stixx2002 1 Posted March 16, 2014 Posted March 16, 2014 Hi - can you explain the functionality of the offline dvd mode and how it works? I cant seem to get it to work within MB3 so I must be doing something wrong. As listed, I want to have MB3 recognize offline DVD's I have any request for the disc to be inserted.
ebr 16177 Posted March 16, 2014 Posted March 16, 2014 We just added support for .disc files to designate dummy videos. However, it appears what you really want is more like what is suggested a few posts down in this thread.
Luke 42078 Posted March 16, 2014 Posted March 16, 2014 Isn't that what we did? The server will recognize them as placeholder items. The clients will tell you to insert the disc. (But that is pending client support obviously).
stixx2002 1 Posted March 17, 2014 Author Posted March 17, 2014 Isn't that what we did? The server will recognize them as placeholder items. The clients will tell you to insert the disc. (But that is pending client support obviously). Ah. Maybe that's my issue. Does the media center client simply not support the functionality yet?
ebr 16177 Posted March 17, 2014 Posted March 17, 2014 I interpret the placeholder items to just be dummy items - not necessarily something you want to insert a disc for. They will show in MBC but will not have any playback capability. There really isn't a whole lot of point IMO to putting up a message to insert a disc when you obviously already need to know that you need to insert the disc and there is no way to ensure what disc you actually insert or where you insert it. But,if a message like that is what you want then using the small video files posted in the thread I linked will give you exactly that functionality.
stixx2002 1 Posted March 17, 2014 Author Posted March 17, 2014 I was just going by what was included in the release notes. "Do you keep a few movies on your shelf but not in your Media Browser library? Great! Now you can create dummy library entries for them using the .disc file extension. When you attempt to play them in your favorite app, it will tell you to get up off the couch and insert the disc. Brilliant! "
ebr 16177 Posted March 17, 2014 Posted March 17, 2014 I was just going by what was included in the release notes. "Do you keep a few movies on your shelf but not in your Media Browser library? Great! Now you can create dummy library entries for them using the .disc file extension. When you attempt to play them in your favorite app, it will tell you to get up off the couch and insert the disc. Brilliant! " Okay, sorry, I hadn't seen that description. I'm not really sure how to handle that generically. We could put up a message that says "Insert Disc" but that message could never know where that disc can be found or where it should be inserted. So, if grandma or someone unfamiliar with your system is running it she could be very lost. Basically, if you have a system like this, you need to know that these items are actually on discs and where to locate them and where to insert them so they'll play. Having a play button that then tells you to insert the disc doesn't really make much sense in this scenario because you already have to know that - otherwise, you don't know where to find the disc or where to insert it. So why would you hit "Play" when you already know all of this? So, I've left MBC such that it simply does not allow playback of these items. I do plan to put a flag of some sort on the poster but I'm not sure yet what to call it as "Offline" is already used now to mean content that is actually stored in your system but is simply not available right now.
ebr 16177 Posted March 17, 2014 Posted March 17, 2014 Maybe an "External Disc" flag (like the Missing and Future ones)...? 1
stixx2002 1 Posted March 17, 2014 Author Posted March 17, 2014 I think that would be great, but maybe I am in the minority as far as utilizing that functionality.
ebr 16177 Posted March 17, 2014 Posted March 17, 2014 I think that would be great, but maybe I am in the minority as far as utilizing that functionality. Okay, I'll go with "External Disc". There may be a fair number of you out there that do this. My only point is, none of you are going to hit a "Play" button when you know the disc is external and you have to go get it and put it in. 1
ebr 16177 Posted March 17, 2014 Posted March 17, 2014 That's not a valid assumption. I have several hundred titles in my movie library, and while the majority of them are ripped and online, not all of them are, and I no longer remember which is which. MyMovies displays the entire library, both offline and online. When I choose a title and hit "Play", if the title is online it will be loaded and played. If the title is offline, MyMovies then asks me to insert the physical disc into the HTPC. I do so, and it plays. The MyMovies way of doing things seems logical and straightforward. But if the poster on the screen has a big red banner on it that says "External Disc" would you still hit the play button?
