XBMC Media Center

[MessiaaH]

Dont know if there's a dedicated thread for XBMC or if there should even be one, nevertheless it's an epic program for media content and i think everyone should be using it.

What is XBMC?:

XBMC Media Center is an award-winning free and open source cross-platform entertainment hub software for HTPCs (Home theater PCs). It uses a 10-foot user interface designed to be a media player for the living-room TV using a remote control as the primary input device. Its graphical user interface (GUI) allows the user to easily browse and view videos, photos, podcasts, and music from a harddrive, optical disc, local network, and the internet using only a few buttons.



The Frodo Beta is out. http://xbmc.org/natethomas/2012/11/15/xbmc-12-0-frodo-beta-1/
1 of the new features i've been lusting over is HD Audio. I've been using hacks, and pre-lease builds over the past few months to achieve this feature. Finally it's made its way to official beta.

HD Video took a while to catch on as mainstreme, now it's everywhere. HD Audio is the next step. I've migrated my entire music collection from MP3s, to Lossless Audio a while back. HD Audio for Movies and TV Shows was the next step, and i've since migrated a huge chunk of my collection over to HD Audio. Now that XBMC natively supports it, it's great! I no longer watch any new movie unless it has HD Audio. This usually means content upward 30GB in size, but its worth every GB

[rassmatic]

Yeah, XBMC is the absolute best media player I've ever come across. Been a member of the official forum for ages now and have given numerous ideas to the skin developers. Any movie junkie should do themselves a favor and get acquainted with this program NOW.

[MessiaaH]

^^ Indeed!

Also, what skin are u using? I used to use transparency back in xbmc 10 days, and i did port it over to eden, but as of the HD audio builds, i kinda just use the stock skin. Any recommendations?

[TriniXaeno]

Another vote for XBMC here.

Been an HTPC fanatic for ages (before it was cool....some may say it still isn't lol)

Originally started with Windows Media Center and their native remote control. That was my first introduction to a PC serving as a media center and it was brilliant.

Then along came XBMC. It is faster and smarter than WMP in practically every way.

Beautiful app. Best of all, its free and opensource. Runs on Linux so you don't even need to buy a Microsoft license for your HTPC.

XBMC now has an Android app so you can use your phone to select movies and more.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.xbmc.android.remote&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsIm9yZy54Ym1jLmFuZHJvaWQucmVtb3RlIl0.

It also works with the standard media center remotes.

For bonus points, hook up a mini bluetooth wireless keyboard/touchpad for epic control of your HTPC.

Just gets better and better.

[rassmatic]

The most feature rich, and most beautiul skin for XBMC (IMO) is Aeon Nox.



http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=141458

The number of ways the user can customize the skin is mind-boggling. No lie. The above video is from V3.5, but the upcoming V4 is sooo must nicer.

Other skins I use on a regular basis are...

Metropolis



Fusion Migma



Avalon (still in beta) - I actually designed this view for the skinner. 



There's also Aeon MQ4, which is a beautiful skin, but it's too buggy for my liking and I never really came across any of their viewtypes that I really liked.

[MessiaaH]

(had to stick in that linux plug eh rofl).

Their are xbmc remote control apps for all major platforms. : Windows 8, WP, IOS, Android. Some of those apps were broken when using the nightly builds though. I hope developers quickly update the apps to be compatible with Frodo. There is also a ward of physical remotes that can be used. Some with built-in keyboards.

I've tried the Tivo Slide. But thinking to give this a gander :http://www.pulse-eight.com/store/products/96-motorola-nyxboard-remote-designed-for-xbmc.aspx

XBMC can also be controlled via your Xbox control. Combined with Steam Big Picture, and you have a pretty awesome experience.

Other remote options here.
 http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Remote_control_reviews

[MessiaaH]

Boy rage, that first video was very convincing, i installing that skin as i reach home to check it out lol. I want a nice balance between form and function. I've tried some skins that look pretty, but features were lacking. Go see how the Aeon Nox do. Is that your primary skin right now?

