Emby Theater

[Chris Jones 13]

I've got MBT installed on my Intel NUC (i5) and moving around does feel a bit laggy/jerky. Other than performance, i'd really like to see improved video settings (such as aspect ratio, particularly stretch to fill screen). I'd help but i don't think i can contribute in this area.

 

From what i've read, MBT isn't really ready for plugins? does that include themes too? Once it's in a ready state i may try to make a skin (a simple/minimal UI).

[Aphid 212]

1. The new continuous scroll looks like a great idea. My only concern would be how it performs on lower powered devices. Currently my Celeron powered NUC is just able to handle MBT. Have you tested the new animations of a low powered device? It also seems like it isn't very fluid in the video, but I'm guessing that's just the way it was recorded.
2. I might be the only one, but I'm definetly not a fan of the new details page. I actually thought the existing one was quite well layed out. If you're looking for places to add some new features such as playlists and similar items, I can do a mockup for you this weekend after I fly home.
3. Multiple menus aren't necessarily a bad thing. It helps you orientate where you're currently browsing, and gives you much more screen real estate to play with.
4. I know you wanted to try and compact the UI so to you don't have to navigate as much to get where you're going, but I think this might be a bit of a mistake. Again, I might be the only one, but I actually enjoy browsing through my collection. The whole idea of a 10 foot user interface is to show off as much eye candy as possible, while still being functional.
5. For skipping sections, are you able to use the skip buttons on the remote to do this? I think it would be a great idea, as most people will be using a remote to navigate.
6. I noticed people are asking for touch support. While this would be a good feature, we do have clients already designed for touch devices, so I wouldn't prioritise this at all.
7. The 'Play All' and 'Browse' buttons on the new details page and very out of place. I've seen a lot of great designs recently that use text rather than icons. This might be a great example where text can just be used (if placed appropriately).

 

It runs well on my surface pro 3, which is a dual core mobile i5. I am not sure about the Celeron NUCs, but this branch does run a little better for me than the current release. Adding the extra content on a single page does not significantly impact performance, as the content which is off-screen is not loaded. The one area where things do stutter is when you scroll over to the people listing on the details page, as that list is not virtualized, so it has to load all of the images in at the same time. I am not actually sure why this causes a stutter, though, as the loading happens asynchronously..

 

Mockups are always going to be appreciated. The play and browse buttons do still look a bit awkward, but I had text buttons earlier and they were difficult to fit into the design without leaving odd empty space, and looking inconsistent with the rest of the UI. There are going to be more things to place in that section, like playlist management and queueing options. I also want to eventually add resume/next episode, either right under the playback buttons, or as the first section on the page.

 

I'll add the index (like the home page) to the item details page. In the worst case, navigating will be very similar to the current UI, except the page will have an animated scroll instead of a transition as it replaces the content. Also, touch does actually work, but touch scrolling is very laggy. This may be due to the interaction between the normal touch kinematics and the control's attempt to animate the scrolling, which gives the scrolling a weird inconsistent velocity which doesn't stick to your finger.

 

You can still browse through your collection. Each section on the home page has a "Browse All [shows/Movies/etc]" button, which takes you to the list view page with all items. You have proper sorting and indexing options on that page.

Edited September 25, 2014 by Aphid

[swhitmore 781]

Thanks for the reply. I look forward to testing it. I'll do some mock ups this weekend. it there anything specific you need? Have you seen the original ones I did?

[Aphid 212]

Yes I did see them, and I'll have to try ad dig them out again.

 

I am going to be working on the playback OSD next. That includes the transport controls, as well as the options to skip chapters, and to choose audio and subtitle tracks. There may in the future be more playback options than just audio/subtitle tracks, so we need to consider that. I would rather have chapter, audio and subtitle buttons next to the transport controls, which pop up a little menu to make your selection, rather than the current UI which mixes those into a single window.

 

We also need to consider how we will present the current play queue. We may want to show information like the next item to be played, and an easily-discoverable way to navigate to the now playing queue.

