Video content is readily available online for you to download, but the download process isn't always as simple and automated clicking a button on a TiVO or DVR. Fortunately, with a little set up and some help from a few great tools and BitTorrent or Usenet, you can turn your computer into a TiVo-like downloader. Here's how to set them up.
BitTorrent and Usenet are tools that allow you to download files easily. Some of those files are TV shows and they're not necessarily legal to download. What you choose to download with the software described in this tutorial is entirely up to you. You accept responsibility for your actions if you choose to download content you are not legally authorized to download. We're going to provide you with the information necessary to set up and use the described software, but your ethical and legal decisions will be left up to you.
With all of that out of the way, you need to choose what you want to use. First we're going to take a look at setting up a PVR using BitTorrent and then we're going to look at doing the same thing with Usenet. If you prefer Usenet to BitTorrent, jump down to the Usenet section below.
While that's all you really need to do, TVShows also has some useful options. If you head into the preferences panel, you can set how often it checks for shows and also set the quality of the file. If you prefer HD, a 720p option is available. You can also set the folder it uses to save torrent files so you don't find them popping up somewhere you don't expect.
That's all you need to do—it's really that easy.
For both Windows and Mac, Sick Beard is the software of choice. You can also install Sick Beard on Linux, but we won't be covering that here (although the Linux installation process is not much different from the one for Mac OS X). Sick Beard isn't as simple to set up as the software in the BitTorrent section of this tutorial, but it's still pretty easy and it provides much more advanced functionality. It can also facilitate BitTorrent downloads as well as Usenet. First we'll take a look at installing Sick Beard on Windows (which is very easy), then Mac OS X (which is a little more work), and then take a look at how to use Sick Beard's web interface on any platform.
BitTorrent and Usenet are tools that allow you to download files easily. Some of those files are TV shows and they're not necessarily legal to download. What you choose to download with the software described in this tutorial is entirely up to you. You accept responsibility for your actions if you choose to download content you are not legally authorized to download. We're going to provide you with the information necessary to set up and use the described software, but your ethical and legal decisions will be left up to you.
With all of that out of the way, you need to choose what you want to use. First we're going to take a look at setting up a PVR using BitTorrent and then we're going to look at doing the same thing with Usenet. If you prefer Usenet to BitTorrent, jump down to the Usenet section below.
The BitTorrent-Based PVR
Setting up a PVR with BitTorrent is incredibly simple, primarily because there are RSS feeds online that update with new episodes for a given show so you can easily obtain torrent files for the latest episodes. While many BitTorrent clients have RSS feed support, we're going to look at using separate applications that intelligently read these feeds to make the downloading process even easier.Windows and Linux: TED (Both) or TVTrigger (Windows)
If you're running Windows or Linux, you can use a neat little application called TED to schedule your show downloads. You can also use TED on a Mac, so you can use these instructions to set up TED on your Mac as well (although we're going to look at a different application for Mac in just a bit). First, download and install TED. Once you're all set, open it up and you should see a screen similar to the one pictured on the left. To get started, cick the "Add Show" button up top and you'll be presented with a new panel containing a large list of shows. Find the one you want by browsing or search, then click on it. You'll be given information about the show as well as a few options. Select which episode you want to start with, whether or not you want to watch it in HD, and click the "Add" button. Once you do that, just repeat for all the shows you want to add and wait until they download. TED will let you know when the next air date is for each episode and will check for new episodes every 60 minutes (which you can change in TED's settings). When TED finds a new episode, it will download a torrent file to your computer and open it in your default BitTorrent client. That's it, you're all set! UPDATE: Windows users may also want to check out TVTrigger, an all-in-one TV show searching and BitTorrent-downloading application.Mac OS X: TVShows
Setting up a PVR with BitTorrent on Mac OS X is ridiculously simple While you can use TED, the same application described in the Windows section, TED isn't exactly geared towards Mac and might confuse some novice Mac users. For that reason, we're going to look at TVShows as it's Mac-only and very simple to use. If you'd like the additional features that TED provides, check out the Windows section above. The instructions will work just the same for Mac. To get started, first download TVShows and open it. TVShows requires a BitTorrent client to already by installed on your Mac. If you have yet to install one, it will recommend Transmission and help you download it. All that you really need to do to get it working at this point is start adding shows. To do that, scroll through the list (or search it) and click the "Subscribe" button. This will tell TVShows to watch for new episodes and download them as soon as they're available. When it finds a new episode, it will download a torrent file and open it in your default BitTorrent client. Your BitTorrent client will then download that episode and it will be waiting for you on your computer without any effort on your part.While that's all you really need to do, TVShows also has some useful options. If you head into the preferences panel, you can set how often it checks for shows and also set the quality of the file. If you prefer HD, a 720p option is available. You can also set the folder it uses to save torrent files so you don't find them popping up somewhere you don't expect.
That's all you need to do—it's really that easy.
The Usenet-Based PVR
For both Windows and Mac, Sick Beard is the software of choice. You can also install Sick Beard on Linux, but we won't be covering that here (although the Linux installation process is not much different from the one for Mac OS X). Sick Beard isn't as simple to set up as the software in the BitTorrent section of this tutorial, but it's still pretty easy and it provides much more advanced functionality. It can also facilitate BitTorrent downloads as well as Usenet. First we'll take a look at installing Sick Beard on Windows (which is very easy), then Mac OS X (which is a little more work), and then take a look at how to use Sick Beard's web interface on any platform.
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