Aztec v1.0.5.0 is now live

[leedavies 301]

Some new features, some bug fixes and some tidying up:

 

• EHS covers aspect ratios fixed - movies by genre was squishing images
• EHS focusing fixed
• New visual style for collections menu on EHS
• Now playing video can now be turned off of left as a video backdrop, or set to be an overlaid video window in any one of the screen corners
• Configuration page layout improved so settings are much easier to see now

Live now and ready for download...

[politby 88]

Unfortunately it's still extremely sluggish. See screen captures for comparison to Chocolate (sorry for the quality, YouTube does not like WMV VC-1 videos). 

 

If you are not seeing this problem maybe it's something that only happens to some of us.

 

 

Edited March 4, 2014 by politby

[1972 14]

The same behavior I see between Lee's other theme Crystal and Chocolat.

However I got the idea that it also depends on the used hardware. For instance it seems to work fine on my PC client containing a Win7 64bit with an Intel i7 860 processor, Samsung 840 SSD drive,  12GB RAM and a 7870 Radion card. If I run it on my server PC, Win7 32bit, 500MB HDD, AMD Phenom II X4 955 processor, 4GB and a 5450 Radion videocard it also work sluggish, I have checked the performance meter on server/client PC system but could not detect a high processor or RAM usage while playing with it... strange...

 

On both systems Chocolat works very smootly and I use it currently until the (Crystal) performance issues are solved, because to be honest: Lee's theme's stay the coolest!

[politby 88]

I have no performance issues with Crystal. Only Aztec.

It behaves the same on all my clients regardless of hardware - from Intel Celeron NUC to i5-3470 with GTX660. Doubt it's hardware related.

 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

[ebr 14923]

The hardware that would probably make the most difference would be the graphics card.

[1972 14]

The hardware that would probably make the most difference would be the graphics card.

Is this also for the plugins? I can imagine it differs when playing video that uses the graphic card hardware acceleration, but is this also for the plugin graphics?

[ebr 14923]

Playing video is child's play for just about any graphics card.  It just has to throw a single frame up several times a second.

 

What is a lot tougher is graphics animations which involves moving pixels from one place on the screen to another and requires a ton of math.  So, if a theme is employing lots of fancy animations then that is going to tax your video processor a lot more than any resolution of video.

[politby 88]

Well my main HTPC, the one that is the biggest user of MBC, has a GTX660 and an i5-3470 CPU and it sits for 20 seconds opening the Aztec EHS. With all the other themes it's instant. 

 

Even my lowly Zotac Zbox with a Celeron 1007U runs Crystal without breaking a sweat.

[1972 14]

Well my main HTPC, the one that is the biggest user of MBC, has a GTX660 and an i5-3470 CPU and it sits for 20 seconds opening the Aztec EHS. With all the other themes it's instant. 

 

Even my lowly Zotac Zbox with a Celeron 1007U runs Crystal without breaking a sweat

 

Hmmmm.... In that case I think I need to check my hardware configuration. Recently I already did a complete Windows re-install. I'll try a more powerfull videocard, maybe the 5450 card is the limiting factor in my system... 

Edited March 4, 2014 by 1972

[politby 88]

There's no way this can be caused by an inadequate GPU. Graphics drivers have been known to cause all kinds of gremlins but I have the problem on Intel, nVidia and AMD so scratch that theory.

And is Aztec really so much more demanding than Crystal?

 

I think we need Lee to pitch in.

 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

[leedavies 301]

Unfortunately it's still extremely sluggish. See screen captures for comparison to Chocolate (sorry for the quality, YouTube does not like WMV VC-1 videos). 

 

If you are not seeing this problem maybe it's something that only happens to some of us.

 

 

 

What graphics card do you have and what spec system?  I suggest your system isn't powerful enough to run visually intense themes like Aztec.  What does the Window performance index score your system as?

[politby 88]

What graphics card do you have and what spec system? I suggest your system isn't powerful enough to run visually intense themes like Aztec. What does the Window performance index score your system as?

Scroll back up to post #8

 

This does not look to me as a graphics rendering problem, since even stuff that involves hardly any graphics moves at a glacial pace. For instance, after the EHS has finally drawn, simply getting from there into the configuration screen takes ages.

 

Any logs or other troubleshooting I can look at? 

 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

Edited March 4, 2014 by politby

[GrizzlyD 2]

Is the background opacity setting in aztec broken?  i make changes to it and see no difference between o-100. The problem i have is menus and icons are kinda dim but everything else looks fine.

[mariors44 18]

did you install your motherboard drivers as well?

If you have the latest driver for video card I would try a older version, sometimes the latest is not always the greatest.

