Subscribe and view Video channels ( Media RSS feeds) using
Miro player
Overview:
Tools: All Operating Systems, Miro
Our Aim is to subscribe to a Video Podcast to get new videos from that
source automatically downloaded when they are released.
To do this we could also use iTunes but Miro offers a number of
advantages over iTunes and it is an Open Source application too. Miro
can download bittorrent files, plays many types of video files as it
has the VLC player built in, it can download files from YouTube and has
a built in channel guide.
Install Miro
Go to http://getmiro.com and the page should recognise your operating
system and offer you to the relevant download option in the green
download box.
If this is not the correct version - ie if you are using a Mac and it
suggests a download for windows, you can select the download tab in the
top menu.
If it is the right version click on the green box.
You will be offered to save the file on your computer (or your browser
may be set up to download it automatically to your Desktop or a folder
you have chosen)
Choose a location to download your Miro install file to.
Windows: When the file has been downloaded, double click on it.
You will see this installer window. Follow the instructions you are
given.
Choose the language from a list of 15 or so that you want to use for
the application menus and messages.
Click Next when you see Welcom to the Miro Set up page
Click "I agree" when you are happy with the licence. It is a GNU GPL
licence.
Then you will see a window asking you to Select Components.
If you don't have VLC installed then you may wish to make it your
default for various video and audio files. But because Miro has a lot
of features it might take longer to start up and be a bit less
responsive than VLC player.
If you are unsure about this box leave it as it is and click Next.
Next, choose install location. Leave this as it is if you have no
strong preference and click Next
Again for Start Menu options, again leave this as it is if you have no
strong preference and click Next
Using Miro to subscribe to video podcasts
There is an guide for using Miro at http://www.getmiro.com/help. You
can click on the Miro Guide in the top left to browse for channels to
subscribe to.
We are going to focus on how to subscribe to a Video channel that isn't
included in the channel guide.
To do this we need to find out the URL, the web address of the video
podcast / channel we want to watch. Technically, this is called an RSS
feed. You find RSS feeds on Video Blogs or news sites. They are
normally identified by a graphic which links to a text file.
Here are some examples.
What we need to do is to Right Click ( Ctrl + Click on Mac) on these
graphics and copy the URL into the computer's memory by selecting Copy
Link Location or Copy Shortcut
Now we have the URL of the Channel in the memory we can return to Miro
and Select Channels > Add Channel from the Menu
When the Add Channel box appears, you may see the URL of the channel
already in it.
This is because Miro knows that if there is something in the memory
buffer of your computer when you open this box it is probably the URL
of a channel. If it doesn't appear then try pressing (Alt + v) or
(Apple + v) on a Mac to paste in the address of the channel.
Click Ok when you have done this.
Viewing Video from a channel
You can click on your new channel on the left of the screen and in the
main window, after Miro has time to go and read what is on the channel,
you should see a list of the new videos on that channel.
In the screen shot above you can see four videos which have a Blue
arrow icon and one with a green play icon. The Video with blue arrows
haven't been downloaded yet. You can click on the image or the film or
the screenshot to start downloading
When the film has been downloaded you can click on the green play icon
and it will start to play in the window.
If you decide you like the channel after watching a few videos from it
you can set up Miro to automatically download any new videos that get
published on that channel.
If you click on the Button next to Autodownload you get three choices.
Choosing 'All' will download all the videos in a channel.
Choosing 'New' will get new videos published when ever you start Miro
or when you ask Miro to check for new videos.
Choosing 'Off' lets you decide which videos you want to do download.
Playing video full screen
You may wish to view a video full screen. If so you can either select
Playback > Fullscreen. Or you can press Alt and Enter on the
keyboard.
Or you can click on the Button to the right of the Play / Pause button.
To exit Fullscreen you can press Alt + Enter or the escape key on your
keyboard.
Keeping and using your Video Files
Miro will delete your video files that you download to save space
on your computer unless you specifically tell it not to by clicking on
the 'KEEP' button when you have watched the video.
If you want to use one of the files you downloaded to put onto CD, iPod
or turn into a DVD, you need to know where Miro stores the files it
downloads.
On Windows by default Miro stores them inside the My Videos folder
which is in My Documents.
To access them Open windows explorer and browse to \My
Documents\My Videos\Miro
To set how long you want to leave videos before they get deleted,
select File > Options.
You will see the options about this at the bottom of the window.
