Topic: How do you use Media Center? Audio, Video, Images, Television, Documents? (Read 7745 times)

JimH · « **on:** November 09, 2011, 08:41:21 am »

We sometimes receive requests for more work on a single aspect of the program, because the person requesting believes that most other people also use only that part of the program. Audio, for example. Or video.

My guess is that most people use MC for at least two types of media.

So how do you use MC?

Thanks.

Gl3nn · « **Reply #1 on:** November 09, 2011, 09:23:59 am »

I voted 'Audio Only' but I've been starting to use it for Images too so "two of the above" would be correct in my case.

JimH · « **Reply #2 on:** November 09, 2011, 09:40:20 am »

You can change your vote.

Jaguu · « **Reply #3 on:** November 09, 2011, 10:09:40 am »

1. Images
2. Audio (mostly Classical music)
3. Music Video (YouTube downloads)
4. Video (mainly movies converted to mp4/mkv)
5. Some documents (difficult to get rid of Windows Explorer habit)
6. Some audio books

Don't use TV, Podcast, Notes

nwboater · « **Reply #4 on:** November 09, 2011, 10:16:12 am »

Voted "3 of the Types above". That's for Audio, Video, TV. Down the road I'll look into using MC for our 30,000 digital photo collection. As you know I'm a huge fan of 'One program for all Media'.

Thanks for making MC so versatile!

Rod

Sauzee · « **Reply #5 on:** November 09, 2011, 10:24:23 am »

Audio and downloaded video.

Would consider using it for images and ebooks if there was more work done in that area.

Don't use it (or any other software) for TV recording/watching - I do that with standalone gear.

CountryBumkin · « **Reply #6 on:** November 09, 2011, 10:41:20 am »

Quote from: nwboater on November 09, 2011, 10:16:12 am

Voted "3 of the Types above". That's for Audio, Video, TV. Down the road I'll look into using MC for our 30,000 digital photo collection. As you know I'm a huge fan of 'One program for all Media'.

Thanks for making MC so versatile!

Rod

+1

Darth B · « **Reply #7 on:** November 09, 2011, 11:16:04 am »

Use it for:

1. Audio
2. Movies - DVD and Blu-Ray rips
3. Images

MrC · « **Reply #8 on:** November 09, 2011, 11:27:07 am »

Primarily Audio, some images and video. No TV or Data.

fitbrit · « **Reply #9 on:** November 09, 2011, 11:55:21 am »

Primarily video and audio. No TV, some image editing for a very specific purpose.

SamuelMaki · « **Reply #10 on:** November 09, 2011, 12:39:57 pm »

Bluray and DVD-rips and discs
Audio (CDs)
Images (rarely, because I have HP laptop which includes a good image viewer...)

glynor · « **Reply #11 on:** November 09, 2011, 01:07:14 pm »

I use it for:

1. Video (including basically all playback needs)
2. Music
3. Audiobooks
4. Photos
5. A few eBooks
6. Some document magement tasks

I don't use it for TV recording (though I do watch those recordings frome Sage in MC), or Live TV viewing, but I plan to once I have sufficient time to implement the switch.

mojave · « **Reply #12 on:** November 09, 2011, 01:18:06 pm »

I use it for Audio, Video, Photos, & TV.

xplain · « **Reply #13 on:** November 09, 2011, 01:21:03 pm »

Audio
Video (Movies, homevideoes, etc. etc.) + (Youtube, Hulu)
Photo
Podcast
Performer Store

Gizmo (Audio and Photos)

DLNA (Streaming to my kids XBox)

Sharing music with a friend of mine who also has JRiver

----------------------------------------
I only have one computer and it is connected to both computer-monitor and TV.

Use standard view on monitor, and Theater View on TV
----------------------------------------

Thomas

Daydream · « **Reply #14 on:** November 09, 2011, 02:45:32 pm »

4 types.

Audio (heavy use)
Video (even more heavy use)
Photo (50% of what I could use it for, I'm not sold on tagging interoperability with other programs)
Documents (PDF, ebooks). I feel a bit of help in this section would go a long way, especially regarding Cover treatment.

