More > JRiver Media Center 18 for Windows
Wish List: New MC User from XBMC & iTunes
csimon:
I'll make sure I duck when I say this.
What about an easy-to-use wizard or some other view configurator tool as is being discussed here, but...
....just ONE tool that can be used to create views that can then be assigned to ANY of the browsing facilities, e.g. client view, theater view, DLNA, Web services. In other words, the previously discussed unified/global view library. This doesn't mean that ALL views have to be in EVERY facility, just that you can have one library of views and each browsing facility can have any of them assigned to it.
I guess what constitutes a "view" is that it is nestable and can be inserted into any browsing facility's menu tree at any point. At the simplest level, there could be just one view with branches for Audio, Video and Images, and multiple categories beneath them, then once defined you can assign the whole thing to Theater View and Gizmo, for example. Or you could set up 3 separate global views for each of Audio, Video and Images, set up a Video item in Theater View only and nest your global video view in it, and set up audio and images trees in DLNA and Gizmo and nest the Audio and Images global views in them.
I guess the concept will be quite tricky to implement though...
Bizarroterl:
Rick,
I fully agree that the configuration tools currently available need to be revised so that they're more logical and available in one location.
If the configuration tools were well thought out a wizard may not be needed, but in today's I want it now world I can see where a wizard would almost always be a valuable tool.
Either way, it's clear that to expand the Theaterview customer base some additional work on making the setup/configuration easier would be to JRiver's benefit. I've always been very impressed with JRiver's attitude/support. Each time I do a test install of Theaterview I say to myself - "These guys are just a little ways away from being the best HTPC solution out there."
rick.ca:
--- Quote from: csimon on August 30, 2012, 04:10:06 am ---In other words, the previously discussed unified/global view library.
--- End quote ---
If that idea includes some way of specifying "use this view on that device, except the parts of it which are not applicable or won't work," it seems to me that would get very complicated. Even if the program could handle it, it might produce unexpected or confusing results. I realize one of the benefits sought is likely the ability to make a change to a 'primary' view and have that ripple through to corresponding or similar views on other devices, but I doubt that is feasible or practical.
But the copy/paste and enable/disable functions I've suggested would at least alleviate the burden of creating similar views for multiple devices. Imagine, for example, creating and becoming comfortable with a configuration for Theatre View. Now you need to configure another device. Just copy the whole Theatre View menu tree—or any part of it—to the other device, and modify it to suit. Future changes won't 'flow-through', but that would probably make things too complicated in any case (e.g., a change could 'break' the view on the other device).
Perhaps all that's needed is something that makes it easy to view two configurations at the same time. That would facilitate comparing two configurations and copying from one to another. The 'menu tree' I've suggested probably warrants a separate window (rather than being embedded in the configuration window). The solution might be as simple as allowing multiple windows, each of which can be set to a different device.
csimon:
--- Quote from: rick.ca on August 30, 2012, 03:11:42 pm ---If that idea includes some way of specifying "use this view on that device, except the parts of it which are not applicable or won't work," it seems to me that would get very complicated.
--- End quote ---
No - all I'm after is that you create your view once, not in Theater View, but in a new view library. Then you go into Theater View, whereupon you will se a list of all your views that you've created centrally and then choose the one that you want. Simialrly, you then go into DLNA config and browse your list of centrally-created views and then choose the one that you want. It might be the same as the one you've selected for Theater View, or it might be different. But being able to view my media in a specific way, I then go and do some metadata editing but find that my JRiver front-end client view is not set up the same and I can't find the items I want to edit. So I go into the client view, browse my list of centrally created views, and pick the same one as I'm using in Theater View and then I get a browse tree in the front-end that I'm used to seeing.
It's a somewhat similar concept to what is there at the moment, i.e. saving a customised view in the standard front-end, then in DLNA config being able to add an item from the standard view. The difference would be that a) any changes made centrally would filter through to everything, because you haven't defined views separately in each place, you've just allocated them froma cetnral lbrary; and b) you haven't got several different config tools i.e. one for front-end, one for Theater View, one for DLNA, on for Gizmo and web services etc. Any further enhancements that the JRiver team make to facilities available in views would then automatically be applied in all areas, as there would now be only one view "engine" that all areas use.
I'm not saying that all areas must use the same central views as each other, I'm just saying that there should be one central place to hold views. Apply the same logic to what we have got at the moment with different instances of MC being able to connect to remote libraries instead of setting up a library in each instance separately.
rick.ca:
--- Quote from: Bizarroterl on August 30, 2012, 10:18:49 am ---If the configuration tools were well thought out a wizard may not be needed, but in today's I want it now world I can see where a wizard would almost always be a valuable tool.
--- End quote ---
As I've said, relying on a wizard would be better than making inappropriate guesses—particularly when it comes to determining media type. But if that is done, then the default Theatre View configuration should work. From there, I don't see any configuration settings that aren't either too trivial, too advanced, or for which the new user will have any basis for having a preference. It might be helpful if some other general purpose wizard ended with the option to continue with the configuration of Theatre View—in the form of a simple link to the configuration dialog. That's not of much use, but it might help make the new user aware the thing is configurable—should they not be happy with the default.
What might also help is adding a configuration command to Theatre View itself. Even if that just launches the same configuration dialog, an integrated command might do so while leaving Theatre View up (so you can 'see' what you're modifying), and then restart Theatre View on 'Apply' or 'Okay'—to apply the revised settings. Not only would this add a little convenience, it would impress upon users it is configurable—and is meant to be configured to suit personal preferences.
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