Total Media Theater discontinued by Arcsoft

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#21

Post by STC » Mon Sep 22, 2014 6:46 pm

mcewinter wrote:...While STC seems eager to drift away from MCs features...
Well, I wouldn't put it quite like that. It's just my experience with any SWP (through MC) has been one of random glitches, hiccups and fixes.
I personally no longer have the time to troubleshoot, so the next best thing for me is a standalone player.

A case in point would be I won't be spending time trialling PDVD to see if it suits my needs.
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#22

Post by Ed  » Mon Sep 22, 2014 7:11 pm

mcewinter wrote:PDVD is the comprimise that I would investigate. While STC seems eager to drift away from MCs features, I'm not quite ready. As long as PDVD "works" then this is the route I'll take. At the moment, I do not see a viable alternative to MC.
I wouldn't put it like that.

BR was never a feature of MC to begin with.

And choosing a stand-alone player isn't 'eager drift away', it's just the path of least resistance vs. adding a third party program to work within WMC; and then needing to maintain it/update it/deal with any issues it might produce when they do.

With a standalone player, you just have to change the input when it's time to watch something. And when there's an update, you just hit the 'OK' button when prompted - vs. having to bust out the m&kb or RDP in to the HTPC and download, then update, the software.

Me, on the other hand - I am eager to move onto something other than WMC - when something else becomes viable :D

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#23

Post by IownFIVEechos » Mon Sep 22, 2014 7:25 pm

Here is an early Christmas present. Save yourselves the time and hassle of arguing again and just read your original posts :)

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... 632#p77632

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#24

Post by mcewinter » Mon Sep 22, 2014 7:42 pm

Forgive me, I'm sure I'm repeating myself again but this is a Media Center forum. Moderators pointing peeps away from it seems to counter why people arrive here.

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#25

Post by Ed  » Mon Sep 22, 2014 7:46 pm

mcewinter wrote:Forgive me, I'm sure I'm repeating myself again but this is a Media Center forum. Moderators pointing peeps away from it seems to counter why people arrive here.
If that's your mindset, Mods telling people how to, or only to, shoehorn in sub-optimal solutions, just to keep it 'in WMC' and possibly degrading the users overall experience or opinion of WMC - would be even worse :crazy:

That's really a very silly argument you're making.

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#26

Post by mcewinter » Mon Sep 22, 2014 7:49 pm

I can't speak for PDVP (yet) but TMT5 is/was a great solution. I guess you can call it shoehorned but it worked great. Just because you couldn't get it to work doesn't mean everybody else had the same issue. There are many success stories here.

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#27

Post by mcewinter » Mon Sep 22, 2014 7:52 pm

Ed  wrote:
mcewinter wrote:Forgive me, I'm sure I'm repeating myself again but this is a Media Center forum. Moderators pointing peeps away from it seems to counter why people arrive here.
If that's your mindset, Mods telling people how to, or only to, shoehorn in sub-optimal solutions, just to keep it 'in WMC' and possibly degrading the users overall experience or opinion of WMC - would be even worse :crazy:

That's really a very silly argument you're making.
I'm not arguing. I'm just saying it's more productive to look at other alternatives for MC rather than pointing out obvious non-MC alternatives.

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#28

Post by Ed  » Mon Sep 22, 2014 7:53 pm

mcewinter wrote:I can't speak for PDVP (yet) but TMT5 is/was a great solution. I guess you can call it shoehorned but it worked great. Just because you couldn't get it to work doesn't mean everybody else had the same issue. There are many success stories here.
I had it working fine, but I got tired of needing to bust out the m&kb or RDP in to update it when it needed an update. So, not being able to get it to work wasn't why I deem that method inferior.

I suggest you take a look at some of the issues people still have (taksbar popping up over the player comes to mind) on the Arcsoft forums though - those people are left in the dust with no fix coming for whatever their issue might be. I'm sure those people would argue with you that it is working 'great'.

And just FYI - by 'argument you're making' that you quoted me on; I was using it synonymously for 'point you're trying to make' - that's all.
mcewinter wrote:I'm just saying it's more productive to look at other alternatives for MC rather than pointing out obvious non-MC alternatives.
That's subjective. Why aren't we figuring out how to make horses go faster instead of inventing cars I could counter. You use what works best. When that isn't WMC, you use something that isn't WMC. If you wanna make it more difficult by doing everything WMC only, be my guest. It's not common sense to suggest it though to other users looking for guidance/input/suggestions. You offer what is easiest/will give them the most enjoyment with the least hassle. In this case - it is not any WMC solution - but a separate stand-alone product.
Last edited by Ed  on Mon Sep 22, 2014 8:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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#29

Post by STC » Mon Sep 22, 2014 8:00 pm

Okay how about we all keep it nicey nicey... :)

MCE you have the wrong end of the stick. I would not recommend a product that has been prone to usability problems. TMT has been just that for me.

