PPC Media Center 7.x - YouTube Streamer, Downloader, & Convertor

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With PowerPC Media Center You Can…

  • Stream YouTube videos at 144p, 360p, and 720p.
  • Stream YouTube live streams at 144p, 240p, 360p, and 720p.
  • Stream Twitch live streams at 160p, 240p, 360p, and 720p.
  • Download a YouTube video, an entire channel, or a playlist at various resolutions.
  • Download SoundCloud tracks as MP3s, or YouTube videos as M4As.
  • Convert your existing media files to many formats, including Mac OS 8.6/QuickTime 6 compatible ones that work on older Macs and other computers. This can also be done automatically when downloading a YouTube video or live stream.
  • Use a web interface over your local network that has 100% compatibility in Classilla, Netscape 4, Internet Explorer 5, and TenFourFox to download YouTube videos in QuickTime 6 compatible media files. This is great for not only classic Mac OS but older Windows versions and the like.
  • Update the built in YouTube-dlp via the web interface or the in app option.
  • Download a file via a URL (with TLS 1.3 and modern certificates).
  • Access git, openssl, python, and the other modern programs used by PPCMC in a Terminal.app window.
  • Burn And Rip CDs (audio, audio+data mixed mode, and data). Can be used for PSX and Sega Saturn backups/original media.
  • Convert a folder of media files to WAVs and burn them automatically to a CD-R.

YouTube and Twitch options use YouTube-dlp, which may stop working if it becomes out of date. If you are getting errors when using these options, update YouTube-dlp from within the App or the Web Interface.

GitHub || Homepage || Macintosh Garden || Official MacRumors Thread

Table Of Contents

Downloads

7.2.6 - 12/11/2021

Changes In Version 7.2.6:

  • Removed YouTube-dl and replaced it with YouTube-dlp as it is now vastly superior in speed, reliability, and accessibility to content.
  • Added streaming of 144p (3GP), and 720p (MP4) for all YouTube videos. FFplay, QuickTime, VLC, and Mplayer all support this.
  • Intel Mac OS X 10.4.8-10.5.8 are now supported by the new Intel native build.
  • Rewrote the Play Media File function to be faster and to fix a bug where certain file names would cause a video to not play.
  • YouTube live streams that are not live and have ended can now be played back by the Stream YouTube Video or Stream YouTube Video In QuickTime options.
  • PPCMC7 now automatically applies a different FFplay configuration for ppc, ppc750, and ppc7400 Macs to boost performance over quality (thanks Dronecatcher). For ppc7450, an option is to do so is available.
  • Fixed/Updated the 720p format used for streaming YouTube live streams to format 300.
  • New build system rewritten for portability, faster development/modification, and enhanced functionality.
  • Updated FFmpeg/FFprobe/FFplay to the latest version, 4.4.1.
  • Updated OpenSSL to the latest version of the 1.1.1 branch, 1.1.1l.
  • Updated the CA certificates to the latest extraction of 10-26-2021.
  • Updated CDRdao to the latest version, 1.2.4.
  • Updated Python to the latest version of Python 3.6, version 3.6.15.
  • Updated cURL to the latest version, 7.80.0.
  • Updated Git to the latest version, 2.34.1.
  • Removed TenFourFox box support due to a bug with URLs being not updated.
  • Updated the web interface to support Python 3.6/yt-dlp.
  • Added YASM to the build tools to enable all X86 assembly optimizations available in FFmpeg for Intel Macs.
  • Optimized PPCMC.app to take up less space by removing unnecessary files.

Installing The App

Copy PPCMC.app into your /Applications folder. If you try to run PPCMC.app anywhere but the /Applications folder and or rename PPCMC.app you will be prompted to change it to /Applications/PPCMC.app.

Installing The Web Interface

Open PPCMC.app and select the Web Interface option. Then select either Install or Uninstall. After doing so, make sure Web Sharing is enabled in your Mac's System Preferences.

