TapeWorm
A MythTV Parasite for Windows
What is TapeWorm?
TapeWorm is a "parasitic" front end for MythTV, version 0.22, a popular Linux "homebrew PVR" (Personal Video Recorder) program.
Okay, if you say so. But what does TapeWorm let me DO?
TapeWorm allows you to do two things.
First, TapeWorm allows you to watch the shows recorded by Linux-based MythTV on Windows and OS X Computers that are on the same network as your MythTV Server.
Second, TapeWorm allows you to capture shows MythTV has recorded and take them on the road with you. Going on a business trip? Use TapeWorm to copy a few shows to your laptop so you can watch them on the plane or in the hotel. TapeWorm doesn't facilitate distributing shows in any way -- that would be a copyright violation -- but it does facilitate your personal viewing when you're not able to be at home with your MythTV Server.
Tapeworm on Windows has been around since 2006. It's currently in release version 1.5. I use it on several computers and it works well.
I have now created an experimental version of Tapeworm for Mac OS X. Try this version before you buy it and let me know if it works for you.
If your MythTV video files play under QuickTime on your Mac, the OS X version of Tapeworm should work for you. The MPEG-2 based video files my MythTV box and Haupaugge PVR card produce do not play properly on my MacBook Pro usng the QuickTime Player and Apple's MPEG-2 codec. I get video but not audio. Also, if I try to change the position of the video file, rather than just let it play, it doesn't advance correctly. Maybe MythTranscode would help. Maybe a different capture card would make a difference. Maybe there's a setting in MythTV I should change. I don't know. If your MythTV video files don't play correctly on QuickTime on your Mac, Tapeworm for OS X probably won't work for you either, since Tapeworm uses the QuickTime player under the hood.
If you are interested in Tapeworm for Linux, let me know. At least in theory, it should work. I've used Tapeworm from source code on Ubuntu, so it should just be a matter of packaging the code to make something I can distribute. I have no idea how to do that, but I think I can probably figure it out.
What do you mean "parasitic"?
Well, TapeWorm doesn't quite play by the rules. TapeWorm does not communicate with the MythTV Server using the MythTV API. TapeWorm attaches itself to the MythTV Server and steals the data it wants. The MythTV server doesn't even know it's there. Just like a parasite.
Why does TapeWorm do that?
I tried WinMyth. I really wanted to like WinMyth. It would have been a lot easier for me if WinMyth had worked for me. But it didn't.
When I tried to play a recorded video using WinMyth, it was really choppy. It'd play for half a second, then pause, play another half second, pause again, and so on. The video was unwatchable. Plus, WinMyth maxed out my network. Whenever I tried to watch a show, my son would yell at me for causing lag for him on his online games.
With TapeWorm, I don't have either of those problems. I can watch recorded shows on my other computers. The video files play smoothly, and I'm no longer causing lag.
Plus, I like to take video with me when I travel. Tapeworm gives me an interface for managing video files when I go on the road. It works great.
TapeWorm is very cool. Do you have any other software for working with video?
Why yes, how nice of you to ask. At work, I develop, maintain, and support a program called Transana, which facilitates the transcription and qualitative analysis of video and audio data. Be sure to check it out.
How do I get TapeWorm?
Well, the first step is to read the TapeWorm Download Page.