Hey guys, I'd like to know a few things about watching a video in preview mode using BitComet

[un4gettable47]

1. You can watch a video while it is downloading in preview mode, correct?

2. Does watching a video in preview mode affect other peers downloading the torrent? Does it slow others down?

3. Can the host of the torrent u r downloading or any of the seeders see if you are downloading sequentially? And is it wrong, or against the rules?

4. Can the torrent site see if you are downloading sequentially, and once again is it wrong? Can they ban u or something? ie...isohunt/piratebay

5. Can all videos be watched in preview mode(like all types HD, 720p, dvdrip, xvid, ect..)? And why does it not completely work sometimes, such as there not being a total file length time therefore not updating the download in media player so it won't play all the way through when it is definitely downloading fast enough? It will only play as far as you have downloaded from the time u open the preview, it does not continue adding data, how do u stop this from happening?

Thanks my friends and I hope u can enlighten me on these issues :)

Edited April 30, 2012 by un4gettable47 (see edit history)

[greywizard]

1. Yes, if the download rate for that torrent stays ahead of the video bitrate for that video file when it's played.

2. No, the player plays what's already on your harddrive.

3. No, and no and no. It's not wrong or against the rules, you may hurt your own downloading speed in some cases, by searching the next sequential pieces instead of taking the path of the usual BitTorrent algorithm which is the optimized for speed one.

4. No, and no and no.

5. Yes all videos can be previewed as long as your player supports playing incomplete files and has the appropriate codecs. The last issue you describe must be related to your system, codecs or player since it doesn't happen for me or any other of the users I've heard using this, so far.

Just so you get a clearer picture, BitTorrent works by downloading pieces, usually in a seemingly random fashion from multiple peers until it completes downloading the whole task. When this option is enabled, it will download pieces sequentially and write them on the HDD. From there on, it's the job of your system, codecs and player to decode what's written and output it correctly on your display. BitComet doesn't act anymore on the already written data, so it can't affect your playing. And it definitely keeps adding pieces to the existent ones, sequentially, so if you have issues when playing, its the fault of your player most probably, or your system/codecs.

[un4gettable47]

1. Yes, if the download rate for that torrent stays ahead of the video bitrate for that video file when it's played.

2. No, the player plays what's already on your harddrive.

3. No, and no and no. It's not wrong or against the rules, you may hurt your own downloading speed in some cases, by searching the next sequential pieces instead of taking the path of the usual BitTorrent algorithm which is the optimized for speed one.

4. No, and no and no.

5. Yes all videos can be previewed as long as your player supports playing incomplete files and has the appropriate codecs. The last issue you describe must be related to your system, codecs or player since it doesn't happen for me or any other of the users I've heard using this, so far.

Just so you get a clearer picture, BitTorrent works by downloading pieces, usually in a seemingly random fashion from multiple peers until it completes downloading the whole task. When this option is enabled, it will download pieces sequentially and write them on the HDD. From there on, it's the job of your system, codecs and player to decode what's written and output it correctly on your display. BitComet doesn't act anymore on the already written data, so it can't affect your playing. And it definitely keeps adding pieces to the existent ones, sequentially, so if you have issues when playing, its the fault of your player most probably, or your system/codecs.

Thank u so much, amazing answer!

1 last question, sometimes when i download in preview mode and start watching the file with vlc, it glitches when i am watching the video. Is this just something I have to deal with sometimes? Or is this uncommon? I am not sure but I think this only happens when I click the preview mode pretty much IMMEDIATELY when it is available, why would that matter at all? Why is playback glitchy when i select preview mode soon after it is available, why do I have to wait to click it maybe a few minutes or so for normal playback. And yes, the download is going more than fast enough...Is the file too FRESHLY downloaded? Thanks.

[The UnUsual Suspect]

You're watching the file before it's downloaded, it would be much like allowing traffic on a bridge before it's complete, as long as you can calculate that the bridge will be complete before the traffic reaches the other side, you're fine, but if something goes wrong with construction, then you'll have a problem.

[kluelos]

When you do this previewing, there's always the probability that you will get to a piece that has not been downloaded yet. When this happens, VLC has to skip over that piece. This is normal and expected. Bittorrent is, after all, not streaming and does not download sequentially.