We all have different requirements. Mine is for reduced maintenance.
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#30

Post by Ed  » Mon Sep 22, 2014 8:02 pm

STC wrote:Okay how about we all keep it nicey nicey... :)
We're just having a discussion with differentiating points of view, there's no ill will. At least on my end.

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#31

Post by mcewinter » Mon Sep 22, 2014 8:20 pm

Ed  wrote:
STC wrote:Okay how about we all keep it nicey nicey... :)
We're just having a discussion with differentiating points of view, there's no ill will. At least on my end.
+1

TMT5 is tip top in my home. No taskbar issues. It plays movies begin to end without fail. It's been like that since TMT3 for me. All of my movies reside on a server, I never even spin a disc in my living room. A seperate component solution would be taking several steps back.

So if playing phisical discs is how you typically watch movies then I can see how some would give up on MC. What difference should it make what slot you stick the disc in wether it's a PC or a player? None, I guess.

The current and only problem I have is that TMT is discontinued but for now that isn't a showstopper.

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#32

Post by mcewinter » Mon Sep 22, 2014 8:24 pm

STC wrote:Okay how about we all keep it nicey nicey... :)

MCE you have the wrong end of the stick. I would not recommend a product that has been prone to usability problems. TMT has been just that for me.

We all have different requirements. Mine is for reduced maintenance.
Who would you have recommended MC to in the first place?

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#33

Post by Ed  » Mon Sep 22, 2014 8:29 pm

See, that might be where we had a disconnect. For archived movies, things you keep, things you wanna watch more than once - I rip them and play them back in WMC too. Yes, that is better than putting in the disc each time you want to watch 'x' movie IMO (though, you don't need a BR software player for that unless you wanna playback from folder or .iso - but that's a discussion about how you archive media - which is a whole other rabbit hole of discussion).

What I used TMT for, and now a dedicated player for is rentals, movies I wanna see but don't know if I wanna keep, or if someone else brings over a movie to watch. I'm not gonna sit there and rip every single disc that comes through my door. I got better things to do - like actually watch the movie :P

So when we are talking about physical disc playback (which is what I was talking about all along, even if we weren't on the same page) - I view a dedicated stand-alone player better than all other solutions.

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#34

Post by mcewinter » Mon Sep 22, 2014 8:46 pm

A lot of users here play archived movies. I for one use MyMovies for WHS which takes very little intervention to rip a movie so no time wasted, really. You'll find scenarios like mine all over this forum where suggesting a standalone player is lame to say the least. No offense. We have all taken a custom approach just by adopting MC in the first place. Simple solutions aren't as simple for a lot of us unless you wish to downgrade the experience.

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#35

Post by STC » Mon Sep 22, 2014 8:52 pm

You certainly need to upgrade that B&W CRT :D

It's not lame at all. Your MC experience is one that must have BDP inside the MC interface.
Nowadays my MC experience is one that only controls TV. That doesn't mean I hate it, far from it. It does that job very well.
You could think of it as adapting with the times so to speak which many others here are also doing.

As already stated, one primary reason for having an external BDP is being able to use movie calibration values stored in the TV HDMI input. These are different to those used for MC.
That is as good a reason as any for using an external BDP.

Now I have the beauty of both worlds as far as calibration is concerned and it's a great reason to suggest an external player.
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#36

Post by Ed  » Mon Sep 22, 2014 8:54 pm

mcewinter wrote:A lot of users here play archived movies. I for one use MyMovies for WHS which takes very little intervention to rip a movie so no time wasted, really. You'll find scenarios like mine all over this forum where suggesting a standalone player is lame to say the least. No offense. We have all taken a custom approach just by adopting MC in the first place. Simple solutions aren't as simple for a lot of us unless you wish to downgrade the experience.
Right, but that's all subjective.

By the time you rip (no matter how little feedback that process needs from you. And hopefully you don't run into copy protection obfuscation on the disc - I know MakeMKV can have problems with that, where it will take more time to figure out what title to rip; not sure how MyMovies handles it) the movie and start watching, I've already sat through all the previews/trailers/etc (and either decided to watch them, or made popcorn and got drinks while they were playing) and I am already however far into the movie. So that's why from my viewpoint, simpler is quicker, better and more enjoyable.

