Hey guys

I'm working on a Mac media-center software. It's still *very* alpha stage. I was hoping some people may like to test it out and give some input/feedback.

For now, it grabs your songs from your iTunes database, and your photos from your iPhoto database. It requires that you have the latest versions of those programs, along with the latest version of QuickTime.

Working in this version:
1. Fully functional music player
2. Fully functional photo-viewer
3. Fully functional video-player (can even play protected video files)

The only accepted input (as of now) is the keyboard. Use "Escape" and "Enter" to enter and exit menus, and use the up and down arrow keys to move up and down, and use left and right to select previous and next songs. The spacebar pauses (but I think now only in the "Now playing" screen.)

Note: This software requires Tiger (or newer?).
Note: Because of Apple's changes to iTunes in v7.0, this program will have to open iTunes to retreive album art. If iTunes isn't already open, there will be a short delay when trying to play a song for the first time!

I'm not a graphics designer :) The program doesn't have the greatest eye-candy now, that will come later after I do more features.

Download: http://www.aychamo.com/amp/Kindling.zip
Note: This should be a Universal Binary

Anyways, I hope you guys can help with a little feedback, etc. Please remember, this is still very very Alpha, and don't be too harsh :-)

Thank you,
Aychamo

I wanted to post a screenshot of what I have so far:

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/9767/picture1wp8.png

I think it is shaping up nicely. Your program response time is very fast! I'll spend some time with it and let you know of any problems.

I'm curious, any possibility of including a thumbnail view of albums or would this prove to difficult to incorporate? Another words, where one can see multiple album covers on screen similar to MCE and choose your cd by scrolling up/down thumbnails.

This is one area that has been missing from Mac front ends.

Haven't downloaded and tinkered with it, but the png looks good. One thing I dislike about Front Row is that it assumes that the entire screen is valid real-estate for informational items, and that doesn't fly to well when the Front Row interface is displayed on a TV with overscan. At some point in the future, you might consider options to pull informational items away from the edges into the "NTSC Safe" area.

The background herring-bone pattern may cause dot-crawl issues on interlaced displays.

Are you using Quartz composer?

Another question. I installed this on my older iMac g5 which does not include remote control functions. If I install this on my Mini which is hooked into my home theater, will it (or in the future) include the remote control functions?

Another question. I installed this on my older iMac g5 which does not include remote control functions. If I install this on my Mini which is hooked into my home theater, will it (or in the future) include the remote control functions?

You could just get something like one of the Keyspan remotes that can translate the IR single from the little remote into a keystroke. That's what I use to control MediaCentral right now on a PPC mini that has no IR port of its own.

You could just get something like one of the Keyspan remotes that can translate the IR single from the little remote into a keystroke. That's what I use to control MediaCentral right now on a PPC mini that has no IR port of its own.

Thanks for the help. However I should have mentioned the Mini hooked to my theater is an Intel Mini with IR. Sorry.

I'm curious, any possibility of including a thumbnail view of albums or would this prove to difficult to incorporate? Another words, where one can see multiple album covers on screen similar to MCE and choose your cd by scrolling up/down thumbnails.

This is one area this has been missing from Mac front ends.

Yes, I would like to include that functionality. It presents a problem programmatically though, because Apple doesn't provide any easy way to get the album art from your media files. The art used to be stored within the .mp3 files themselves, but now Apple stores the art in separate files, and uses a very cryptic scheme to locate them. The only reliable way to get the art is to request it from iTunes via an AppleScript connection.

So it would be a little laggy as it would be constantly talking to iTunes to get the art. But, I would like to add this functionality.

Thank you for looking at the program :)

Another question. I installed this on my older iMac g5 which does not include remote control functions. If I install this on my Mini which is hooked into my home theater, will it (or in the future) include the remote control functions?

Yes, it will definitely include Apple Remote control in the future. I'm developing this software while I'm in school on a Powerbook G4. So, I had to order an Apple remote and I'm waiting on that to come in (along with the receiver, etc.) I'm developing the App to use only the six keys, as the Apple does. (This proves to make the software limiting, which I don't like, though...)

Haven't downloaded and tinkered with it, but the png looks good. One thing I dislike about Front Row is that it assumes that the entire screen is valid real-estate for informational items, and that doesn't fly to well when the Front Row interface is displayed on a TV with overscan. At some point in the future, you might consider options to pull informational items away from the edges into the "NTSC Safe" area.

The background herring-bone pattern may cause dot-crawl issues on interlaced displays.

Are you using Quartz composer?

This is exactly the kind of input I am hoping to get. Completely good point about the screen-edge. I may include a configuration program to determine how much overscan you have, and then it will draw the Now Playing info and the Clock info according to that. I think that's the best solution, as we will all have different over-scan amounts.

I'm actually not familiar with dot-crawl issues. I just Google'ed the term, and I think I see what you are talking about. Maybe a simpler gradient background would be better? Or just have the background be configurable.

I'm only using Quartz composer for a "Now Playing" little screen I through in for fun, but I'm not really too happy about right now. Do you ask because of the look of the program?

Again, thank you for the input!

it looks pretty sweet. but on my set-up (g4 iBook 1.3ghz, 1g RAM, latest Tiger, iTunes, iPhoto, etc) the up, down, left, right cursor keys don't work. escape, enter, 2 finger scroll all works fine. despite the problems i got it to play a few tunes. very quick and i didn't notice any lag.

keep it up.

it looks pretty sweet. but on my set-up (g4 iBook 1.3ghz, 1g RAM, latest Tiger, iTunes, iPhoto, etc) the up, down, left, right cursor keys don't work. escape, enter, 2 finger scroll all works fine. despite the problems i got it to play a few tunes. very quick and i didn't notice any lag.

keep it up.

Hmm. That's really odd. I have a PowerBook G4 and the 2-finger scroll doesn't work on my App (it shouldn't be accepting any mouse inputs!) Do you know if you have any sort of 3rd party mouse or keyboard drivers installed?

Thank you
Aychamo

Hey guys :) Just to note, I have really thick skin. So if you don't like something on it, please let me know, and if you like FrontRow or whatever better for a certain reason, you could say why too. I'd like to just make the app really nice for a home theater user.

Hmm. That's really odd. I have a PowerBook G4 and the 2-finger scroll doesn't work on my App (it shouldn't be accepting any mouse inputs!) Do you know if you have any sort of 3rd party mouse or keyboard drivers installed?

Thank you
Aychamo

nothing special installed, no.

when i say 2 finger scroll i mean that when on a screen with a list longer than fits to the screen - eg: playlists - the 2 finger scroll lets me scroll down to see the playlists below those that are appearing on the screen. what it doesn't do is change the playlist that's highlighted at the top. the 2 finger scroll down't act as an up / down keystroke.

i hope that helps.

Do you have numlock or scroll lock on?

Do you have numlock or scroll lock on?

nope

I think it is shaping up nicely. Your program response time is very fast! I'll spend some time with it and let you know of any problems.

I'm curious, any possibility of including a thumbnail view of albums or would this prove to difficult to incorporate? Another words, where one can see multiple album covers on screen similar to MCE and choose your cd by scrolling up/down thumbnails.

This is one area this has been missing from Mac front ends.


