [[open source]] [[cross-platform]] player, [[MPlayer]], which is known for playing [[proprietary]] media-formats without having to pay license fees.
The upcoming 2.0.0 Point Release of XBMC has not as of yet been released, but is coming soon.
XBMC handles all codecs and containers normally supported by MPlayer (all [[FFmpeg]] supported [[codecs]] and also several external one with the help of [[proprietary]] [[Dynamic_Link_Library|DLL]-files: RealMedia, QuickTime, WMV9/WMA9, VP4/5/6), and the sources are synced at regular intervals.
Here's a list of supported formats.
* '''[[Container format]]s''': [[3gp]], [[AVI]], [[Advanced Streaming Format|ASF]], [[FLV]], [[Matroska]], [[QuickTime|MOV]], [[MP4]], [[NUT_Container|NUT]], [[Ogg]], [[OGM]], [[RealMedia]]
*'''[[Video codec]]s''': [[3ivx]], [[Cinepak]], [[DivX]], [[DV]], [[H.263]], [[H.264/MPEG-4 AVC]], [[HuffYUV]], [[Indeo]], [[MJPEG]], [[MPEG-1]], [[MPEG-2]], [[MPEG-4]], [[RealVideo]], [[Sorenson codec|Sorenson]], [[Theora]], [[WMV]], [[XviD]]
*'''[[Audio codec]]s''': [[Advanced Audio Coding|AAC]], [[AC3]], [[ALAC]], [[Adaptive Multi-Rate|AMR]], [[FLAC]], [[MP3]], [[RealAudio]], [[Shorten]], [[Speex]], [[Vorbis]] and [[Windows Media Audio|WMA]].


The second is a in-house developed DVD-player for DVD-Video movies, including the support of DVD-menus, (based on the open source libraries libcss and libdvdnav). This core support all the [[FFmpeg]] [[codecs]], and in addition the [[MPEG-2]] [[video codec]], and the [[audio codecs]] [[DTS]] and [[AC3]] (based on the open source libraries, libmpeg2, libdca, and liba52 respectivly). One relativly unusual feature of this DVD-player core is the capability to parse and play DVD-Video movies that are stored in [[ISO_image|ISO and IMG]] DVD-images, and [[DVD-Video]] movies that are stored as [[DVD-Video]] files (IFO/VOB) on a harddrive or network-share, and also images in [[RAR]] and [[ZIP (file format)|ZIP]] archives. In addition the DVD-player core can upconvert all [[DVD-Video]] movies and output them to [[HDTV|720p or 1080i HDTV]] resolutions in better quality than most (if not all) HDTV's native function to upconvert video.


For audio playback, XBMC includes it's own in-house developed player: PAPlayer (Psycho-acoustic Audio Player). Some of this cores most notable features are [[resampling]] to the Xbox's native audio frequency (48 kHz), [[Gapless playback]], [[Fade (audio engineering)|crossfading]], [[ReplayGain]], [[Cue Sheet]] and [[Ogg]] Chapter support.
==CVS tree (and daily CVS builds)==
It handles a very large variety of sound files: [[MP2_(format)|MP2]], [[MP3]], [[OGG|OGG (Vorbis)]], [[MPC]], [[Advanced_Audio_Coding|LC-AAC]], [[HE-AAC|AAC+]], [[APE]], [[FLAC]], [[WavPack]], [[SHORTEN|SHN (Shorten)]], [[WAV]], [[DTS]], [[Dolby_Digital|AC3]], [[CDDA]], [[WMA]], [[IT]], [[ScreamTracker|S3M]], MOD (Amiga Module), XM, NSF ([[Nintendo Entertainment System|NES]] Sound Format), [[SPC700 sound format|SPC]] ([[SNES]]), GYM ([[Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis|Genesis]]), SID ([[Commodore 64]]), [[Adlib]], YM ([[Atari ST]]), ADPCM ([[Nintendo GameCube|GameCube]]). It also supports many different tagging standards: [[APEv1]], [[APEv2]], [[ID3v1]], [[ID3v2]], ID666 and [[Vorbis]] Comments.


XBMC also handles many picture/image formats with the options of [[Ken burns effect|panning/zooming]] and slideshows, with the use of [http://www.codeproject.com/bitmap/cximage.asp CxImage]. Supported formats are: [[BMP]], [[JPEG]], [[GIF]], [[PNG]], [[TIFF]], [[MNG]], [[ICO]], [[PCX]] and [[TGA|Targa]].
The XBMC project developers uses a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concurrent_Versions_System CVS] ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revision_control version control system]) provided by [http://sourceforge.net/cvs/?group_id=87054 SourceForge.net] to keep track of the XBMC [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source_code source code] and changes in those source code files. This allows our developers to be located anywhere in the world and work on the same source code tree, which means that our CVS tree gets updated (with bug-fixes, new features, etc.) by our different developers almost on a daily basis. Anyone can anonymously download the latest CVS source code tree and compile it to try out the current and very latest XBMC build, (there are also individuals and groups on the internet which specialize in releasing such pre-compiled CVS builds so that people who don't have the tools to compile XBMC themselves can download and test/use the latest XBMC). Note! [http://www.xbmc.xbox-scene.com/wiki/index.php?title=Team_XBMC_and_Others Team-XBMC] only release source code and do not release pre-compiled builds of XBMC, nor are [http://www.xbmc.xbox-scene.com/wiki/index.php?title=Team_XBMC_and_Others Team-XBMC] affiliated with any individuals or groups that release pre-compiled builds of XBMC. In addition understand that CVS build can be unstable and buggy so don't complain if they hang/lock or otherwise act in an unsatisfactory way, however feel free to report any bugs you find in the very latest CVS.
 
