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[sirganty]

Hey there,

What's the chance of a xbmc-esque media info list style within theater view?

i.e. a list style on the left half of the screen; I'm thinking cover art, name, rating, watched flag (where appropriate) etc, and a on the right half, a more in depth overview of the currently highlighted item (as per the second page; bigger/different artwork, full description, dates etc)

The second page (post selection) would not be required; the default select operation should just be the current default selected playback method on page 2, or maybe on selection, a dialogue pops up with the playback options rather than a second page?

Also, whilst I'm here, is there any way to 'quick access' recently added or favourite media on the top level roller pages?
Again, completely ripping off xbmc, displaying the most recently added movies or TV shows, and maybe even most played albums.
I'm thinking a third level roller, that effectively displays a playlist of sorts related to the level above, with cover art etc

Just some ideas.

[MrHaugen]

I'm looking for some of this as well. The info pane for higher levels (not only at file level) have been on peoples wish list for quite some time. You CAN do this today, but it involves adding dummy files to the library to display the info you want. It means some manual job for each TV Show, Season, Artist or Album. Which I do not love. MC also have a bit of a problem displaying info that calculates fields from several other medias library fields. Like adding up watched counters and episodes in a TV Show or season. I think this is what you were looking for?

When it comes to the point that you don't want to see the big info screen, this should be doable. You just have to go to the options page for the Info page, and remove all library fields from showing up under the big info pane. When that is done, you should be brought directly to the rollers, ready to hit play. Instead of first entering the full screen with info.

You can also easily add menu items your self. You can do this under the the Theater View options. Just try to un-nest some views and pull them up a level or two. You can do pretty much anything you want here. Just try it out.

[sirganty]

You hit the nail on the head with the mediainfo view I was trying (badly) to describe, list of items on the left, full info panel on the right showing the currently selected item.

The added roller I was trying to describe was more like a small grid view of media items, like cover art for the most played albums or recently added movies or show episodes, above/below the existing rollers.
You could select them and be taken straight to the playing now view.
Are you saying this is already possible?
I've had a play with configuring the rollers, but couldn't see any way to construct them directly from a smartlist, and have them show the cover art etc.

[MrHaugen]

The added roller I was trying to describe was more like a small grid view of media items, like cover art for the most played albums or recently added movies or show episodes, above/below the existing rollers.
You could select them and be taken straight to the playing now view.
Are you saying this is already possible?

No. You can not add anything else than text on the rollers them self, and I do not think you can add thumbnails or media info on the main menu (that actively represent the current selection). Static graphical elements can be tied to menu items, but that's not what you're looking for. Xplains skins on the Skin forum is probably the closest you'll get to something like this. But it's still just static images though.

I've never tried to add playlists or smart lists directly to a menu item, but I think you can do that.

Only way you'll be able to jump "directly" to playing now is probably with a shortcut. CTRL + P? This is very snappy if you use a remote that's programmable. I have shortcuts to Music, TV Shows, Movies and Playing now today on my Harmony 900 remote. It's very effective imo. You can edit the default behavior for playback so you jump directly to playing now when you hit play. This can be done for Audio and Video. But remember that it makes it hard to add several items for playback.

[sirganty]

that's a shame.

I really like the way xbmc displays these recently added media items right on the home page for the video category, and allows me to select and play right from there, rather than having to navigate through the various levels of structure.
Its particularly convenient as I use automated downloaders (e.g. sickbeard & couchpotato); I often find I am unaware a show has been on, and it is downloaded & ready to watch when I boot up the HTPC.

[sirganty]

I've realised that the new video based grid views do exactly what I want from a media info perspective (or at least expose what I need to customise to my liking)
But what I would like is this to continue into the audio section too.
i.e. grid of albums / artists on the left, with the more detailed info about the highlighted album/artist appearing on the right hand side.

I guess in theory I'm asking for extension to the "get movie and TV info" feature to include albums and artists, and then this is displayed the same way as the video data.
I believe this information can be grabbed from last.fm?

[DanielBMe]

This question is for Mr Haugen.  Is there any chance you might have on your radar to increase the dvd cover art in the 3D grid view?  As well maybe move the title of the movie up a bit?  Right now it displays at the very bottom of the screen. It could be moved up a bit so it's more noticeable..