Exactly, we need this right now in the mac community. Digital jukeboxes/frontends should not just be an iTunes like interface that is not much different than something we could do in 1998. What we need is something like you see at Tavern's now a day. Where you can look at about 20 album covers on the screen at once and scroll and down through your list of artists/albums. When you select one you drill down to that albums song list.

Also, this may be a bit of a pipe dream, but if something like this could be done right. It would be real nice if you could "lock" this application that it was the only app accessible to a certain user.

I guess what I am looking for eventually, is too set up a touchscreen digital jukebox. However, I do not want random people realizing it is just a simple computer app and quit it and start screwing with my mac. All I want is for people to walk up to it and look for recognizable album art/name and then select some songs they would like to play, all with the good looks of mac app.

And I completely agree. The only problem programatically with a digital jukebox to show album art is that iTunes has really made this difficult on the developer. I have two options to do this:

1. I can have an "import" option which scans your iTunes library and gathers all your album art, and puts it into a format that is quick for my program to retreive. This would take you about 10 minutes to run, and anytime you added new art you would have to do this. But it would work, and would be "snappy"

2. I can do it all dynamically, without an importer, but it would be slow and laggy. Obviously,, this isn't ideal.

What do you guys think? I can completely do a fancy album-view mode (I did it in my previous in-car media center software).

Diamondg, if you are looking for a touchscreen digital jukebox software, I may have exactly what you need. I started an opensource project called AMP which was made for in-car touchscreen environments as a digital juxebox, it had the album mode and everything. If you are familiar witih programming, you could just modify the .nibs to fit your screen's resolution, and remove one line of code so that the user can't exit, and is effectively "locked" into your program.

The home-theater software I'm working on, it's difficult to design anything "complicated" because I'm aiming for use with Apple's six button remote. If it were a touchscreen interface, it would be 10 times easier to design (as was my last software, AMP.)

Aychamo

Looks good.
I am trying it out on my G4 Powerbook 10.4.8 and the arrow keys are not functioning.
Thanks

Hmm.. That's the weirdest error.. Is anyone *not*having arrow-key problems?

And I completely agree. The only problem programatically with a digital jukebox to show album art is that iTunes has really made this difficult on the developer. I have two options to do this:

1. I can have an "import" option which scans your iTunes library and gathers all your album art, and puts it into a format that is quick for my program to retreive. This would take you about 10 minutes to run, and anytime you added new art you would have to do this. But it would work, and would be "snappy"

2. I can do it all dynamically, without an importer, but it would be slow and laggy. Obviously,, this isn't ideal.

What do you guys think? I can completely do a fancy album-view mode (I did it in my previous in-car media center software).

Diamondg, if you are looking for a touchscreen digital jukebox software, I may have exactly what you need. I started an opensource project called AMP which was made for in-car touchscreen environments as a digital juxebox, it had the album mode and everything. If you are familiar witih programming, you could just modify the .nibs to fit your screen's resolution, and remove one line of code so that the user can't exit, and is effectively "locked" into your program.

The home-theater software I'm working on, it's difficult to design anything "complicated" because I'm aiming for use with Apple's six button remote. If it were a touchscreen interface, it would be 10 times easier to design (as was my last software, AMP.)

Aychamo

I think number #1 would definately be the way to go as far as album art is concerned. I would be interested in looking at your "AMP" project. Do you any screenshot or a website that I could checkout. Thanks.

No arrow problems here.

I too, would prefer the "import" function.

I must say, I'm pretty excited to see that your app will include the thumbnail design. I thank you for taking the time to develop it, and giving us a look at your work. When your project is complete, if it is not shareware, I encourage you to link a donation page. I would be happy to pay for this type of app.

If this app turns out like I believe it will, I hope you put it on Versiontracker and Macupdate. It will create competition which will benefit all of us, as well as make you a few dollars for your time and effort.

I was using MCE on my Intel Mini, but recently deleted it and re-ripped all of my music to Apple lossless. I am fully aware of the current limitations of front row, but life is a little simpler in the OSX environment. I knew it would be a matter of time before additional software and improved software would surface. And when that happened, I'd be back in a Mac front end. Worse case, I reinstall MCE, convert ALAC to FLAC, and keep the original ALAC files for the future. But for now, Ill wait for developers and Leapord to see what unfolds.

Thanks again,

Mark

Yes, I would like to include that functionality. It presents a problem programmatically though, because Apple doesn't provide any easy way to get the album art from your media files. The art used to be stored within the .mp3 files themselves, but now Apple stores the art in separate files, and uses a very cryptic scheme to locate them. The only reliable way to get the art is to request it from iTunes via an AppleScript connection.

So it would be a little laggy as it would be constantly talking to iTunes to get the art. But, I would like to add this functionality.

Thank you for looking at the program :)

What about retrieving all the art when you start the program and then caching the information/images somewhere that you can retrieve quickly later.

Hi, just thought I'd say I have downloaded and tested your app.

Works well, and as other people have said is quick. One thing I have noticed is the track order is alphabetical and not as the original album order.

Not sure if you are taking requests for features, and not sure how useful others would find this...

I would like to see a "What's new" screen, that would contain the last 5, maybe 10 albums/videos and Picture albums added. I share my mac with the family, and we are always putting new stuff on. It would be good to be able to see whats recently been added by everyone.

anyway keep up the good work, and I'll carry on testing.

Hey , those are really good ideas!

I'm working with a designer now, and he has come up with a really nice, simple, and effective interface. I've been implementing that, so I can't upload the new version since it's still half-odd looking. When I get it more implemented (next few days) I will upload a newer version with some of the suggestioins you guys have given me put in. (and hopefully the arrow-key problem fixed for some of you)

Again, thank you,
Aychamo

...When I get it more implemented (next few days) I will upload a newer version with some of the suggestioins you guys have given me put in. (and hopefully the arrow-key problem fixed for some of you)...
Are you planning on posting again when you update the application, or have you already?

Are you planning on posting again when you update the application, or have you already?

Hey there! I've been working with a designer to help the app acheive a more unique feel. In the process, he came up with a pretty nifty UI that eliminates a lot of the "hassel" that most media centers have. Here are a few screenshots of what we have working so far. I've been reading peoples gripes and what-not of other front-ends, so I've been trying to implement things that people want.

These first 3 pics show the music player. In the first pic, you see when you browse the albums of an artist, it shows the album art. This isn't the album-art-specific browser though. The next picture shows how when you have entered an album, it shows the art and you browse the songs. The third just shows a "Now Playing" screen. This screen still needs to be worked out.

More pictures in next post.

Three more pics.

The fourth shows browsing photo albums. When you pic an album, you get full screen, iPhoto like slide-shows. The fifth picture just shows browsing the videos. I know there's a gaping space on the left. We are working on it! And the sixth picture just shows the album-art importer. I wrote about the importer issue in this thread up-above. I *hate* that I have to have it, but it's really the only solution, in order to not be a laggy program. As it is, on my G4, the program is extremely responsive and quick.

So, yes, I am definitely still working on this project.

Well, it's still looking good--better all the time. I have two requests for feature additions (no idea if you had already planned on these or not).

