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New Internal Player Interface - Usage Guide


ebr

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Beginning with Version 3.0.202.0 of MBC, there will be a new interface for video playback with the internal player.  This new interface will not affect external players and music will still use the standard WMC interface.  Normal video playback feedback and control with the internal player will be greatly enhanced.

 

The player will now have a custom overlay that looks like the below:

 

53fcbe4c447a6_mbcnewplayer3.png

 

The seek bar is interactive and the overlay will appear on any remote button/keyboard press or (optionally) mouse movement.

 

More detail about what you are seeing:

 

  • Chapter points - the tick marks on the seek bar are chapter points
  • Zoom modes - the four available zoom modes are:
    • Full - Normal size of the source video
    • Horizontal Stretch - Stretches the source video horizontally by 33%.  This will allow 4:3 programming to fill a 16:9 screen.
    • Vertical Stretch - Stretches the source video vertically by 33%.  This allows a 2.35:1 aspect ratio movie to fill the entire screen area which then would allow the use of an anamorphic lens on a 2.35:1 screen for proper display.
    • Full Zoom - Stretches the source video in both directions.  This would blow up an old non-anamorphic DVD rip to the proper size.

 

In all stretch modes only the video itself is stretched so that the overlays and seek bar are still the proper size and position - unlike if you were to use the facilities of your TV or projector to do the same thing.

 

 

Skipping

 

Enter numbers on the remote and hit >| or |

 

53fcc01e9d693_mbcnewplayer4.png

 

If you just hit >| or |

 

Note:  There is currently a known issue with Xbox 360 Extenders where the console will not recognize the number key presses.  There is no known resolution or work-around at this point.

 

FF/Rew

 

Very few file formats actually support Fast Forward or Rewind in WMC but these buttons will engage those play modes for file formats that do (DVD video_ts rips do).  Otherwise, they will do nothing unless you enter a number prior to hitting them.  If you do enter a number, then these buttons will function just like the >| and |

 

Direct Seek

 

By punching in a number and hitting the 'Play' button on your remote you can cause the current item to seek to that exact position.  How it seeks depends on the number you enter.

 

  • Enter a single number like '100' - This will seek directly to 100 minutes into the video.
  • Enter two numbers separated by a '.' (you will probably need a programmable remote or keyboard to get the '.') - This will seek to minutes.seconds of the video
  • Enter three numbers separated by periods - This will seek to hours.minutes.seconds of the video

 

Any attempt to direct seek beyond the length of the video is ignored.

 

Chapter Access

 

By using the channel up and down buttons on your remote, you can navigate the seekbar/timeline between chapter points.  This operates a little differently than most stock players in that it won't automatically skip ahead or back to that chapter in the video stream.  Instead, it will actually navigate the seek bar from chapter point to chapter point so you can see what chapter it is and select the one you wish to jump to.  Just hit select on your remote once the chapter you want is selected.

 

53fcc0e9b5e21_mbcnewplayerchap2.png

 

 

Overview Display

 

The interface also has the ability to display the overview of the currently playing item by selecting the "i" button (or ctl-shift-I on a keyboard).  This will bring up an extension to the playback interface containing the overview.  The extension will stay there until you turn it off by hitting the information button again but the entire overlay will time out per the configuration settings as normal.

 

53fcc1bdc4915_mbcnewplayerinfo.png

 

 

Multi-Item Handling

 

If you played a group of items (like an entire folder or selected "Play All From Here" on an episode) then the number of total items as well as which is the current item will display in the overlay.  The ">" button (or ctl-shift-N on a keyboard) can be used to advance to the next item in the group.

 

53fcc24f660e6_mbcnewplayermulti.png

 

Options

 

The use of this new interface and the default timeout for the overlay, skip amounts and a few other items are configurable per user in the new Playback config page.

 

53fcc2e5bd6fb_mbcnewplayeroptions.png

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And if you could make it work with madVR it would be great

 

Sorry, still dealing with the 10-year old WMC player here.  I just put a pretty face on it :).

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steelman1991

Thanks - got it.

 

Just one question - is it intentional that the overlay appears when first starting playback?

 

Brilliant piece of work.

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Thanks - got it.

 

Just one question - is it intentional that the overlay appears when first starting playback?

 

Brilliant piece of work.

 

Yes, I did want that to be the case.  That's lucky because making it not happen could be quite tricky...

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steelman1991

Hmmm - think that's the only thing I don't like about it. Would rather it was there in the background, to be loaded when needed during playback rather than appear on first playback.

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I think it showing at playback start is very useful - especially if resuming because it shows you where you are.

 

Plus, it shows you that it exists in the first place and is a visual cue that you can interact with the playing video.

 

If everyone really hates it, then I can see if there is a way to work around it but I want to wait a bit because, right now anyway, I really like that it shows up at the start.

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CBers

I quite like it being there at the start of playback - it's the same for Chromecast playback as well.

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steelman1991

My feelings depend on what happens at the start of playback, if its a studio intro, it bothers me less than if the movie starts immediately with a scene. Just feel that when I sit down to watch something I don't want an overlay, same as I don't want FBI warnings, trailers etc - hence why I rip. With that exception (for me) the implementation is top-notch.

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You can adjust the timeout to just 3-4 seconds and it won't be there for long.

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audigy

if I disable the new player interface I have to press a button near the config button to get full screen why is that ?

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Please post questions about issues in the alpha area instead of this guide thread.  I think if you look there you will see the answer to your question.

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Deihmos

This is really good and now I do not need to use media control for ff and rewind. If only something like this could be done for subs.

 

Thanks.

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Locking this topic - please ask questions report issue in new posts.  Thanks.

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