Topic: Two Instances of MediaCenter on one PC with Two Monitors (Read 9450 times)

JeffPalley · « **on:** October 14, 2007, 07:58:38 pm »

Is there an "easy" way to do this, i.e., without third-party software that has to make my machine pretend it's two machines? What I want to do is play a silent video on one screen, and play music on the second screen. Seems like MediaCenter won't allow multiple instances of itself, but I don't know if this is limitation they chose to impose or some built-in limitation of the program. I'd be happy to buy two copies of MediaCenter, but I don't think that will solve the problem. Maybe two different versions?

John Gateley · « **Reply #1 on:** October 14, 2007, 08:01:03 pm »

Tools->Options, General, Advanced, Allow multiple instances to run at one time.

j

thurston · « **Reply #2 on:** October 15, 2007, 09:39:28 am »

Wow is it really that easy? I asked how to do this in an earlier post but maybe should've phrashed the question differently. I can't wait to try this.

glynor · « **Reply #3 on:** October 15, 2007, 10:31:56 am »

You may also want to check out MC's Zones capabilities and Detached Displays. MC allows you to have multiple open display windows running different content without having multiple "instances" open (all managed by the one instance of MC).

Essentially, you can create different zones (which can all have different settings for almost everything) and they each have different Playing Now lists. If you open Detached Displays (simply right click on the display and choose Detach Display), you can have a different "display" for each Zone (and I think you can have as many zones as you want), and control them all using one copy of MC's main UI. This requires far fewer resources than running multiple instances, and is more flexible.

Try searching here and ask questions if you need any help.

JeffPalley · « **Reply #4 on:** October 16, 2007, 04:27:45 pm »

John,

Wow ... you guys are wonderful! Incidentally *could* I have found this in the Help?

Thanks, -Jeff

John Gateley · « **Reply #5 on:** October 16, 2007, 04:43:16 pm »

Probably not - it was a somewhat experimental feature added so that Library Sync could be used on the same machine.

Thanks,

j

leezer3 · « **Reply #6 on:** October 16, 2007, 06:54:44 pm »

Interesting - Never actually found this myself

Small question- Is it possible to detach the fullscreen playing now for videos only, so that the library stays visible at all times? (I normally just set audio running and leave MC, whereas I want the video running fullscreen on my primary monitor, and it would be nice to have the library still in view

)

-Leezer-

cncb · « **Reply #7 on:** October 17, 2007, 10:46:13 am »

If you could have a way to save different settings for each instance then this has a lot of potential. You could have a different Theater View display for different zones on different displays! (This is what I did with my MCMultiView application but it has its own inferior UI instead of Theater View). Please consider adding settings per instance as this would be an oustanding feature.

glynor · « **Reply #8 on:** October 17, 2007, 01:56:33 pm »

Quote from: leezer3 on October 16, 2007, 06:54:44 pm

Interesting - Never actually found this myself
Small question- Is it possible to detach the fullscreen playing now for videos only, so that the library stays visible at all times? (I normally just set audio running and leave MC, whereas I want the video running fullscreen on my primary monitor, and it would be nice to have the library still in view )

You can detach any display -- audio, images, or video. If you have multiple sound cards, it is entirely possible to set up MC with 3 different videos, an image slideshow, and a couple of songs (with visualizers) all playing at once in different windows.

Simply right click on the display (either in Playing Now or in the Action Window) and choose Detach Display. Then switch to a different Zone (they're easy to make if you want them to all use the same sound card -- just add a bunch to the Zones dialog), and start something else playing and detach it.

Things like this are easily possible:

Click to enlarge.

glynor · « **Reply #9 on:** October 17, 2007, 01:58:53 pm »

Quote from: cncb on October 17, 2007, 10:46:13 am

If you could have a way to save different settings for each instance then this has a lot of potential. You could have a different Theater View display for different zones on different displays! (This is what I did with my MCMultiView application but it has its own inferior UI instead of Theater View). Please consider adding settings per instance as this would be an oustanding feature.

The detached displays do remember their settings (position and size, including fullscreen or not) on a per-zone basis.

cncb · « **Reply #10 on:** October 17, 2007, 02:43:59 pm »

Quote from: glynor on October 17, 2007, 01:58:53 pm

The detached displays do remember their settings (position and size, including fullscreen or not) on a per-zone basis.