Koleckai Silvestri 1154 Posted March 17, 2014 Posted March 17, 2014 I interpret the placeholder items to just be dummy items - not necessarily something you want to insert a disc for. They will show in MBC but will not have any playback capability. There really isn't a whole lot of point IMO to putting up a message to insert a disc when you obviously already need to know that you need to insert the disc and there is no way to ensure what disc you actually insert or where you insert it. But,if a message like that is what you want then using the small video files posted in the thread I linked will give you exactly that functionality. I disagree with this. It should either say "Not Availablle Online" or "Insert Disc". I think if people already knew they needed to insert a disc to play the content, they wouldn't be searching through the client for it. Assuming one case or another just causes problems. What I've done though is use 30 second video files to tell people whether to insert the Bluray or DVD for content that hasn't been ripped yet.
gcoupe 63 Posted March 17, 2014 Posted March 17, 2014 OK, I see what you're saying, but in MB3, what will happen? I browse the titles, choose one that happens to be offline, so I then pull the physical DVD/Bluray from my wall collection. I put it into my HTPC, and what then? Does MB3 play it automatically, and on completion return me to the same point in the MB3 client?
ebr 16177 Posted March 17, 2014 Posted March 17, 2014 See, exactly. We don't have perfect control over that so it takes some knowledge and configuration on the part of the user. What will happen will depend on how you have the machine setup. Most media center PCs are set by default to start playing the disc in whatever the default player is when you insert it so, for most, that is what will happen. When you stop it, and close that player, you should be back where you started. If your default player is WMC, then you won't have to close it. You can configure in Windows whatever you want the default player to be and for it to autoplay when inserted.
gcoupe 63 Posted March 18, 2014 Posted March 18, 2014 Okay, I'll go with "External Disc". There may be a fair number of you out there that do this. My only point is, none of you are going to hit a "Play" button when you know the disc is external and you have to go get it and put it in. That's not a valid assumption. I have several hundred titles in my movie library, and while the majority of them are ripped and online, not all of them are, and I no longer remember which is which. MyMovies displays the entire library, both offline and online. When I choose a title and hit "Play", if the title is online it will be loaded and played. If the title is offline, MyMovies then asks me to insert the physical disc into the HTPC. I do so, and it plays. The MyMovies way of doing things seems logical and straightforward.
gcoupe 63 Posted March 18, 2014 Posted March 18, 2014 You seem to be focusing on an MBC environment, where I agree that you don't have perfect control over the current end-to-end user experience. I'm more interested in what the design will be for MBT, where I am assuming you will be wanting more control and the design will be wider in scope. Or am I mistaken in that assumption? Thanks.
ebr 16177 Posted March 18, 2014 Posted March 18, 2014 You seem to be focusing on an MBC environment, where I agree that you don't have perfect control over the current end-to-end user experience. I'm more interested in what the design will be for MBT, where I am assuming you will be wanting more control and the design will be wider in scope. Or am I mistaken in that assumption? Thanks. Yes because that was what the original question was regarding. Ah. Maybe that's my issue. Does the media center client simply not support the functionality yet?
ebr 16177 Posted March 18, 2014 Posted March 18, 2014 I disagree with this. It should either say "Not Availablle Online" or "Insert Disc". I think if people already knew they needed to insert a disc to play the content, they wouldn't be searching through the client for it. Assuming one case or another just causes problems. What I've done though is use 30 second video files to tell people whether to insert the Bluray or DVD for content that hasn't been ripped yet. I'm not sure what you are disagreeing with since I suggested that very thing as a solution for someone that wanted this functionality. In any case, this is what MBC will look like. There will be no play button to press and it clearly shows you that the item is an external one. 1
Koleckai Silvestri 1154 Posted March 18, 2014 Posted March 18, 2014 It seemed to say that there would be no indication and people should know where the media is before they run a client.
ebr 16177 Posted March 18, 2014 Posted March 18, 2014 It seemed to say that there would be no indication and people should know where the media is before they run a client. What I was trying to say is there isn't much point to hitting a play button only to have a message pop up to tell you to insert a disc when there is no way for that message to tell you where to find the disc or where to insert it. Anyway, I think the proposed implementation should cover these folks.
Abobader 3464 Posted March 18, 2014 Posted March 18, 2014 I'm not sure what you are disagreeing with since I suggested that very thing as a solution for someone that wanted this functionality. In any case, this is what MBC will look like. There will be no play button to press and it clearly shows you that the item is an external one. Good day Ebr, What CA build to show that? My best
ebr 16177 Posted March 18, 2014 Posted March 18, 2014 It's not CA. Chocolate is putting the "External" banner there. It will be in the next dev release. 1
Abobader 3464 Posted March 18, 2014 Posted March 18, 2014 It's not CA. Chocolate is putting the "External" banner there. It will be in the next dev release. Many thanks Ebr. So I will still use my offline with CA treatment..
JohnnyM 40 Posted March 18, 2014 Posted March 18, 2014 Abobader, are you using the .disc extension or some other method to identify them as offline. Then how do you tell CA to use the offline treatment? Johnny
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