TV Library - anyone still using it?

[JackLuminous]

That would be fair bit of work but it's peaked my interest. The main thing would be separating further the ui model items from how they are retrieved and stored.

[JackLuminous]

Update:
1. Finally able to run the plug-in on Windows 8 and confirm service.exe populates the db
2. Now that I have gotten my hands filthy dirty with the Wix-base installer, I am now a bit of a believer. For now, I am focusing on a 64-bit build that will install properly. Sorry I am running 64-bit and I need this to work to put in my Win8 HTPC . 32-bit may come later if there are some on 32-bit
3. Still need to sort out Issues around bootstrapping SQL Server Compact Edition 3.5 SP2.

[Ed]

We're getting there

I don't see any reason for x86 version (aside from just thoroughness/completeness). 99.99% of people are running x64; and if they aren't, they should be. Especially when they installed/upgraded to Win 8/8.1. Even if you don't have 4GB+ of RAM, your x86-x64 CPU would still benefit from the instruction set of x64 OS. If your CPU isn't x64 capable, well, you're overdue for an upgrade

[JackLuminous]

UPDATE: New Windows 8.1 64-bit installer available: https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=BC8C4296 ... DC53%21257

DvdExtender is not working but everything else is. I am dogfooding on my HTPC and so far so good. I've made one tweak. When you're running it for the first time, after configuring the library folders, an initial scan will be triggered immediately. Previously, you had to wait for the sync interval or manually force it (via Settings | Advanced). Let me know if you run into any issues installing.

[Ed]

So what do we lose from not having DVDExtender? My HTPC is still on Windows 7 as I needed to run your plugin ( ), so I will help test it on my main rig.

[JackLuminous]

DvdExtender is a transcoder that allows the Movie Library on extenders to play the main movie on dvd Vobs. It transcodes the main movie into an Mpg using mencoder.exe. I am converting all my dvds into *.mkv (with burned in subs) so soon I'll no longer need this part of tvlibrary.

[Ed]

Oh, so it was literally only for VOB files? I'm good to go then.

Edit: Shouldn't the transcode options be taken out under the extender subsection then in settings? Or do you plan on adding it back in/don't care to delete it/gonna do it later/etc?

[JackLuminous]

The transcoder is also used for Mkvs when played through tvlibrary. The piece that's not working is the hook between the default Movie Library and my playback UI

[Ed]

Ah, gotcha.

[barnabas1969]

Jack,

Since the old TGB site was taken down by Microsoft, can you post more information which explains what this software does, and possibly some screen shots?

Thanks.

[Ed]

Jack,

Since the old TGB site was taken down by Microsoft, can you post more information which explains what this software does, and possibly some screen shots?

Thanks.

Description (a bit outdated):

http://madeformediacenter.com/m4mc/app. ... 56432f4281

Pics (a bit outdated):

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... 292#p35292

The biggest changes I am aware of (from the linked content) is that it supports movies now (still not ideal for it though), and the Youtube and podcasts plugin have been rolled into one 'internet tv' plugin. And the Windows 8.1 support

[barnabas1969]

Hmm. It looks interesting. What's different about it compared to Recorded TV HD?

[Ed]

I've never used that plugin so I can't say.

[JackLuminous]

Jack,

Since the old TGB site was taken down by Microsoft, can you post more information which explains what this software does, and possibly some screen shots?

Thanks.

https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=BC8C4296 ... DC53%21257

[barnabas1969]

Thanks Jack. I couldn't look at live.com from work. I checked it out from home. It looks nice. Can you tell me what it can do (besides podcasts and YouTube) that Recorded TV HD can't?

[JackLuminous]

I wrote this several years ago primarily to organize and display my tv shows, documentaries, etc. within a UI that looked native to Media Center. While it will also discover and include *.dvrms and *.wtv files, it doesn't have the functionality nor eye-candy of recorded tv HD or media browser.

[Ed]

To add to that, it''s the most native looking WMC plugin I've ever used. All other plugins, even with a default/native WMC theme - there's always something that's off with the UI/colors/elements. Not the case with TV Library. It all looks legit

Looking at Recorded TV HD BTW - it appears more geared towards actual recorded TV (a replacement for the recorded TV tile/app in WMC). While this plugin can do that, it's more geared towards ARCHIVED TV/rips IMO (or, at least, how I use it).

Jack - so far so good with the Win 8.1 plugin. I haven't been testing the internet TV portion though, as I don't use that anymore (used to; back before they were merged).

[JackLuminous]

Thanks for the feedback, man. I'm reevaluating internet tv plugin. Again...I find it a bit limiting to have the plugin just mimic TV Library. By this I mean, where you treat the content as series and collect new episodes over time. This works for podcasts but not as well for youtube. There's so much content and it's making less sense to try and treat them as archives. Also, I miss not having the playlists that existed on the youtube channel.

[Ed]

Yeah, I definitely did like them better separated. I didn't stop using it though because of the merge; I just don't use WMC anymore for internet/streaming content. In fact, TV Library and MyChannelLogos are the only WMC plugins I use anymore.

[barnabas1969]

Recorded TV HD can handle ripped episodes too. I actually like RTVHD's appearance better than the default Recorded TV. I have changed all the colors in Media Center, and the "List View" theme in RTVHD with black background suits me best.

I'm just trying to find out if there is a reason why I would want to use TV Library in addition to RTVHD.

I don't know if I would be interested in the podcasts. Can you give me some links so I can go look at some of the most popular content which would be available in the Internet TV plugin?

As for YouTube, I rarely watch it on the TV... and the Roku 3 does that very well (and so does Chromecast).