Sage 7.0 Wishlist

[maninblack_30]

How about Sage automatically playing on from the end of 1 favorite, to the start of the next recording if "remove padding on back-to-back favorites" is checked, I hate having to go back to the guide, scrolling back to the airing date (could be weeks), then manually playing the second file/show. this happens all the time as the stations here always finish shows late, so to see the end of the first show, I need to watch the second show's file to catch the end. on the same note, a popup to confirm deletion of the second file in a back-to-back situation that lets you know that you are about to delete a back-to-back file, and may lose the end of the previous recording?

Another minor thing, i'd like to be able to use the numeric keys on the extender to jump to recording number 34 (for example) instead of scrolling down 34 times. I regularly have 100 or so recordings/favorites and the down button on my remote hates me!

Fraser

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by maninblack_30

Another minor thing, i'd like to be able to use the numeric keys on the extender to jump to recording number 34 (for example) instead of scrolling down 34 times. I regularly have 100 or so recordings/favorites and the down button on my remote hates me!

That's what page up and page down are for (ch up/down).

[Brent]

I've been thinking about this topic for a while now and made my own little (ok not so little) list of wishes/ideas/requests for future SageTV versions. I love SageTV and think it is one of the best and most flexible HTPC apps available. Still, as most HTPC enthusiasts do I have a few suggestions of things that could push SageTV to the next level - there is no way all of these things will be rolled into the next version, but I'm sure some (and possible many) can be and might be eventually.

Many of the items in this list came from others suggestions in this thread as well as others, but I've tried to only include those things not yet delivered by SageTV (many of the requests in this thread have been added for free into SageTV 6.x) and then organized them somewhat into categories. I'll try to update this post as more suggestions are posted.

Some of these might be a bit far-out and some might really be bad ideas for one reason or another - I'm open to criticism and suggested changes to the list... I know there are a ton of little things in this list as there should be, but I'm open to adding big-picture requests and ideas here as well. Think of what you like about any other HTPC or Media software you have used and how some features of that software would be nice to have in SageTV. And think about things that haven't been implemented anywhere else yet. Obviously some things will happen in STVs such as SageMC, but other things need to happen in SageTV itself (many in the core of SageTV). Thinking/talking about this sort of thing is very exciting as a SageTV user because unlike some other programs I've used I know some of these things will actually be implemented in SageTV.

SAGETV WISHLIST/SUGGESTIONS

Overall/Misc

• Generic, but important updates to SageTV - Improve the first impression of the new user.
• Focus on improving the first-impression user experience. It will help with outside reviews, it will help with faster adoption of SageTV and would be a good thing all-around.
• Move as many of the settings from the properties files to the UI settings menu
• Add the switch for turning on/off logging to the UI (ending the need to go to the properties file) - PLEASE
• Log output to webserver - so it can be viewed remotely and/or ability to send log - to e-mail or other way
• Error reporting RSS Feed
• Support for a multi-user environment - multi users for libraries, favorites access.
• Built-in parental controls by show and or by folder or imported movie/video/item
• Install Comskip Monitor by default just as SageMC does. This would simplify commercial detection setup for new users.
• Improved Search (need to define what "improved means"
• Have dual-STV's installed when you first download and install SageTV. One could be the current default and another could be a supercharged one - possibly SageMC?
• Ability to download and install STV's from within the 10-foot interface?
• A "Media Plugin Store" (similar to apple app store) that you could browse from the 10-foot interface. Browse, download and install all with your remote. Optionally the ability for a plugin writer to charge a small app fee which might encourage even more development.
• Integrate a few simple games into the install.
• Rethink the wiz.bin? - Allow external database (MySQL or whatever) for recordings info etc. Keep proprietary guide info in Wiz.bin and allow everything else to be external. ** This is not necessarily a request, but more of a question - is this a good idea, bad idea? **
• Metadata within the recorded TV file itself - Really miss this from BTV but not sure if this would work within the wiz.bin way we have today.
• Rescan Media by media type
• Distributed Audio Video Mode - put all clients/extenders into slave mode and play video/audio served by server all in sync at the same time - add to this zone support (Sonance and Sonos are examples of this concept)
• Built-in UPnP-server support - Ability to share SageTV media files to any UPnP-client (UPnP AV MediaServer ControlPoint" devices) on your local-network. That UPnP-client can then play those media files if it supports those SageTV codecs/container formats.
• Built-in DVD/CD burning
• When you switch video resolution - quickly (and temporarily) display what resolution you are viewing

User Interface

• UI Cleanup and beautification project!!!
• UI Refresh - build in more animated backgrounds into the default install. Pull in some of the best things about SageMC into the default STV
• UI Sounds - add User Interface Sounds (as an option) much like SageMC has - add a startup sound and shutdown sound. Add this to the themes as an option

