Media streaming
Learn about streaming your downloaded media with Seanime.
Introduction
Seanime usually serves media from your local library to the same device the files are stored on using your desktop media player. This is not always convenient, especially when you want to consume your anime library on another device, like a phone or a tablet. Seanime supports media streaming, which allows you to stream files from to any modern device with a web browser, over the network, using the built-in media player.
How it works / Types of streaming
Transcoding
If the media file codecs aren't compatible with the client device, Seanime will transcode the file into a format that can be streamed over the network to any client. Transcoding is done on-the-fly, which means no need to wait for the entire file to be converted before starting the stream. Transcoding is done using FFmpeg, a popular multimedia framework that supports a wide range of codecs and formats. It is very CPU intensive, so make sure to enable hardware acceleration if available.
Direct play
If the client device supports the media file codecs, Seanime will serve the file directly without transcoding.
Direct play is the preferred method when codecs are compatible, however, you can force transcoding by clicking Playback information
and Switch to transcoding
.
You will need to disable auto switch to direct play
in the settings to prevent the player from switching back to direct play.
Caveats
- Only one stream can be active at a time.
- The experience may vary depending on the client device.
Transcoding / Direct Play
This guide is mostly focused on setting up FFmpeg and FFprobe for transcoding, which is required for media streaming, even if you plan to use direct play only.
1. Install FFmpeg and FFprobe
- Linux: Install FFmpeg using your favorite package manager.
- Windows: Download FFmpeg from here and add it to your system PATH.
- Use Scoop to install it or following this guide if you're downloading it manually.
- macOS: Install FFmpeg using Homebrew and add it to your system PATH.
Tip: You can check that FFmpeg and FFprobe are installed correctly by running ffmpeg -version
and ffprobe -version
in your terminal.
2. Hardware acceleration
Though hardware acceleration is not required, it is highly recommended to enable it if available. It will significantly reduce CPU usage during transcoding, making the streaming experience smoother. The output quality may be reduced when using hardware acceleration, but the gain in performance is worth it.
- Intel Quick Sync Video
Intel Quick Sync Video (QSV) is available by default in modern Intel Core processors (i3 and above) for Windows and Linux.
If your processor supports QSV, you can enable it by modifying the in-app media streaming settings.
- NVIDIA NVENC
FFMPEG supports video hardware acceleration on NVIDIA GPUs through the NVENC API on Windows and Linux. Make sure your drivers are up-to-date and that your GPU supports NVENC.
If you have an NVIDIA GPU which supports hardware-accelerated video encoding and decoding, it’s simply a matter of compiling FFmpeg binary with the required support for NVIDIA libraries and using the resulting binaries to speed up video encoding/decoding. - Nvidia
- Option 1: Here is a guide on how to compile FFmpeg with NVIDIA NVENC support.
- Option 2: For Windows users, the download link given earlier is already pre-compiled with NVENC support.
Optionally, you can remove the restriction on the number of concurrent NVENC sessions using nvidia-patch.
Once you have FFmpeg with NVENC support, you can enable it by modifying the in-app media streaming settings.
- VAAPI
3. Enable media streaming
Settings > Media Streaming
- Enable media streaming.
- Choose the hardware acceleration method you want to use.
- If you need to, enter the FFmpeg and FFprobe binary paths. This is only required if they are not in your system PATH.
4. Start streaming
That's it! You can now start streaming your media files on other devices.
Seanime will automatically detect when a playback request is made from a phone, tablet or TV and redirect the client to the streaming page.
For laptops, you will need to, in Settings > Media Streaming
, check Use media streaming on this device
so Seanime knows not to default to the desktop player.
External player link
If you prefer using an external player like VLC, MX Player, or Infuse on your mobile device instead of the built-in player, you can configure a custom scheme to open media files with the external player. Refer to the client playback guide.
Remote access
If you are not aware how to access Seanime from other devices, refer to this guide.