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Note: The instructions will mainly include examples of Twitch and Dailymotion channels, but the program also works for MLG.tv, Youtube Live, Justin.tv, Ustream, and Livestream.com. Reportedly, anyway. I've tested it for Twitch, Dailymotion, and MLG.tv.
Also note: Replace all forward slashes (/) in the directory links in this blog with backslashes, since backslashes still aren't recognized on Team Liquid for some reason.
My computer is terrible. It cannot play most modern AAA games. I can't even watch 720p streaming video on my browser from sites like Youtube and Twitch. On Firefox anyway. Sometimes I can get it working on Chrome, but often it too, slows down after a while. Apparently, Twitch/Youtube HD is pretty resource is intensive, as is Firefox.
I can, however, watch 720p video files on Media Player Classic with the Combined Community Codec Pack. Along with VLC (which I rarely use). And now, I've figured out way to watch 720p streams from Twitch on MPC/VLC.
It's a program called Livestreamer:
https://github.com/chrippa/livestreamer/releases
Instructions:
1. Download it and install it (I installed the .exe version).
2. Go to C:/Users/[USER]/AppData/Roaming\livestreamer
Note: [USER] Is your username. AppData is usually a Hidden Folder. You have to either reveal Hidden Folders, or just paste the above location into your directory and insert your username there.
3. Open livestreamerrc, which you can do with Notepad.
4. Delete the # in front of the player= you want to use.
For example, if you want to use VLC, delete the # in front of:
#player="C:/Program Files/VideoLAN/VLC/vlc.exe" --file-caching=5000
so that it just becomes:
player="C:/Program Files/VideoLAN/VLC/vlc.exe" --file-caching=5000
Make sure the VLC program is in the same location on your computer. Otherwise, edit the location in the Notepad to match the location on your computer.
Same with MPC (which is the one I use).
delete the # in front of:
#player="C:/Program Files/MPC/mpc-hc.exe"
And modify it to the correct location to turn it into:
player="C:/Program Files/Combined Community Codec Pack/MPC/mpc-hc.exe"
I would recommend making a shortcut to livestreamerrc if you want to change what Video Player you want to use.
Now to go the Run command on your computer. And type in livestreamer [STREAM URL] [QUALITY]
For example:
livestreamer twitch.tv/beyondthesummit best
"Best" will give you the best quality that's available. "Worst" will give you the worst quality available.
For Twitch, the qualities match with how Twitch labels their qualities: Source, High, Medium, Low, Mobile. Possibly more that I'm personally not too worried about.
For stuff like Daily Motion, it's 720p, 480p, 380p, and 240p.
Let's say best is 1080p, and like my computer, your computer can't handle 1080p regardless, since not only is the computer low-end, but your monitor only goes up to 900p. And you want to view it in 720p. For Twitch, you can type in:
livestreamer twitch.tv/beyondthesummit high
For Daily Motion, you would type in 720p. For example:
For see the list of qualities available to a livestream, type into your command line
cmd /k livestreamer [STREAM URL]
(so same command, just nothing inserted into quality)
Doing so will bring up a list of qualities you can type in for QUALITY, and inputing the cmd /k in front of the command will prevent the Command Line from disappearing after executing the program so you can actually see the list of qualities available that you can input.
That's it. Mainly, I've been using it to finally be able to watch 720 streams. But apparently, it also helps with stream lags or something, since some Europeans are reportedly using it to deal with Twitch lag. Because Twitch is well-known to be laggy in various parts of Europe.
That's the main kinks I've managed to work out of Livestreamer to get it working consistently. Hopefully this helps people out who need it to get HD streams to work, like I did.
I guess this can be another addition to my "Tips to improve your browsing experience" series.
Auto-go to a Youtube Channel's Upload Page /Script: http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/444804-auto-go-to-a-youtube-channels-upload-page-script
Whitelisting by Channel on Youtube - GM/TM Script: http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?topic_id=435906
How to get Twitch to play on SmartTVs via Serviio: http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?topic_id=437509
Have Youtube go to your Subscription Uploads by Default: http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?topic_id=397387
Stopping Blip.tv from auto-starting the next vid: http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?topic_id=394291
 
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Alternatively, you can use this nice script and just paste the output into VLC (Ctrl+N if it doesn't automatically work with Ctrl+V).