Cool, but I want the full Theater View so I can select music to play in different zones on different displays/tvs. So it would need to store zone and display number at a minimum for each instance of the running program.

glynor · « **Reply #11 on:** October 17, 2007, 03:54:21 pm »

Quote from: cncb on October 17, 2007, 02:43:59 pm

Cool, but I want the full Theater View so I can select music to play in different zones on different displays/tvs. So it would need to store zone and display number at a minimum for each instance of the running program.

It doesn't work as well with Theater View, unfortunately. You can do it, but when you detach the display, it automatically kicks you to Standard View.

To be clear... In that screenshot above, I am only running one instance of MC. You do NOT need to run multiple instances to use this functionality. You only need to run two instances of MC if you want two completely separate UIs to use. If you want one UI and multiple displays, use Zones and Detached Displays.

leezer3 · « **Reply #12 on:** October 18, 2007, 05:27:26 am »

Quote from: glynor on October 17, 2007, 01:56:33 pm

You can detach any display -- audio, images, or video. If you have multiple sound cards, it is entirely possible to set up MC with 3 different videos, an image slideshow, and a couple of songs (with visualizers) all playing at once in different windows.

Simply right click on the display (either in Playing Now or in the Action Window) and choose Detach Display. Then switch to a different Zone (they're easy to make if you want them to all use the same sound card -- just add a bunch to the Zones dialog), and start something else playing and detach it.

Things like this are easily possible:

Click to enlarge.

I realise that, but the trouble is that it detaches playing now for ALL media types

- I don't want fullscreen coverart on my 24" monitor when I'm trying to work, but I do want fullscreen videos on this monitor, as thats all I'm trying to do (Well hopefully anyway

)

-Leezer-

cncb · « **Reply #13 on:** October 18, 2007, 08:22:18 am »

Quote from: leezer3 on October 18, 2007, 05:27:26 am

I realise that, but the trouble is that it detaches playing now for ALL media types - I don't want fullscreen coverart on my 24" monitor when I'm trying to work, but I do want fullscreen videos on this monitor, as thats all I'm trying to do (Well hopefully anyway )

You can set it to open full-screen display view on a particular monitor if this is what you are trying to do: Player|Display Options|Display Settings.

cncb · « **Reply #14 on:** October 18, 2007, 08:27:45 am »

Quote from: glynor on October 17, 2007, 03:54:21 pm

To be clear... In that screenshot above, I am only running one instance of MC. You do NOT need to run multiple instances to use this functionality. You only need to run two instances of MC if you want two completely separate UIs to use. If you want one UI and multiple displays, use Zones and Detached Displays.

Understood. But what I would like is Display 1 with Theater View controlling Zone 1, Display 2 with Theater View controlling Zone 2, etc. This currently would only be possible with multiple instances with separate zone and display settings.

thurston · « **Reply #15 on:** October 18, 2007, 10:10:39 am »

I think I'm looking to do something more along the lines of what cncb is describing. I believe glynor is more interested in using MC for DJ applications (such as multiple screens in the same room as the user each with different visualizations) where as we're using it for home theater. Jeff and leezer however might benefit from glynor's advice.

Quote from: cncb on October 17, 2007, 10:46:13 am

If you could have a way to save different settings for each instance then this has a lot of potential. You could have a different Theater View display for different zones on different displays! (This is what I did with my MCMultiView application but it has its own inferior UI instead of Theater View). Please consider adding settings per instance as this would be an oustanding feature.

In my case it would be nice to be able to save settings for each as well. For instance, if when I opened MC from an icon on my tv, it opened in Theater mode on the tv and when I opened another instance from an icon on my monitor it opened in normal mode on the monitor, that would be ideal.

glynor · « **Reply #16 on:** October 18, 2007, 10:16:15 am »

Quote from: cncb on October 18, 2007, 08:27:45 am

Understood. But what I would like is Display 1 with Theater View controlling Zone 1, Display 2 with Theater View controlling Zone 2, etc. This currently would only be possible with multiple instances with separate zone and display settings.

You are correct. If you want two different UIs, then you need two instances.

I think the answer you really need is two different computers. Wouldn't it be nearly impossible to select which Theater View UI you'd be controlling via the keyboard? The whole idea of Theater View is that you only need the arrow keys and enter to work it, and that it is a full-screen "exclusive" view. How would you navigate between the two instances of theater view on the same box?

I use MC extensively for Home Theater use (and DJing and Digital Signage). I can't really envision what you have set up where you need two separate instances in separate zones running both in Theater View simultaneously (on the same box), without needing two keyboards, remotes, etc.