No TV recording; I don't record at all.

sgomes · « **Reply #15 on:** November 09, 2011, 03:47:24 pm »

Mostly just for video and audio in Theatre View

J-a-k-e · « **Reply #16 on:** November 09, 2011, 04:44:07 pm »

Audio ( Multiple zones for music + room correction for subwoofer and eq for headphones)
Video: - Movies, Tv series, youtube

I use my wireless keyboard and have HDMI and analog audio running from the pc in my room to the the lounge and I have custom keyboard shortcuts that link to batch scripts I've created. So I can choose if I want to use media centre in the lounge with the tv & stereo + separate subwoofer or in my room at the computer with headphones. It's just a manner of selecting the correct batch file and the mc16.exe/mc17.exe command line tool switches and selects the appropriate display, audio zone and view mode.

NickF · « **Reply #17 on:** November 09, 2011, 05:15:27 pm »

I use for playing ripped CDs and find it excellent.

I have tried it for TV and found it very disappointing. The EPG is just too difficult to set up and maintain.. Very disappointing. I haven't tried again with MC17.

I was very excited at the prospect of using it for Blu-Ray but haven't been able to play a complete disc without running into serious stuttering. More disappointment.

DLNA streaming was another area where I had high hopes but it simply won't handle 25 Hz media to a Sony TV. The transcoding is not up to it. HD material is also a non-starter.

So, for me, it's music only. Everything else is a let down.

Nick.

BartMan01 · « **Reply #18 on:** November 09, 2011, 06:17:22 pm »

Audio and Video. I use it to manage my audio library (main original reason for buying many years ago). Now I also use it for Video (DVD/BluRay/TV boxed sets).

For TV I currently use Windows Media Center/Ceton cable card tuner/XBox 360 WMC extenders.

imugli · « **Reply #19 on:** November 09, 2011, 06:29:55 pm »

TV (Most of the day, every day)
Video (including Netflix, Hulu, Youtube music clips)
Audio

brossmac · « **Reply #20 on:** November 09, 2011, 07:06:14 pm »

95% audio
5% watching downloaded video (usually brief ones, not TV episodes or the like)

bunglemebaby · « **Reply #21 on:** November 09, 2011, 07:52:26 pm »

Audio - Music, Audiobooks, Comedy Albums (currently this is 80%+ of my usage)
Video - Limited, currently. Working on putting a real HTPC together though, at which point I'll be ripping the entire DVD collection.
Images - Currently I work using a horrible mash-up of MC and Picasa for images. It's a horrible process and I'd really like to figure out something better. Ideally I would like to use MC only for image display (for images that I've determined to be worthy of sharing.)

TV - I plan to use the TV features once the HTPC is a go.
(I voted three...)
I'd also consider using MC for ebooks if some attention were given to them... but I don't feel any need to do so. Amazon has a pretty good thing going with this.
I tried organizing my documents using MC and although it worked great to get them organized into useful directories it became cumbersome after that task was complete.

imugli · « **Reply #22 on:** November 09, 2011, 11:29:06 pm »

TV (most of the day, most days)
Video (including Movies, netflix, Hulu & youtube)
Audio (including Internet radio)
Images

While TV still requires some work, it's getting there (and the added emphasis on development of late has been great).

I've always said that the things MC does well, it does better than its competition, and those that it doesn't do so well it still does well enough for me to not bother looking for another program.

darichman · « **Reply #23 on:** November 10, 2011, 12:03:01 am »

Three of the above for me.

In ranked order:
1. Video
2. Audio
3. Images

I have some documents catalogued, but do not use MC extensively here.
I do not use TV, but probably would once I get a tuner.
I don't use MC with a portable device (mostly because I have an iPhone) but did use it with my old iPod back in the day.
I rarely use podcasts.
I use MC to download YouTube videos, but don't use any of the other connected media.
I sometimes use network features to access my library from a laptop in the living room connected to my TV.
I don't use Gizmo / any of the other network features unfortunately, but probably will one day.

)p( · « **Reply #24 on:** November 10, 2011, 02:58:41 am »

Main uses of the htpc's 3 main views:
1. Movies
2. TVshows downloaded. We dont watch live tv at all.
3. Photo's and home video's

On desktop and notebook we also use mc for audio. All other audio sofar is still handled by squeezeboxes because of the better iphone/ipad control and support for spotify.