1. Multi-monitor support - I'd like the ability to either choose which monitor to have the GUI display on and then have it always go there, or change the size of the GUI to a window, move it over to the next Monitor, and then full-screen it to that monitor. But then it would have to save my settings, too. (Check out MediaCentral (http://www.equinux.com/us/products/mediacentral/) if this concept doesn't make sense.)

2. Media player selection - I'd also like the ability to select which media player to use to play my video files. This may sound complicated, but what I would actually want is very simple: essentially a check-box in the preferences that says, "Use integrated Media Player." If checked, it would play using your integrated Quicktime player (or whatever) from within your GUI. If unchecked, it would just launch the file, allowing the OS to decide which application to use to display it. No mac media center applications do this yet, AFAIK, so it will be a major upgrade. I know at lease pkscout agrees with me on that... :)

Also--I wasn't doubting whether you were still working on it, just wondering if you would post back when you had completed an update, or if it had already been done.

Thanks!

Hey there!

Great suggestions, and completely implementable. I assume you are using VLC or mplayer? If those files are just "launched" via the default player, will it launch full-screen, etc? Also, do things like the Apple remote work with those Apps? I know there is 3rd party software to make the Apple remote work with basically any application.

Looks FANTASTIC!

I'm getting excited! Any idea when the next downloadable demo well be ready?

Need a beta tester ;) ?

"Also, do things like the Apple remote work with those Apps?"

You can script the apple remote to control any app. The wonders of applescript.

If you need any help with this program let me know, this is pretty much exactly like the project I was getting ready to start.

Thanks, Voided!

So let me make sure I understand the "needs" properly. If I put in an option to just launch the default media player, instead of my app's internal media player, that would solve people's problems with using VLC, mplayer, etc?

If I put in an option to just launch the default media player, instead of my app's internal media player, that would solve people's problems with using VLC, mplayer, etc?
As long as when you say "launch the default media player" you mean "launch the file" (the equivalent of just double-clicking the file in the Finder) I'm happy. :)

The reason this would work is then your app doesn't have to worry about how to decode the video, it just passes it to the Finder for it to decide which media player to use to display it.

Hope that helps--let me know if I can be of more assistance!

Sorry to double-post. I didn't see your last post on the previous page. :o

I assume you are using VLC or mplayer?
Yep. (I use the GUI Version (http://www3.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/releases/MPlayerOSX_1.0pre8.dmg) of mplayer (http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/news.html).)

If those files are just "launched" via the default player, will it launch full-screen, etc?
Yes. I guess that configuration would be up to us.

Also, do things like the Apple remote work with those Apps? I know there is 3rd party software to make the Apple remote work with basically any application.
They do, but it requires a third-party application like Mira (http://twistedmelon.com/).

Well great :) That is certainly easy enough to do!

Your app looks really nice! I'm looking forward to seeing more.

I think it might be better to have preferences in the app to launch a media player based on the media type.
eg.
launch VLC media player for .avi, .mpg, etc
launch QT based media player for .mov, wmv, etc.

The reason I say this is I would prefer not to change the finder's default "open with" of all media files to VLC because VLC chokes on some .mov files and I actually like QT player's interface.

The reason I would LOVE your app to be able to use VLC is because it can passthrough Dolby Digital audio through my mini's optical audio out to my Kenwood reciever. I can get the original 5.1 audio from my .Avi files.

Quicktime based media players ouput audio in stereo which my reciever decodes as Dolby Prologic (four channels).

Looking forward to seeing more.
--sdm

The reason I say this is I would prefer not to change the finder's default "open with" of all media files to VLC because VLC chokes on some .mov files and I actually like QT player's interface.
I don't believe that you would have to do this. I'm not in front of my Mac right now so I can't double-check, but I'm pretty sure that every file extension is handled differently.

In other words, you could have .mpg opened with QT, .mkv opened with mplayer, .avi open with VLC, etc.

Yes, you're right... what I should have said is ...
I prefer to open everything in QT player including except when I want to use VLC's "Use the S/PDIF audio output when available" preference.

However, that being said, my Mini is not my main computer ... so I guess I could set the "open with" preferences differently on it.

Lets just hope it can be implemented.
-- sdm.

If the LaunchServices APIs are used, then this will abstract all this out for the application. Then you will get the ability to control all this in the Finder's Get Info window. (i.e. you can set your preferred application for all files of a particular type or override for individual files).

Kevin

If the LaunchServices APIs are used, then this will abstract all this out for the application. Then you will get the ability to control all this in the Finder's Get Info window. (i.e. you can set your preferred application for all files of a particular type or override for individual files).

Kevin

Correct. This is actually an incredibly easy feature to implement. I'm not sure why other softwares haven't done so yet. This feature is implemented as of today. I'll get another "beta" up somewhat soon. I have a bulk of free time now, so I can start trying to appeal to this extremely more technical crowd.

Looks very promising - will be keeping an eye on this thread!

So with the update that is completed, giving the ability to use VLC, does that mean that I'll be able to launch .ts or .m2t files from the frontend? I've got a good sized group of movies that are recorded this way that I want to be able to access, and with DD audio as well. If this works, I'll be one very happy camper!

If you've told OS X to use VLC to open them, then yes, they will load in VLC! :) I hope this solves lots of "wants"!

Hey guys,

I'm putting the finishing touches on the "album art" browsing mode. Just wanted to upload a picture to show what we have going so far.

aychamo, if looks fantastic!
Right now I'm using bootcamp and MCE because neither front row nor mediacentral satisfied my needs (basically play all kind of videos with srt subs and 5.1), but i think i'll come back to mac side of life with your app.

Thanks for your work! (hope new downloadable version comes out soon)

I am also excited for the next version, if I can get 5.1 than this is my new front end.

Looks like a great program - but I can't download it for some reason, the link on the first page gives me a 404. The basic site loads if I take out the /amp/Kindling.zip and I get a cute picture of a dog (or is it a fox ;-) on a bed...

waiting for next release, i have a little suggestion. It would be great being able to change subtitles delay with the remote (keys h and j in vlc for instance).

Thanks and regards

waiting for next release, i have a little suggestion. It would be great being able to change subtitles delay with the remote (keys h and j in vlc for instance).
That's not really something you'd do with this software, I don't think. That's something that would be handled in an interface between the remote and VLC (like Mira (http://twistedmelon.com/)).

Cheers!

That's not really something you'd do with this software, I don't think. That's something that would be handled in an interface between the remote and VLC (like Mira (http://twistedmelon.com/)).

Cheers!

That's exactly right. My software allows you to use any video-playing software you want, but you will have to use something like Mira to interface between the remote control and the program. (ie, map "Menu" to apple-Q to quit the app, etc.)

Things are moving really nice, and this morning I implemented a much better way to read playlists. I will be uploading a new version to test out very soon.

:)

waiting for next release, i have a little suggestion. It would be great being able to change subtitles delay with the remote (keys h and j in vlc for instance).

Thanks and regards

As mentioned above, you can accomplish this with something like Mira, if you use a control besides Apple's. My app is designed for the six button apple controller, but it also works with arrow-keys and enter/escape (well, actually, right now it only works with the arrow keys and enter/escape). So with Mira you can program the "extra" buttons on your remote to be a h or j to change the subtitles delay, or any other option you want! It's really cool because it's just so damned flexible!

