Topic: New Theater View Info Panel and Playing Now (Read 6396 times)

nuke2000 · « **on:** April 14, 2009, 12:13:18 pm »

I am loving it all the way. Thank you so much. My number 1 gripe (pause video on exit theatre view) made an option and the transformation of theatre view playing now is fantastic. I wonder what else i'll discover in the latest build?

Keep the snazzing up of theatre view coming - the party resumes

fitbrit · « **Reply #1 on:** April 14, 2009, 01:26:48 pm »

I think a lot of people are going to be happier with this new release. Thanks a lot.

mojave · « **Reply #2 on:** April 14, 2009, 03:23:52 pm »

Quote from: Matt on April 14, 2009, 02:05:40 pm

The idea flopped and was removed.

Instead, the 3D image gets replaced with the display when you select the playing file AND the playing file is showing something other than just cover art (a visualization, television program, etc.).

The Display only works for the song that is currently playing. If I scroll up and down through Playing Now selections, the Display reverts back to the 3D image of the cover art. I also had to leave Playing Now and get back in for the change from 3D image to Display to take place.

CadErik · « **Reply #3 on:** April 14, 2009, 10:15:58 pm »

Wow the playing now is really slick!!

Any chance to have the clock somewhere on playing now and theater view while you are improving it?
(http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=51177.0)

stricko · « **Reply #4 on:** April 15, 2009, 02:43:46 am »

"11. NEW: Theater View file info panel shows metadata like actors, producers, description, etc. for movies."

Help, I'm probably being stupid but I can't find this. I'm assuming that this is driven by Media Type, and Sub Type, but for my files with Video/Movies, I'm only seeing the standard file info panel with keywords, genre, dimensions etc. Or am I looking in the wrong place...... (I'm using the Hairstyle Theatre View skin)

And on a totally different subject, did you ever add an option to clear the playing now queue after resume from standby. This was discussed a while back, but with so many changes (no complaints :-) ) I was worried that I might have missed it.

galahad1974 · « **Reply #5 on:** April 15, 2009, 03:27:42 am »

I love the item detail display!!!! any way to get it to show info from other fields? that plus hd pvr support... I cant ask for much more! thanks guys!!!!

stricko · « **Reply #6 on:** April 16, 2009, 02:51:55 am »

Sorry guys, but I just don't get it. Where is all this new information being displayed? I've imported all my movie details from My Movies, using both the old third party method, where data like actors was held under keywords, and using the new MC function, where it is held under the appropriate fields themselves. But I still can't see it anywhere in theatre view.

And to make things worse, the new My Movies data import has loaded all of the data against the wrong titles, but I've raised a seprarte thread about this.

JimH · « **Reply #7 on:** April 16, 2009, 06:08:24 am »

Use the Obsidian skin. Hit Enter on any album.

stricko · « **Reply #8 on:** April 16, 2009, 07:58:56 am »

Thanks, I've got it now, and it works on Hairstyle as well.

The problem was that the My Movies load had only added data to a few of the video files (all the wrong files just to make it even more confusing). Using the new display, I can now see the details for a few files, eg. Pulp Fiction, with the details of Babel.....

fitbrit · « **Reply #9 on:** April 16, 2009, 11:46:44 am »

Unfortunately, the new Theater View makes my two main PCs crash after a little while - usually after entering a video playlist and then going back up a level or two. I'll try and see if I can figure out why it's bluescreening like this.

Matt · « **Reply #10 on:** April 16, 2009, 11:49:17 am »

Quote from: fitbrit on April 16, 2009, 11:46:44 am

bluescreening

I think blues-screens almost always mean a hardware / driver problem.

JimH · « **Reply #11 on:** April 16, 2009, 12:10:04 pm »

Someone else reported a blue screen recently with an Nvidia video card.

nuke2000 · « **Reply #12 on:** April 16, 2009, 12:46:21 pm »

Now i am definately not griping cos i love the theatre view improvements so treat the below as a suggestion (which may just be a personal preference so i'll let the forum decide)

I find it natural and helpful for the playing now to always have a window displaying what is playing now unless i select otherwise so here is my suggestion:

The playing now window always shows current playing track / video when scrolling the playing now list

Hitting enter on another file in the list displays cover art / info / options of selected track in the playlist.

