Feature Freeze: Looking Forward to Eden
Today marks the first step in the long-awaited release cycle for Eden: soft-freeze. Other than what is already slated for entry, no new features may be added unless they’re deemed critical for release. After that comes a hard freeze, when all APIs are frozen and we prepare to release the first Beta.
As always, the schedule will be dictated by our ability to get things polished up for release. So file those bug reports, clone our repo and send a pull request for fixes or translations… every little bit helps.
So much has changed since Dharma, we’ll use this space over the coming weeks to discuss in more detail what you can expect in 11.0. For now, Here are a few things you’re sure to notice:
- A new “Files” view in the video library in order to remove the notion of Library Mode vs. Files Mode that confused so many new users.
- The default skin changed to a horizontal layout allowing for more useful information to be displayed on the home screen (vertical version is still available in Add-ons)
- Efficiency improvements to reduce high cpu/gpu usage
- Much improved touchscreen support to go along with the first major versioned XBMC release for the iOS (iPad, iPhone, AppleTv2)
- Ability to customize the home screen by adding your favorite Add-ons
- The usual smattering of visual improvements, playback improvements, new ways to stream and discover media.. the list goes on.
The last few days have been hectic as the developers have been working hard to get their last changes in, but we’ll be slowing things down now to begin cleaning up for release!
Awesome news. I’ve been thinking of doing a clean XBMC LIVE re-installation. I’ll hold off until Eden comes out.
I hope the menu sounds issue (XBMC Linux/Live) will be fixed. I’ve read that it’s supposed to be fixed in this version.
Excellent news, although I’m slightly dissapointed AE didn’t make the cut. That and PVR are the two features I’m looking forward to the most. Then in the long term after that, 3D and bluray menus. Ah, one day…
Still, Eden is awesome, regardless.
Are the FernetMenta video improvements going to make it into Eden?
ffmpeg updating should take priority over everything else, as the core functionality of XBMC is playback.
@Ned Scott
Hi10P is good stuff though…I saw some impressive videos encoded in them. I agree that it might be too early to incorporate Hi10P support (hardware being the problem), but it would be nice to see an updated fffmpeg decoder.
Also very interested whether these improvements Will make Eden
I totally agree, I’ve always hated how programs/movies with no results just go missing. I’ve been using XBMC since it first started up on the old XBox! Love it and this version is sure to be stellar.
@JustinSane
I second this – using OSX without VDA I cannot get stutter-free 1080p MKV to work, even with a quadcore. Multi-threaded ffmpeg, please!
This…..
Audio Engine really WAS a much-anticipated feature for me. Because right now, getting Audio configured correctly is a real pain in the ass (no good detection of high bitrate streaming audio or multichannel streaming audio, no good detection of HD audio formats, no detection of which formats should be bitstreamed to an av-receiver and which not, etc. )
Hi
Have few questions
1. will BD menu works
2. can play from BD files? not ISO
Please please please consider the PVR.
I’ve been using XBMC for over 7 years and IMHO it’s the last major chunk of functionality missing. Having to change regularly between XBMC and WMC is not cool.
Love your work tho guys tx heaps
@Jim
Several of the things you post are already possible in Dharma, without addons.
Support for HD audio is crucial.
If boxee has it, why can’t xbmc?
I am interested in using the Eden branch and submitting reports of problems I encounter. How do I get this? Are the nightlies Eden?
Good luck with getting Eden ready for release, guys. I’ve been delighted with 10.1; just hoping that 11 will be available on my ATV1 with CrystalHD…
Will this release make use of HD Audio (DTS-HD MA and TrueHD) really want to get the new ONKYO TXNR609 but am not getting it until XBMC makes use of DTS-HD MA. No point getting a new amp if I cant get the most out of it. Pleaseeeeeeeeeee support HD Audio
XBMC is still one of the best software around, I have got so many people using it.
Boxee does not support DTS-HD MA… it supports Dolby True HD via LPCM but XBMC supports this as well…
Tested on Apple TV. I can seen a big improvement in network access, when browsing pictures directories, by example.