Looks like a great program - but I can't download it for some reason, the link on the first page gives me a 404. The basic site loads if I take out the /amp/Kindling.zip and I get a cute picture of a dog (or is it a fox ;-) on a bed...

Thats my dog!! :) A pomeranian!

thanks dancinbear and aychamo, i'll take a look at mira.
Looking forward to trying your app!

Regards

Is there any update on a new revision for this? We're looking forward to it! :)

Is there any update on a new revision for this? We're looking forward to it! :)

Yes there is:) My designer is finishing up a few last icons for the app so that Apple doesn't sue me. It's honestly getting really close. I really hope you guys will like it!

can't wait for it!
thanks for your work, aychamo.
BTW, I tried RemoteBuddy to get working my 'subs delay' wish and it works flawlessly. thanks for the tip.

Regards

Hey guys!

I got my Apple remote and a USB IR receiver in today. I used Mira's software (www.twistedmelon.com) to configure the remote to work with my app, VLC, and QuickTime (things like make "Menu" quit the respective app, etc.) (I mention the different video players because you can configure my software to work with external videoplayers (VLC, mplayer, etc.)

It worked great! I was able to sit back on my couch, play music, look at photos, and play videos. When I'd play a video, it would successfully launch VLC (if configured to) and I could play videos in that and then quit out and be back in my app, all without using anything but the tiny controller.

Anyways, just wanted to let you guys know and keep you updated!

I just saw this thread & downloaded your app - thanks for all your work - this looks promising! I look forward to trying out this version & the newer one...

How does your softare work with Itunes ability to play thru a remote stereo using airport express? Does it allow it, or does it do it going thru itunes?

Also, which USB receiver did you get?

Thanks,

Marshall

the link isn't supposed to be working yet, is it?

No, it probably isn't working yet!

The only downfall I'm facing right now is that I don't have native support for the Apple Remote yet. My Mac (PowerBook G4) doesn't support it. That's why I'm having to use Mira right now (which, btw, works literally flawlessly - thats a good piece of software!)

I'm curious if the photo viewing portion of your software will be like Front Row's. Does it show all of iPhoto's albums? Will it play the associated music and use the 'Ken Burns' transition between photos?

If yes, thats great!
If no, is that something you may work on?

looking forward to seening.
--sdm.

I'm curious if the photo viewing portion of your software will be like Front Row's. Does it show all of iPhoto's albums? Will it play the associated music and use the 'Ken Burns' transition between photos?

If yes, thats great!
If no, is that something you may work on?

looking forward to seening.
--sdm.

Hi!

As of right now, it lists all of your photo albums from iPhoto, and sets them up in a list. You browse the list of albums, and select one and it plays it. The photo transitions look like iPhoto (where it slowly pans across the image, and then fades into the next image.) Is that the Ken Burns transition? (it looks basically exactly like iPhoto's transitions.)

Also, you can que up a playlist, or have whatever songs playing while you view your slideshows. I don't, however, have any "default music" that plays automatically when a slideshow is viewed. :|

aychamo, take a look at Remotebuddy, same as Mira but quite better imho.
Any new screenshot? i think most of us are anxious about your software :D

Regards and thanks!

Sounds great! Yes, the transition you describe (slow pans and slow zooms) is the Ken Burns effect I was mentioning.


I should clarify about the music.
In iPhoto, you can choose 'play slideshow' then pick music for the slideshow from iTunes' playlists.
Frontrow plays the same music that you chose in iPhoto.

Anyhow, I'm looking forward to giving it a try!
--sdm.

aychamo, what about an eyetv link? It would be interesting being able to open eyetv without exiting your app.

Best regards!

aychamo, what about an eyetv link? It would be interesting being able to open eyetv without exiting your app.

Best regards!

Well, I can do things like that, like an App launcher, and then you can reasonably control those apps with either RemoteBuddy or Mira. But, with all that extra configurability, there comes a point where I'll have to just make the configuration screen a standard window instead of it being built into the app, etc.

On a side note, I tested my app in its current version at the Apple store on the 30" screen. It actually looked pretty dang good, but there were a couple of screen-drawing issues. So I went outside and tried a couple of fixes and then uploaded it back onto the machines. The employees gave me some odd looks :-) I've just ordered a new MacBoook Pro so I can test it on the newer platform, with the built in apple remote, and all that jazz.

I think I will be releasing an early beta soon.

Cool software; thanks for putting in the effort! I tried it on my Mac Mini and it launches and displays just fine. On my MDD G4 it launches fine but for some reason it doesn't display right - the icons are low and to the left.

Other than getting it to launch, I couldn't really get it to do anything. I pointed it to my movies folder but nothing showed up; same results for photos and music.

Anyway, I know it's a work in progress; just wanted to give you a little feedback.

I'd also like to see EyeTV integration as well as integration with VLC.

^^ Hmm, I'm not sure what you downloaded. The download link shouldn't work anymore.

I downloaded "AMP".

I downloaded "AMP".

Ahh!! That's some software I made for in-car Mac's. It's designed for use with a touch-screen monitor in 800x480 resolution. If you want to play around with it, you'll need to go to the settings and run the importers. (this is eliminated in the software I'm writing for the home theater.) AMP is actually the software I wrote while learning Mac programming. It's what made me want to do something for a home-theater, which I would use much more than a computer in my car (which to this day I still don't have!)

ahh, I see. I was wondering why it didn't work. Anyway, I'm definitely excited to see what you have to offer. I'd love to help out with more than just ideas. Where's a good place to start for Mac programming; I'd really like to at least learn how to create front ends for apps.

Man, I'm really excited to try out this app. The VLC integration makes me so happy. One thing that I hate about Front Row is that even with the MPEG2 component installed, it still can't really play VOBs and it doesn't play other types of MPEG2 very well either (svcd spec). Also, even with Flip4Mac installed, the wmv playback is kind of hit or miss (for me anyway). Needless to say, I'm definitely excited at the idea of VLC integration. For me, it's one big step forward in having a full featured media center on the Mac. Like I said previously, I'd also like to see EyeTV integrated into this app. I'm assuming that wouldn't be too hard - The EyeTV2 software is great and I'd just like a nice way to go from your app to EyeTV and back; I guess like how it already does that with Front Row.

It'd also be cool to integrate some console emulators into Kindling. RockNES is great; I love playing all the old Nintendo games.

It's probably been mentioned before, but it'd also be nice to have access to online vids (YouTube).

Oh, and this may or may not be a good idea, but browser integration might be cool too.

Just some ideas I had...

It'd also be cool to integrate some console emulators into Kindling. RockNES is great; I love playing all the old Nintendo games.

It's probably been mentioned before, but it'd also be nice to have access to online vids (YouTube).

Oh, and this may or may not be a good idea, but browser integration might be cool too.

Just some ideas I had...

And a pony. I want a pony.

Seriously folks, give the guy a break. The app isn't even in beta yet and we've already turned this into a wish list thread that would take one guy a year to do. How about we wait until it's in beta, help him fix any issues, decide how much the app is worth, PAY HIM FOR IT, and then start asking for stuff.

How about we wait until it's in beta, help him fix any issues, decide how much the app is worth, PAY HIM FOR IT, and then start asking for stuff.