[Aphid 212]

I'd also like to note that there are a few improvements I would like to make to the item details page, but at the moment I want to get the core functionality working so that we can consider switching the development releases over to this branch. We can revisit these later, but some of the improvements I'd like to make:

1. The embedded lists on the details page needs indicators to hint to users that there is more content available above and below for them to scroll through.
2. The embedded lists are not virtualised or smooth-scrolling. This will require modifying the panorama control to allow for a vertical orientation.
3. The embedded people list is also not virtualised or smooth-scrolling. This will require a new custom WrapPanel control, which is quite a significant amount of work. I do, however, really want this done, as we can use the same control to add a vertically scrolling poster wall layout option to the item list page.
4. The embedded child items list works well for things like movie boxsets and listing the seasons within a series, but I don't think it works so well for episodes. I am considering replacing it with the "next episode", perhaps expanding that out to a more comprehensive section with more details about said episode, and then relying on users clicking the "Browse" button (right below the play button) if they want to view the whole episode listing.

[Lee 204]

@@Aphid did you see my question/video regarding liveTV epg earlier?

do you think this will be possible for mbtheater??

[Aphid 212]

Yes, MBT will have a similar EPG once live TV support has been fully implemented.

[Abobader 2947]

Good day Aphid,

 

Sorry if I miss this info, but the new player, will it have sound volume control?

 

My best

[Aphid 212]

Luke has said the same in the past. I might swap them round.

[Luke 37096]

yea i think info and cast should come before everything else. i think when you're trying to select something to watch you want to learn a little bit about the titles and one of the first questions asked is, who is in it.

[foghat 65]

Looks great.  I do have one question though:  On the detail screen, why does 'Similar' display before 'Cast'?  It makes more sense to me to display everything about the item being detailed first and then do periphery type items after.

[swhitmore 781]

Sorry I didn't get a chance to do the mockups. Work extended my stay on site, so I'm not home until next week

 

For anyone looking for help setting up individual emulators, http://www.reddit.com/r/emulation is a really good community.

Edited October 1, 2014 by swhitmore

[TrainAss 22]

I'm so stoked to get this installed (I've had my MBT client set to Dev updates for a while now) and give it a go. One change I'd love to see, is on the screensaver, for the text to have a black outline. That way text still shows up against white and other light coloured backgrounds.

 

You guys do amazing work. I'm going to toss in another donation when I get some more money.

[TrackZ 16]

This is looking so great. Very excited for it to be released.

 

When working these new UIs, please consider the users that use ISO and keep all the disc from a single release together (3d disc, 2d disc, special features disc). We really need some way to trigger a selection menu asking which disc do you want to play back or just list all available discs maybe in the UI view. Thanks.

[shaefurr 1337]

did anyone ever find a solution to this problem? just setting up my emulators and everything works apart from epsxe with this exact same error. cheers

 

I'm the command line master! j/k

 

But ya its an easy fix, it did had me stumped for a few minutes since I don't play PSX much anymore and hadn't even tried it in MBT yet. You just need to specify where the bios is in the command line, after that it works like a champ, here's mine for example, just replace whats in the quotes with the location of your BIOS.

 

-nogui -bios "D:\Games\PSX Emulator\epsxe 1.8\bios\SCPH1001.bin" -loadbin {PATH}

[Spaceboy 2494]

I get a "PSX Bios not found" when trying to launch PSX games. The BIOS is in the right folder, and I'm able to launch and play ePSXe outside of MB.

 

Running on MBT version  3.0.5072.23 and ePSXe 170, which is the only version that seems to work on my system

 

*update*

Redownloaded the latest version of ePSXe (190) and it works outside of MBT, but getting the same exact error in MBT

did anyone ever find a solution to this problem? just setting up my emulators and everything works apart from epsxe with this exact same error. cheers

[Luke 37096]

 

Just a heads up there have been some issues with automatic updates with MBT. In order to make sure you're on the latest version everyone should re-install from the website. Thanks.

