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Advice request on creating multi-device media system - Printable Version

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Advice request on creating multi-device media system - DirtyDishes - 2019-08-21

Hi,

I would like to build a home media centre for multiple devices and although i went through googling/searching this forum and reading the wiki, there are some things i'm not clear on. Below the questions statement is the description of my general plan/additional info.
  1. Multiple clients - can i get the best of both worlds and "continue playback" from one client to another (i.e. main tv and kitchen tv) and (another time) have both of them playing different media? Additionally, is it possible to store data about what has been played where while and if so, how? AFAIK the simplest route is SQL, which should be capable of taking care of all of that, is that correct?
  2. I am lost in resolutions, can KODI easily play an originally 4k file on a 1080p display? Are any additional steps necessary (if so, which?)
  3. Can i store metadata, artwork and subtitles from add-ons globally for all KODIs on local network?
  4. Can i get live TV through raspi TV HAT from one KODI device to all of them on the lan? If so, how?
  5. Torn between Vero4k+ and new Raspi4, do you have any recommendations for hardware selection?
  6. Do you know a good KODI API guide?
Sorry for long post, trying not to make any mistakes before i begin and commit to the wrong direction.
Thank you for any advice!

Lukas
 
Broader explanation:
I plan on building the media centre in such a way, there would be one "separate" media only NAS from a raspi4, which would have media accesible from multiple KODI devices:
  • 4k capable raspi4/vero4k+ optimized to be used as media player only
  • 4k capable multi-purpose raspi4 with some flavour of desktop ubuntu
  • 1080p raspi3b+ used as media player only
  • 2 macOS machines
  • A nice to have would be ability to play from 2 additional iOS devices
The goal is to be able to use a single "account" principle in terms of watched/"watched until" functionality, however combined with the ability to play content on two of the devices completely independently, i.e. I can watch something on the kitchen device, while my girlfriend is watching something, say, on her notebook, however if I am watching something on the main TV, i would like to be able to simply "continue watching" smoothly in the kitchen where i left off on the main TV. If i understand correctly, i should be able to achieve such behaviour by running an SQL server on the NAS raspi (I went through this thread) and pointing to it from each KODI.

Since i would like to use separate instances of KODI on multiple devices, I am interested in the functionality of the addons - would every single KODI device need to (through the use of add-ons) download its own covers, subtitles, descriptions, reviews etc. or is it possible to store it on the said NAS with the media themselves?

I would also like to be able to use the raspi TV HAT or a similar product to "include" the live TV playback for all of the devices (completely legal here, if that might be an issue for the forum, since i pay licensing per "apartment", not per device and it wouldn't go beyond my local network)

Lastly, i am very interested in KODI API for integration with smart-home. What i would like to achieve is to e.g. add to my scene "Good night" KODI actions, apart from turning off all normal lights and turning on the nightlight, it would also turn on TV and resume playback of the last watched tv series from some list of "good night tv series" - i can do all the logic on the smart-home hub side, i would, however, very much appreciate if there is some general guide (as using the link to scheme in wiki documentation would be quite tedious and some example would be very helpful).

RE: Advice request on creating multi-device media system - PatK - 2019-08-21

As I understand your question(s), it appears you don't have an operational set-up at this time. Your 1-6 questions are broke into many sub questions and in that response I would point at wiki's for the ultimate learning experience. You want to turn this into some sort of local commercial distribution hub?

I'll go shot gun style through your numbers, each item in the list can be a wiki on it's own, and I'm not going to blow my morning indulging deeply when a simple search will suffice.

1) Yes, Maybe, Yes, Maybe
2) Yes, No
3) Depends
4) Maybe, No
5) Not proper etiquette for mods to recommend hardware
6) Wiki, Forum

Broader explanation: https://kodi.tv/about

I think once you have a hardware set-up, and have decided that Kodi is right for you, your questions will be a bit more targeted and the assistance offered in this forum will make sense. I note your interest in 'add-ons' and in that regard, I would offer a cautionary note that these are 3rd party overlays and support might not be at a level that would match your expectations. Kodi is always a work in progress, adding new features and capabilities and in its open source design; just about anything is possible.

Suggest you entertain yourself in the 'hardware forum' to keep abreast of the latest developments with the Raspberry and other hardware.

RE: Advice request on creating multi-device media system - DirtyDishes - 2019-08-21

Hi PatK,

Thank you for the reply, i do not fully understand the part about "some sort of local commercial distribution hub". I asked this many questions before having a working setup mainly since I felt kinda lost and didn't want to do something i would find out was a waste of money/completely wrong approach.

Anyways, i will get started with media NAS and first KODI and hopefully figure the stuff out as i go Smile Thanks again for the reply and shotgun answers Smile

Lukas

RE: Advice request on creating multi-device media system - PatK - 2019-08-22

(2019-08-21, 19:36)DirtyDishes Wrote: since I felt kinda lost and didn't want to do something i would find out was a waste of money/completely wrong
Understandable, most of us have started on a PC (as it's logical that you've reached the forum on some system), then figured having a lot of equipment operational could be reduced with a smaller media box, then multiple media boxes, then a central storage system then all the requests that you already have noted followed all of us. Welcome to the forum.
 
(2019-08-21, 00:35)DirtyDishes Wrote: i pay licensing per "apartment", not per device
Brought with it some question as to a shared set-up, just clarification; a modified Kodi indeed has been used in some hotels and commercial applications.