[1972 14]

Just noticed that some strange AMD videocard beta driver was installed on my system. Totally no clue how I got it (!?). However, installed the latest 'normal' version and no issues anymore :-)

[leedavies 301]

Just noticed that some strange AMD videocard beta driver was installed on my system. Totally no clue how I got it (!?). However, installed the latest 'normal' version and no issues anymore :-)

 

Woohoo!  Thank goodness for that cos I've been scratching my head big-time this end and doing loads of performance testing trying to work out how the heck Aztec could be running that slowly on your system!!!

 

On the plus side, I have done a little more optimizing and am currently rolling the code changes out to all 4 themes.  Have also nailed the jerky scrolling in coverflow and thumbstrip when the currently highlighted cover zooms in.

 

Updates for all 4 themes coming shortly....

 

Glad Aztec is working ok for you now!!!

[GrizzlyD 2]

i've read through pretty much every forum post about this theme.  sadly i've had to give up on it for the time being...there's two definite issues i have at this time.  1) opacity seems broken and its too light in some cases.  2) (most important issue)  this theme is so unbelievably slow in switching from one category to another and entering submenus.  i counted 25 secs from the time i panned over to movies and then clicked with my remote to enter the movies folder before i actually saw some content within the submenu.

 

despite what seems to be the consistent answer of "its your hardware" or "its your drivers" there's no possible way to back that claim when themes like breeze and chocolate with roughly the same visual effects turned on are rocket fast.  i really like the theme overall, but until you can optimize the performance it's really just unusable. 

[jespermart 5]

i've read through pretty much every forum post about this theme.  sadly i've had to give up on it for the time being...there's two definite issues i have at this time.  1) opacity seems broken and its too light in some cases.  2) (most important issue)  this theme is so unbelievably slow in switching from one category to another and entering submenus.  i counted 25 secs from the time i panned over to movies and then clicked with my remote to enter the movies folder before i actually saw some content within the submenu.

 

despite what seems to be the consistent answer of "its your hardware" or "its your drivers" there's no possible way to back that claim when themes like breeze and chocolate with roughly the same visual effects turned on are rocket fast.  i really like the theme overall, but until you can optimize the performance it's really just unusable. 

+1

[Deihmos 147]

I am experiencing the same slow EHS as the second post. Not as slow as his but there is a noticeable delay. I think the problem might be too many items in recent list. There is also a slight delay in moving from movies to tv series on the ehs.

Edited March 16, 2014 by Deihmos

[Aussiedroid 56]

I am experiencing the same super slow navigation - 30secs or more! Unusable. Normally need to force closure of MC to change to another theme. Tried it on and off but keeping going back to Breeze.

[CBMe 1]

To the issues noted above, I'm not seeing anything like what is being described around the start times.  I am seeing a multi-second delay (up to about 10) when trying to scroll horizontally through the main menu options.  
But I have a few other questions as I just installed this (and am still playing with MB to see if it the DB is usable yet).
1. You advertise the ability to see the back cover but I can't find any instructions on the file type it is looking for or how it is viewed in the UI.  I have all my BR & DVD covers scanned and stored in the folder, current via the mymovies saved Front & Back.  Need to know if this can use those files (if I unhide them) or if I need to rename them in some way.

2. There is really bad aliasing around the edges of any curved cover like your default covered cover flow or the angled poster view.  I don't see any setting that would seem to fix this

3. In the poster view, there are a few issues. 

-First is that by default all the images are stretched but as I go over them, they expand then retract to a different size (I selected to keep the original aspect ratio).  This creates a very inconsistent experience.

-When they retract they are left justified instead of being centered so this is a big gap on the right and none on the left. 
-Finally, they scrolling speed is inconsistent when trying to go over multiple rows quickly or hold the scroll.  It is if it is trying to render all the media aspects of the ones you are trying to go by quickly instead of waiting until you pause to try to grab the content.

4. More of a opinion than a bug: In the cover-flow view, there is a curve flourish that you have when the focus cover is expanding.  This seems to slow the process a bit, often has a minor stutter. It really feels like one of those unnecessary and excessive bit of pizzazz that is neat for the first few times but detracts from clean, fast and fluid experience.

Edited March 23, 2014 by Curtis

[leedavies 301]

To the issues noted above, I'm not seeing anything like what is being described around the start times.  I am seeing a multi-second delay (up to about 10) when trying to scroll horizontally through the main menu options.  

But I have a few other questions as I just installed this (and am still playing with MB to see if it the DB is usable yet).

1. You advertise the ability to see the back cover but I can't find any instructions on the file type it is looking for or how it is viewed in the UI.  I have all my BR & DVD covers scanned and stored in the folder, current via the mymovies saved Front & Back.  Need to know if this can use those files (if I unhide them) or if I need to rename them in some way.