Backspace / left arrow returns playing now window to display whats playing now

In addition, right arrow currently brings you to options for that file. I would suggest that a small improvement would be for right arrow to first highlight the playing now window (options greyed out below). Pressing ok / select / enter on the playing now window taking you straight to big screen, with the options becoming available with a down arrow.

Hope i have explained that in english! Just seem natural to me.

What u fink?

fitbrit · « **Reply #13 on:** April 16, 2009, 01:56:04 pm »

Quote from: JimH on April 16, 2009, 12:10:04 pm

Someone else reported a blue screen recently with an Nvidia video card.

Both affected PCs have nVidia cards and run XP. My laptop has an ATI card, and I just tested Theater View with it - runs great with Vista. I finally get good look at it - very nice work, guys!

raldo · « **Reply #14 on:** April 16, 2009, 03:51:47 pm »

Here's a suggestion: When browsing video, I'd like to be able to see tag info immediately for the current selection. I.e. pressing enter first is, for me at least, "slightly distracting".

Nice touch with the scroller in the info panel! Maybe the scroller could pop up with selection when you press enter?

Marty3d · « **Reply #15 on:** April 22, 2009, 04:18:11 am »

From Topic: Changing the tags displayed in Theater view's file info panel

Quote from: Matt

What fields are you looking for?

We're going to try to get a stock layout that works for most people. Later we may open it up to customization.

What are the stock fields? And on a personal note, it should REALLY include [Duration]! Now, you have to actually PLAY the file to see the duration. $:-\$
But I think that being customizable is the way to go as soon as possible, it seems that many other users as well as me is using a great amount of customized fields, especially for Video.

Also, do you think it would be possible to get similar info on an album level? For example, my movies are put in albums so I can group files together (CD1 & CD2) and also show what language the subtitles are. It would be fantastic if one could view the album info directly to see for instance collective ratings, album duration etc.

Marty3d · « **Reply #16 on:** April 22, 2009, 04:20:05 am »

Oh, another pro about customizational (is that a word?) file info: You can actually remove fields that you don't care for... in my case: Bitrate/File size/dimensions etc

darichman · « **Reply #17 on:** April 22, 2009, 07:23:36 am »

Quote from: Marty3d on April 22, 2009, 04:20:05 am

Oh, another pro about customizational (is that a word?) file info: You can actually remove fields that you don't care for... in my case: Bitrate/File size/dimensions etc

Yes... I find this sort of info of little use (and a little too technical) when browsing in theatre view.

steveklein · « **Reply #18 on:** April 22, 2009, 09:44:36 am »

love the new theater view.

i second the opinion that it would be great if we could select which fields are displayed, and in which order.

raym · « **Reply #19 on:** May 04, 2009, 05:34:59 am »

A couple of minor annoyances with the new Playing Now and Info Panel:-

1. The sequence numbers that used to appear beside tracks in Playing Now lists no longer appear. I kinda miss that. Is there a reason why they were removed?

2. Track Nos really should be included in the track list area - ie, the info that appears as you highlight an item. I don't like having to hit Enter to expose the info panel just to work out what track number a particular song is.

3. The info panel cover art is still way to big for certain files. Particulary files that MC builds a thumb for like imported DVR-MS recordings.

4. The info panel cover art reflections are too big IMO. Hard to explain but they don't seem as "natural" as the once were. I think previously, they used to occupy less space and this might be the reason.

5. I'd like to be able to control the size and orientation of the info panel and coverart thru the skin's xml. Is this possible yet? It would certainly adress some of the above points :-)

6. A playing video doesn't appear in the new PIP window until you navigate away from the list item and back again.

Oh, and once I again, I agree with the majority on this one:

Quote from: steveklein on April 22, 2009, 09:44:36 am

...it would be great if we could select which fields are displayed, and in which order.

rick.ca · « **Reply #20 on:** May 04, 2009, 04:45:30 pm »

Quote

A couple of minor annoyances with the new Playing Now and Info Panel...

