View Full Version : Video Library: Direct to Titles View from Movies and TV Shows in Library Mode?
wolfzero
2007-09-06, 03:59
Hello,
This is my first post, and this is kind of complicated, so bear with me.
I am trying to migrate from using File Mode to Library Mode. I feel like there is a great deal of functionality that will benefit my stored Movie and TV Show watching.
My main issue is that when I load up My Videos from the main menu, then select Movies or TV Shows it dumps me into a screen to select how to list the media with Genre, Title, Year and Actors as options. I do NOT use this feature and think it is annoying. Who really needs to select the movie based
on what actor was in the movie? Perhaps someone with a much more extensive movie library than mine. Anyhow, is there any way to set it so that when I select Movies it goes directly to the Titles view?
Note: This is NOT solved by using "Make Default". Make Default's function is to determine the folder that is opened upon the initial My Videos selection on the main menu. Since I still want to retain the ability to navigate to either TV Shows or Movies or Recently Added, etc, using Make Default as a workaround is unacceptable.
My guess is that I'll have to dig around in the XML config files. Anyone know where to look so I can repoint Movies and TV Shows? Remember this is in the Library Mode.
For conversation's sake, does anyone use this feature to sort by anything other than Title?
Thanks!
-Rob
One idea would be to use nfo files (see online manual) & Genres.
So all your Films would be the Genre of Films & the same for Tv shows
That's how i do mine.
(now that make's more sense, had think faster than type moment!!! lol)
ShortySco
2007-09-06, 06:33
I'd suggest taking a look at the XTV skin, the home page link takes you directly to movies or tv shows, depending which button you click.
This applies Every time you click said button. (You can still get genres/years...etc by clicking "B" from the movie/tv show list... but coming out and back again goes straight to the movie/TV list, as you want)
Or to put it another way... it acts just like "Make Default", but not just the first time.
If you work out how they do that there, i guess you could alter any skin (May be a big task, i don't know). Either that or just use XTV, it's a fabulous skin!
Shorty
Hello,
This is my first post, and this is kind of complicated, so bear with me.
I am trying to migrate from using File Mode to Library Mode. I feel like there is a great deal of functionality that will benefit my stored Movie and TV Show watching.
My main issue is that when I load up My Videos from the main menu, then select Movies or TV Shows it dumps me into a screen to select how to list the media with Genre, Title, Year and Actors as options. I do NOT use this feature and think it is annoying. Who really needs to select the movie based
on what actor was in the movie? Perhaps someone with a much more extensive movie library than mine. Anyhow, is there any way to set it so that when I select Movies it goes directly to the Titles view?
Note: This is NOT solved by using "Make Default". Make Default's function is to determine the folder that is opened upon the initial My Videos selection on the main menu. Since I still want to retain the ability to navigate to either TV Shows or Movies or Recently Added, etc, using Make Default as a workaround is unacceptable.
My guess is that I'll have to dig around in the XML config files. Anyone know where to look so I can repoint Movies and TV Shows? Remember this is in the Library Mode.
For conversation's sake, does anyone use this feature to sort by anything other than Title?
Thanks!
-Rob
Yeah...this really bugs me a lot too! It's on the to-do list, but like you I don't know how to do it. I am one of those with a big library and I still don't use this as "title" is enough for me.
Hope you get an answer as I'd like to add this to my info pile to change when I get the chance. I might look at the xTV skin as well.
I do use the other searches, actually my friends use the other searchs mostly to try and find shows with the same actors and such. They are nice to have but I think most people just use title. Kinda suprised there isn't currently a way to set the default to skip over the other nodes though. I bet if you can get the right developers attention he could add a default setting with very little work.
IMHO there should at least be an Advancedsettings.xml option to flatten these out... I never use them.
ShortySco
2007-09-06, 17:40
IMHO there should at least be an Advancedsettings.xml option to flatten these out... I never use them.
Yes, this would be a nice option to have.
