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[PANiC]

if it aint broke then don't fix it, unless you like to fiddle with stuff like me

 

http://www.coreavc.com is the best H.264(what mkv uses) video codec , but it's not free ;)

it's very good on low spec machines, but again if you're running ok then it's probably not worth the install time.

[PANiC]

setup media portal last night no probs. have a really nice setup with one new skin (comes with configurable installer) and one plugin (for the dvd cases).

 

you can tweak this mofo forever, there is so much you can do but hey it works out of the box for me pretty well.

 

it will play the films by itself but will use the codecs you decide. the media player interface is a bit clunky/chunky for my taste but that's probably becasue i'm using it on my pc and not my htpc but with my dodgy eyes i'll appreciate the chunkyness when it's on my TV.

 

when it installs it pops up a webpage with a few instructions like choosing codec and where your films are located (all done via MediaPortal Configuration.exe on your desktop which will become your friend (basic options is good enough)). you can add as many folders as you like and the one you put the tick in will be the default folder it goes to when you boot up and go to films. i didn;t really have to do anything other than those things, you can tell it to ignore TV setup/config during the install if you dont want that stuff.

 

regarding the dvd covers, this took a few mins to figure out what the best app was, i tried one called Cover Collector but that would only get images for media files that were in their own seperate folder! so if you have one file with 100 mkv's in like me then it just isnt interested (wtf), however it worked somewhat and was easy to use so it was bit frustrating that it wouldnt do all the files i wanted.

 

next one i tried was MovingPictures, this one is much better and will find covers for everything, it's just gonna take a few mins to get it 100%. you should check that it is grabbing the correct images because files names tend to confuse it a bit especially if yours are like mine e.g. chd-eod-ac3-bdrip.mkv it's gonna throw the toys out the pram and downlaods some chinese film cover equally it has probs with title like Crank_720.mkv, it think's it's crank2, so i might have to rename my stuff and put 720 stuff in one folder and 1080 stuff in another.

 

i didnt have time last night to catalogue the whole lot but i got a few covers and when in media portal they look stunning.

 

you need to run the movingpictures plugin via MediaPortal Configuration.exe, then browse to plugins, select make sure it is active and click on Config at the bottom, find your media files and then search sorry i cant quite remember, but i didnt find it too hard to get on with last night.

 

dunno if you're bothered about skins, but there is a reason why the XFace skin is most popular. to change a skin you need to use the MediaPortal Configuration.exe again, expand the General option top left and click on skin and then choose the one you want.

 

anyway i'm in a crazy rush and wont be online tonight to explain this so maybe later in the week if you havent tried it out by then. i made up a rar file with the media portal installer, moving pictures plugin installer and the xface skin installer. the file is about 50MB and is currenty uploading @ 16KB becasue my isp capped me for downloading over 40GB last night lol, so the file will be uploaded in about 45 minutes after this post is made.

 

http://stevieb.novahq.net/box/misc/mp_starterpack.rar

 

 

/edit, file uploaded

Edited May 4, 2009 by PANiC

[Zeno~SPARTA~]

Thanks for all this info Mr P I'll have a play with it this week, I really appreciate you taking the time to write all of this up.

[Zeno~SPARTA~]

I have brought the HTPC up to my office to install media portal (I dont have an internet connection in the tv room and it is too far for wireless). I have installed the software and am currently updating the film datebase on the 1.5tb film drive. I think this will work well since every film is in its own properly titled folder. I have the MKVs on an external drive and will add it later. So far this looks like the interface I have been searching for.

[Zeno~SPARTA~]

I may have been a bit over optimistic. When I ripped my DVDs I used dvd fab which creates a variety of sub directories. The only one that counts is the one with VIDEO_TS in it dvdfab sometimes uses unusual nems which then throws off Moving Pictures. I am in th process of tidying this up.

[Zeno~SPARTA~]

for Ripped dvd's movingpictures reads the folder in which VIDEO_TS is located, for MKVs and avis etc it read the name of the file not the folder. So whilst my folders are properly named the files have weird and wonderful names. However all of this can easily be sorted out.