New Online "Stuff"

• Integrate Amazon MP3 Store functionality into SageTV so that you could browse, purchase and download a song or album using your remote.
• Integrate Amazon VOD so that you could browse, purchase and download a song or album using your remote.
• Integrate Hulu.com support
• Continued improvement of Podcast functionality. Add feeds via interface
• Further podcast file format support rss (not just xml)
• Integrated remote controllable web browser (Opera?) (including extenders)

Hardware-Related

• Client for XBox360 or PS3
• USB Keyboard Support for extenders (not sure if this will ever be possible on the HD100s, but possibly future versions of the HD Extender?)
• Integrated support for Bluray (very likely not possible due to DRM restrictions)

TV/Video

• Integrated Flash Support (this opens up avenues of opportunity for more online video among other things)
• Hulu integration (including extenders)
• Netflix "Watch it Now" integration (including extenders)
• Amazon Unbox integration (including extenders)
• Tie in "songs from this show/movie" to Amazon MP3 - ability to purchase & download that song instantly with the remote control - affiliate opportunity for SageTV
• Simple Stop Recording without it deleting the stuff that has already recorded....
• "Keep for # number of days" per favorite - and/or "keep # number of episodes"
• Multi- field favorites (boolean). Title :College football +Keyword (team of interest)
• Move ability to change TV Tuner merit (priority) in advanced settings
• Ability to change h.264 settings in advanced settings
• Ability to set mp3 codec in advanced settings
• Ability to change tuner preference (merit) within UI
• IR Pass-through to blaster (for controlling VOD/PPV channels)
• PIP, Dual Picture, Quad Picture - think sports!!! Then the ability to switch between screens for choosing the audio stream
• The ability to specify which tuner a recording is to be made on explicitly (not just depending on the merits).
• Circulating buffer for live tv - no more "blip" when you hit the end of a shows time.
• Improved conflict resolution - when a conflict occurs, display the shows currently being recorded & the corresponding tuner for each recording. Then provide the option to cancel a specific recording on the fly
• Error reporting in UI - this is only for missed recordings or a guide problem. BTV handles this nicely by
• Simple export/import of Channel Lineup
• Slow Motion Playback
• Jump to (2 minutes before) end of recording
• Server Status Screen - screen display on the server that gives a rundown of current activity. A preview display from each source, with appropriate guide info. A list of the clients, and what is currently being watched. A list of storage locations and space used/free.
• Sideshow support - kind of like MS's sideshow. Ability to use alternate display (second monitor or iTouch etc) to show the UI at times and then during playback show the now playing info (not the video/audio), but act more as a remote - but with info feedback from the server.
• DVD Library Built-In
• More settings for transcoder accessible within UI
• Optionally Integrate Online Video Listings into the EPG
• Ability to extend recording time on the fly (while still recording)
• Cuda support for transcoding
• Full audio/subtitle multiple track(embedded) support for mkv files.
• Add the ability to have multiple lineups with a single source without having to select a nearby city lineup (eg Time Warner KC Digital Lineup #1 and Time Warner KC Digital Lineup #2). Added 11/17/2008

Music

• Integrated webradio support (including extenders) [mp3 streaming radio, last.fm, pandora,Shoutcast, Sirius etc]
• Ability to view music by folder structure as alternative to metadata
• Audio CD player/ripper/encoder/archiver
• A better playlist editor
• video file override (if video file exists alongside the music file, play the video instead, still in the playlist. Otherwise, play the visualization).
• Ability to listen to music while watching TV
• Music Visualization improvements
• Built-in Transcoding that uses multiple cores
• In the music artist folder display menu use the specified font size for the albums titles as well as the artist name.
• Music-Scroll long filenames in music browser rather than render with -16 font
• Music-add a Amazon store into the 10-foot interface
• Music-Multizone multisource audio support (think sonos, but cheaper )
• Music Ratings on-the-fly support like iTunes and WMP
• Tagging via the UI
• Smart playlists
• Add additional tag fields to sort by via mp3 tags
• Ability to read and use the popularimeter tag. This tag could open up the ability to rate songs right from SageTV as well as import the ratings tags from iTunes (using a manual export from the iTunes database and import into the popularimeter tag).
• Smart playlists much in the way iTunes uses smartplaylists
• Ability to use other visualizations like the ones used for winamp for instance.
• Error-free tag parsing.
• replaygain support
• automatic tag population and coverart downloading.