JimH · « **Reply #25 on:** November 10, 2011, 07:27:24 am »

I added "Any two" to the poll and split the discussion about it to "Poll Broken"

robydago · « **Reply #26 on:** November 10, 2011, 07:30:02 am »

audio (both local and internet streaming)
video (both local and internet streaming)
images

JimH · « **Reply #27 on:** November 10, 2011, 07:50:30 am »

Here's a snapshot of the current numbers:

Audio only 22.5%
Video only 5.6%
Three or more 71.9%

bspachman · « **Reply #28 on:** November 10, 2011, 08:48:41 am »

For me it's audio & video, but images come into play slightly since I use MC to 'tag' my external cover art images to always track with the albums and series they belong to. Oh, and the 'documents' section covers me tagging the CUE lists of my full album rips.

Maybe I use 2 plus .5 of Images plus .25 of documents? What's that, 2.75 areas?

brad

flac.rules · « **Reply #29 on:** November 10, 2011, 09:18:18 am »

I use the program for audio and video. I use otjer software for images, but I might consider using MC for it after a while. I don't watch "traditional TV".

r_harms · « **Reply #30 on:** November 10, 2011, 11:21:59 am »

I'm 95% Audio, Its the reason I bought in and I'm still very pleased. I really appreciate the addition of the update sample rate table in DSP studio!

I'm glad to see the amount of users that say audio is important to them, and I'm glad you guys have stated your commitment to continuing to keep high quality audio a priority.

I've been working on implementing video (for several months now) and have had some success. I love the idea of Red October but almost every time I update Video is broken, and I'm just not sure it is worth it to me to connect my system to the internet to 'fix it' once again.

My system has no internet connection and will stay that way. I don't have to worry about automated updates breaking something, I don't run anti virus, spy ware or firewall stuff. I keep it squeaky clean, and it runs perfectly.

I've heard a 'portable' install may help with problems, and when I get some time I'll try that out.

Can't thank you guys enough for all your hard work!

Rick

marko · « **Reply #31 on:** November 10, 2011, 11:58:56 am »

I'm audio, video and images exclusively, with a smattering of documents thrown in, because I can.

In my, very humble, opinion, 'images' are long overdue some love. My needs are rather simple, probably because I don't use any other software for managing or tagging them. I would like an easier way to add captions, preferably right there, under the thumbnail, something like Doof's 'captionator' plugin, others want stuff like face tagging. I've had my down for a few weeks now, cropping all my photos for use on the TV, where I have further tweaking suggestions, but later for those, need to work first

-marko

raldo · « **Reply #32 on:** November 10, 2011, 12:58:23 pm »

I'm audio, video and images.

Quote from: marko on November 10, 2011, 11:58:56 am

In my, very humble, opinion, 'images' are long overdue some love. []

I agree.

Btw., this poll basically hides the interesting stuff in the way it's formulated. "Three of the above" has a lot of hits but the distribution of the third choice (TV, images, docs) cannot be seen.

MrC · « **Reply #33 on:** November 10, 2011, 01:14:10 pm »

A more accurate request might have been:

For your overall MC usage, what percentage of each is Audio, Video, etc.? (cumulative percentages need to add to 100%).

Mine would have been:

Audio: 98%
Images: 1%
Video: 1%

But my poll response seems to indicate a nice equal usage.

glynor · « **Reply #34 on:** November 10, 2011, 01:19:02 pm »

It might be useful for you guys if MC itself collected some of this data. It would, of course, have to warn the user. But I'd happily approve MC collecting some limited anonymous usage statistics. I'm thinking you could find out things like:

1. Precisely how many people are using Audio, Video, Images, TV, and Documents support.
2. What percentage of usage they spend in each category (mine would be HEAVILY slanted towards video, but others wouldn't be).
3. You could see the effect of changes on usage patterns. If you tweak something, and Image usage falls off the cliff, it might be a clue that you did something wrong.
4. You could also collect stats on things like Library sizes and mixes of different Media Types.
5. How often people are using things like Theater View vs. Standard View.

You WOULD, of course, need to be careful. I would NOT want JRiver collecting or transmitting details on my specific media content used, or anything of the sort (ala iTunes Genius). But, I would be happy to participate in a limited statistical sampling that would cover the stuff above, if asked, and if the details of what was being collected was clearly laid out ahead of time.