Wise words these.

aychamo,

A while back, you mentioned a script that would enable album art to be stored in a separate folder from where iTunes stores its art. How will this be implemented, will it be a seperate folder or will a jpeg be added to each album folder?

Thanks,

Mark

Hey there!

All the album art will be stored in a single folder. I thought it would be best to just use one folder for the app, instead of littering the users hard-drive with .jpgs!

aychamo, just wondering... how's it going?

thanks!

^^^^^^^Yea.....What he said!^^^^^^^ :)

No word from Aychamo in almost 3 weeks? Is there an update? This is promising to be a nice piece of software!

he's been busy with the holidays and school and had to take a little break from developing. Just give him time, stuff like this dont happen over night ;)

Sorry, but we are all keeping tabs, because, well because we WANT to love this app and if we do love it, I hope I speak for us all when I day I want to donate.

Hey guys!

I got a little depressed when Apple launched their AppleTV. I wondered if I would rather use that or my own software? Now that some of the limiting factors of AppleTV are being discovered, I'm getting back into the software. I've had some problems with scaling the UI to fit every resolution (ie, it looks perfect on at 1280x854, but at full resolution on a 30" Mac screen the graphics look pixelated. But if I make it look great at the 30" Mac screen resolution, it looks odd on the smaller screen..)

I've come up with one solution, but it's not the most pretty thing. Also, I've been inspired a bit by the Apple phone. What a gorgeous UI that is!

What resolution do most people run when their Macs are hooked to the tv?

I kind of wondered if the iphone was of interest to you... It does look pretty cool.

If you are asking me, I run a CRT projector at 1080i. Screen is 80" wide, so any gremlins are noticable. An adjustable refresh rate would be awesome.

I am running 1280 x 720 and I would assume most people are running 1280 x 720 or 1366 x 768 to big screens. Maybe that is inaccurate but I believe most HD sets in homes right now are 720p TV's.

I am running 1280 x 720 and I would assume most people are running 1280 x 720 or 1366 x 768 to big screens. Maybe that is inaccurate but I believe most HD sets in homes right now are 720p TV's.

Same here. I'll be running my new mini through a 720p plasma at 1366x768.

Same here. I'll be running my new mini through a 720p plasma at 1366x768.

Same for me. 1366x768

I will be running my Westinghouse at 1080p...so 1920x1080.

Have not tried the software yet but will be soon.

I'd say that 1920x1080 (1080P) & 1920x1200 (24"iMac, 23" ACD, etc. are or will be very common).

I have minis connected at both 1920x1080 and 1366x768 (actually 1360).

1080i here.

Mark

Just wanted to let you know, AppleTV does not interest me one bit. If you can get your app working with TS_Video folders, and open it up to all of Quicktime's supported video playback codecs, this front-end will be a million times better than AppleTV. Good luck, my friend. I'll be looking out for your app.

I agree with jaypizzles!

Yep, Apple Tv seems to be an easy to use Itunes delivery system for your TV w/ wireless capabilities. I don't think it was meant to compete with an HTMac, more like an ipod, but with movies. It does a lot for a reasonable price - but it's not for me.

I would guess most folks on this forum would put there $ towards a mini b4 the appleTV

Well, I've been having some trouble with making it look nice and stretch to all different resolutions. I've removed a couple of things that make it look bad, but now it looks plain. If you'd like, I can upload a beta (I hate to say that, it's really alpha) that does a lot of things. For instance, it will play video_TS folders as jaypizzles asks, and it can play your videos in either the internal player, VLC, mplayer, etc. But, it won't look so good, and it doesn't have built-in apple remote support yet (so you'd have to use either a wireless keyboard or Mira).

What do you think?

Just wanted to let you know, AppleTV does not interest me one bit. If you can get your app working with TS_Video folders, and open it up to all of Quicktime's supported video playback codecs, this front-end will be a million times better than AppleTV. Good luck, my friend. I'll be looking out for your app.

Yes - I agree; The ATV is great for those wanting iTunes on TV ; I will get one for the bedroom TV; But this doesn't cut it for what we need for the main event; Keep on keepin' on...

ken

Try having your UI layout stay within a 16x9 frame and just scale it up to fit in the current resolution. Then you don't have to worry about what the screen looks like, it will always have the same layout, just 4x3 screens will have more space at the top and bottom.

For video, use the full screen dimensions.

Keep up the good work. look forward to putting a little money in your pocket for your efforts

If you'd like, I can upload a beta (I hate to say that, it's really alpha) that does a lot of things.

What do you think?

By all means! It may serve to help you troubleshoot some issues that still need to be resolved. Speaking for myself, I'd love to have an alpha version to play with for a while.

Ok, here is the super early alpha...

What's present:
- Full media browsing (movies, music, photos)
- Dynamic browsing of ~/Movies
- Ability to play movies in internal player, or your system's default (quicktime, VLC, whatever--it uses System Services to find the default)
- Ability to open VIDEO_TS folders in either DVD Player, VLC, or Mplayer
- Built in "themes"

What's absent:
- Good looks :)
- In this version I removed a backing that the icons were on because it looked weird and I haven't been able to fix it since I've moved to the Intel platform (no time, I'm in med school)
- The photo viewer doesn't play the sound associated with the album from iPhoto yet (thanks for the idea up in the thread earlier)
- Built in Apple remote support
- There may be some issue with the gradient background not resizing correctly

General instructions:
- It only uses six keys: the 4 arrows, and enter/escape
- To move between music, photos, movies, and settings you need to be at the top level menu (this will change, it's still alpha, don't forget). So if you can't move left/right between the different media sets, just escape out until you're at the top level)
- This app assumes you have the typical file locations for your iTunes library (~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music Library.xml) and iPhoto (~/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Album Data.xml)
- It sorts through your iTunes library to pick out TV shows and music videos and puts those in the videos section
- If you play an Apple-protected video, it uses QuickTime to play it (there is no work around for this, Thanks a lot Apple!)
- The VIDEO_TS folders need this type of structure:
~/Movies/Movie Name/VIDEO_TS , but, it doesn't have to be at the first level of ~/Movies, so ~/Movies/Ripped DVDs/Movie Name/VIDEO_TS works fine too. This is "nice" because you'll never see the actually VIDEO_TS folder, it will just play when you select the name.
- Since there is no Apple remote support right now, the best thing is to use a program like Mira ( http://twistedmelon.com/ ) to let yo use the Apple Remote to control Kindling
- If you see any weird black lines, the easiest thing is to turn off the gradient background under settings
- I know the icons are hard to see, as I had to remove something temporarily that they used to rest against
- To see Album art and Photo thumbnails, under Settings you need to run the importer first! You will not be able to see them unless you run the importer!

Link:
http://www.dementedworks.com/download/Kindling-alpha-1.zip

* Please read everything above, as it tells you how to run the program! :)

Cool app, Aychamo, I'm very interested. The problem I have with the other solutions out there is that they don't seem to be flexible in their video player of choice - and I swear by VLC.

I have some avi files stored on a media server, and that directory is linked to ~/Movies. The directory structure is not appearing in Kindling, I'm guessing you don't handle links yet?

Will you support shared music in the future?

Great start, and I'll be looking forward to future releases.