Photos

• Photo DB integration w/ flickr, picasa or some other photo db
• Photo transitions (ken burns effect, panning across photos etc)
• Photo Playlists
• Ability to set a certain audio file/files for a given playlist so that that photo slideshow (based on the playlist) plays that song or songs in the background
• Photo rating on-the-fly
• Easier way to simply browse photos. Hit right key go to next photo, hit left key go to previous photo.
• Ability to zoom in and out on photo
• Ability to call music playlist from slideshow options
• Flickr (or other online site) Upload/download capability
• Browse and Slideshow from online photos (flickr, picasa etc)
• Tagging via the UI (metadata with tags for photos)
• Tag support (sort by tags, slideshow by tags, tagging photos ability)
• Photo Playlist ability (build and edit playlist using SageTV interface)
• Simple import via flash drive (or is this already possible?)
• Share Photos and/or playlist via e-mail
• Screenshot button where screenshots of UI can be taken and stored in the photos section of SageTV
• Possible integration of home videos (totally separate from other videos) - ability to commingle these home videos into the photos section
• RAW Support & embedded JPG (added 11/17)

Placeshifter

• Mobile placeshifter support (iTouch, iPhone, WM6, Blackberry, symbian)
• Ripped DVD (with menus) Playback in Placeshifter
• Custom settings per connection (through the UI). (added 11/17)

I know this post is extremely long - please don't quote the entire thing in your response so we don't muck up the thread. thanks!

[sainswor99]

Awesome list Brent! I have one minor addition to the Placeshifter section:

Custom settings per connection (through the UI, of course).


Stu

[wayner]

Very complete list Brent - the only thing I would add is a rethink of how lineups are tied to sources. If you have two sources using the same lineup right now you either have to use the exact same lineup with the same channels enabled (not good if you have HD and SD sources from the same lineup) or you have to copy over a static lineup upon source setup. Why not be able to have two sources use the same lineup and have them both act independently so that when new channels are added they show up to both sources.

[Brent]

Originally Posted by wayner

Very complete list Brent - the only thing I would add is a rethink of how lineups are tied to sources. If you have two sources using the same lineup right now you either have to use the exact same lineup with the same channels enabled (not good if you have HD and SD sources from the same lineup) or you have to copy over a static lineup upon source setup. Why not be able to have two sources use the same lineup and have them both act independently so that when new channels are added they show up to both sources.

wayner, I'm not sure I totally understand how that would work or what you're getting at. I'm pretty happy with the way channel lineups work in SageTV since you can have multiple tuners with the same or different lineups now. Its something VMC users have asked for for a long time and can only get with TV Pack which is pretty buggy. SageTV has this now.

I'm probably missing your point though.

[wayner]

I could be missing something as I find the whole lineup thing in Sage rather confusing - but here is what I mean.

I have an SD and an HD tuner hooked up to my digital cable lineup via separate STBs. On the HD tuner I only have the HD channels enabled as I prefer to have SD content recorded in MPEG-2 files. On the SD channel I only have the SD channels as this box is not capable of tuning the HD channels.

When you do your source setup in Sage I believe you have two options -1. Use the same lineup. The downside to this is that you must have all of the same channels enabled or disabled. This obviously won't work in my configuration.

Option 2 is to copy the existing lineup to a new lineup. This is what I have done - the SD source was set up first and the lineup was copied to the HD source but the downside is that this is a static copy as of the day of the source setup. Any new channels do not show up in my HD lineup - and there are more HD than SD channels being added these days. Therefore whenever a new HD channel shows up I have to redo the source setup for HD channels. Luckily this is not too onerous as I get something like 30 HD channels vs. several hundred SD channels so starting with all channels disabled it doesn't take too long to add in all new channels.

I believe there is a way around this bit it is a slight kludge. When setting up the second (HD) source rather than giving my correct address I can give a very similar address where my cable co (Rogers) has the exact same digital lineup. This way Sage will think I have two different channel lineups, although that is not really the case. The downside is if Rogers decides to have different lineups in different areas but this is very unlikely. (Basically I can use my real location Scarborough and a fake location - Toronto for HD channels as Toronto and Scaborough are adjacent and only have different lineups in the analog cable space for historical reasons as Scarborough did have Shaw as a cable provider until they sold this area to Rogers)

[Brent]

Originally Posted by wayner

I believe there is a way around this bit it is a slight kludge. When setting up the second (HD) source rather than giving my correct address I can give a very similar address where my cable co (Rogers) has the exact same digital lineup. This way Sage will think I have two different channel lineups, although that is not really the case. The downside is if Rogers decides to have different lineups in different areas but this is very unlikely. (Basically I can use my real location Scarborough and a fake location - Toronto for HD channels as Toronto and Scaborough are adjacent and only have different lineups in the analog cable space for historical reasons as Scarborough did have Shaw as a cable provider until they sold this area to Rogers)

I think that this is the 3rd option. While it is a imperfect workaround it does work nearly all of the time.