As for downgrading the experience - I'm not sure what you mean. My movie plays at the same bitrate etc from disc as yours does from server, so I'm lost on that point. If your point was trailers/warnings/etc on disc - well, I already addressed that point. I also can then watch all the extras on the disc (though I never do, but once in a blue moon I will. My GF or friends do more so when they watch a movie here). With ripping each new movie you want to watch for the first time - that's either going to require more ripping time, or you have to forego it all together - which would be a negative for non-physical disc playback in terms of 'downgrading the experience'.

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#37

Post by mcewinter » Mon Sep 22, 2014 9:04 pm

STC wrote:You certainly need to upgrade that B&W CRT :D
That's a color set :thumbup: . Zenith System 3. I can't even tell how many TV shows and VHS movies I watched on that thing. From Cosby's sweaters to the gammet of James Bond movies to who shot JR. That 19" CRT certainly gave us a lot of entertainment.

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#38

Post by mcewinter » Mon Sep 22, 2014 9:13 pm

Ed  wrote:
mcewinter wrote:A lot of users here play archived movies. I for one use MyMovies for WHS which takes very little intervention to rip a movie so no time wasted, really. You'll find scenarios like mine all over this forum where suggesting a standalone player is lame to say the least. No offense. We have all taken a custom approach just by adopting MC in the first place. Simple solutions aren't as simple for a lot of us unless you wish to downgrade the experience.
Right, but that's all subjective.

By the time you rip (no matter how little feedback that process needs from you. And hopefully you don't run into copy protection obfuscation on the disc - I know MakeMKV can have problems with that, where it will take more time to figure out what title to rip; not sure how MyMovies handles it) the movie and start watching, I've already sat through all the previews/trailers/etc (and either decided to watch them, or made popcorn and got drinks while they were playing) and I am already however far into the movie. So that's why from my viewpoint, simpler is quicker, better and more enjoyable.

As for downgrading the experience - I'm not sure what you mean. My movie plays at the same bitrate etc from disc as yours does from server, so I'm lost on that point. If your point was trailers/warnings/etc on disc - well, I already addressed that point. I also can then watch all the extras on the disc (though I never do, but once in a blue moon I will. My GF or friends do more so when they watch a movie here). With ripping each new movie you want to watch for the first time - that's either going to require more ripping time, or you have to forego it all together - which would be a negative for non-physical disc playback in terms of 'downgrading the experience'.
I can grab the remote or my phone or my tablet and launch one of my 900 movies. That's the experience I've built up and it's very intuitive. How old are you? (don't answer that)but that's how long you waited to watch that movie, you can wait a few more minutes while it's ripping.

Different strokes for different folks but I really like my setup all thanks to the MC forums (mostly the original TGB).

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#39

Post by Ed  » Mon Sep 22, 2014 9:30 pm

I can do all that too with my archived movies in WMC though too - exactly the same as you. Like I said, If I watch a movie and like it and know I'll watch it again - I'll rip it almost immediately after watching - or later on if I got something else to do. If not though, I'm happy I didn't waste however little time ripping it to begin with.

So do you have a wife and kids (even if not, for the sake of discussion)? What happens if they come home with a movie they want to watch by themselves, but you aren't there to rip it for them? They gotta wait till you get home? What about if a friend comes over with a movie they want you to watch? You don't wanna tell 'em "OK, wait here for a few while I rip this to my server." vs "Put the movie in and let's watch it already!" Or, at least, I don't.

I guess we just prioritize/value our time differently I suppose. I'm not trying to change your mind though, just so we're clear. I don't think I could, just like hopefully you realize you can't change mine. I just want the new guy who just signed up for the site and is reading this to see all given viewpoints on the matter :D

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#40

Post by mcewinter » Mon Sep 22, 2014 9:38 pm

Ed  wrote:So do you have a wife and kids (even if not, for the sake of discussion)? What happens if they come home with a movie they want to watch by themselves, but you aren't there to rip it for them? They gotta wait till you get home? What about if a friend comes over with a movie they want you to watch? You don't wanna tell 'em "OK, wait here for a few while I rip this to my server." vs "Put the movie in and let's watch it already!" Or, at least, I don't.
I have a wife and kid who take advantage of my setup quite successfully. If they want to play a disc they can just throw it in the MC. It just never really happens that way but the possibilty is there and waiting. My setup also lends itself to be available make movies available elsewhere. I can hit a button in the MyMovies app to make a movie playable on Plex or an extender for that matter. The caveat is waiting for it to convert which is probably an issue for you but I appreciate the redundancy.

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