[PANiC]

hmm guess it's esier to do it as you go along, guess it wount take too long to sort it out, worth it i reckon

[Zeno~SPARTA~]

Mr P to be clear this is exactly what I have been looking for, so I dont mind spending a few hours to make it work. It's definatley worth the trouble.

[PANiC]

kk sry lost my internet connection last night when we were talking.

[TargetPractice]

but with my dodgy eyes ...

 

 

 

Well, I'd hate to see your scores if you were playing COD4 with 20/20 vision

[TuGJJUK]

http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage...oduct_Id=248285

 

Hey guys i have 2 of these for sale if its something you are looking for.

 

I hope its ok to post this up

 

Thanks

[Fatal_Papercut~SPARTA~]

My PC is awesome when it comes to playing games, and since that is always a solo endeavor, I always play with headphones/earbuds, since I'm fairly certain that my roommates do not want to hear the tortured screams of my victims as I melt them with plasma beams.

 

As of late, however, my girlfriend has been coming over to watch movies, which means channeling the audio through the paltry speakers built into my otherwise excellent 42" HDTV. As my girlfriend has pointed out, this simply will not do.

 

I'm a computer geek, but speaker set-ups and Blu-Ray are somewhat alien to me, so I could use some advice. I am not looking to make my PC the end-all-be-all of entertainment systems, I just want to add to BD playback capability and decent audio output as cheaply as possible without sacrificing too much in the quality department. NewEgg has a handful of internal BD players for around $65 USD, but I have no idea if they are any good or not--the specs don't mean anything to me. Any advice here?

 

For the speakers, I don't need anything fancy; a decent 2.1 arrangement would make me happy, and I don't anticipate having to please an audience of more than two, so earth-shattering wattage isn't necessary. As I mentioned in a post elsewhere, I recently upgraded to Creative's top-of-the-line audio card that supports digital in/out. I doubt I'll have any problems finding a decent set of speakers just by looking around local shops, but any input and recommendations would be appreciated.

[Batwing~SPARTA~]

Hi FP,

 

I ve been usiing my PC for gaming AND mediacenter because i had your same situation, big screen and BD option.

 

I did set up a pretty good enviironment and i am very satisfied with my solution and i can give you some suggestions:

 

My set: LG BD reader + Logiitech z5500

 

Now, take a look here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....51&name=5.1

 

Altough I love the z-5500, their sound is amazing and the overall qualityy very high, you don't need to go up there.

 

Point is, you want to have 5.1 if you want to enjoy a BD. This is a must. Do not underestimate the sound quality, because BD is a greatt HD experience, but perfect video is not all, u need to have very good sound to really enjoy the show... it would be like having a Ferrari in garage but then you have no money to put gas...

 

BD audio quality is amazinng and you want to listen to it.

 

Reason why I got the Z-5500 is due to the fact I use it also in connection with my HD-DVR box when I watch HDTV. HDTV has digital dolby 5.1 broadcasting and only the Z-5500 has an integrated digital decoder,, so you can coonnect your TV box with an SPDIF and you deliver the full clarity of HDTV 5.1 on your audio set.

To do thhe same with an home theater system you should spend way more money on a digital receiver + a full set of speakers, way more expensive.

 

If you are not interested about this solution wiith your HDTV, you don t need the Z-5500, otherwise keep in mind this important difference.

 

So, you don t care about the HDTV but you want good BD performances, then you need to chose a decent 5.1.

 

As you can see the other 2 5.1 sets are quite inexpensive, but you get what you pay for. They are barely 6 or 7 Watts per satellite and just about 20 W on Sub. If your rooomm is pretty small and you are not planning to "expand" anytime sooon, they should be pretty good for you. They would not be able to deliver in a middle size liviingroom anyway.

 

I hope this little clarification will help your choice, do not underestimate your sound system, BD deserve something good for you to listen