Converge
Subscribe and view video channels
(Media RSS feeds) using Miro player
by Mick Fuzz
Overview
Tools: All Operating Systems, Miro
Aim: To subscribe to a Video Podcast in order 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 also an Open Source application. Miro can download BitTorrent files and it plays many different 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.
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If this is not the correct version — i.e. 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.
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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.
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Windows: When the file has been downloaded, double-click on it.
You will see this installer window. Follow the instructions you are given.
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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 Welcome to the Miro Set up page
Click "I agree" when you are happy with the license. It is a GNU GPL license.
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.
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Next, choose install location. Leave this as it is if you have no strong preference and click Next.
For Start Menu options, once again leave this as it is unless you have a specific preference. 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
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Now we have the URL of the Channel in the memory we can return to Miro and Select Channels > Add Channel from the Menu
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When the Add Channel box appears, you may see the URL of the channel already in it.
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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
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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 screenshot above you can see four videos which have a blue arrow icon and one with a green play icon. The video with blue arrows hasn'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.
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If you click on the Button next to Autodownload you get three choices.
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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 + Enter on the keyboard.
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Or you can click on the button to the right of the Play / Pause button.
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To exit Fullscreen you can press Alt + Enter or the Esc key on your keyboard.
Keeping and using your Video Files
Miro will delete the 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.
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If you want to use one of the files you downloaded to put onto an iPod or turn into a CD or DVD, you need to know where Miro stores the files it downloads.
In Windows, Miro stores the files by default inside the My Videos folder which is in My Documents.
To access them, open Windows Explorer and browse to \My Documents\My Videos\Miro
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To set how long you want to leave videos before they get deleted, select File > Options.
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You will see the options for this at the bottom of the window.