Shorty
XBMC supports jumping directly into the Titles area:
ActivateWindow(MyVideoLibrary,MovieTitles)
Just update that in your skin.
XBMC supports jumping directly into the Titles area:
ActivateWindow(MyVideoLibrary,MovieTitles)
Just update that in your skin.
Does this also apply to the TV side? (ActivateWindow(MyVideoLibrary,TVTitles?????)
Also, do you know what xml file this is added to. Knowing the correct file can save hours of hunting, especially when you don't really understand what you're actually looking for or at :eek:
jmarshall
2007-09-07, 00:47
To use that stuff you'd have to add it outside of the video window (eg 2 buttons on home.xml) and/or create a dummy window for the video library front end with 2 buttons on it for TV shows and Library.
It's easy to get it set up action-wise, but probably reasonably tricky to get all the animations etc. working nicely.
Ideally this needs to be addressed at the code level - I'm not sure exactly how to do it as yet, as you don't want to lose the ability to get to the additional nodes, but still want it fast to access the usual ones. Any ideas will be considered.
Cheers,
Jonathan
To use that stuff you'd have to add it outside of the video window (eg 2 buttons on home.xml) and/or create a dummy window for the video library front end with 2 buttons on it for TV shows and Library.
I was attempting this myself. I kind of had the xml files sorted - wasn't pretty without the proper artwork and Spiff pointed out the code to link directly to the TVside. Then I ran out of time as my media server setup took priority (and still does). Hopefully soon I will have that side of it completed and I can get back to tweaking the interface.
The "dummy window" you mention could be the window that is accessed when either Movies/TV is NOT set as default. (Source/playlist window?) Yes or No?
Ideally this needs to be addressed at the code level - I'm not sure exactly how to do it as yet, as you don't want to lose the ability to get to the additional nodes, but still want it fast to access the usual ones. Any ideas will be considered.
I'm not sure I know enough about how it all works to offer any real answers. I like the idea of having all the buttons on the home page, but then it gets "busy" with too many. An extra screen/page works but adds another step.
I have my set-up starting directly inside the movie area currently (being primarily movie based), which is a pain when you want to watch the TV side. I've always thought it would be great to have buttons in both Movies and TV so you could switch between the two without having to back-button out (which means cycling through many screens.) Not sure if this is possible. And...if you wanted another "video area" could you easily add that to the set-up (and the extra button?)? I've even thought about adding these jumps to the context, but without having the ability to set it up or test my ideas I can't really judge how successful it would be in practice - and that's the part that counts. Also, a context menu hides the buttons (link?) away from others using the system - not always good.
Certainly would like to see this implemented somehow.
ShortySco
2007-09-07, 05:22
Ideally this needs to be addressed at the code level - I'm not sure exactly how to do it as yet, as you don't want to lose the ability to get to the additional nodes, but still want it fast to access the usual ones. Any ideas will be considered.
Cheers,
Jonathan
Jonathan,
My suggestion is for the same the way XTV works (described above)
I guess it'd be activated either via a GUI setting or an advancedsettings.xml entry such as...
<alwaysmakedefault>true<\alwaysmakedefault>
I'd say this makes for fast access to titles lists, while retaining the ability to use all nodes.
Thanks
Shorty
jmarshall
2007-09-07, 11:32
It also is non-obvious in the returning via B in that it goes back further than you may expect.
ShortySco
2007-09-07, 12:37
Good point, it would be good to alter this behaviour because as you say, it's not intuitive.
Perhaps there could be a button available somewhere within the library (a context button or maybe a new button for skinners to access) that cycles between all theese lesser used nodes, while the parent nodes would link directly to the chosen node?
Shorty
wolfzero
2007-09-07, 20:17
To use that stuff you'd have to add it outside of the video window (eg 2 buttons on home.xml) and/or create a dummy window for the video library front end with 2 buttons on it for TV shows and Library.
It's easy to get it set up action-wise, but probably reasonably tricky to get all the animations etc. working nicely.