2. There is really bad aliasing around the edges of any curved cover like your default covered cover flow or the angled poster view.  I don't see any setting that would seem to fix this

3. In the poster view, there are a few issues. 

-First is that by default all the images are stretched but as I go over them, they expand then retract to a different size (I selected to keep the original aspect ratio).  This creates a very inconsistent experience.

-When they retract they are left justified instead of being centered so this is a big gap on the right and none on the left. 

-Finally, they scrolling speed is inconsistent when trying to go over multiple rows quickly or hold the scroll.  It is if it is trying to render all the media aspects of the ones you are trying to go by quickly instead of waiting until you pause to try to grab the content.

4. More of a opinion than a bug: In the cover-flow view, there is a curve flourish that you have when the focus cover is expanding.  This seems to slow the process a bit, often has a minor stutter. It really feels like one of those unnecessary and excessive bit of pizzazz that is neat for the first few times but detracts from clean, fast and fluid experience.

 

Good points...

 

1. Currently, back cover filenames supported are:

 

folderback.png

back.png

boxrear.png

 

PNG or JPG formats are supported. I wasn't aware of the mymovies-back.png filename convention - an Aztec update is on the way adding support for this filename too.  Just put a back cover image using any one of these naming conventions in the same folder as a folder.png image and you'll see a "flipper" icon at the top left corner of a cover, when currently focused.

 

Touch this flipper icon and the cover spins round and zooms in to show you the back.  Move focus off the cover and it spins back to the front again.

 

2. Please post a screengrab showing the anti aliasing issue.

 

3. Good spot, will be fixed in the same update as mymovies-back.png

 

4. Again, should be sorted in the next update.  It's almost there - just doing some final testing.

 

Great feedback - thanks!

[CBMe 1]

Great, thanks for the info!  In regards to the MyMovies saved format, it is actually a .Jpg, not .png that the application saves as.  (mymovies-back.jpg, mymovies-front.jpg).   It might be better to make a powershell script or something to make a copy with the one of the currently supported names, rather than explicitly looking for the mymovies-back.jpg file unless the app can access them even though they are hidden (see attached).   Assuming it can't (as the rest of MediaBrowser only sees unhidden jpegs) it is easy for a non-programmer like myself to do a search on "mymovies-back", select all, and unhide, but for most users who don't scan their own covers and lock them in the MM app (just use the ones that others have uploaded to the service and letting any new submissions update their local copies) I believe the app will re-hide/save the update as hidden every time there is an update to a specific title.  I could foresee a lot of user frustration and time consumer support requests if this happened and back 'randomly' disappeared from Aztec view.

For the aliasing, I took a clip of your main screen cover flow.  In this clip, it is the easiest to see on the bottom of the Monsters Inc, Riddick, and How to train your dragon covers and to a little lesser degree on the sides.   Let me know if you'd like me give any more info, screen shots or try any adjustments.  
 

Edited March 24, 2014 by Curtis

[leedavies 301]

Great, thanks for the info!  In regards to the MyMovies saved format, it is actually a .Jpg, not .png that the application saves as.  (mymovies-back.jpg, mymovies-front.jpg).   It might be better to make a powershell script or something to make a copy with the one of the currently supported names, rather than explicitly looking for the mymovies-back.jpg file unless the app can access them even though they are hidden (see attached).   Assuming it can't (as the rest of MediaBrowser only sees unhidden jpegs) it is easy for a non-programmer like myself to do a search on "mymovies-back", select all, and unhide, but for most users who don't scan their own covers and lock them in the MM app (just use the ones that others have uploaded to the service and letting any new submissions update their local copies) I believe the app will re-hide/save the update as hidden every time there is an update to a specific title.  I could foresee a lot of user frustration and time consumer support requests if this happened and back 'randomly' disappeared from Aztec view.

 

For the aliasing, I took a clip of your main screen cover flow.  In this clip, it is the easiest to see on the bottom of the Monsters Inc, Riddick, and How to train your dragon covers and to a little lesser degree on the sides.   Let me know if you'd like me give any more info, screen shots or try any adjustments.  

 

 

Because your posters are rectangular images with hard edges and no anti-aliasing or transparent border, yes, Windows Media Center will turn your solid line edge into a jagged diagonal line edge.

 

If you were to use the CoverArt plugin to apply treatments/borders/frames/cases/overlays to your images, the resulting image has nicely anti-aliased edges and rotates beautifully without the jagged effect you are seeing.  Is this something you can explore?

[jespermart 5]

When will we see an update that fixes the lag issue with Aztec?