I've been waiting some time now for the ability to display video information in Theater View. Development has been progressing nicely, so I keep telling myself to be patient, but I can't stand it anymore!

Raldo has created PvdImport—a plugin (we're still testing) for importing information directly from Personal Video Database. (Thanks, raldo!) Now I have all my video information in MC, perfectly synchronized with PVD. Fabulous! Except I can only use about 2% of it in Theater View. I assume it's still a work-in-progress, and I'm sure I made some of theses suggestions before, but here's what comes to mind based on my recent experience.

Quote

...it would be great if we could select which fields are displayed, and in which order.

1. This is essential. Despite a reasonably complete set of standard fields for video, I needed to create many custom fields. Of the 30 fields I'm importing, 18 are custom. Six of those are one's where a standard field is provided, but is not the right type (e.g., string, list, numeric) or format (date, rating). In a number of cases, I've had to use expressions to combine and/or manipulate custom fields to get the desired result. Consequently, I need the ability to use custom fields and expressions in a Theater View information panel.

2. I like how the current version combines a file list with file information, but the space provided for the information (less than 1/4 of the screen) is inadequate—even for abbreviated information. That area should be made larger by making the poster smaller, moving the field names from the left to the top of the field data, and the file list narrower. Then there should be an additional view for displaying the full details for one file. This too should be configurable, but the default could be a large poster on the left, with the full details (perhaps in collapsible fields) in a scrolling list on the right. That way, all the information—no matter how long—could be displayed. The way it is now, 300-word descriptions are getting truncated at 30 words. I don't mind a long list of actors (for example) being truncated, but the current width is not enough to handle my [actor] (role) field.

3. There should be a file caption setting for each view (or at least each root view), rather than one setting for all. The way it is now, I need to use a hopelessly complex expression to construct a caption that is appropriate for each file type.

4. The simple fact PvdImport is invoked using Send To has awakened me to the potential of having that command available in Theater View. Not only would I be able to update the information for new items, I could jump to the same item in PVD (maybe to update the data by downloading from internet sources, and then re-import to MC), run a variety of web searches, run a utility or alternate media player for problem files, etc. In short, a giant leap toward my goal of never having to leave the couch!

While I'm thinking specifically of video media, I don't think any of these things are inconsistent with other media types. I believe an additional panel is required for video "details." That may not be necessary for other media types, but it won't interfere with them. And if one collects things like musician bios and album reviews, the same panel (if configurable) could be used for those.

JimH · « **Reply #21 on:** May 04, 2009, 06:25:46 pm »

Rick,
I appreciate your attention to this and your work with Raldo (thanks Raldo!). Our intent is to make the Info Panel somewhat customizeable. I'm hedging because I know we'll be asked for a lot here. I'd like to see if we can solve it by giving a little, and a way to jump to another page for expanded info, or to another site.

Thanks again to both of you.

Jim

rick.ca · « **Reply #22 on:** May 04, 2009, 07:38:12 pm »

Thanks, Jim. I appreciate the confirmation the Info Panel development is still "open." My special interest, of course, is an integrated MC - PVD solution. Raldo has some work to do on the plugin, and the current version of PVD, while stable, is still in beta. So it's not like you're holding anything up. And you're right, you're going to get a lot of different requests as more users come to appreciate the potential for importing video information.

I imagine the best approach is to release something simple but functional, and then see what's most important to users once we've had some experience of actually using the additional information. That's why I suggest just one additional page that would show all the information available. There are lots of reasons why something different would be better, but that would give us something to play with—to determine exactly what information is needed, and how it might displayed differently.

Quote

Our intent is to make the Info Panel somewhat customizeable.