Using The App

Select A Default Video Player

On the first launch of PowerPC Media Center, you will be asked what video player you'd like to use as your default player for streaming video and playing video files. Here is some info on each to help you decide which is best for you:

Video Player Notes Download(s)
FFplay The latest version of FFplay is included in PowerPC Media Center 7, it is a modern up to date video player which supports many video codecs and filetypes.. A native Intel or PowerPC build is included in PPCMC7.
VLC VLC is a good video player but the latest versions available for Mac OS X Panther, Tiger, and Leopard are outdated and may have compatibility issues with certain video streams and files. If you have issues with playback when using VLC on Panther, Tiger, or Leopard, use FFplay as it supports modern video codecs, formats, and filetypes.
Mplayer A port of Mplayer version 1.3 was released on the PowerPC MacRumors Forum. It requires a PowerPC G4 or better Mac to run, and supports many video codecs and formats. Mplayer version 1.3 - (PowerPC) for Mac OS X 10.4.11+

Fullscreen Preference

After selecting the default video player, you will be asked if you want videos to start in fullscreen automatically.

Note: FFplay can be entered into fullscreen mode from windowed mode by clicking on the FFplay window and pressing the f key. You can then press the f key while in fullscreen mode to hide the video. You may then later click the ffplay app in your dock and then press the f key to make the video visible again in fullscreen mode, but you can not currently go back to windowed mode in FFplay once in fullscreen mode.

After selecting your fullscreen preference, PPCMC.app will close. Open /Applications/PPCMC.app to begin using it with the preferences you just selected. You may use the in app Edit Preferences option to change them in the future.

Using URLs To Access Content

PowerPC Media Center uses URLs to stream or download content. After you select an option that needs a URL to function, PPCMC will get a URL through one of the following methods:

URL Method Notes
Safari If Safari is open, PPCMC 7 will automatically use the URL of the last active Safari Window.
Copied URL If a URL is copied to the clip board, PPCMC 7 will use that URL. If Safari is also open, you will be asked if you want to use the URL in your clip board or the URL in the last active Safari window
Manual Entry If there is not a URL is copied to the clip board and Safari is not open, PPCMC 7 will display a text box that you can enter a link in once a feature that requires a URL is selected.

Finding URLs

Here are some URL workflows below:

URL Workflow Notes Available On
Safari + Google Usually, you can use Google to find a YouTube video if you know the name of it. Once you find the video in the search results, click it. A page void of content will load. Then you can open PPCMC.app and it will use that video. Mac OS X 10.3.9+
Safari + ytprivate.com You can use ytprivate.com to search across YouTube. After clicking the video, click Watch On YouTube. This will load the YouTube URL in Safari. Then, you can open PPCMC.app and it will use that video. Mac OS X 10.4.0+ (currently can’t connect on Safari v1.3 with Mac OS X 10.3.9)
Camino + ytprivate.com Since currently Safari v1.3 (the newest available on Mac OS X 10.3.9) is not able to connect to ytprivate.com, a different browser has to be used. The last version of Camino for Panther and Tiger both work well to browse ytprivate.com. Use Camino to search for a YouTube video, click the video, and then click Watch On YouTube. Then copy the link in the address bar and open PPCMC.app
TenFourFox + YouTube.com TenFourFox still works with YouTube.com, so you can browse, copy the link of a video, and open PPCMC.app

Streaming YouTube Videos

Standard YouTube videos can be streamed at 144p (3GP), 360p (MP4), and 720p (MP4). Currently live YouTube live streams can be streamed at 144p (MP4), 240p (MP4), 360p (MP4), 480p (MP4), and 720p (MP4).

Note: Not all resolutions may be available on some videos (this applies to downloading videos as well). If you see an error in Terminal.app about the format not being available try a different one (360p is guaranteed to work).

Note: QuickTime version 7.3.1+ can be used to stream YouTube videos in addition to FFplay, VLC, and Mplayer by using the Stream YouTube Video In QuickTime option.

Use 144p (3GP) for a PowerPC G3 or slower G4. This format is not high quality but it does not require a fast device.

Streaming Twitch Live Streams

Twitch live streams can be streamed at 160p (MP4), 240p (MP4), 360p (MP4), 480p (MP4), and 720p (MP4).