[MrHaugen]

I'm not sure, but I do not think you can manipulate much in the 3D modes/views. When I went trough the skin files yesterday and the day before, I did not notice much details of those views. You would get better answers asking the questions to users that do a lot of Theater View skinning, like Xplain.


Back to the topic of Info Panels. I think I have a idea of how this could be done. If there simply was two modes to the File Info Panels, this would be less problematic and more in-line with today's configuration. One "File Info Panel" and one "Category Info Panel would do the trick. The File Info Panel config should be left just as it is, and work only on the last level where the files are. The category info panels would work on every other view levels you choose.

Adding a "Customize category info panel" option page could introduce a world of new info pane possibilities. This options could be very much the same as the File info configuration, with the exception of:
- A few other default fields
- Templates like "Audio Artist, Audio Album, TV Show, and Season Templates
- The "Show" option could be changed to "Show in" and provide a combo box list of all the theater view list styles
- The search under Edit Template could instead of searching for what type of media to include, enable you to search for view names and previous root view names to match the info pane to the desired view you are in.

This would pretty much enable users to display what info they want in what ever view they desire. Totally customizable. Only problem after this would be to get some functionality to sum up some library fields across multiple files. I do not know if there are ways of doing this with today's tools?

[xplain]

Is there any chance you might have on your radar to increase the dvd cover art in the 3D grid view?  As well maybe move the title of the movie up a bit?  Right now it displays at the very bottom of the screen. It could be moved up a bit so it's more noticeable..

It is possible, but it isn't working right, as the 3D views wont zoom, but will just move it up or down...

I have asked for it myself, and got a reply here:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=69716.msg479072#msg479072

[DanielBMe]

There's another thing or two in Theaterview that would make life a little easier when browsing movies.  When I browse my dvd's and get to the end of the list, last letter in the alphabet...it would be nice if the A's came right after.  Once I get to the end, if I want to browse back to the start, the only way I can currently do that is to exit Movies, then go back in.  I would think it would make navigation easier to just have the A's maybe spaced a little further apart from the last movie at the end of the alphabet so it just wraps around.

Also the blu ray/dvd icon that shows in the right hand corner, I think it would be better if it displayed at the end of the name personally.  When in Theaterview, the dvd covers are fairly small, so I'm already looking hard at the covers.  Then you have to scroll your eyes down to read the title, then look all the way to the right to see if it's blu ray or dvd.  It's not very...user friendly in that regard.

[fitbrit]

There's another thing or two in Theaterview that would make life a little easier when browsing movies.  When I browse my dvd's and get to the end of the list, last letter in the alphabet...it would be nice if the A's came right after.  Once I get to the end, if I want to browse back to the start, the only way I can currently do that is to exit Movies, then go back in.  I would think it would make navigation easier to just have the A's maybe spaced a little further apart from the last movie at the end of the alphabet so it just wraps around.

Also the blu ray/dvd icon that shows in the right hand corner, I think it would be better if it displayed at the end of the name personally.  When in Theaterview, the dvd covers are fairly small, so I'm already looking hard at the covers.  Then you have to scroll your eyes down to read the title, then look all the way to the right to see if it's blu ray or dvd.  It's not very...user friendly in that regard.

Are you using a keyboard? Could you not just type 'A' if you are?

[DanielBMe]

I realize I can use the keyboard, but it would be nice not having to break it out just to press a "A". 

[fitbrit]

I realize I can use the keyboard, but it would be nice not having to break it out just to press a "A". 

Fair enough. I mostly use a keyboard myself, but am moving towards a system in which I won't for the most part. Good to know the types of problems/limitations I might encounter.

[steelman1991]

I realize I can use the keyboard, but it would be nice not having to break it out just to press a "A". 

Assuming you use a remote then - if so, press 'A' problem solved and no need for the keyboard.

[bunglemebaby]

I realize I can use the keyboard, but it would be nice not having to break it out just to press a "A".

If your remote has number keys on it, you can use T9 style key presses to get the same effect. i.e. Press the "2" key instead of "A", or press it three times if you wanted to get to the C's.

[DanielBMe]

I'll give that a try and see what happens.