INTERACT FORUM
More => Old Versions => JRiver Media Center 22 for Mac => Topic started by: ALACkl on December 28, 2016, 06:29:15 am
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Hi,
Today I started a trial of Mediacentre/Mac to see if I could use it instead of iTunes. Upon startup the program did not ask what to import, but immediately began to import my iTunes files and folders. Only after some time I noticed that also audio and video files that were elsewhere on my volume were also imported without asking. These were some interview audio files from my scientific work as well as video files that I definitely wanted to keep separate (EyeTV format). This is, in my humble opinion, an unacceptable behaviour and made me uninstall Mediacentre immediately. I need to have a say in what is and what is not part of my media. OK, this is the farewell bid as I am not going to use it anymore.
Regarding a recommendation: I think you should civilise your program's behaviour in a way that respects the user's wishes. It would be very simple to ask after the install process, which media files from which disk should be imported instead of globally searching all available volumes and throwing everything together in the library. Just a humble suggestion.
Thanks anyway.
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It does ask when you first start Media Center in the bottom left corner of the tree where the action window is. It gives you a 45 or so seconds countdown to change the import settings to however you want and disable auto-import before it automatically does. IMO, this is much, much less intrusive whereas a popup dialog would be (which is what iTunes does, if I recall correctly) - and it's pretty hard to not notice the countdown and change the settings accordingly.
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I need to have a say in what is and what is not part of my media. OK, this is the farewell bid as I am not going to use it anymore.
Your loss.
Why don't you just delete the library file MC created and make a new one after configuring the import process to your desire? I don't get why someone would give up after the first import.
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- and it's pretty hard to not notice the countdown and change the settings accordingly.
Actually it's one of my long standing annoyances that it does this on a new installation; the countdown is insignificant and easy to miss unless you know about it and know where to look. On a new installation a pop-up asking whether to do it would be a lot better.
Of course MC isn't doing anything intrusive or disruptive, like moving files, so it isn't that important and you can just delete the library entries after you've noticed, but it's alarming for a neophyte coming from iTunes, which does intrusive things to files.
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^ I also agree that the "countdown to import" feature is annoying. It's unlikely to be changed, but I'm not a fan. However, as Bill points out, it's no big deal. You can just clear the library and start over. It's one command:
File > Library > Clear library
Then you can set up auto import exactly as you'd like. You can read more about auto import in the wiki, here:
https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Auto-Import
MC may or may not suit you overall. If you're expecting a lot of really simple easy of use features and limitations like itunes, you may not enjoy the MC experience. But I can assure you that MC is FAR MORE powerful and configurable than itunes has ever been. It's better in every measurable way as far as I'm concerned. But I'm also willing to do a little extra work here and there to make MC work the way I want.
If MC and itunes were cars, itunes would be a self driving car that only drives in one part of the city, takes voice commands, and works the way you want about 80% of the time. It drops you off where you want mostly. But you end up walking through puddles sometimes, or going around the building when it drops you off at the back because it's map is wrong. The itunes car goes up to 40 MPH, but no faster. It's really a pretty decent car. As long as you don't want to go fast, get out of the city, or not step in puddles.
The MC car is a racer. It easily does pretty much whatever speed you want and can drive on any normal street anywhere in the country. You're in complete control and you have to pay attention. If you start texting on your phone at 80 MPH, you might crash into a pole. You can also park it exactly where you want and not step out into a puddle if you don't want to. It's not self driving and you can get lost driving it if you go where you haven't gone before. But YOU are in control of almost every aspect of the MC car.
The question is, which car would you rather drive?
Brian.
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Yes, it's certainly my loss, so be it.
I completely missed any 'countdown' during install where I could have pointed MC to the media I wanted included. That's a pity, but I prefer applications that clearly interact with me on crucial decisions. No bad feelings, though....
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I think it did interact with you, as you put it. You just weren't giving it your attention.
This is handled this way because many beginners are stumped if we ask them what they want to do.
The screen blinks for 45 seconds while it waits. I guess we could sound a horn.