Ideally this needs to be addressed at the code level - I'm not sure exactly how to do it as yet, as you don't want to lose the ability to get to the additional nodes, but still want it fast to access the usual ones. Any ideas will be considered.
Cheers,
Jonathan
From a usability point of view, there are few ideas floating around in my head. In order of difficulty to implement, here there are.
Option A: Menu control
In the video settings screen, have an option to enable or disable defaulting to the Title view.
Option B: Context menu "Make Default"-esque control
Utilizing some sort of context menu option, perhaps "Make Default TV Show View/Make Default Movie View" control which view is shown on first use. The action would go down like this: Select My Videos > Enable Library Mode if not already active > Select Movies > Highlight Genre, Title, Actors, etc folder and activate context menu > Select aforementioned option.
Option C: Radial redesign craziness
I don't have a complete idea fleshed out here, but basically what's floating around in my head is as follows. Instead of having an option to select genre, etc from a folder list view, instead default to the Titles section but also have a secondary non-invasive feature on the left menu to active a special directory sorted listing of Genre, Actor, Studio, Year, etc. I have even further crazy ideas to link these together into a sort of Video Explorer type feature, where you might want to see any other movies directed by the same director as a selected movie, etc. As I'm new to this forum, I don't know where to post such radial ideas. However, I'm from a IT Project Management background, and would love to work out some design documentation detailing an overhauled Video Library concept I'm working out in my head. Would any of the developers be interested this, or would I be wasting my time?
Thanks!
Rob
(P.S. I'm going to try out the previously mentioned skin, and also try my hand at modifying Project Mayhem to do the same.)
jmarshall
2007-09-08, 01:11
I'd personally be interested in anything you come up with. Whether that means it's implemented is a different story.
Fresh ideas are where good progress is made :)
Defaulting to Title views on an advanced setting is easy enough to add in, and I'm happy to do that as long as spiff is happy (it's his baby primarily, so I'd prefer to check with him first).
Cheers,
Jonathan
jaredharley
2007-09-09, 12:29
Does this also apply to the TV side? (ActivateWindow(MyVideoLibrary,TVTitles?????)
Also, do you know what xml file this is added to. Knowing the correct file can save hours of hunting, especially when you don't really understand what you're actually looking for or at :eek:
For my XBMC, I modified the PMIII skin home screen to show the following buttons:
Movies
TV Shows
Music
Pictures
Weather
In the button configuration in home.xml, I use:
Movies: <onclick>ActivateWindow(MyVideoLibrary,MovieTitles)</onclick>
TV Shows: <onclick>ActivateWindow(MyVideoLibrary,TVShowTitles)</onclick>
Music: <onclick>ActivateWindow(MyMusicLibrary,Albums)</onclick>
which jump to my favorite views for each section.
:nod:
while i certainly dont object to the advanced setting, i dont think its the 'ultimate' solution.
we should come up with a way to customize both the music and video libs completely. it should be quite doable from the code side, it just needs a nice ui
while i certainly dont object to the advanced setting, i dont think its the 'ultimate' solution.
A good short-term solution...
we should come up with a way to customize both the music and video libs completely. it should be quite doable from the code side, it just needs a nice ui
But I think Spiff is right here allrighty :nod:
tytherman
2008-09-14, 13:22
was this ever resolved?
I have looked at the on line manual and it says you can have two seperate buttons on the main menu jump to two different sections in one source. i.e. if I have sources "Videos" and in this I have Movies and TV programs I should be able to set up the "Movies" button jump to MyVideos,movies and TV programs jump to MyVideos,TV programs.
But this does not work.... whichever was the last view of either is the view of both?
I may be doing something wrong but I am trying to change "scripts" on the main menu to "TV Programs".
Use "VideoFiles" as the destination window if you want to jump to a path. Use "VideoLibrary" if you want to jump to a particular section of the library. And whenever you use the "standard" videos destination, you'll see whatever you were at last.
@tytherman
Here is my home screen.