Use 160p (MP4) for a PowerPC G3 or slower G4.

Downloading YouTube Videos In The App

If the current URL is a channel or playlist instead of a single video, any of the below options as well as the 'Download YouTube Video(s) as M4A' option will download every video on the channel not in a playlist or the entire playlist. If a video in a Playlist is deleted or removed it will simply be skipped and the specified option will continue.

The Download YouTube Video(s) as 3GP 144p option allows you to download the 3GP format YouTube provides for lower-end devices. It is very low quality but playable directly on PowerPC G3 and slower G4 processors, unlike the standard H.264 MP4 options.

The Download YouTube Video(s) as MP4 H.264 category provides options that directly download specific formats YouTube provides and combines them into one MP4 H.264 file. These files can later be played back by any media player up to the task. For resolutions higher then 480p Core Player should be used.

The 'Download YouTube Video(s) as MP4 H.264' category excludes some lower end PowerPC systems such as the iBook G3 Clamshell 300MHz, as it is just not up to the task. Also, QuickTime versions older then 7.3.1 may not support MP4 H.264. This is important since Mac OS 8.6-9.2.2 can run only up to QuickTime 6. QuickTime 6 does not support H.264 MP4 files, however it was the first version to support MP4 Part 2. MP4 Part 2 is the direct predecessor of H.264. These reasons are why the 'Download+Convert YouTube Video(s) for QuickTime 6' category exists. Along with providing MP4 Part 2 options, MP3 and even MP1 for a 300MHz G3 is provided in this category. All options that also convert the downloaded YouTube videos will take longer then the options in the 'Download YouTube Video(s) as MP4 H.264' and using the fastest PowerPC Mac available is recommended to speed up conversion time.

Converting Existing Files

The Convert Media File option supports the following output formats listed below.

  • 240p MPEG 1
  • 360p MPEG 1
  • 480p MPEG 1
  • 240p MP4 Part 2
  • 360p MP4 Part 2
  • 480p MP4 Part 2
  • 720p MP4 Part 2
  • MP3 @320KB/s Birtate
  • MP3 @128KB/s Birtate
  • MP3 @96KB/s Birtate
  • Mono MP3 @320KB/s Birtate
  • Mono MP3 @128KB/s Birtate
  • Mono MP3 @96KB/s Birtate

The 240p and 360p options have a video bitrate limit of 500KB/s. The 480p options have a video bitrate limit of 1MB. The 720p options have a video bitrate limit of 3MB. These specifications were chosen for compatibility and performance reasons.

Misc Options

The PPCMC Shell option presents you a special Terminal.app window that adds the PPCMC subsystem to the $PATH. This allows you to use OpenSSL, Python, CURL, or any other program within PPCMC.

The About option displays the versions of PPCMC's dependency programs.

Other misc options are quite self explanatory.

Using The Web Interface

The web interface allows you to use select options remotely on your local network. Specifically written to be compatible with Internet Explorer 5, Classilla, Netscape Navigator 4, and TenFourFox. It is ran from one PPC Mac with PPCMC installed that is connected to a local network and the Internet. Other devices on the same local network can access the Web Interface.

Connecting Devices

Get the URL of your PPCMC Mac from the System Preferences Sharing section, it will be displayed after Web Sharing is turned on.

Then using any computer in the same local network, load the URL + ppcmcw/index.php in a Web browser. Example URL below (replace 192.168.1.123 with your Web Sharing IP).

http://192.168.1.123/ppcmcw/index.php

Do not hit the server with multiple requests, only one at a time is currently supported.

Downloading YouTube Videos With The Web Interface

Select any of the download options presented on the web interface homepage. The new page will contain a text box, paste any YouTube-dl link into it and click the Go button. This may take quite a few minutes, all depending on length of video, specified file type, and speed of the server running it. This is why you should run the web interface on the most powerful Mac OS X 10.3.9-10.6.8 Mac you have. After the process completes, the browser will stop loading and the output of all commands used to complete your request will be displayed. You can then click the Downloads link in the web interface to go to the dl directory. This directory contains any videos downloaded via the web interface, which can be downloaded directly to your Mac. This can be cleared by clicking the delete all button on the home page.