Thanks for this,
Tracey

Cool app, Aychamo, I'm very interested. The problem I have with the other solutions out there is that they don't seem to be flexible in their video player of choice - and I swear by VLC.

I have some avi files stored on a media server, and that directory is linked to ~/Movies. The directory structure is not appearing in Kindling, I'm guessing you don't handle links yet?

Will you support shared music in the future?

Great start, and I'll be looking forward to future releases.

Thanks for this,
Tracey

Hey Tracey!

Links are supported, but you have to create them (for now) in Terminal.app. I use the following command to link all the movies on my external HD so that I can see them in ~/Movies (via Kindling.)

ln -s /Volumes/ExternalHD/Movies ~/Movies

This creates a "Movies" folder in ~/Movies with all of my movies in it!

What do you mean by shared music?

Yep, that did it. What's differenat about Finder links versus Terminal/shell links?

Re: shared Music - I don't store my music library on my Mini, but I want to stream to it. When I use Front Row, it sees my laptop as a shared library and lets me use the playlists, etc., that are on the Macbook.

I'm having a great time, btw, so far it's much nicer to use than the others I've tried. I mostly use Remote Buddy - I can do 90% of what I want to do using the Apple Remote, that's pretty impressive. But a pretty front end would be even more useful!

thanks
Tracey

Yep, that did it. What's differenat about Finder links versus Terminal/shell links?

Finder "links" are something called aliases. An alias, I believe points to an object (i.e. a folder) and will continue to point to it even if it's moved. When you do ln -s in the terminal, you are creating a symbolic link to the directory at the "UNIX" layer, and it is a hard link that doesn't change even if you move the target directory.

And in this particular case, one works and one doesn't. ;)

and it is a hard link that doesn't change even if you move the target directory.
Well technically its a soft link, hard links a bit different..

Yeah, its a pain but you have to manually resolve any aliases in your code using FSResolveAliasFile(). Its unfortunate that the Mac OS APIs don't have a nice way to do this seamlessly for developers!

Hey Kevin, thank you for that bit of code about resoliving aliases. I'll look into putting that in to make things a whole lot easier. I know it has some visual issues right now, but in terms of functionality and interfacing with your VLC/mplayer/etc and playing VIDEO_TS, is it doing what you guys were wanting?

First impressions, are YES! This is what I am looking for. A front end that I can play all my video through VLC. Main reason being 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround. I only played with it on my Macbook so did not eye up the graphics too close, but I did like the design of them.

I will play some more with it tonight. I am currently using Mira, I tried the others but like Mira the most. I am going to try to set it up that I can use the VLC controls once my files start playing in Kindling using VLC (should be easy). I like what they have done with their new Apple remote support.

I was able to get the alias/link to work by using the (-s /Volumes/ExternalHD/Movies ~/Movies) terminal line. That however only links to individual files (.avi's in this case) and I can't get it to use my aliased folders.

I agree with Tracey it would also be awesome if we could get it to played shared music exactly like Front Row does, that is one thing that app does right.

I am not sure what the Kindling "Internal Video player" is and what it can do. I personally switched that setting to no and use the app (RC Default App) to set most video files to VLC.

Also was wondering if their was a plan to implement a dvd section like frontrow has, I know it's not a feature most use but on occasion it is nice.

Last and most of all, I am by no means going to be able to put you through med school, but am willing to donate some money for your hard work. How would you like myself and other to go about doing this?

Where do I go to make VLC the default player for my video files? I can change individual files, ,but can't figure out how to permanently change all files.

Thanks for any help, guys!

At this point I do not think you can do this inside Kindling, I set my setting to "No" (not using the internal video player) This makes the file launch the same exact way it would in the finder (using the default app for that type of file. Then I downloaded - http://www.rubicode.com/Software/Bundles.html#RCDefaultApp - RC Default app, Using this progam you can set all your video files to play in VLC or quicktime or Mplayer, whichever you prefer.

I hate to sound naive, but does this program run on the Intel Minis? I see a lot of mention of G4 chips in the comments.

(I don't have a Mac, but the pictures look great, and I want to buy the CORRECT one, if necessary).

Not to be demanding, any thoughts on ISO support (if it's not available)?

Another chime for getting aliases to work. I'm using them heavily now since using SquishedSquirrels DVD Assist program to play my iso DVDs. Don't want to cause any friction but what you and Squished are doing with your projects is EXACTLY what is needed over in the mac world. A joint effort could make you both rich apples. Please open a PayPal account there are tons of contributions for you both!!!

I hate to sound naive, but does this program run on the Intel Minis? I see a lot of mention of G4 chips in the comments.

(I don't have a Mac, but the pictures look great, and I want to buy the CORRECT one, if necessary).

Not to be demanding, any thoughts on ISO support (if it's not available)?

Oh yes, it is an universal binary! :) The only "requirement" is Tiger (or newer)

I downloaded the alpha and gave it a whirl. I have to say it is more stable than some shipping software. Just slap a sticker on it and call it done. ;)

Seriously, the GUI is obviously a little rough around the edges, but the functionality I really need is there. This does everything I use in MediaCentral with one exception, playing actual physical DVDs. I got around that by setting DVD Player to launch automatically when a DVD was inserted.

While I don't mind creating symbolic links to things, adding the ability to resolve OSX aliases and beautifying the GUI will make this a good lightweight option.

At this point I do not think you can do this inside Kindling, I set my setting to "No" (not using the internal video player) This makes the file launch the same exact way it would in the finder (using the default app for that type of file. Then I downloaded - http://www.rubicode.com/Software/Bundles.html#RCDefaultApp - RC Default app, Using this progam you can set all your video files to play in VLC or quicktime or Mplayer, whichever you prefer.
I did this by just opening up the "Get Info" window for a file of each type that I want to play with Mplayer (or VLC), changing the "Open With" program to Mplayer, and then click "Apply to all." I may not have all the names right, but that's essentially how I did it, and that works great for me.

Aychamo--I still haven't had a chance to check it out yet, but I'm looking forward to peeping it tonight. Based on the reviews so far, I'm excited. :)

I did this by just opening up the "Get Info" window for a file of each type that I want to play with Mplayer (or VLC), changing the "Open With" program to Mplayer, and then click "Apply to all." I may not have all the names right, but that's essentially how I did it, and that works great for me.


The thing with this is you have to do it again if you add any new files. New files don't inherit the open with... property from other files. With RCDefaultApp, you set it once and forget about it.

Don't want to cause any friction but what you and Squished are doing with your projects is EXACTLY what is needed over in the mac world. A joint effort could make you both rich apples. Please open a PayPal account there are tons of contributions for you both!!!

ditto..

The thing with this is you have to do it again if you add any new files. New files don't inherit the open with... property from other files. With RCDefaultApp, you set it once and forget about it.

Perhaps I should make the option for all video files to be "system default, VLC, or mplayer" so that you can just do all videos with, for instance, VLC instead of having to go through this other trouble?

Perhaps I should make the option for all video files to be "system default, VLC, or mplayer" so that you can just do all videos with, for instance, VLC instead of having to go through this other trouble?

That would be nice, but I'd concentrate on other issues first, as RCDefaultApp solves the problem quite well for now.

Perhaps I should make the option for all video files to be "system default, VLC, or mplayer" so that you can just do all videos with, for instance, VLC instead of having to go through this other trouble?

