Media Browser Hydra is HERE! - Page 3

Josh - the difference is probably minimal now, once the relevant data for MB has been scraped and refreshed into the library - its getting to that point that I feel is more intuitive in xbmc (ie no need for external scrapers, unless the user really wants to and definitely no trade off on speed when using it), than MB

Meant to ask does MB refresh the library on start up and load new files added to the monitored folders, or does it have to wait until the scheduled refresh from MB Service.

I think TODAY when you install XBMC and mediabrowser, XBMC is easier to just install and be happy with. This wasn't always the case, there wasn't always a scraper built in. And I do believe they did a better job integrating a scraper.

And furthermore, codecs. XBMC being able to integrate codecs as great as it does is another bonus for the stand alone app. mediaportal, although you have to download a separate package that a forum member created, has great codec integration. And the ability to tweak your codec setup from WITHIN their configuration. Mediabrowser does none of these things. You have to look around to see what others are using, usually Shark, then download elsewhere. It is fairly painless, but could be made simpler.


I am very much a mediabrowser user, but I can understand these two critiques. They are easily overcome issues but it could be make easier.

LOL how can I be using it wrong - I'm passing a comment on using the 'internal' scraper - you know the element that comes packed as part of the package. If anybody isn't using it the way it was intended its you LMAO.

We'll need to agree to disagree, though one thing we are in agreement is that there is little difference in speed terms, browsing a collection, between MB and xbmc just the manner in which we get there

I always revisit XBMC once in awhile and it gets better every time. For awhile I always found it snappier to browse around than mediabrowser. But with this new update it makes it very close between the two programs.

As we discussed earlier in this thread, I personally find XBMC unintuitive as a mediabrowser user but I am sure XBMC may find mediabrowser unintuitive as well. Just from use experience.

MediaBrowser does what it's meant to do well. Unfortunately, it's limitations are more attributed to the lack of customization and control we have with Media Center (or because MB is not a true frontend replacement).

Since MB doesn't replace MC as a frontend, you have to live with multiple media libraries/functionalities (e.g. two music libraries, two movie libraries, etc.). This is what makes MB feel sluggish. My wife hates bouncing in and out of MB and MC to access the right content.

If I could customize MC to integrate MB without overlaps in functionality, that would be perfect. MB needs to take over Media Center Studio programing or develop their own in order to control the success of MB.

I agree it is a limitation. There are ways to make it integrate pretty well though.

What I have done is created icons on the Windows Media Center home to Movies and TV Shows. Also I hide all of the stuff I don't use from Window Media Center like their movie library, sports....etc...

So you lose the mediabrowser home and sort of integrate it to Windows Media Center home...Kind of a compromise, but it works well with me since I have a Ceton TV tuner and I HATE having to exit to the WMC home to get to it.

If I were able to add a shortcut to Live TV and TV Guide within mediabrowser, it would be far more ideal. I would then work to have WMC launch mediabrowser directly every time and find a way to avoid ever seeing the WMC home.

If you install MediaBrowser for movies and music, how then do you remove the WMC Movies and Music menu items? I've only seen one app that can edit WMC (Media Center Studio) and apparently it no longer works, at least not w/o serious hacking.

MCS works fine if you read this link and download the MCS fix zipfile. It's a simple exe that does the work for you.

http://experts.windows.com/frms/wind...5/t/89635.aspx

Just don't hit the Menu button on the remote or you'll get dumped into the WMC movies wasteland.

Good to know, I'll check it out in your guide.

This is the one concern I would have after integrating mediabrowser to overcome and WMC.

I wouldn't be surprised though if someone has found out some registry hack to point the green button (you said menu but I assume you meant the green WMC button) to point to mediabrowser.exe instead.

Doesn't seem too hard to do, but then again I haven't done anything like this.

After that...well I guess if you were using a WMC remote and hit the video, music, etc shortcut buttons, that will take you into WMC are...less of a concern, but possibly you could re-assign those buttons as well.

For those with issues scrolling in poster view, one of the creators over at the mediabrowser forums wrote this:

"For those of you having the performance issue scrolling through posters. I hope to have a solution for this sometime today. It will be in the form of a plug-in because that is the safest and quickest way to address it. The next release of MB will address the issue in the core."

So perhaps those who have been calling it sluggish and cumbersome even after utilizing external metadata scrapers, maybe this was while using poster view....who knows.

That'll do it. It's really unfortunate that they can't just update MCS to just work.

Good to see the updates for mediabrowser!

I Was a sole Mediabrowser user for quite some time. I just recently started playing with XBMC.

There are defiantly pros and cons to both. XBMC for instance is has a much steeper learning curve but much more flexibility. The Add-ons seem more mature and refined.

I dont like the local metadata situation with XBMC. The placement of locally stored metadata is a bit frustrating. Especially when you have a large collection. I cant go through my entire collection and move files around so I have to Let it scrape and of course go through and correct titles after. Mediabrowser was easy in this aspect i never had any problems with local data. It always found it!

Medaibrowser also has my vote for external players...Took me a bit to get them to work in XBMC.