Streaming Web Interface Files On The DL Page

QuickTime 6 MP4's as well as MP3's can be streamed directly from the dl directory with a compatible web browser. Alternatively you can open the URL in Quicktime 6, which enables fullscreen playback and better performance.

Displaying URLs With TLS 1.3 Support

The Display URL option allows you to view websites within the web page using up to TLS 1.3. HTML, mostly text based pages work best. Viewing websites in this way is static. Websites that partially work include wikipedia.org, macintoshgarden.com (even downloads), macos9lives.com, and YouTube.com (no streaming obviously). Keep in mind this results in something broken but most times readable and better then nothing.

Burning And Ripping CDs

As of PowerPC Media Center 7.2.4, PowerPC Media Center can burn and rip CDs. To use this functionality, Open PPCMC.app, and double click CD Options. You will be presented with the following options:

  • Burn Audio CD - Allows you to select an existing .toc or .cue file and burn a standard audio CD
  • Burn Data CD Or Mixed Mode Data+Audio CD - Allows you to select an existing .toc or .cue file and burn either a data-only CD or a mixed mode CD with both audio and data. This option works for burning PSX/Playstation 1 backups and homebrew CDs. Other consoles like the Sega Saturn and Sega CD will also probably work with this option as it byte swaps audio data in mixed mode CDs automatically.
  • Burn Folder Of WAVs To Audio CD - Allows you to select an existing folder of *.WAV and or *.wav files to burn as a standard audio CD. This will also automatically create a .cue file in the folder of *.WAV and or *.wav files for future use, such as with the previously mentioned Burn Audio CD option in PPCMC7.
  • Convert And Burn Folder Of Media Files To Audio CD - Allows you to select an existing folder containing any media file type, automatically convert it to .wav, generate a .cue file, and then burn it to a standard Audio CD.
  • Rip Audio CD - Rips a standard Audio CD in raw mode.
  • Rip Data CD Or Mixed Mode Data+Audio CD - Rips a data or mixed mode data+audio cd in raw mode. This option works for burning PSX/Playstation 1 backups and homebrew CDs. Other consoles like the Sega Saturn and Sega CD will also probably work with this option. Disregard the audio byte swap message at the end of ripping as PPCMC7 automatically does this when burning mixed mode data+audio CDs.

History

PowerPC Media Center was originally created by 'Hugh Downs' ('OpenSourceMac' of Macintosh Garden) with contributions from Dan at ppclundite, PowerPC Media Center was in development for 6 years until the last final update.

All versions 7.0 and above have been worked on by Alex Free.

MacRumors Forums Contributions

DroneCatcher came up with the FFplay configuration for slower PowerPC Macs to boost performance over quality.

Wowfunhappy suggested a solution to make a single FFfmpeg/FFplay/FFprobe binary work on 604’s/G3's with AltiVec disabled but also G4's and G5's with AltiVec enabled.

Wicknix is responsible for the Twitch.tv live stream support.

Attributions

Thomas Bernard's SDL 2.0.3 patches for Mac OS X 10.4 PPC that I came across here were used as the base for Panther_SDL2, my fork of SDL 2.0.3 which powers the FFplay media player in PowerPC Media Center 7.

As of PPCMC 7.2.6, the following MacPorts patches are being used:

Note: A full changeling is available in each release, name Changelog.html.

Bundled Programs

Unless otherwise noted, each program is the newest version and up to date as of this release on 12/11/2021.

Licenses

PPCMC itself is released into the Public Domain, however it uses many dependency programs under different terms. All licenses are distributed within each release, in the 'licenses' folder. PPCMC is entirely open source, all patches, source code, and build scripts are available in the separate source download.

Compatibility
Architecture: PPC x86 (Intel:Mac)

604/G3/G4/G5 Mac OS X 10.3.9-10.5.8
Intel Mac OS X 10.4.8-10.5.8