I wich the ubuntu live version will be available soon !
Exiting news!
I bought another SSD drive just to try this release out :) On another topic get a Flattr account so we can give you our money in a moore conveniant way! keep it up!
With all the DXVA issues I’m sad that there isn’t going to be multicore ffmpeg. I don’t get any issues now as I upgraded to a newer GPU which I think solved a lot of the issues I was having with the ION I was on but I still get a ton of pixelation when skipping and forwarding which doesn’t happen over CPU.
@Cestmoi
Neither interpreting downloaded metadata (Smart Playlist/Genre) and manually-inputted metadata are ideal solutions; manual inputting is *a lot* of work, and online metadata is often incorrect / incomplete / doesn’t have appropriate categories. (I’m saying that as someone with a few hundred edits on theTVDB). Enabling the ability to set category from the Videos menu makes the most sense to me — most of the functionality I’m talking about is already there.
Two things I would like to see:
- source-dependent video settings (my video files don’t need e-interlacing, but my TV plugin does)
- full access to everything from the web interface (so I could for example activate a certain plugin from the web interface)
anyone know if Eden has any of this?
+1 for Hi10p (ie new ffmpeg)
@Dush:
That is the exact reason why I am not using DXVA either. Skipping/fast forwarding video doesn’t work as well as when using CPU only.
“Much improved touchscreen support to go along with the first major versioned XBMC release for the iOS (iPad, iPhone, AppleTv2)”
I hope this will also apply to Windows versions as I have a Windows 7 TabletPC.
The current version is a bit problematic on this.
What? No love for Android?
I’ve never had a issue with DXVA, in any area. I am using the (ATI) XFX HD6870 1G GDDR5 video card though.
I’m amazed AE is not included in this upcoming release. Does anyone even listen to plain ol DTS any more? HD audio has been available for years now. I seriously love most everything about XBMC, but this release means I’ll continue to be forced to use external players to get my hd audio. Major Major oversight.
The theme is looking beautiful! Can’t wait to install the beta.
While I completely understand the pressures on the developers for features and what not (been there, done that!) – got to echo the disappointment at the lack of Audioengine (not just for HD formats) and an ffmpeg update. Both these features would benefit all xbmc users to greater or lesser degrees. Whereas things like CEC are going to benefit (given the hardware requirements) a very small fraction I imagine.
Would like a “view mode” that does not differs between folders and files. I want to see media from a certain period of time be at the same place, i.e at the top, no matter if it is a file or a folder.
@paddyboy My thoughts exactly. This is the only thing I feel is a missing feature for XBMC. Everything else are just “nice to haves”. I have been playing around with the AE branch a bit and it works OK for DTS-MA, but all else I can not get audio. What external player do you use the most?
Will we be able to identify more than one scraping source for a library in Eden? I always thought that if IMDB couldn’t find fanart for a title that it would be great if XBMC knew that it could then look to a secondary source for whatever was “left” that the user wanted.
@paddyboy
Agreed. I find it a pain to have to use MPCHC if I want to bitstream DTS-HD and TrueHD videos. Audio Engine was really the only big thing I was waiting on.
Waiting anxiously for the new release. Been using XBMC for 3 years now and it really is amazing. Thank you for such a fine jewel.
@JustinSane
No single feature is the “core” of XBMC. XBMC is a feature rich media center that does video, audio, pictures, and even other media via add-ons, all with the best 10-foot interface out there. XBMC isn’t about bleeding edge video playback technology. ffmpeg’s latest library isn’t even stable yet, and the XBMC devs will not use an unstable library in XBMC.
@Anonymous
Then you’re doing something wrong or your set up is bonked. I can do CPU decoding of 1080 files on my 2009 MBP core2duo with XBMC.
@beatit
It’s coming, just not in time for Eden though.
@defiler
It will work on the ATV1 with BCHD. Not only that, but the interface is a lot faster on it now. I use an ATV1 with BCHD as my bedroom HTPC right now using the pre-Eden nightlies, and it’s very awesome.