Yes please!

Also, I have my iPhoto library on an exterenal NAS. Can you have kindling find the library?

Nice work so far!

--sdm.

The thing with this is you have to do it again if you add any new files. New files don't inherit the open with... property from other files. With RCDefaultApp, you set it once and forget about it.
That has not been my experience--as I add new mkv, avi, or mpg files, they all open with Mplayer, just like their predecessors. Not sure why it's not that way for you, too.

I have had the same experience as Dancinbear - once I change it in "get info", I'm good to go for all new files.

I know of the "get info" change default app feature, however I HIGHLY recomend RCdefault app. It is like appzapper, VLC, adium, Quicksilver, Super Duper. They get installed on every Mac I get near.

Also, I have my iPhoto library on an exterenal NAS. Can you have kindling find the library?
You can look at the com.apple.iApps.plist for where the current iPhoto and iTunes libraries are.

imlucid -
You misunderstand. I know where my libraries are ...

Kindling doesn't find my iPhoto library because:


- This app assumes you have the typical file locations for your iTunes library (~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music Library.xml) and iPhoto (~/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Album Data.xml)


My iPhoto library (including Album Data.xml) is on my NAS. I would like Kindling to be able to find it (FrontRow, Media Central, Xhub all find it)

--sdm.

I didn't mean you per-se, I meant programatically aychamo can use the iApps preferences to find where the files are located so he'll always be in sync with iPhoto and iTunes.

Kevin

I've been playing with the software for a few days now, and overall it's a good start. I'm looking forward to more versions that iron out a few glitches.

My first and main issue is the performance of the menu system. Can the highlights be changed in some way so that the user can see when he's in the upper (media) grouping or down in the business end? I can't tell, except by trial and error, when I am choosing between Movies, Audio, etc. or actually selecting music to listen to.

Also, is there a way to make the launching of VLC or other media player seamless? When I select a video file to play, the VLC controller pops up on the screen before the fullscreen video plays.

The app looks really god already, just a few little changes! Thanks for all of your hard work!

Jeff

This is my first post here – I’m usually more of an observer than a poster – but I’ve been following the progress of this software and I’ve been trying it out for the past few days and wanted to contribute some thoughts. This is exactly what is needed in order to have a Mac based media center with 5.1 sound and an easy to navigate menu. I am running my old G4 466mhz computer hooked via VGA cable to a 1080p LCD and an M-audio Sonica USB to optical audio converter. Kindling works fantastic on this setup and looks great on the 1080p monitor.

I think the ease of use is great and the fact that it doesn’t have to launch and deal with iTunes (which seems to slow my already slow system down) is another plus. Also, with VLC set to full screen – it’s a relatively seamless transition from kindling to VLC and back. I use ATI’s Remote Wonder II, so everything works just using the remote (which is another key component to a true Mac media center).

I had a couple of suggestions of improvements that could be made. First is the Music navigation. For those of us with extensive music collections, having to go through the list one by one can take forever. If there was a way to jump through the alphabet using the left and right keys, or a screen to let you pick a letter to start with would be good. Also a way to shuffle songs rather than being limited to the last listing in iTunes would be nice. The option of more than just 3 covers on screen at a time would be good, or implementing something like coverflow. Also, is there anyway to incorporate finding remote speakers with airport in your music front end, without using iTunes, the airport doesn’t pick up the tunes unless I use Airfoil, which delays the audio. The inclusion of volume control would be a nice feature, but not a necessity,

Lastly, in the listings of movies, you have the 3 main iTunes folders (Movies, TV Shows and Music Videos) defaulted as the first 3 listings. I would assume that most people using this software are looking for an alternative to QuickTime/iTunes playback, So maybe just one folder for all three and then any folder in your ~/movies folder could be right on that main page, it would make navigating through ones video collection even cleaner.

Sorry this was such a long post – but I figured I’d just save up all my thoughts and let you know all at once. Thanks for the software and keep up the good work. I know this has been posted before, but please let us know how we can donate money for your time in developing this – b/c without it – I just have a Mac hooked up to a TV not a media center.

I was quite happy to see the 3 main iTunes folders (Movies, TV Shows and Music Videos) defaulted as the first 3 listings.

Why?
Because I've spent a bunch of time getting all my video media into iTunes and organizing it there.

Anyone else have an opinion on this?

Thanks,
--sdm.

Aychamo,

I finally got a chance to try it, and may I just say WOW! It looks really good. I mean, yeah, it could use some tweaking here and there in terms of the UI, but basically it's awesome.

One thing it's missing for me, however, is the ability to pick which monitor/display it launches on.

Some sweet features I wasn't expecting:

1. When you play a song and then navigate away from it, it doesn't stop playing. (Just like an iPod.) Genius.
2. Ability to choose which player plays VIDEO_TS folders.
3. Works seamlessly with Mira (and will work great with IR-equipped macs) because of the simple 6-button usage.

Way to go, man. I love it.

I was quite happy to see the 3 main iTunes folders (Movies, TV Shows and Music Videos) defaulted as the first 3 listings.

...

Anyone else have an opinion on this?I hate to contradict you, but I would actually rather either be able to customize the order, or have the ~/Movies folder at the top. :o It's certainly not a huge problem though. I just have to hit the down arrow a couple of times. No biggie.

Actually, the optimal situation for me would be to have an xml file (or configuration utility) that would allow me to customize what (besides the 3 defaults (iTunes folders)) folders were in the movies list. Just a thought.

Guys, I am a new to this site, but have been reading for quite awhile now. I have a system set up where my MediaServer is an external Raid 1.5T which holds all my TS files and music files. At this time, I can not seem to get the ln-s to work. I must be missing something. The command i am using is : (ln-s/MediaServer/Ripped DVDs~/Movies) Since my TS files are located in this file and the alais is in my ~/Movies folder. What am I missing? Thanks for helping out a nubi... :)

You link command is probably failing if the Movies folder already exists. Try deleting it first then the link command (which will make the Movies folder be the "Ripped DVDs" folder.

AVHead, is that command (ln-s/MediaServer/Ripped DVDs~/Movies) the exact one you are using? Wouldn't your MediaServer be under /Volumes/MediaServer ?

It does not seem to recognize either..I am using the MediaServer through my N-Router connected by the LAN Network and Mounting the drive DISK2 on to my G5 desktop. In Disk2 holds the file Ripped DVDs. It just keeps telling me in Terminal that the File or directory does not exist.

I just came across this thread and tried out Kindling. Works well on my MacBook Pro. However, it won't even open on either of my PPC machines (G4 desktop and Powerbook, both with 10.4.8), which is where most of my media files are. Any ideas on what may be happening? Thanks - I'm really looking forward to trying it out fully.

Guys, thanks for the help, but I give up...I am not well versed in Unix and nothing seems to work so I will wait until the alais issues is fixed in later versions. Thanks again.

Guys, thanks for the help, but I give up...I am not well versed in Unix and nothing seems to work so I will wait until the alais issues is fixed in later versions. Thanks again.

