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New user moving from Windows Media Centre


MoDementia

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MoDementia

Hi,


I have tried 3-4 times now to setup Emby as an alternative to Windows Media Centre without 100% satisfaction.
Could I suggest creating a cut-down installer to get new users like with me up and running quickly with a similiar interface to WMC
I exclusivly use a mouse with WMC and this is usually where it starts to unravel.
I can't specifically remember the things which make me uninstall it but here are the must haves I'm looking for
Not have to scroll the menu to select a link. i.e. Left mouse click only works on the item selected not on the item under the mouse pointer.
Library: Mouse wheel support. Rather large library and easy/fast in WMC to mouse wheel scroll through the list and select.
Skip forward and skip back. Very used to 30 secs forward and 10 secs back default in WMC for fast ad skipping.
Player controls down the bottom (Replicate WMC)
Initially set WMC as TV/DVR: can move to DVBLogic etc later
And of course plays the library of wtv and dvr-ms flawlessly


I think if Emby, Kodi, Plex or MediaPortal thought about this "Introductory" version of their aplication they could win over a lot of users who wouald be other wise intimidated by how much configuration/options are required/available.

 

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Marc_G

<SNIP>

I have tried 3-4 times now to setup Emby as an alternative to Windows Media Centre without 100% satisfaction.

Could I suggest creating a cut-down installer to get new users like with me up and running quickly with a similiar interface to WMC

<SNIP>

I exclusivly use a mouse with WMC and this is usually where it starts to unravel.

<SNIP>

Not have to scroll the menu to select a link. i.e. Left mouse click only works on the item selected not on the item under the mouse pointer.

Library: Mouse wheel support. Rather large library and easy/fast in WMC to mouse wheel scroll through the list and select.

<SNIP>

Skip forward and skip back. Very used to 30 secs forward and 10 secs back default in WMC for fast ad skipping.

Player controls down the bottom (Replicate WMC)

 

 

 

@@MoDementia :

 

I think you make some good points here. I'm a 6 year MB veteran, and I've felt similarly on several of these points since the beginning.

 

While I wouldn't describe setting up EMBY (or its prior incarnations) as difficult, it might be nice if there was an option which basically said: "I'm a neophyte, installing everything on a single windows PC, just set it all up for me. Don't give me any options, I'll sort those out later if I need them." Basically the easy button.

 

I've also never once in those six years picked up a remote to control the PC/Media Browser. I'm mouse-only, using a wireless keyboard with a trackball mouse. The issue with selecting things "highlighted versus under pointer" is one that I've struggled with, as is the fact that when getting things to scroll, sometimes they scroll too fast using a mouse. I'd like options to slow them down. Mentioned it to Devs in the past, but really I just got used to the way it works. Sorry, no solution for you here, just a fellow with a similar outlook.

 

As to the forward and back skip: I use WMC with Media Browser (EMBY) Classic, but MBC opens Media Player Classic Home Cinema to do the actual playing for me. I discovered a WMC bug that few notice: WMC doesn't actually output 1920x1080 in many cases, but scales things to 1919x1080 (cuts off rightmost column of pixels, then scales to full screen), so perfect pixel matching is impossible (I went round and round on this, 18 months ago, never found a solution). Anyway, the solution for me was to have MPC-HC do the playing, and in there it's easy to configure keys for forward and back jumps. It also has player controls at the bottom. MPCHC made it easy for me to get subtitles to be handled to my satisfaction, too.

 

I hope this is at least a little helpful.

 

While not everything in EMBY is optimized the way I would have implemented it, I think it's a superb package and I'm proud to support it. It really changed my outlook on HTPCs.

 

Marc

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Newalpost

It does seem a little unfair of me to criticise the amazing amount of work that's gone into Mediabrowser etc and all for free but I too would like to see a much simpler version which is just a one PC setup without the need for a server.  Over the time I've been using it the complexity has increased considerably in my opinion and not everyone needs this.  Plus I seem to run into more problems everytime an update comes along. and my machine takes longer to start running.

 

At times it seems like a science project to me and follows the ethos of the engineer in me that says - " If it ain't broke it doesn't have enough features" :)

 

There's no substitute for Keep it Simple - but still, keep up the good work anyway

Thxs

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Macburp

I know the devs here want to keep things simple wherever possible - for example, there was a walk-through for installing the Kodi add-on. The problem is that this area is innovating fast, and getting features on board has taken a slightly higher priority.

 

When I upgraded to MB3 I fount it fairly easy to get going on a single PC running the client and the server, once I'd got my head around the client-server way of doing things.

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AdrianW

... I too would like to see a much simpler version which is just a one PC setup without the need for a server. 

 

The server and MBC can both be installed on the same PC - this is very similar to the way MB2 had a separate "service" running in the tray. 

 

It's just that the new server has much more functionality than the old service.

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hedgehogg

Just because you install the server you never really need to view it :) But I think one installer to install both the server & classic then one for server and theatre would be an asset.

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