At the risk of reading too much into what you're saying—I think this is exactly the right approach. PVD addressed a similar issue by providing a fully customizable skin. I'm happy with the skin I was able to create, but it was time consuming and frustrating work. So I very much appreciate being given something that is mostly fixed, but well engineered and which still provides a basic level of customization. I imagine an additional Detailed Info Panel element in the configuration that is pretty much the same as the existing Details control—just something for specifying the fields to be included in the Info Panel. I'm happy to let the development team decide the best (non-configurable) way to handle different types of fields, exactly where they'll appear, etc.

Daydream · « **Reply #23 on:** May 04, 2009, 07:57:59 pm »

Quote from: rick.ca on May 04, 2009, 07:38:12 pm

being given something that is mostly fixed, but well engineered and which still provides a basic level of customization.

Are you sure they will be able to please anybody with such an approach? I mean, look around.

I was hoping that sometime in the foreseeable future the theater view will be fully skinable. I mean rick, you had some practical points and I'm sure Jim & Co have something in their minds. But what do we do with the design? You can't go it's Obsidian way (currently most advanced) or no way. As it stands one can't even change the font size, let alone arrange elements.

Daydream · « **Reply #24 on:** May 04, 2009, 08:52:47 pm »

I had a couple of notes and questions in the back of my mind regarding Theater View. In no particular order:

1) Vertical scrolling of thumbnails. Is it the best way? Websites scroll vertically, but thumbnails... How do you check your discs on the shelves, shelf 1 disc 1, shelf 2 disc 1, etc or do you check the whole shelf horizontally first? Another thing: most screens are widescreen these days. You do get to keep an image more on screen if you scroll horizontally instead of vertically. Current style, 1920x1200 res., thumbnails on left, big preview and data on the right (like for a series). You have 3 columns and 4 rows. The moment you scroll one row is lost because of the effects/overlapping. If you decide to suddenly change the scrolling direction, 2 rows become blurry until the elements settle. Please count how many thumbnails you see in the clear during these times.

2) Say I'm browsing my movie collection, thumbnails listing full screen (4 rows, 7 columns). Select a movie - navigate to a new screen, small thumbnail at the top left, big cover at top right... everything else is empty! I have to select / press the remote button one more time to get the details and the play option. Lots of wasted space.

3) The big cover. As I believe it was said before the reflection is too big. Actually not a problem that's too big, is unrealistic. What kind of mirror would projects such a reflection?

Anyways the cover has some animation by design. 2 things. At the last moment that animation is not fluid all the time, it "snaps" into place for no good reason. Not an all cases, but in most. Second thing: the cover doesn't obey its space limits all the time, especially for some widescreen images. It gets cut and even goes over the roller up top (see below)

4) Quality of thumbnails. I've searched the forum but all posts I could about this were rather old. I'm under a very strong impression that thumbnails generated automatically (again, think series / episodes) are of lower quality (noticeably) than if I would make them manually (which look better but is not such a practical option). I mean it's not exactly apparent when in normal view but when you do get to blast them on screen in theater view... I can tell the difference.

5) What would be the general opinion for rounded thumbnails?

rick.ca · « **Reply #25 on:** May 04, 2009, 10:21:00 pm »

Quote

Are you sure they will be able to please anybody with such an approach? I mean, look around.

I wasn't suggesting development should stop there, only that this would be the best next step. Of course, Jim may be looking for the last step. But I can let you and others carry the torch for infinite configurability.

Would anybody be pleased? Probably no more than those who are "pleased" with the Obsidian skin in general—most people. I don't think anybody would claim it's exactly as they dreamt, or does everything the way they want it to. That doesn't mean it's not something they consider well-designed and functional, and in that sense, at least "satisfying."

But maybe no one will be pleased. That would include me. I think the hierarchical navigation system is fundamentally flawed. I can't fathom why the functionality of panes was not used. But I'm obviously alone on that one, so I'm hoping for the consolation of being able to browse my video information—even if I have to rot my brain and aggravate my RSI navigating to it.

raym · « **Reply #26 on:** May 05, 2009, 12:06:19 am »

Quote from: Daydream on May 04, 2009, 08:52:47 pm

3) The big cover. As I believe it was said before the reflection is too big. Actually not a problem that's too big, is unrealistic. What kind of mirror would projects such a reflection? Anyways the cover has some animation by design. 2 things. At the last moment that animation is not fluid all the time, it "snaps" into place for no good reason. Not an all cases, but in most. Second thing: the cover doesn't obey its space limits all the time, especially for some widescreen images. It gets cut and even goes over the roller up top (see below)

Daydream, you've described this particular point 100x better than I ever could.