[Latchmor 584]

Just a heads up there have been some issues with automatic updates with MBT. In order to make sure you're on the latest version everyone should re-install from the website. Thanks.

 

Sorted me out, didn't realise I was on an old version to be honest.  Just noticed this below, Cheers.

 

[Erik 120]

I also get that text over text in the settings menu. Also, I have lost subtitles on version 3.0.5391.39711. And when I click on configure settings it says problem starting LAVSplitter.ax

 

What is the recommended fix? Install LAV manually and XYfilter or wait for an update?

 

Thanks,

Erik

[Luke 37096]

There's a new release up. It has a new server selection screen as part of the startup workflow if multiple servers are available and you're not auto-logging into any of them.

 

And just another reminder, there was an issue a few weeks ago with auto-updates, so if you're not getting regular updates, makes sure to install the latest from the website.

[pmac 132]

Well done @@Aphid It's great to see some MBT development. I know many of us here are dying to get our hands on it. If you don't mind, I just wanted to make a few comments and suggestions.

 

• The new continuous scroll looks like a great idea. My only concern would be how it performs on lower powered devices. Currently my Celeron powered NUC is just able to handle MBT. Have you tested the new animations of a low powered device? It also seems like it isn't very fluid in the video, but I'm guessing that's just the way it was recorded.
• I might be the only one, but I'm definetly not a fan of the new details page. I actually thought the existing one was quite well layed out. If you're looking for places to add some new features such as playlists and similar items, I can do a mockup for you this weekend after I fly home.
• Multiple menus aren't necessarily a bad thing. It helps you orientate where you're currently browsing, and gives you much more screen real estate to play with.
• I know you wanted to try and compact the UI so to you don't have to navigate as much to get where you're going, but I think this might be a bit of a mistake. Again, I might be the only one, but I actually enjoy browsing through my collection. The whole idea of a 10 foot user interface is to show off as much eye candy as possible, while still being functional.
• For skipping sections, are you able to use the skip buttons on the remote to do this? I think it would be a great idea, as most people will be using a remote to navigate.
• I noticed people are asking for touch support. While this would be a good feature, we do have clients already designed for touch devices, so I wouldn't prioritise this at all.
• The 'Play All' and 'Browse' buttons on the new details page and very out of place. I've seen a lot of great designs recently that use text rather than icons. This might be a great example where text can just be used (if placed appropriately).

Please don't take anything I've said in a negative way. I think you're doing a great job taking on this big task. I'm happy to help with any designs or mockups you need, so please feel free to hit me up. It's one thing I'm really passionate about, and I think it will make or break the project.

I agree 100% with everything suggested by @@swhitmore in this post. With the addition that I hope we are able to use a list view with episode overview for television episode selection. I've never been a fan of thumbnail episode selection, looks to cluttered in my opinion.

 

The main thing for me though, is the new look of the item details screen. I find the current iteration of the details screen to be much nicer, and cleaner looking in my opinion. It's got more eye candy, and doesn't bombard you with too much information at once.

 

It's great to see MBT getting some love though! Keep up the great work guys!

[DigiTM 60]

Is it still better to keep the updates at beta level?  Have it currently on Beta and not certain what level to have it at to receive the new look.

[Mopar_Mudder 14]

An update downloaded last night and now I can no longer get any HD audio, DVD rips are fine but Blu-Ray no audio

[jluce50 118]

Is there any way to get back to a previous release? Since upgrading to the latest some of my files won't play at all.

Edited October 31, 2014 by jluce50

[DigiTM 60]

Is there any way to get back to a previous release? Since upgrading to the latest some of my files won't play at all.

Happening here as well.  It's now using something called EVR+ renderer for video.  Something I haven't heard of before.  Does this mean LAV filters has been ditched?

 

edit: sorry it was the trailers playing through Cinema mode that are not playing.  Although it would be interested to know about this EVR thing, and what's this "from inside" and from "outside options"?  What do I select?  EVR or EVR+?  What's the difference?  I googled EVR but came up with nothing.

Edited November 1, 2014 by DigiTM