Domi · « **Reply #35 on:** November 10, 2011, 01:25:02 pm »

I use it for:

1- Audio 90%
2- Video 10% (Blu-Ray, DVD and sometime Youtube)

imugli · « **Reply #36 on:** November 10, 2011, 08:07:26 pm »

Quote from: glynor on November 10, 2011, 01:19:02 pm

It might be useful for you guys if MC itself collected some of this data. It would, of course, have to warn the user. But I'd happily approve MC collecting some limited anonymous usage statistics. I'm thinking you could find out things like:

1. Precisely how many people are using Audio, Video, Images, TV, and Documents support.
2. What percentage of usage they spend in each category (mine would be HEAVILY slanted towards video, but others wouldn't be).
3. You could see the effect of changes on usage patterns. If you tweak something, and Image usage falls off the cliff, it might be a clue that you did something wrong.
4. You could also collect stats on things like Library sizes and mixes of different Media Types.
5. How often people are using things like Theater View vs. Standard View.

You WOULD, of course, need to be careful. I would NOT want JRiver collecting or transmitting details on my specific media content used, or anything of the sort (ala iTunes Genius). But, I would be happy to participate in a limited statistical sampling that would cover the stuff above, if asked, and if the details of what was being collected was clearly laid out ahead of time.

This. +1.

Anonymous collection of usage statistics is part of life these days.

jmone · « **Reply #37 on:** November 10, 2011, 08:42:01 pm »

Video Files, Video Discs, TV, Audio and some pics

Gl3nn · « **Reply #38 on:** November 10, 2011, 09:46:06 pm »

Quote from: MrC on November 10, 2011, 01:14:10 pm

A more accurate request might have been:

For your overall MC usage, what percentage of each is Audio, Video, etc.? (cumulative percentages need to add to 100%).

Mine would have been:
Audio: 98%
Images: 1%
Video: 1%

But my poll response seems to indicate a nice equal usage.

I agree wholeheartedly. This would give a much more accurate picture.

Mine's more like:
Audio: 95%
Images: 5% (and growing, hopefully)

Video - eventually... maybe a few keepers

TV? Nah. We just don't care to watch much of what's out there.

Blaine78 · « **Reply #39 on:** November 11, 2011, 01:04:28 am »

Audio + Video

don't watch TV, rots the brain...

fabien44 · « **Reply #40 on:** November 11, 2011, 05:32:49 am »

Audio + Video for audiophile and video ability of MC16 and user friendly interface of Theater View.

But i would lile to use it for TV but no MDAPI in MC17 so i continue with DVBViewer for TV watching until MC manages it.

maliceme · « **Reply #41 on:** November 11, 2011, 03:25:20 pm »

Audio(phile) and video
Don't have the hardware needed to set up TV...yet...

mojave · « **Reply #42 on:** November 11, 2011, 03:30:52 pm »

I wonder how many use the CD labeler, media editor, or ring tone generator? Actually the ring tone feature could use some work because it doesn't allow one to set a maximum file size.

I created an Airwolf theme song ring tone and had to create it several times to get it to work with my phone.

MarkCoutinho · « **Reply #43 on:** November 11, 2011, 04:53:21 pm »

Bit of a curious option: images AND TV. I never, ever watch TV but I do use MC heavily for all my photos.

lhwidget · « **Reply #44 on:** November 11, 2011, 05:51:20 pm »

I use it for
1. Audio: Internet Radio & ripped music, 60%
2. Video: Ripped DVDs & Blurays, 40%
3. Weather: Quick looks 2 to 10 times a day @ temp, precipitation, forecast & wind conditions in 3 locations

And I'm really wanting to jump onto the TV bandwagon but Beyond TV is still mighty easy for managing a large (4 dual tuner cards) server mounted tuner farm for live & recorded TV, including HDTV.

MerlinWerks · « **Reply #45 on:** November 11, 2011, 06:38:57 pm »

99% Audio
1% Video

INTERACT FORUM

Poll

Please tell us which parts of Media Center you use, even occasionally

Author Topic: How do you use Media Center? Audio, Video, Images, Television, Documents? (Read 7745 times)