What he said!

nuke2000 · « **Reply #27 on:** May 05, 2009, 01:24:39 pm »

I like the size of the cover art as is.

I sit about 12ft from a 40 inch tv (probably a fairly usual setup in most UK homes) and the size is perfect at that distance.

The link to the image looks OK to me - perhaps i am missing something?

Quality of thumbnails ...I 'aint complaining as i am comparing to the the complete disaster that is Vista and Win 7 MC - Yuk!

steveklein · « **Reply #28 on:** May 06, 2009, 01:16:59 pm »

i sit about 6-8 feet away from my 40 inch display and i think the cover art size is beautiful. I just can't wait to upgrade to a 52 or 60 inch display!

Marty3d · « **Reply #29 on:** May 06, 2009, 03:18:20 pm »

I don't mind the size either, especially since it gets smaller when displaying the file info. Now, if we only could get useful file info...

raym · « **Reply #30 on:** May 08, 2009, 06:06:20 am »

Just to clarify, I agree. The art size is great... most of the time. However, when MC builds the art automatically from a frame in a movie (like when importing a video file with no external art) the image ends up looking like the one above. On their own, they look ok I guess. But, while browsing a video view (for instance) with a mixture of both predefined cover art and these frame-grabs, you end up with a mis-match of art sizes - some perfectly proportioned and others insanely HUGE. And like Daydream said, the main issue is that the art is so big that it actually gets chopped off by the right edge of the screen and even obscures a portion of the Theater View title bar.

With respect to the reflections, compare the ones used here in the info panel with the ones used in other areas of the program like the rotated audio cover art used in Playing Now (when selected). The later ones look much more natural IMO.

These are all very minor issues overall but worth the discussion

raym · « **Reply #31 on:** May 13, 2009, 06:07:48 am »

Quote from: raldo on April 16, 2009, 03:51:47 pm

Here's a suggestion: When browsing video, I'd like to be able to see tag info immediately for the current selection. I.e. pressing enter first is, for me at least, "slightly distracting".

Actually I'm experiencing this a bit WRT Television. It would be nice to see the program guide info for the currently selected program (in the guide) and channel (in live tv views) without having to hit Enter first.

MrHaugen · « **Reply #32 on:** May 15, 2009, 02:38:53 am »

Is this really the best way of doing this? Don't get me wrong, I think it's a way in the right directions, but there are a few things that don't seem right to me. I'm thinking of the info pane.

First question that pops into my mind is, why don't the info update when you change a track or a movie? Why can't it show some basic info when changing items in the list? And then maby extending this info if the track is pushed?
I belive there are a lot of people that want to see this info, and that don't actually want to play the track or movie when they have read the info. So, it's basicly a lot of enter and back hitting to show the info you really need.

The second thing I'm thinking about is the "Album - Artist - Duration" fields under the selected track. If the info pane was updated with the track changes, this could be dropped. At least is should be configured, so we can get the info we want there (instead for the info pane) by just selecting a track.

The third thing would be a big big hope of the info pane items being more configurable. Pretty please.

The forth thing have to be the hiding of the second roller bar. When the Theater View is so higly dependant on View changing, you have to show the users where they actually are. The best way would be to choose whether to show it or not, in TV options.

Another related thing I have to mention:
I'd much rather build up my Video sub categories with catalogues (Video Subtype custom tag) and to be able to browse them and hit enter to actually dive into it, instead of the View switching. But the Video Sub Type tags will not update with Cover art from the underlaying video sub types. So it kind of messes up the whole look. I don't know if things have been changed where lately. But I did test it several builds ago.

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Author Topic: New Theater View Info Panel and Playing Now (Read 6396 times)

nuke2000

nuke2000

nuke2000