==Limitations==
*XBMC can currently not play any audio/video files protected/encrypted with Digital Rights Management (DRM), such as music purchased from [[ITunes Music Store]], [[MSN Music]] or [[Audible.com]]. Workaround: Removed that DRM protection/encryption with some [[Third-party_developer|third-party]] software before you try to play it, like: [[JHymn|hymn]], [[FreeMe]], [[Unfuck]], [[DRM2WMV]] or [[DRMDBG]]).
*[[Universal Disk Format|Universal Disk Format (UDF)]] file-system limitation: XBMC only support UDF version 1.02 (designed for [[DVD-Video]] media), which has a maximum file of 1GB (meaning if you burn a DVD-media in a newer UDF version with a video that is larger than 1GB then XBMC will not be able to play that file), same goes for UDF/ISO hybrid formats (a.k.a. UDF Bridge format). Workaround: Burn all your CD/DVD-media in [[ISO 9660]] format which is the largest is standard anyway, (though [[ISO 9660]] has a 2GB file-size limitation that there is no workaround for).
*The Xbox built-in harddrive is formated in [[FATX]] which has a 4GB file-size limitation, and only supports file/folder-names up to 42 characters, a maximum of 255 in total file-structure character-deept and a maximum number of 4096 files/folders in a single subfolder, plus in the root of each partition the maximum number of files/folders is 256. [[FAT]] does not either support all ACSII characters in file/folder names (like for example < > = ? : ; " * + , / \ | ¤ &). XBMC will automaticly rename any files/folders you transfer to the Xbox by these limitations. (None of these are XBMC issues that can be fixed as the limitation is in the [[Xbox]] itself). Workaround: Store your files/folders on your computer or a [[Network-attached storage|Network-Attached Storage (NAS)]] device/box and share them over a [[Local area network|local-area-network]] instead.
*With its 733Mhz [[Intel Pentium III]] and 64MB [[shared memory]], the [[Xbox]] does not have enough hardware-resources (not fast enough [[CPU]] nor large enough [[Random access memory|RAM-memory]]) to play 720p/1080i resolution-native [[HDTV]] video (at 1280x720 and 1920x1080 pixels), (like [[WMVHD|WMV HD]]). Workaround: XBMC can however upconvert all 480p/576p [[SDTV|standard-resolution]] movies and output them to [[HDTV|720p or 1080i HDTV]] resolutions in better quality than most (if not all) HDTV's native function to upconvert video.
* Again with its 733Mhz [[Intel Pentium III]] and 64MB [[shared memory]], the [[Xbox]] does not have enough hardware-resources (not fast enough [[CPU]] nor large enough [[Random access memory|RAM-memory]]) to play [[H264|MPEG-4 AVC (H.264)]] encododed videos with [[H.264#Profiles|Cabac and Deblocking]] if the video-resolution is higher than 352x288 pixels. Workaround: If you encode your [[H264|MPEG-4 AVC (H.264)]] videos without [[H.264#Profiles|Cabac and Deblocking]] then the [[Xbox]] hardware can handle up to 480x576 pixels video-resolution. Though best is to encode your videos to [[MPEG-4|MPEG-4 ASP]] (like [[DivX]] or [[XviD]]) instead, then the videos native-resolution can be up to 960x540 pixels (a.k.a. [[Half_Resolution_High_Definition|HRHD]] resolution).
 
==Legality==
Although XBMC is licensed under the [[GNU General Public License|GNU General Public License (GPL)]], it is written for use with [[Xbox Development Kit|Microsoft's XDK]] and so is not legally available as an executable program to non-official Microsoft game-publishers. Users are encouraged to compile their own [[Executable|binaries]] from the public CVS repository using the [[Xbox Development Kit|XDK]], rather than downloading a questionable illegally released [[Compiler|executable]]. XBMC's full [[source code]] is however legal 'as is' and is available on [[SourceForge]].
 