For instance for my HDHR QAM dual-HD tuner I use a Time Warner KC Digital lineup. And then for my HD-PVR box I use a Time Warner Overland Park Digital Lineup since it has some overlapping channels with the HDHR, it also has additional channels. Then finally I have the SD tuners that use the Time Warner KC non-digital lineup. 3 lineups total with a few channels overlapping as needed.

I guess the feature request would be to have the ability to have multiple lineups with a single source (eg Time Warner KC Digital Lineup #1 and Time Warner KC Digital Lineup #2). Does this make sense? Anything I'm missing with the request?

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by Brent

SAGETV WISHLIST/SUGGESTIONS


Overall/Misc

• Log output to webserver - so it can be viewed remotely and/or ability to send log - to e-mail or other way

That would require Sage to include a webserver.

• Install Comskip Monitor by default just as SageMC does. This would simplify commercial detection setup for new users.

Shouldn't this be a request of the "plugin" dev? To make their plugin more easy to install?

• Integrate a few simple games into the install.

Why?

User Interface

• UI Sounds - add User Interface Sounds (as an option) much like SageMC has - add a startup sound and shutdown sound. Add this to the themes as an option

Please no

Hardware-Related

• Client for XBox360 or PS3
• Integrated support for Bluray (very likely not possible due to DRM restrictions)

Not going to happen, not until there are open source nav filters.

TV/Video

• "Keep for # number of days" per favorite - and/or "keep # number of episodes"

There's already a Keep at Most x episodes setting.

• The ability to specify which tuner a recording is to be made on explicitly (not just depending on the merits).

Why?

• Circulating buffer for live tv - no more "blip" when you hit the end of a shows time.

That one's going to be controvercial, it's one of the things that sets Sage appart from the other solutions, and for many of us, in a good way.

• Server Status Screen - screen display on the server that gives a rundown of current activity. A preview display from each source, with appropriate guide info. A list of the clients, and what is currently being watched. A list of storage locations and space used/free.

What would this do that the System Info screen doesn't?

• DVD Library Built-In

You mean metadata? Sage already supports a DVD library.

Music

• Audio CD player/ripper/encoder/archiver

OK, gota ask, why does everyone want to do ripping on their "HTPC"? It seems so much easier to do it on your desktop PC or other "normal" PC.

• Ability to listen to music while watching TV

• Music Visualization improvements
• Built-in Transcoding that uses multiple cores
• In the music artist folder display menu use the specified font size for the albums titles as well as the artist name.
• Music-Scroll long filenames in music browser rather than render with -16 font
• Music-add a Amazon store into the 10-foot interface
• Music-Multizone multisource audio support (think sonos, but cheaper )
• Music Ratings on-the-fly support like iTunes and WMP
• Tagging via the UI
• Smart playlists
• Add additional tag fields to sort by via mp3 tags
• Ability to read and use the popularimeter tag. This tag could open up the ability to rate songs right from SageTV as well as import the ratings tags from iTunes (using a manual export from the iTunes database and import into the popularimeter tag).
• Smart playlists much in the way iTunes uses smartplaylists
• Ability to use other visualizations like the ones used for winamp for instance.
• Error-free tag parsing.
• replaygain support
• automatic tag population and coverart downloading.

OK, time to ruffle feathers. What's the point of music support in Sage at all? Why would you want to use Sage for music? If I want to listen to music, it's usually because I don't have a TV at that location, or don't want/need the TV on. Thus it seems pointless and counterproductive to have to fire up the TV to pick my music to listen to.

That's why I use J River Media Center/Squeezecenter and Roku/Squeezeboxen to get my music around my house. Much better solution IMO.

Photos

How about RAW support, even just the embedded JPG.

Placeshifter

• Ripped DVD (with menus) Playback in Placeshifter[/QUOTE]

That would probably open up a huge can of worms nobody wants open.

I know this post is extremely long - please don't quote the entire thing in your response so we don't muck up the thread. thanks!

I think, if possible, it would be very beneficial to sort out the (I don't know of a politially correct way to say this) "realistic/serious" feature requests from the "blue sky/wishlist" features. I mean there's a lot of good stuff in there (integrated plugin download/selection, UI update, overall new user experience, etc...), but at the same time it's kind of burried amongst a bunch of stuff that's probably never going to happen (Blu-ray, PS3/360 client, wiz.bin replacement, etc)

[Brent]

Whew, Stanger89 jumped on that list faster then I expected
Really sorry to everyone for the overly long posts - I don't know any other way to respond...