I'd say what you really need is to set up your own custom UI via something like Netremote. Then you could have as many UIs controlling whichever zones you want, and you could build them custom to exactly what you want.

cncb · « **Reply #17 on:** October 18, 2007, 01:19:33 pm »

Quote from: glynor on October 18, 2007, 10:16:15 am

I think the answer you really need is two different computers. Wouldn't it be nearly impossible to select which Theater View UI you'd be controlling via the keyboard? The whole idea of Theater View is that you only need the arrow keys and enter to work it, and that it is a full-screen "exclusive" view. How would you navigate between the two instances of theater view on the same box?

Actually, this is pretty easy with Girder as long as the Theater View windows have different names.

My scenario is for multi-zone music (it doesn't work for video since you need the primary display). I have two video cards in my server allowing for 4 simultaneous outputs/displays. Each display is in a different room showing Theater View for a different zone and has an IR/RF remote control. I then configure Girder with my IR receiver to respond to the different remotes and send navigation commands to the appropriate Theater View window.

I had this scenario (3 zones) working with the MCMultiView program I wrote. It only requires one instance of MC, however, the interface is not as nice as Theater View. It was discussed here: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=42088.0

cncb · « **Reply #18 on:** October 18, 2007, 01:22:25 pm »

Quote from: thurston on October 18, 2007, 10:10:39 am

In my case it would be nice to be able to save settings for each as well. For instance, if when I opened MC from an icon on my tv, it opened in Theater mode on the tv and when I opened another instance from an icon on my monitor it opened in normal mode on the monitor, that would be ideal.

I think you can already achieve this. If you set the MC fullscreen display to be your tv when you launch Theater View it will show on your tv and you will still see the Standard View on your monitor.

glynor · « **Reply #19 on:** October 18, 2007, 01:51:41 pm »

Quote from: cncb on October 18, 2007, 01:19:33 pm

Actually, this is pretty easy with Girder as long as the Theater View windows have different names.

My scenario is for multi-zone music (it doesn't work for video since you need the primary display). I have two video cards in my server allowing for 4 simultaneous outputs/displays. Each display is in a different room showing Theater View for a different zone and has an IR/RF remote control. I then configure Girder with my IR receiver to respond to the different remotes and send navigation commands to the appropriate Theater View window.

Ahhh.... I see. That must be a pretty darn nice setup (though I'd want to use it for Video too).

That's just not the way I'd personally accomplish the goal, but I always have a pile of unused motherboards, CPUs, RAM, and accessories in my basement office at any given moment... So my solution would be to build a PC for each room, each running it's own copy of MC, connected to a central file share and library share. Your way probably works too (and certainly is lower power), but you have weird issues like this.

In fact, that is my solution. I have a Windows box in 4 rooms of my house, plus a laptop. One day, I'd like to get one for in the bathroom.

Since I believe MC stores it's instance zone settings in the registry, I don't know that there is any easy way for them to modify this behavior for your needs. Have you tried pointing the different instances at different libraries (clones)? Perhaps the current zone is stored in the Library, as opposed to the registry... I doubt it, but it's worth a go.

AoXoMoXoA · « **Reply #20 on:** October 18, 2007, 02:22:28 pm »

wow, we can indeed get carried away with all this

It sounds like a nice setup you each have going. I have two PC's and a laptop (down from three PC's) with four zones.

My main PC also acts as the fileserver and runs headless stowed away in a closet (alone with it's noise). That's controlled by VNC on the laptop or the office PC, or by remote on the tv screen. The office PC has it's own library and a copy of MC as well as multi-zone capability, with the laptop having my portable library.

Sometimes I find myself doing weird things, like trying to burn a cd on one machine while it is actually in the burner of another machine.

All in all a lot of fun, and MC does a great job in almost every way. Hey, it's only human.

cncb · « **Reply #21 on:** October 18, 2007, 04:07:55 pm »

Quote from: glynor on October 18, 2007, 01:51:41 pm

That's just not the way I'd personally accomplish the goal, but I always have a pile of unused motherboards, CPUs, RAM, and accessories in my basement office at any given moment... So my solution would be to build a PC for each room, each running it's own copy of MC, connected to a central file share and library share. Your way probably works too (and certainly is lower power), but you have weird issues like this.

