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[logan9778]

Continuing from this thread, since it got old.

https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,113585.0.html

It was on the subject of epub and azw, but I'd like to see if you can address .cbz's and .cbrs, as it's a little more complicated.

I've tried to do it with what I have on Media Center 24, but I ran into numerous problems.

A prime example of what I am looking for is the old program Comicrack. 

http://comicrack.cyolito.com/

The only real problem it had was that it couldn't stream comics over the internet, and that it could only make one stack of comics.  Ok, and, we'll, the guy that was writing it disappeared about 2 years ago.  Presumed dead.  Probably said something wrong to Marvel/DC. 

I still use Comicrack, but I know it won't last forever, the way Windows does major updates and all.

So, I'm hoping you guys would consider making a similar program within JRiver (internal).  There are a LOT of comic readers like me who would jump at the opportunity to get a decent comic reader again that can stream over the internet, and we would gladly pay for it.  ComicRack was the ONLY decent comics organizer and reader out there.

I would also be interested in an internal epub / azw reader as well.

Thanks!

[carlismysecondname]

Hmmmn, I don't think it's necessarily important for JRiver to have an internal viewer for ebooks & comics as you could always have it opened by with another viewer program. However, what would be especially nice/vital (from the perspective of ebook/comic MEDIA consumers at least) is for JRiver to automatically extract the first page or covers of ebooks & comics (e.g. pdf, cbr, cbz, epub, etc.) instead of just displaying a bland singular filetype, thumbnail icon. It takes too much time individually adding covers for such media one by one. For this reason, I actually have decided not to import most of my comics into the Media Center Library. Rather, I browse and view said local files through Directory Opus with the aid of some plugins -- additionally I use Calibre instead to store and organize all my Kindle ebooks.

I used to be a heavy comic book reader, but not so much now. The issue with comics is that most companies want you to use their own proprietary app or webapp for viewing such copyrighted media. Personally, I just remove the DRM from all my purchased media, and if I can't do that then I move on -- or buy the PHYSICAL media. I've basically lost all my ebooks back when sony stopped selling ebooks. I've also heavily regretted spending almost $2,000 on academic e-textbooks from vitalsource/vitalsoft as their apps are just the worst crap ever... even after almost ten years it's still absolute garbage. As with buying Kindle e-textbooks, it's a better as you can remove the DRM yourself -- although, I haven't tried it with their newer comic books (I have a few) -- maybe test it later.

[logan9778]

Yeah, getting the cover page out of the comic has been one of the real problems that has stopped me from doing this.  That'll be the first hurdle to work out.

[carlismysecondname]

Yep. It's the first step needed... That's true.

Right now, it's extremely easy to extract some of the more essential metadata from .cbz's file name, for example, BUT individually adding artwork that's already inside the first page of the pdf book or first file of the cbz comics is very time consuming. And, thing is, most comic book collectors have hundreds -- if not thousands -- of said files. I mean, a single volume of a single comic series could contain 12 or 18+ cbz/cbr archives.

Even without the cover art lookup function, it is still easier to find and apply cover art to music files and movies using google images (in fact, it's already embedded if you purchased from iTunes or Google Play Music so usually no problem to begin with) -- this is not so much with comic books & japanese manga -- at least if you want to add these media files as data 'documents' in your JRiver library for media consolidation.

[logan9778]

Could we please get the ability to auto-get covers out of the .cbr's and epubs JRiver?

It would be a very important first step towards being able to use the Media Center for these.