==External links==
* [http://www.xboxmediacenter.com XboxMediaCenter (XBMC) official website]
* [http://www.xboxmediacenter.de/ XboxMediaCenter (XBMC) official mirror-site]
* [http://www.xboxmediaplayer.de/cgi-bin/forums/ikonboard.pl XboxMediaCenter (XBMC) official community forums]
* [http://www.xbmc.xbox-scene.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page XboxMediaCenter (XBMC) 'new' official  online-manual (wiki-based)]
* [http://manual.xboxmediacenter.de XboxMediaCenter (XBMC) 'old' official  online-manual (wiki-based)]
* [http://sourceforge.net/projects/xbmc/ XboxMediaCenter (XBMC) official SourceForge.net project (CVS/source-code/patches//tools/bug-tracker/feature-requests)]
* [http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?s=64c7fed999e317cc99e26926433d74c0&showforum=62 XBMC community forums @ xbox-scene.com (unofficial but affilated by shared moderators)]
* [http://xbmc.blogspot.com What's Up With XBMC (unofficial)]
* [http://www.xbmcscripts.com/ XBMC Plugin Scripts]
* [irc://irc.efnet.net/xbmc XBMC chat room (IRC)]
* [http://www.xbox-skins.net XBMC skin download site]
* [http://www.allxboxskins.com another XBMC skinning site]
* [http://www6.tomshardware.com/consumer/20040511/ Review on tomshardware.com]
* [http://www.tvharmony.com/blog/archives/2004/09/xboxmediacenter.html Review on tvharmony.com]
* [http://www.o-sd.com/hardcoregamermag/publicPDF/HGM_Aug.pdf Review in Hardcore Gamer Magazine (Volume 1, Issue 3, August 2005)]
* [http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft_xbox/article/how_to_go_from_xbox_to_xbox_media_center_in_30_minutes.html Transform an Xbox into the ultimate media center] - A step-by-step guide how to softmod your Xbox on [[ProductWiki]]
* [http://slackerpedia.com/xbmc-mac/ How to use a Mac to setup XBMC]
 
 
[[Category:Free media players]]
[[Category:SourceForge projects]]
[[Category:Xbox]]
[[Category:Free_video_software]]
 
[[de:Xbox Media Center]]
[[fr:Xbox Media Center]]
[[no:Xbox Media Center]]
[[pl:Xbox Media Center]]
[[fi:Xbox Media Center]]
[[sv:Xbox Media Center]]

Revision as of 17:28, 30 July 2006

The XboxMediaCenter Project

XBMC (XBox Media Center) is a free open source (GPL) multimedia-player for the Xbox™ from Microsoft. Currently XBMC can be used to play/view most popular video/audio/picture formats such as DVD-Video, VCD/SVCD, MPEG-1/2/4, DivX, XviD, MP3, AAC, JPG, GIF, PNG, and most other popular multimedia formats (plus many more less known formats) directly from a CD/DVD in the Xbox DVD-ROM drive or from the Xbox built-in harddrive, XBMC can also play multimedia-files from a computer over a local-network and even stream media-streams directly from the internet. XBMC can parse DVD-Video movies (with and without menus) from ISO/IMG-images and even ZIP/RAR-archives. XBMC has playlist and slideshow functions, a weather forecast feature and many audio visualizations. XBMC can in addition use python-scripts written for XBMC as plugin widgets. All these features enable the Xbox™ running XBMC to fully function as a multimedia-jukebox. XBMC has a simple anbd user-friendly user-interface, it's easy to use, it's convenient, flexible and offers a great price/performance ratio. (This, The XboxMediaCenter Project is also known as "XBox Media Center" or simply "XBMC"). Note! XBMC is a non-profit hobby project that is only developed by volunteers in their spare-time for free. (Remember that XboxMediaCenter does require a modded Xbox to run on or it will not function).

1.0.0 Point Release

The 1.0.0 Point Release of XBMC was released 29th June 2004.


1.1.0 Point Release

The 1.1.0 Point Release of XBMC was released 18th October 2004.


Upcoming 2.0.0 Point Release

The upcoming 2.0.0 Point Release of XBMC has not as of yet been released, but is coming soon.


CVS tree (and daily CVS builds)

The XBMC project developers uses a CVS (version control system) provided by SourceForge.net to keep track of the XBMC source code and changes in those source code files. This allows our developers to be located anywhere in the world and work on the same source code tree, which means that our CVS tree gets updated (with bug-fixes, new features, etc.) by our different developers almost on a daily basis. Anyone can anonymously download the latest CVS source code tree and compile it to try out the current and very latest XBMC build, (there are also individuals and groups on the internet which specialize in releasing such pre-compiled CVS builds so that people who don't have the tools to compile XBMC themselves can download and test/use the latest XBMC). Note! Team-XBMC only release source code and do not release pre-compiled builds of XBMC, nor are Team-XBMC affiliated with any individuals or groups that release pre-compiled builds of XBMC. In addition understand that CVS build can be unstable and buggy so don't complain if they hang/lock or otherwise act in an unsatisfactory way, however feel free to report any bugs you find in the very latest CVS.

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