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==The XboxMediaCenter Project==
[[Image:Xbmc.JPG|right|thumb|350px|Default XBMC main menu (Project Mayhem 3 [[skin (computing)|skin]])]]
'''Xbox Media Center''' (XBMC) is a feature-rich [[open source]] [[media player]] for the [[Xbox]] -- a software program which plays video, music and displays pictures/images from the Xbox DVD-ROM drive, built-in harddisk drive, [[local-area-network]] or the internet.


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).
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]].
[[Image:Xbmc666.jpg|right|thumb|350px|[[XLink Kai]], a free online gaming console tunnelling service, is integrated into XBMC]]


==1.0.0 Point Release==
XBMC's media player core is based on the [[MPlayer]] source code, a  [[cross-platform]] and [[open source]] media player known for playing [[proprietary]] media-formats without having to pay license fees.
[[Image:Xbmc2.JPG|right|thumb|350px|XBMC displaying a music collection (MC360 [[skin (computing)|skin]])]]


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 harddisk-drive, stream it over an [[Server Message Block|SMB]] 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 pictures and reviews on movies, and [[CDDB]] (via [[FreeDB]]) for Audio-CD track listings, 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 even includes a frontend for an [[Xbox Live]] alternative (called "[[XLink Kai]]") 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 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]]).


==1.1.0 Point Release==
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, cinema and weather guides, Torrent-downloaders, 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]]), internet TV browsers, email clients, [[Peer-to-peer|P2P]] file sharing ([[BitTorrent]]), [[Internet Relay Chat|IRC]], and mini-games such as [[Space Invaders]] and [[Sudoku]], and much more.


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


==Format support==
XboxMediaCenter can be used to play/view practially all common [[multimedia]] formats.


==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.
On the video side, it uses two different cores. (note that these handle the audio part of a video file also)


The first is the free open source player, [[MPlayer]].
XBMC handles all codecs and containers normally supported by MPlayer (all of FFmpeg and also several external one with the help of DLLs : 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]].


==CVS tree (and daily CVS builds)==
The second is a in-house developed DVD-player for DVD-Video movies, including the support of menus. It also support all the FFmpeg codecs, and in addition the DTS and AC3 audio codecs, and the MPEG-2 video codec.


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.
On the audio side, XBMC includes it's own in-house developed player: PAPlayer (Psycho-acoustic Audio Player). Some of it's notable features are [[resampling]] to the Xbox's native audio frequency (48 kHz), [[Gapless playback]], crossfading, [[ReplayGain]], [[Cue Sheet]] and Ogg Chapter support.
 
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 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]].
 
==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]]
[[se:Xbox Media Center]]

Revision as of 11:52, 24 July 2006

File:Xbmc.JPG
Default XBMC main menu (Project Mayhem 3 skin)

Xbox Media Center (XBMC) is a feature-rich open source media player for the Xbox -- a software program which plays video, music and displays pictures/images from the Xbox DVD-ROM drive, built-in harddisk drive, local-area-network or the internet.

XBMC is the successor to Xbox Media Player (XBMP) (XBMP). XBMC is a complete rewrite of XBMP by the same developer team. XBMC was publicly announced in October 2003.

File:Xbmc666.jpg
XLink Kai, a free online gaming console tunnelling service, is integrated into XBMC

XBMC's media player core is based on the MPlayer source code, a cross-platform and open source media player known for playing proprietary media-formats without having to pay license fees.

File:Xbmc2.JPG
XBMC displaying a music collection (MC360 skin)

XBMC can play media from CD/DVD media using the Xbox's built-in DVD-ROM drive. It can also play media from the harddisk-drive, stream it over an SMB share (Windows file sharing), Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) share, XBMSP (XBox Media Stream Protocol) share, or stream iTunes-shares via DAAP. XBMC takes advantage of the Xbox ethernet-network-port and broadband internet if available, using the IMDb to obtain pictures and reviews on movies, and CDDB (via FreeDB) for Audio-CD track listings, 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 even includes a frontend for an Xbox Live alternative (called "XLink Kai") 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 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 CVS).

XBMC supports 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, cinema and weather guides, Torrent-downloaders, e-mail clients, messaging, train-timetables, scripts to front-end control PVR software and hardware (like: MediaPortal, MythTV, TiVo, ReplayTV, Dreambox), internet-radio-station browsers (example SHOUTcast, Xm_radio, Sirius_Satellite_Radio), internet TV browsers, email clients, P2P file sharing (BitTorrent), IRC, and mini-games such as Space Invaders and Sudoku, and much more.

At present, XBMC is in a "feature freeze" cycle, which means developers will concentrate on fixing bugs and only adding features that concern them. The result will be a stable point release, 2.0.0.

Format support

XboxMediaCenter can be used to play/view practially all common multimedia formats.


On the video side, it uses two different cores. (note that these handle the audio part of a video file also)

The first is the free open source player, MPlayer. XBMC handles all codecs and containers normally supported by MPlayer (all of FFmpeg and also several external one with the help of DLLs : RealMedia, QuickTime, WMV9/WMA9, VP4/5/6), and the sources are synced at regular intervals. Here's a list of supported formats.

The second is a in-house developed DVD-player for DVD-Video movies, including the support of menus. It also support all the FFmpeg codecs, and in addition the DTS and AC3 audio codecs, and the MPEG-2 video codec.

On the audio side, XBMC includes it's own in-house developed player: PAPlayer (Psycho-acoustic Audio Player). Some of it's notable features are resampling to the Xbox's native audio frequency (48 kHz), Gapless playback, crossfading, ReplayGain, Cue Sheet and Ogg Chapter support.

It handles a very large variety of sound files: MP2, MP3, OGG (Vorbis), MPC, LC-AAC, AAC+, APE, FLAC, WavPack, SHN (Shorten), WAV, DTS, AC3, CDDA, WMA, IT, S3M, MOD (Amiga Module), XM, NSF (NES Sound Format), SPC (SNES), GYM (Genesis), SID (Commodore 64), Adlib, YM (Atari ST), ADPCM (GameCube). It also supports many different tagging standards: APEv1, APEv2, ID3v1, ID3v2, ID666 and Vorbis Comments.

XBMC also handles many picture formats with the options of panning/zooming and slideshows, with the use of CxImage. Supported formats are: BMP, JPEG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, MNG, ICO, PCX and Targa.

Legality

Although XBMC is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL), it is written for use with 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 binaries from the public CVS repository using the XDK, rather than downloading a questionable illegally released executable. XBMC's full source code is however legal 'as is' and is available on SourceForge.

External links

de:Xbox Media Center fr:Xbox Media Center no:Xbox Media Center pl:Xbox Media Center fi:Xbox Media Center se:Xbox Media Center