@Quintesse
Both interlacing settings for add-ons and web interface are add-on issues. In other words, you could have both wishes today if someone made/changed add-ons for those things
@NienorGT
Windows 7 is indeed supported for touch gestures!
@paddyboy
Audio Engine isn’t ready. It’s broken right now and needs major work. Not including it because it breaks XBMC is not an oversight, nimrod. Do you honestly think that no one else knows about the audio work and the devs just randomly choose not to include it?
@Drae
Some things are easier than others and can be put in without it breaking something else. Some devs specialize in certain areas more than others and can work better with certain things. Some things are waiting on yet other things to be finished. At the same time the devs want to make sure everything works on all the platforms XBMC is released for. They also all have day jobs and things come up in life. There are so many factors to why some things are included and some are not. Don’t assume it’s a priority thing when one feature is included and another isn’t.
Hey guys, great work HUGE XBMC fan! Have been singing your praises for a while now…..
I use apple TV 2 – small and great function. Any chance you could look at:
With no aerial socket in a few rooms, TV extended from a PC PVR card via LAN would be AWESOME! like a media extender with Windows.
Multiroom, or someway of one XBMC spotting the 2 others and resume video/audio from a NAS, maybe a sonos type addon
Re formats and blueray – personally I rip my content, and use mkv which functions amazingly especially via Home Plug networking :D
Again huge thanks guys
FernetMenta smoother ION video changes? Can anyone answer if this is in??
I have a question about the release cycles. If I recall correctly, Dharma included quite a lot of effort to make future release cycles shorter. With the Eden cycle going on for almost a year now and Dharma having taken the same amount of time, I was wondering: will this become the new “standard” length for release cycles, or will we be able to see Frodo within the near(ish) future?
Looking forward to Eden stable – thank you all for a great job!
That’s actually being discussed internally. There’s something of an agreement to attempt more frequent releases with fewer improvements per release so we aren’t waiting a full year between things like ffmpeg updates.
Right now that’s just talk, but it’s certainly a discussion we’re taking seriously.
@beatit
It *was* the last bit of functionality I was waiting for but then 3D came along (BluRays and 3D MKVs) so I need that too.
You know, a lot of people may disagree with me but I kinda wish XBMC was commercial software. That way, a steady income would ensure its developers work on it full time and we’d finally get those features that have been missing for years. I certainly don’t mind paying for it… hell, I’ve already donated multiple times now…
Anyway, just food for thought.
*Blocks himself from all the garbage being throw at him by other XBMC’ers!*
Yes tell us about FernetMenta VDPAU enhancement,, is it gonna make it?
it’s definitively the most important thing for ION owners.
Very interesting. XBMC is by far my favorite HTPC software (having tried quite a few).
Two questions:
1) Will the Eden Live be built on Ubuntu 11.04?
2) Any ballpark on release? Like, before 2012 or something?
I believe that the Fernet Menta optimizations are incorporated into Eden.
Believe or know? Quite frankly all the rest is secondary to me – I understand there is more to XBMC than video playback – but it’s kinda the core experience, and I hate frame drops and jerks….. Openelec RC1 (before the nvidia driver change in RC2) – is the only quite smooth ION2 experience I have found so far in an actually released type of version. But I did test a version with FM work in it and it seemed really quite good.
Would be great to get a Dev’s answer on this!
Hope the sync problem of mp3+cdg karaoke will be fixed. Thanks and more power to Team XBMC
Awesome can’t wait!
You are absolutely right.
Smooth Videoplayback is the most important thing.
I have a question:
reading
“Much improved touchscreen support to go along with the first major versioned XBMC release for the iOS (iPad, iPhone, AppleTv2)”
I dont understand if it will be supported on/for Android/Linux devices as well?
Well, xmbc is already so feature rich, that I even can’t think of any more improvements….
I only hope that the UPNP sorting bug will be fixed. Thanx for all the hard work!