You sure you don't just have the syntax wrong? According to the post above, you're using "ln-s/MediaServer/Ripped DVDs~/Movies" for the command. Looks like you're missing spaces in there; per aychambo's instructions, it should be:

ln -s /MediaServer/Ripped DVDs ~/Movies

With spaces as above. Apologies if you just omitted the spaces while posting (but not in Terminal), but is sure wouldn't work the way you have it typed in here.

I'll try this later today and report back, I have a very similar external RAID setup to the one you describe.

Additionally, I think that the path to your /MediaServer should be under /Volumes..

Connect your storage device (your MediaServer) and then go in terminal and do this:

cd /Volumes [note there is a space between "cd" and "/Volumes"]
ls

and tell us what you see.. You should see "Macintosh HD" along with your media server, etc.

Yep, the syntax as noted does work:

ln -s /Volumes/(remotelocation)/(remotedirectory) ~/Movies

... maps to the ~/Movies directory in Kindling. Replacing /(remotelocation)/(remotedirectory) with /MediaServer/RippedDVDs should work for AVHeadCase, but check that ls in the Volumes directory just to be sure.

Problem for me is, embedded aliases within the remote directory aren't recognized (I have a RAID and an external hard drive, with aliases from files and folders on the HD scattered through genre-delimited directories on the RAID), and mapping every one of them in by hand would be too much like work.

But it's still a great app, especially for an Alpha release. Keep at it, aychamo...

Thanks, I did put spaces in and when I used the cd /Volumes command all I got back was "ronald-siemon-power-mac-g5:/Volumes tennisnorth$"
My user folder is named tennisnorth.

The heading in the Terminal window is "Terminal - bash - 80x24"

Here was the result:

Last login: Tue Jan 23 17:47:18 on ttyp2
Welcome to Darwin!
You have mail.
ronald-siemons-power-mac-g5:~ tennisnorth$ ln -s/Volumes/MediaServer/RippedDVDs ~/Movies
ln: illegal option -- /
usage: ln [-fhinsv] file1 file2
ln [-fhinsv] file ... directory
link file1 file2
ronald-siemons-power-mac-g5:~ tennisnorth$

Ok, finally played with a bit and here is the volume data:

ronald-siemons-power-mac-g5:~ tennisnorth$ cd /Volumes ls
ronald-siemons-power-mac-g5:/Volumes tennisnorth$ ls
Backup System DISK2 RLS Home
DISK1 Halo WORKGROUP;MEDIASERVER
ronald-siemons-power-mac-g5:/Volumes tennisnorth$

DISK1 AND DISK2 are mounted on the desktop from Mediaserver.
DISK2 is were the RippedDVDs file exists.

I got it. Thanks to everyone for the patience...the mistake I was making was not putting a space between -s " " /Volumes.

Thanks again to those who got me to think...

Is there a reason that the folder names don't show up in alphabetical order..They are in order in the original files and the linked files but when Kindling shows them they are scrambled. Just curious if anyone else has this issue.

Sorry guys, but I did not find download link. can somebody help

Go to Post #100..he has the download link there

Yes please!

Also, I have my iPhoto library on an exterenal NAS. Can you have kindling find the library?

Nice work so far!

--sdm.


Sheldon,

I am looking for a good NAS to use with a mac mini. What are you using and would you recommend it. Fanless?

Thanks,

Mark

Hi Ace,

I have the Maxtor 1TB Shared Storage II. It has a lot of features. Alot of stuff I don't use too.
A couple of things are a bit goofy. Mounting it can be a bit hit and miss.

Its very quiet. If it has a fan I've never heard it.

I've only had it for a month and its seems okay so far, but its early to recommend.

--sdm.

Hi Ace,

I have the Maxtor 1TB Shared Storage II. It has a lot of features. Alot of stuff I don't use too.
A couple of things are a bit goofy. Mounting it can be a bit hit and miss.

Its very quiet. If it has a fan I've never heard it.

I've only had it for a month and its seems okay so far, but its early to recommend.

--sdm.

Thanks Sheldon for the quick reply. I'll check it out.

Mark

Airport Extreme (new one) acts as a NAS. Just hook up a USB HD. That is what I heard!! May be perfect for an iMac and Apple TV. Too bad, the Mini doesn't have 'n' yet. Hopefully they will release a new mini that has a lot of enhancements. It is long in the tooth now.

Aychamo, how's it going? Not to be a nag or anything... :)

Aychamo, how's it going? Not to be a nag or anything... :)
(bump)

(bump)

(First a disclaimer... I don't have a Mac yet, and so I haven't tried this software... ergo I don't know what it looks like right now)

Aychamo, if you're interested, I might humbly volunteer some assistance in terms of GUI. I'm an animator with a bunch of graphic design experience and training, as well as training in ergonomics (which is sort of related to UI, I guess). My work's on my website (http://www.tonycliff.com)... though if you go there you'll notice it's all sort of cartoony. That's just my bread and butter - I could do a really slick, professional interface, no problem. Like Apple-sexy.

I apologize if this is presumptuous or anything. I'm just going off your own description of the visuals right now. I thought this might be a bit of an opportunity since lately I've been doing little sketches of a HTPC interface that I'd like to use, and maybe this is a chance to get involved!

Just throwing that out there.

Cheers!
TC

I hope the guy is still working on this. I think we should all post some support for the fella, and offer financial compensation :)

I admire your working on this man. I hope you continue.

Anyone with more screenshots to help with my curiosity? :D

-bump- love the alpha! very interested in the development! :D

Hey guys. I'm sorry, but I haven't touched the project in at least 4 months. I have my medical school boards coming up and studying for that has been my absolute #1 priority for a while. If there are any programmers here I'd be happy to upload the full source to what I had at the time I ceased development!

Thank you everyone for the support you gave, but the boards are the most important thing in my life right now!

Good luck man!

I understand that :) i will be starting my residency this coming July myself so i know what you are going through!

Amazing you were able to conceptualize this though! great!

Hey guys. I'm sorry, but I haven't touched the project in at least 4 months. I have my medical school boards coming up and studying for that has been my absolute #1 priority for a while. If there are any programmers here I'd be happy to upload the full source to what I had at the time I ceased development!

Thank you everyone for the support you gave, but the boards are the most important thing in my life right now!

Medical boards?!? Pfaaah! No excuse!

No, seriously, hang in there. I'm frankly stunned that you managed to write such a useful piece of software while in the midst of medical school. Good luck--although I doubt you'll need it.

Great, lol. I get all excited, then get to the end and the guy ceased development. Seemed so promising :(

Hey guys,

Thank you for the kind words. I appologize if anyone is let down. Here's the full source for the program, in case anyone wants to try to do anything with it. You just need XCode, which is either already installed on your Mac, or it's on your Tiger install DVD.

http://www.aychamo.com/AMP_TV.zip

Let down yes, but you have to do what you have to do, nothing personal. We just get very few options on the mac side so when we get one as promising as yours it's disheartening to lose the development. Hopefully someone as gifted can take it up.

Sorry to bump, but could anyone possibly post a valid link to the player? It sounds good, I'd like to see how it works.

Why? This was ages ago...

Try XBMC. Works on mac & aTV. xbmc.org (http://xbmc.org)

Or Plex, works on a Mac with Leopard and have iTunes and iPhoto integration.

Or Plex, works on a Mac with Leopard and have iTunes and iPhoto integration.

Yeah, Plex effectively is XBMC.