Its good to have choices...It keeps me busy i dont know what i would do just "watching movies" in my home theater!!

Regarding integration of MB and media center,

I was able to reach a point that was very easy to use for me and my wife. We use the main media center interface to access our content, whether thats music through the music hub, online streaming with a boxee/zinc/youtube app, or movies.

I used media center studio to remove links to what we dont use and add direct links to the media browser sections, so that when we click on movies, we go straight to the movies section for browsing. same for the TV section i added and a games section that links to the game browser addon for media browser. i still use the standard media center section for music since it has handled my collection just fine and it hasnt given us any playback problems.

This setup performs great and i feel like i can get to any of the content i want without much effort, so thats the pay off for me.

XBMC can offer those things as well, but i have yet to see something that puts it ahead of the setup i have achieved, certainly not something worth starting from scratch all over again. But I keep playing around with it if there is something added that changes my mind. Right now things work great, so I wont be rocking the boat.

Sounds good.

This sounds exactly where I am with my setup.

I am still going to attempt to get everything to work within mediabrowser and it's home screen. I would like to see the nicer home screen with the weather listed, recently added sections for my media, and the various lay outs. With our setups now we our limited to the only lay out that WMC has.

I am happy with it now but that is really the next hurdle for me. That would truly make it have the feel of a standalone program than an add-on (feels harsh saying that about mediabrowser) to WMC.

MC has built in remote codes for both live tv and guide, you should be able to hit those buttons from anywhere in MC.

Nope, I mean the WMC remote's Menu button. When not viewing a DVD the Menu button is a shortcut to the Movie strip. Click it and see.

When I transitioned from DirecTV to my Ceton tuner I would keep hitting the Menu button only to be taken to the (unused) Movie strip. I have either stopped hitting Menu or I programmed it as a press-and-hold button on my remote, can't remember.

My menu button used to do that too. Are you using iMon? After I quit iMon and went to a plain IR, and reprogrammed my remote to use that, my menu button now takes me to the main MC menu, as it should. Either way you should be able to map the menu button to the proper MC menu command.

ooooo gotcha, ya I've done that before or something similar pops up not sure if it was that.

I started with the iMon when I built my new HTPC, but then later added the HP MCE receiver. I actually use both right now with the MCE doing its standard commands and the iMon doing oddball things such as mouse mode, close, and show desktop.

I'll need to click Menu with my current config and see exactly what happens now.

I don't use the internal scraper in XBMC, as I prefer to have my media scraped once and the details stored in .nfo files, so if I reinstall/move, there is no scraping needed. And in fact I used MCM (which is designed for MB but supports XBMC) to do it.

The thing is for me that I really dont have any interest in using the mediabrowser home screen. the reason is simply personal preference. i actually like the mc front end. its clean, its simple to navigate, and its performance has been plenty smooth.

I have little interest in seeing weather on my home page since i have an app that launches from the media front end with full weather including 5 day and radar. i also havent been interested in seeing lists of movies based on when they were added or what i have watched. i can see why others use it, but it just doesnt do anything for me.

so having said that, im pretty locked into this build. there have been a handful of lingering issues, but none that i cant fix while still using this setup (managing subtitles, occasional crashes on certain media types).

xbmc would have to offer useful addons to persuade me to switch and so far there hasnt been anything thats done that. besides, all this talk about media browser being a stand alone app seems unfair since i doubt those of you that use xbmc stick to everything stock. You make your own modifciations, add various addons, etc. XBMC has a bigger dev commuinty and a larger range of addons, so thats why i still have it installed on another pc to play with. Apps may come that sway me to it.

I installed Hydra last night. I am *still* not seeing any movie thumbnails at the top level. I even tried a different theme (the subdued theme I think?).

I use MCM to fetch the metadata, which is stored in the movie folders, which are all stored on my unRAID server.

The movies are stored in format and "genre-specific" folders, i.e.

hd\\action\ erminator
dvd\\comedy\\dumb and dumber

MB recommends against this, not sure why? I don't care though--since I don't access movies from MB (or even my HTPC) exclusively, I will not give up that folder-level organization.

I have tried to "Update Library" in MB several times. And can confirm the movie thumbnails are there, because the WMC Movie Library sees them just fine...

Once I go into a movie in MB, it seems to see everything else--the summary, the actors, rating, backdrops, etc.

At this point, I am fairly certain that I am just not setting up MB correctly, but I have been through all the config options multiple times, and I can't see what I'm missing.

I just upgraded, and now I'm experiencing lag, which I've never had before. It almost always happens when I exit out of a movie page back to the menu (ie: from Commando back to Action). There's a few second lag. It also pops up at other times, but with less consistency.

I set it up according to Assassin's guide. Not sure what's going on, but I hope it gets resolved.

So, I was reading on their site where they say:

"Note: We strongly discourage the use of actual Genre folders for your movies (`D:\\Movies\\Action\\Die Hard`). This will severely limit your overall user experience and the functionality of Media Browser."

I guess they aren't kidding when they say "severe"... They really mean that this simple structure will render the entire MB app pretty much unusable!

What a stupid limitation...

Looks like I might be looking at other options.