Also, any ETA on Ver 4?

And xbmx needs to support WMA Lossless yes, to convert my entire collection to FLAC just to play on xbmc rel hard.

[Berzerk]

Using Aeon Nox myself, also using xbmc as a shortcut on steam. This mixed with Steam Big Picture makes for an all round great Media experience.

There is also a nifty xbmc app on windows phones, (free and paid versions) that allows you to preview movies on your phone, and also acts a pretty decent remote. been out since last year.

http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/xbmc-remote/64f736e7-df4a-414d-b51e-f21e22698bab

Personally use my wireless solar keyboard as my remote, and may look into using my Logitech f710 as an additional option.


My only real issue is the with getting XBMC to process Japanese Anime, series in particular. Especially the large ones like Naruto and One Piece.

[rassmatic]

Boy rage, that first video was very convincing, i installing that skin as i reach home to check it out lol. I want a nice balance between form and function. I've tried some skins that look pretty, but features were lacking. Go see how the Aeon Nox do. Is that your primary skin right now?

Also, any ETA on Ver 4?

And xbmx needs to support WMA Lossless yes, to convert my entire collection to FLAC just to play on xbmc rel hard.

Well right now I'm using Fusion Migma, but that's only because I want Nox 4 to be completely fresh to me when it comes out. lol. Been using Nox 3.5 right through for the longest while, so the last thing I want is to get fed up with the new skin once it comes out. Version 4 is set to be officially released when Frodo final comes out. But you can download the Frodo only WIP version through GIT....

https://github.com/BigNoid/Aeon-Nox

[TriniXaeno]

Very comprehensive post there boy Rage.

Like Messiaah, you give me some home work to do there, lol

[MessiaaH]

I have my entire Naruto collection perfectly ordered.

The key to xbmc is having your collection named and sorted properly.
I use 2 Things to do this.

1. http://www.thetvdb.com , use this site to find the series you're looking for, and you will see how they name the episodes, how much espidoes per seasons, etc etc etc. Once you collection is named and sorted into Folders (seasons) as this site, xbmc will pull and sort acordingly. Once you set your scrappers in xbmc to youse TVDB. i use IMDB for movies, and TVDB for serieis / anime. The site is also open to public input. I was watching WWE Tough Enouhg, and the series didnt exist on the site, so i made it, put my own pictures, etc etc. Now my xbmc picks up tough enouhg just fine, and i've added to the community, so anybody else have that series they inside.

2. Bulk File Renamer: http://www.bulkrenameutility.co.uk/Main_Intro.php
This program can be used to Bulk rename files. You'll have to put in some initial work by watching the tvdb website, sorting your episodes into seasonal folders. Then youse the renaming program to bulk rename each season acordingly. You can quickly rename the 50 episodes in a season to an xbmc friendly format.
e.g. Naruto Shippuuden - 1x01.mkv , i usually leave the name of the episode and japanease episode number in brackets : Naruto Shippuuden - 2x01 (Name Of Ep - 057).mkv

[TriniXaeno]

Yeah, XBMC is very finicky about the naming convention in use and folder structure.

Once you understand that bit of voodoo, the applications because exponentially more competent at gathering meta data.

A key point for beginners, do not mix Movies and TV series in the same folder.

So a simple setup would be as follows:

C:\Media\TV Series
C:\Media\Movies

Also, for TV Series, it is simples to store each season in a separate sub folder

Example:

C:\Media\TV Series\Walking Dead\Season 1\
C:\Media\TV Series\Walking Dead\Season 2\
C:\Media\TV Series\Rome\Season 1\
C:\Media\TV Series\Rome\Season 2\

Also, consistency is key.

You can either A ) Have all your movies as individual files (AVI, MKV, etc...) in the Movies folder

or B ) Have each movie in its own subdirectory under the Movies folder.

If you mix the two methods you're asking for chaos.

I chose the route of having each movie in its own subdirectory. Been working fine so far and it usually avoids the need to rename individual files since the scraper can use the folder name to gather meta data (movie description, cast info, poster, thumbnail, etc...)