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t127/Grooving_Kiwi/HomeScreen.jpg
I removed the button B/G and just used the rollover-buttons. It's easy to add another button by copying a "control" and modding it to your use. You'll also need to mod the "onup" and "ondown" numbers to jump to the correct button while navigating - and check for unique button ID's. Follow the layout/formatting of the existing xml.
Here is the original xml code for the "My Videos" button found here "Skin\Project Mayhem III\PAL16x9\Home.xml" (use just "PAL" if 4:3)
<control type="button" id="5">
<description>My Videos normal push button</description>
<posx>54</posx>
<posy>119</posy>
<width>14</width>
<height>13</height>
<hitrect x="45" y="105" w="200" h="40" />
<label>3</label>
<font>special13</font>
<onclick>ActivateWindow(MyVideos)</onclick>
<onleft>98</onleft>
<onright>96</onright>
<onup>4</onup>
<ondown>3</ondown>
<texturefocus>home-focus.gif</texturefocus>
<texturenofocus>-</texturenofocus>
<textoffsetx>30</textoffsetx>
</control>
Backup the Home.xml file, then makes the mods.
I modded two buttons as such - the first for "My Movies"
<control type="button" id="2">
<description>My Movies normal push button</description>
<posx>37</posx>
<posy>28</posy>
<width>12</width>
<height>14</height>
<hitrect x="45" y="15" w="220" h="40" />
<label>Movies</label>
<font>special13</font>
<onclick>xbmc.activatewindow(myvideolibrary,movietitles)</onclick>
<onleft>98</onleft>
<onright>98</onright>
<onup>19</onup>
<ondown>4</ondown>
<texturefocus>home-focus.gif</texturefocus>
<texturenofocus>-</texturenofocus>
<textoffsetx>30</textoffsetx>
</control>
the 2nd for My TVShows...
<control type="button" id="4">
<description>My TV Shows normal push button</description>
<posx>37</posx>
<posy>74</posy>
<width>12</width>
<height>14</height>
<hitrect x="45" y="60" w="220" h="40" />
<label>TV Shows</label>
<onclick>xbmc.activatewindow(myvideolibrary,tvshowtitles)</onclick>
<font>special13</font>
<onleft>98</onleft>
<onright>98</onright>
<onup>2</onup>
<ondown>5</ondown>
<texturefocus>home-focus.gif</texturefocus>
<texturenofocus>-</texturenofocus>
<textoffsetx>30</textoffsetx>
</control>
Make sure you set each node as "Default" with the context menu to jump straight to the title domain.
Hope this helps.
tytherman
2008-09-24, 13:21
thanks for this, been rebuilding playroom pc with XBMC for the kids...... Anyway for the solution you posted below to work do you need to scan movies and tv shows into the library? Currently I simply use file mode for both. also any chance you could copy the extract from your sources showing movies and tv shows..
thanks again for your help.
Anyway for the solution you posted below to work do you need to scan movies and tv shows into the library?.
Not so! Simply replace "myvideolibrary" with "myvideofiles" .
tytherman
2008-09-25, 16:59
thanks works great.... on this point is it possible to set up sub categories in the sources.
for example hitting the movies button would take you to "movies" which in turn would have sub menus "kids", "dads" and "natashas" again using files and not library. I know I can add multiple paths to each section but this puts all files into one long list.
What I am trying to achieve is a "movies" section with each member of the familys movies under their own section and then TV shows potentially split in a similar fashion, with the movies button taking you to the top level Movies folder and likewise TV shows to the top level TV shows
See here
http://xbmc.org/wiki/?title=Opening_Windows_and_Dialogs
You could also probably do what you're after by setting up different "Profiles" for each user. (Settings>Profiles). Don't use them myself.
Or perhaps create a "Smartplaylist" and point directly to that in your home screen link using a location path.
Lots of good stuff in the wiki too.
http://xbmc.org/wiki/?title=XBMC_Online_Manual
rwparris2
2008-09-26, 01:12
thanks works great.... on this point is it possible to set up sub categories in the sources.
for example hitting the movies button would take you to "movies" which in turn would have sub menus "kids", "dads" and "natashas" again using files and not library. I know I can add multiple paths to each section but this puts all files into one long list.