Yeah, I might be headed this way since local control is better but I just don't like having so many PCs in my house. That's why the new Vista Media Center extenders are very attractive to me except they don't have some of the features I rely on in MC (like Replay Gain and View Scheme customization).

glynor · « **Reply #22 on:** October 18, 2007, 04:34:23 pm »

Quote from: cncb on October 18, 2007, 04:07:55 pm

Yeah, I might be headed this way since local control is better but I just don't like having so many PCs in my house. That's why the new Vista Media Center extenders are very attractive to me except they don't have some of the features I rely on in MC (like Replay Gain and View Scheme customization).

Some of the new AMD low-power Phenom CPUs with the mini-ATX and BTX boards are looking very nice... Low power, low noise (most will be able to be run completely fanless as long as you get a good PSU). Intel's upcoming 45nm process chips are also looking VERY, VERY nice for this purpose. You could even go all out and get a Solid-State drive (though I'd just go with a 2.5" laptop drive which are small and quiet enough).

Throw them on the top shelf in a closet, run the cabling through the walls and mount a flat-panel touchscreen display on the wall and...

EDIT: Another off-the-shelf option is an Apple Mac Mini with BootCamp and Windows. They're tiny, and plenty powerful to run MC!

leezer3 · « **Reply #23 on:** October 19, 2007, 11:29:30 am »

Quote from: cncb on October 18, 2007, 08:22:18 am

You can set it to open full-screen display view on a particular monitor if this is what you are trying to do: Player|Display Options|Display Settings.

Not quite

That works to an extent, but with that option active, the main MC window vanishes when you play a video. I'm trying to have the library visible at all times, whenever there is a video playing or otherwise. Detaching the display works nicely for doing this, but it also means that audio coverart is full-screen on the main monitor, which I'm trying to avoid.

-Leezer-

thurston · « **Reply #24 on:** October 22, 2007, 11:17:51 am »

Jeff-
This was just posted and for me it related to having Media Center on different screens:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=43058.0

This shows how to assign a mode to start MC in for each icon. I haven't tried it yet but I plan on having an icon on my TV that opens MC in theater view and another icon on my Monitor that opens in Standard View.

There's also a link on the post that outlines some other command line parameters.

JeffPalley · « **Reply #25 on:** October 22, 2007, 11:33:18 am »

Thurston,

Much appreciated ... I didn't know that resource existed.

johnnyboy · « **Reply #26 on:** October 22, 2007, 05:56:14 pm »

Quote from: glynor on October 18, 2007, 04:34:23 pm

Some of the new AMD low-power Phenom CPUs with the mini-ATX and BTX boards are looking very nice... Low power, low noise (most will be able to be run completely fanless as long as you get a good PSU). Intel's upcoming 45nm process chips are also looking VERY, VERY nice for this purpose. You could even go all out and get a Solid-State drive (though I'd just go with a 2.5" laptop drive which are small and quiet enough).

Throw them on the top shelf in a closet, run the cabling through the walls and mount a flat-panel touchscreen display on the wall and...

EDIT: Another off-the-shelf option is an Apple Mac Mini with BootCamp and Windows. They're tiny, and plenty powerful to run MC!

Been thinking about something like this for ages.
Any recommendations on a good site for it all to buy it from and possibly also if you have it, which hardware?

The touch screen especially I could use some recommondations for it you have any experience with them.

glynor · « **Reply #27 on:** October 23, 2007, 07:36:21 am »

For a site, you can't go wrong with Newegg.

Tanguero · « **Reply #28 on:** October 28, 2007, 07:07:00 am »

This is great! I don't use two monitors, but mutliple istances could be really useful for DJ:ing since it could provide an easier way (compared to zones) to use a "speaker view" and "headphone view" in parallel and see both at the same time. And most important of all: It will let me use drag-and drop between the different "Playing Nows".

But for that to work well I'd like to see two more things:

1) When an instance is using the database as "read only" which the second instance is, I'd like to see that (cleary) indicated in the interface (directly visible, not through using menues) so I know where to make the changes I want saved.

This is pretty important, I don't want to lose changes I've made or the logging of what I played during a night because I used the wrong instance for the wrong purpose.

2) I want to pre-select a different skin for the second instance than for the first, which would allow me to see directly without thinking which player is "front desk" (speakers) and which is "back office" (headphones).

The second wish is less important since I can change the skin for each instance manually, but it would make things easier.

INTERACT FORUM

Author Topic: Two Instances of MediaCenter on one PC with Two Monitors (Read 9450 times)