[MessiaaH]

Ah Yes, you put the 2nd part of the puzzle up there wyatt.
I use the same exact format as you save for 1 variation.

Since i'm migrating my collection, i like to keep things separate:

S:\Videos\Movies\SD
S:\Videss\Movies\HD
S:\Videss\Movies\TrueHD

S:\Videos\TV

Then i just add S:\Videos\Movies to XBMC as my movie source, and S:\Videos\TV as my TV Source.

That way i can have a logical separation of my different types of movies, but xbmc still plays along fine.
So you can also do stuff like.

S:\Vidoes\TV\Anime
S:\Vidoes\TV\Shows

But i tend to just leave all series under the TV folder.

And wyatt, i does rename both Folder and File oui. But only the first part of the folder.

So, "Matrix (2008) DTSHDMA Release x Gibrage here"
and i name the file exactly, Matrix (2008).mkv

The important thing with movies is getting the name of the movie and the year in brackets as the first portion of the name, once that's done, xbmc has no issues atal.

All in all, once you put in the initial work, and follow the model wyatt laid out, yuh on like boil corn.
It may seem like a daunting task at first, but once complete, renaming the occasional movie you may aquire would be easy. Once you get the meat of yuh collection out the way, its pretty easy to keep consistent, and organized.

I'f you're the type that have your movies in multiple locations on multiple drives, you're just going to have to add multiple sources to xbmc.

[rassmatic]

My media collection is set up on my FreeNAS box in much the same way...

eg.  \\FREENAS\Anime Disk #1\Anime #1\Anime Series\Naruto Shippuden\Season 1\Naruto Shippuden - S01.E001.mkv
       \\FREENAS\Anime Disk #1\Anime #1\Anime Movies\Akira\Akira.mkv

I use a very simple program called 'FileBot' to rename my series and 'Ember Media Center' to scrape all metadata BEFORE adding them to the XBMC library. Trust me, this is the absolute easiest way to organize your collection. I NEVER use XBMC to scrape for movie or series info online. Always some kinda headache. Here's a basic tutorial on how to use Ember and FileBot...

[MessiaaH]

Wah kinda headache u get boy? once i name them movies like such : Movie Name (Year), no issues atal.

[rassmatic]

Sometimes if you have a movie with a popular name, the scraper will get the info from the wrong movie, despite having the year behind it. I get similar issues with foreign films with non-English titles.

[MessiaaH]

I used to get the issues with forieng films back in d day, but since i switch from moviedb, to imdb as my scrapper, it was more or less fine. Ill checkout that process you post and see how it is, but seems like extra steps to be taking that i doh have to.

[rassmatic]

Nah, I not really any extra steps. Once you have things set up, all you have to do is click 'Scape' and the program will acquire everything for you automatically. It even sorts movies into individual folders and gets the link to trailers online. If it encounters a conflict, it will simply pause the process and ask for user input. I also like to give my collection a more personally touch too (by selecting the poster, fanart, etc I like most), so a third part program suits my needs to a tee.

[MessiaaH]

I dont want any scrappers renaming or moving my files.
And xbmc supports native trailers.
And i tell xbmc what quality of trailer i want, 480p, 720p etc.

and it just automatically finds d trailers for me.
And i can select different fanart and posters as well

Question, when that program u use scrapes, where does it put the data? And how does xbmc read said data to display it.

Also, when you get new movies, do u have to re-run said program and scrape?

I have xbmc set to auto scan on start.
So my process for new movies is, Rename, Put in my movies folder, done.

Next time i start xbmc, it finds info etc in d background, dont have to do anything but name d file and drop it in d folder.

[TriniXaeno]

I tried Ember before and found it to be an "extra step" just as messiah said.

Don't get me wrong....it worked great just that XBMC works good enough out of the box that I didn't see the need to keep up with Ember.

Never heard of filebot though, so maybe there is some synergy with the two apps together that will make it worth the trouble.

Will check out the vid you posted and see.