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On March 09 2014 15:42 HolyExlxF wrote:Alternatively, you can use this nice script and just paste the output into VLC (Ctrl+N if it doesn't automatically work with Ctrl+V).
This is nice, but it uses the frankfurt server. Any idea how I can change it to use the singapore server? Changing fra to sin or sin-backup doesn't work 
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This is a really cool tip, thanks 
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On March 09 2014 16:16 Birdie wrote:Show nested quote +On March 09 2014 15:42 HolyExlxF wrote:Alternatively, you can use this nice script and just paste the output into VLC (Ctrl+N if it doesn't automatically work with Ctrl+V). This is nice, but it uses the frankfurt server. Any idea how I can change it to use the singapore server? Changing fra to sin or sin-backup doesn't work
Yeah, it used to have an option to use R1CH's proxy, but I guess the scripter didn't think it was necessary anymore.
Sorry, bros
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if ads works then I'll give a try. I just want to support.
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Unfortunately, this pulls the HLS stream directly from the streamer so the Twitch ad handler has no opportunity to load, ergo no ads.
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On March 10 2014 06:26 Dingodile wrote:
if ads works then I'll give a try. I just want to support.
On March 10 2014 07:47 HolyExlxF wrote:
Unfortunately, this pulls the HLS stream directly from the streamer so the Twitch ad handler has no opportunity to load, ergo no ads.
This, pretty much. However, if you want to support, you could probably do something like leave the stream running in the background on Low and Muted on Chrome or something to try and use the fewest resources possible.
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Why does this method use less computer resources than just watching on twitch? Excited for this since my laptop starts to melt if I try to watch anything above 360p.
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On March 10 2014 13:50 minitelemaster wrote:
Why does this method use less computer resources than just watching on twitch? Excited for this since my laptop starts to melt if I try to watch anything above 360p.
I'm not knowledgeable enough to explain how computer resources are allocated. I just know that I can't consistently watch 720p without stuttering on my browser. But I can watch 720p videos on my media player.
If you can watch 720p video files on your media player, then you can watch 720p streams from Twitch on your Media Player with this program.
If I were to guess, it has to do with the fact that Flash is a very resource-intensive program. And internet browsers are pretty resource-intensive on lower-end computers as they are.
The question is, though, if your laptop can't handle 480p/Medium video on Twitch, can it handle 720p video files period?
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Yes, my cpu can handle 720p. It's not limited by stuttering, just the cpu heats up too much and my laptop can't dissipate the heat fast enough. With less pressure on the cpu, I'm hoping it can stay cooler.
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On March 10 2014 15:45 minitelemaster wrote:
Yes, my cpu can handle 720p. It's not limited by stuttering, just the cpu heats up too much and my laptop can't dissipate the heat fast enough. With less pressure on the cpu, I'm hoping it can stay cooler.
I'm even less knowledgeable on heat management, so I can't tell you what the effects are going to be.
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In effect, this method allows the video to play through VLC or MPC and utilize better codecs that decode video with the GPU instead of the CPU. This is a far more efficient method and is much more friendly to low-power systems.
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On March 11 2014 05:16 HolyExlxF wrote:
In effect, this method allows the video to play through VLC or MPC and utilize better codecs that decode video with the GPU instead of the CPU. This is a far more efficient method and is much more friendly to low-power systems.
Ah, so that's how it works. Yeah, this pretty much.
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Sounds good. I will give it a try when I can. Thanks for the post!
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could you make the cmd close by default when the player is closed? it's incredibly annoying for me to close it manually.
a simple "EXIT" in the cmd does the trick.
i'm asking because i'm using the firefox addon to open streams from there quickly and without this i have to move my mouse unnecessarily.
thanks in advance
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It closes the cmd line for me once I close the VLC manually.
But I came to thank the OP, working really well for me.
Recently sold my gaming PC to save for the upcomin Haswell-E platform (I'm also rendering the 3D) and watching Twitch on this old laptop was driving me crazy.
Getting nice and smooth 720p streams now and as a bonus - I now can't even fall for the trap and open the chat.
Great stuff, thanks.
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Canada11355 Posts
You can also type %APPDATA% into run to get to the appdata folder
Thanks for the info
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Huh, more and more people are helped. You're welcome.
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EPT