What I am trying to achieve is a "movies" section with each member of the familys movies under their own section and then TV shows potentially split in a similar fashion, with the movies button taking you to the top level Movies folder and likewise TV shows to the top level TV shows
in addition to what kidkiwi suggested, you could add a video source called Movies and then use ActivateWindow(myvideofiles,Movies)
and then just change your file system to something like:
/Movies/Kids/<movies.avi>
/Movies/Dad's/<movies.avi>
/Movies/Natasha's/<movies.avi>
that'll take you inside your Movies source and show you the subdirectories inside. Thats probably the easiest solution to maintain, but the problem with it is you'll need duplicate movies if Natasha and Dad both want the same movie in their list.
To prevent that, you can use custom genres like 'Dad' and then create smartlists. This is harder to maintain, but would save on harddrive drive space. I don't know exactly how to do it like that off the top of my head, but it's all in the wiki.
tytherman
2008-09-26, 11:29
thanks, profiles is not the answer as it requires logging off then on again. Creating a source called movies is the best way. There are no duplicate movies, so I will give this ago.
thanks
@tytherman
Here is my home screen.
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t127/Grooving_Kiwi/HomeScreen.jpg
I removed the button B/G and just used the rollover-buttons. It's easy to add another button by copying a "control" and modding it to your use. You'll also need to mod the "onup" and "ondown" numbers to jump to the correct button while navigating - and check for unique button ID's. Follow the layout/formatting of the existing xml.
Here is the original xml code for the "My Videos" button found here "Skin\Project Mayhem III\PAL16x9\Home.xml" (use just "PAL" if 4:3)
<control type="button" id="5">
<description>My Videos normal push button</description>
<posx>54</posx>
<posy>119</posy>
<width>14</width>
<height>13</height>
<hitrect x="45" y="105" w="200" h="40" />
<label>3</label>
<font>special13</font>
<onclick>ActivateWindow(MyVideos)</onclick>
<onleft>98</onleft>
<onright>96</onright>
<onup>4</onup>
<ondown>3</ondown>
<texturefocus>home-focus.gif</texturefocus>
<texturenofocus>-</texturenofocus>
<textoffsetx>30</textoffsetx>
</control>
Backup the Home.xml file, then makes the mods.
I modded two buttons as such - the first for "My Movies"
<control type="button" id="2">
<description>My Movies normal push button</description>
<posx>37</posx>
<posy>28</posy>
<width>12</width>
<height>14</height>
<hitrect x="45" y="15" w="220" h="40" />
<label>Movies</label>
<font>special13</font>
<onclick>xbmc.activatewindow(myvideolibrary,movietitles)</onclick>
<onleft>98</onleft>
<onright>98</onright>
<onup>19</onup>
<ondown>4</ondown>
<texturefocus>home-focus.gif</texturefocus>
<texturenofocus>-</texturenofocus>
<textoffsetx>30</textoffsetx>
</control>
the 2nd for My TVShows...
<control type="button" id="4">
<description>My TV Shows normal push button</description>
<posx>37</posx>
<posy>74</posy>
<width>12</width>
<height>14</height>
<hitrect x="45" y="60" w="220" h="40" />
<label>TV Shows</label>
<onclick>xbmc.activatewindow(myvideolibrary,tvshowtitles)</onclick>
<font>special13</font>
<onleft>98</onleft>
<onright>98</onright>
<onup>2</onup>
<ondown>5</ondown>
<texturefocus>home-focus.gif</texturefocus>
<texturenofocus>-</texturenofocus>
<textoffsetx>30</textoffsetx>
</control>
Make sure you set each node as "Default" with the context menu to jump straight to the title domain.
Hope this helps.
