up vote 5 down vote favorite
2
share [g+] share [fb]

Most large torrent files (8-20 gb) take quite a while to download. Is there software for Mac OS X that allows me to watch them while downloading?

link|improve this question
80% accept rate
1  
This question would probably be a better fit on superuser.com (and indeed may already be answered there) – Dan J Nov 5 '11 at 12:50
ditto. I wouldn't say this is off–topic; but in its current form the real question is actually quite cross-platform. – koiyu Nov 5 '11 at 12:53
1  
@djacobson, there are solutions for windows (I've used them, that's why I want them). I'm asking for an OS X solution. – Mihail Stoynov Nov 6 '11 at 12:37
feedback

4 Answers

up vote 8 down vote

Yes. There are three requirements:

  1. A video player software that doesn't mind about incomplete video files
  2. A torrent client that lets you choose the order in which the pieces are downloaded
  3. A fast–enough broadband connection

# 3 is trivial. Although you could cope with slower connection, if you download enough buffer for playback.

# 1 is somewhat trivial. VLC can start the playback of a file if the file's headers are downloaded (first pieces of the file). Seeking is a bit limited and I don't remember correctly if VLC stops when encountering a (too long) gaps in video. On Windows I've used GOM Player, which was more laid-back with missing frames.

# 2 is counter-intuitive. While many clients allow you to prioritise the files, prioritising pieces is less common. This is simply because torrents are designed to transfer big sets of data fast. A large reason why torrents are faster or more efficient than an ordered transfer of a file is due to the fact that torrents pick the easy fruits - whatever parts of the file are available from the least loaded / closest source are what get downloaded first. Statistically, you should expect to be missing key parts of the beginning of the video until the transfer is almost complete.

The speed is achieved by initially splitting the file(s) to pieces, sending the pieces to the clients in the network and then all the clients will share and merge the different pieces. The operation is best described with an animation found in BitTorrent's Wikipedia article.

Unfortunately I can't recommend any torrent clients that give you the option to prioritise the pieces—if there even are any—as I've never really had the need.

Also note that BitTorrent isn't exactly designed for playback while downloading (QED), but for just sharing data. You might get better luck with on–demand video rental services available in your area, which usually use software and protocols specifically designed for HD-playback over the net.

Sadly that leaves out lots of great indie content. Maybe the best way to deal with the issue is to gain patience or plan more ahead :-)

link|improve this answer
2  
I agree with everything you say. However, I'm still searching for a solution – Mihail Stoynov Nov 6 '11 at 12:38
feedback
up vote 5 down vote accepted

The solution

I tried all (I mean all) torrent clients for OS X that I could find.

There were people before me who wanted the same feature and have asked the most popular clients (uTorrent and Transmission) whether they would support serial downloading. Developers replied that that would defeat the purpose of torrent protocol (it would seem that uTorrent changed their minds and have such a feature for windows).

Finally I found one that could download file parts in order. It's called BitThief. It's a research project and has an awful interface. But it works, and most importantly downloads serially.

-> -> -> ->

After the file is put for downloading, the speed must be good enough for watching. For example, if the movie is 1:30h long, I check the ETA time to be less than that.

To watch the movie I use MplayerX (an OS X GUI for mplayer). It can be downloaded for free from OS X App Store. Mplayer is light, can play EVERYTHING, and navigation is done with the arrow keys. Mplayer automatically regenerates the index (the thing that allows using the progress bar). The OS X gui is awesome and supports the Lion's full-screen view.

There's always a chance that things could go wrong - low speed or high speed in the beginning and then low speed (which is even worse).

Keep in mind that in order to watch a 1:30h long movie that is 20gbytes, you have to download with ~3.7mbytes/sec.

Update: tested with 700mb AVIs, 2gb, 6gb, 8gb, 20gb MKVs (was lazy to check the codec, h264 mostly I guess).

link|improve this answer
Excellent solution for a technology that was designed for things other than delivering the first parts of a file somewhat in order. There is a lot of work on encoding video with correct hints for streaming so that you can start playing frames as a stream rather than having the entire file locally. Choosing to torrent a file that is encoded and hinted for streaming will make this much more enjoyable... – bmike♦ Nov 6 '11 at 16:26
I agree. Unfortunately torrent creators don't have that in mind :( – Mihail Stoynov Nov 6 '11 at 16:32
This sounds so awesoeme – abc905 Nov 7 '11 at 8:43
feedback
up vote 2 down vote

No, because Torrent download files in chunks and not sequentially, so you cannot be sure to download the various pieces of the file in the required order to view it.

You can try a specialized Torrent client (like Miro), but I do not believe if will works.

link|improve this answer
Miro just lets torrent video files, but not in sequence (like streaming), so it definitely won't work. – abc905 Nov 7 '11 at 8:44
I have Miro anyway. It doesn't seem to have the preview while downloading option. – Mihail Stoynov Nov 9 '11 at 12:32
feedback
up vote 1 down vote

currently, there are only window and Linux clients that support this feature

q torrent - windows - linux

utorrent 2.1 alpha build - you need videolan

utorrent 3.1 you need to install Videolan or mpcstar

deluge - Linux and windows, Probably Mac you need the Pieces Plug-in,and VLC

Video Tyrant - you need java installed, with vlc

bit-comet 1.32 - windows - works with vlc or mpcstar

NextSharePc European Union project, AKA known as P2p http://trial.p2p-

next.org/ - windows - Linux unsure about mac

http://www.tribler.org/trac - windows , linux , unsure about mac

last one, is of course vuze 5.1 whatever version it is. you need to pay for

the streaming feature.

thats about it.

my recommendations are, bit-comet for private torrent trackers, you can change the user agent in the options which allows you to download from them.

the best public client is Video Tyrant, as it never buffers the video. bit-comet works also really good on public trackers.

streaming 20gbs on a home broadband is impossible, i can guarantee you this your going to experience buffering every 12 seconds you need either 100mbit or 50mbit home connection.

you should download 10mbit per /sec to be able to stream HD torrents.

thats about it.

link|improve this answer
1  
if your really into this, you could try the Chinese client called xunlei player, which supports ed2k, bittorrent, HTTP FTP, torrent streaming. xunlei allows a user to seek in the torrent. – webmaster Mar 23 at 12:17
We wanted mac clients and most of these won't work, right? For windows I know there are a lot of options. – Mihail Stoynov Apr 23 at 22:43
For OS X and 1080p I use bitthief. It's ugly, but it works. – Mihail Stoynov Apr 23 at 22:44
feedback

Your Answer

 
or
required, but never shown
discard

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.