Hi all, my first post at these fine forums. :)
I have XBMC Atlantis (latest alpha) on my ubuntu box, and tried to adapt the "mod" above to the PM3.HD skin, but without success. All I get when I launch XBMC is a black screen with the mouse pointer. I've tried to edit one of the other buttons (Scripts, as I dont see that I will use that), and I can get it to open the "Videos" windows, ie the same function as the "Videos" button have, but how do I edit the name of the button, and how to I get it to open my folder with TV-shows instead of the default videos folder? What changes do I need to do to get this to work? And how do I change the label of the button so that it says "TV Shows" instead of "Scripts"?
A lot of questions... :) I hope someone can point me in the right direction.. :)
Got assistance from the IRC channel, problem solved. :)
tytherman
2008-10-03, 15:07
Having now set up a source called movies, which within it has; Dads, Natashas, Kids, works fine.... only wonder if their is a way to allocate a thumbnail to each folder? hitting the white button does not give this option as it is not itself a source but a folder within the source!
not a big deal but would be kinda nice to create thumbnail made up of the movies within the folder to represent the folder itself.
tytherman
2008-10-08, 13:15
does anyone know how I would go about adding a "new" view into PM3 HD. The vies is from the original PM 3 DVD Icons, this had 5 movies accross and 2 down, therefore scanning was much quicker than the dvd view. List is too small as this is in my bedroom on my 26" lcd.
any way would love to mod this one as AEON seems to drain my mem and occassionally locks up.
chunkhead
2008-10-27, 15:09
Why has the menu as shown in the pictures not been added to the new PM3 HD screen? I added the changes as shown about two years ago now and it was fine, but I've recently changed my skin to MediaStream which I believe is fantastic. The home screen on that has 'Movies' and 'TV Shows' separate, just like my custom PM3, but without me manually changing anything.
I have just changed over to have a look at the PM3 HD skin and I LOVE IT!!! However, because this "simple" function is not available, I feel I will simply continue to use MediaStream as I can't be bothered playing with the code again.
Honestly though, as a Media Centre, what are we using it for? TV Shows and Movies. Anything outside of those two catogories, I simply navigate to in File mode. Why can't they just add it to the skin?
cold_realms
2008-11-07, 01:32
Thank you all for this thread... this functionality should be the default behaviour but at least now i know how to do it :)
Got assistance from the IRC channel, problem solved. :)
Could you post how you solved this for the HD skin?
Thanks,
Dave
If anyone has achieved a "Movies" and "TV Shows/Series" button setup on PM3.HD (with direct to titles), please post home.xml or how you did it?
Thanks in advance.
Hi,
I've looked around and done several searches. I'd like to have separate Home screen buttons for Movies and TV Shows that go directly to "titles" view. I found advice on how to set this up for the old PM3 skin, but when I got into the xml it looked a bit different for the new HD skin.
Any help/advice is greatly appreciated!
I'm feeling generous what buttons do you want gone because I assume you still want all the normal ones too ?
As I said in the other thread
"I'm feeling generous what buttons do you want gone because I assume you still want all the normal ones too ? "
I would be fine and dandy with just
Movies
TV Shows
Music
Pictures
Weather
Sorry, I must have missed that post! Thanks for the quick reply.
look here http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=43742
Gamester17
2009-01-14, 12:41
I believe he is requesting a "Movies" button and a "TV Shows" button directly in the home menu.
So a home menu that in the 'root' has:
Movies
TV Shows
Videos
Music
Pictures
Weather
Scripts
Settings
Just like AEON and MediaStream skins has :;):
I believe he is requesting a "Movies" button and a "TV Shows" button directly in the home menu.
So a home menu that in the 'root' has:
Movies
TV Shows
Videos
Music
Pictures
Weather
Scripts
Settings
Just like AEON and MediaStream skins has :;):
you should probably read the newer posts before the old ones
http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=43742
posted it a few hours ago now
you should probably read the newer posts before the old ones
http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=43742
posted it a few hours ago now
Hmm. Don't know how I missed this one...
I probably should have made it clear this is for my Xbox XBMC, as I use other skins for my Mac. Thanks for the link to the thread, I'll keep an eye on it for the Xbox version!