Let me attempt to answer any questions/issues stanger89 brought up - all good points by the way.

"Log output to webserver - so it can be viewed remotely and/or ability to send log - to e-mail or other way"
That would require Sage to include a webserver.

Not really. I could re-phrase the request this way: Allow log output real-time to RSS or other method. This would allow for a webserver app to access that log output...

"Install Comskip Monitor by default just as SageMC does. This would simplify commercial detection setup for new users."
Shouldn't this be a request of the "plugin" dev? To make their plugin more easy to install?

Not sure I understand what you're saying here. I look at it this way. The fewer steps a new user has to do to install things such as commercial detection the better. Given the fact SageTV seems to not want to put commercial detection inside the SageTV install like BTV does why not include the commercial skip monitoring into the install and just require the user install comskip itself. One less step = easier on the new user. This is already done in SageMC and seems to work just fine.

"Integrate a few simple games into the install." Why?

Because I want it . No seriously this is a not a must-have thing or anything, just another way to differentiate from the competition. Java games should be easy to put in there like Tetris, a trivia game (based on music, tv, movie media and metadata etc. This could be a plugin thing and not a core thing of course...

"UI Sounds - add User Interface Sounds (as an option) much like SageMC has - add a startup sound and shutdown sound. Add this to the themes as an option" Please no

I know this is a love-it or hate-it thing and that's why it must be an option and not on by default. But I think its one of those things that can give a good first-impression to reviewers and/or new users. Give the Tivo converts their Tivo-like sounds for goodness sake... And it wouldn't take more than a tiny bit of code to make it an option either so why not?

"Circulating buffer for live tv - no more "blip" when you hit the end of a shows time." That one's going to be controvercial, it's one of the things that sets Sage appart from the other solutions, and for many of us, in a good way.

Tell me why its a bad idea. I actually added that one from a request earlier in this thread. Just need to get my head around what was bad about it.

"DVD Library Built-In" You mean metadata? Sage already supports a DVD library.

I mean a more organized DVD Library where you can view all movies/videos in one place as a single, simple interface - more like SageMC does it. Also built in should be a way to handle accessing/importing metadata in the way SageMC does. Maybe it's just me, but the way the default STV my-videos works is not enough for me.

"Audio CD player/ripper/encoder/archiver" OK, gota ask, why does everyone want to do ripping on their "HTPC"? It seems so much easier to do it on your desktop PC or other "normal" PC.

Why not? The less a keyboard is required, the better. I'm moving more-and-more towards extenders and a HTPC client PC at the main TVs and a server hidden away in the basement. The more I can do without the keyboard at that client HTPC, the better.

Ability to listen to music while watching TV

Based on your comments, you don't use your HTPC much for music. Many do including myself. And in some situations, I sometimes like to have music on while a sporting event is playing on the TV set. I do this sometimes for parties for instance.

OK, time to ruffle feathers. What's the point of music support in Sage at all? Why would you want to use Sage for music? If I want to listen to music, it's usually because I don't have a TV at that location, or don't want/need the TV on. Thus it seems pointless and counterproductive to have to fire up the TV to pick my music to listen to.

That's why I use J River Media Center/Squeezecenter and Roku/Squeezeboxen to get my music around my house. Much better solution IMO.

I understand your viewpoint and all, but disagree. We already have clients around the house connected to the server, why add unecessary software and hardware for only one type of media (music in this case) when you already have the basic tools to do it with your HTPC? All music served on one HTPC server accessible from a single media interface. In the end, I would like to have the ability to control this with an iPhone or some other "Sideshow"-type device.

"Placeshifter Ripped DVD (with menus) Playback in Placeshifter"That would probably open up a huge can of worms nobody wants open.

Why? We can already view ripped DVDs as long as it's movie-only - why would adding full dvds in folders be different?

I think, if possible, it would be very beneficial to sort out the (I don't know of a politially correct way to say this) "realistic/serious" feature requests from the "blue sky/wishlist" features. I mean there's a lot of good stuff in there (integrated plugin download/selection, UI update, overall new user experience, etc...), but at the same time it's kind of burried amongst a bunch of stuff that's probably never going to happen (Blu-ray, PS3/360 client, wiz.bin replacement, etc)

I definitely agree. But I needed input (just like you just gave me) before doing so. After I get some more input and feedback etc, I'll redo this as a text document in a more organized manner.

I did include many unlikely "pie in the sky" ideas as well. I know these are unlikely, but it never hurts to put them out there. If you can help me with which ones are really unlikely I'll note them as such. Here's the ones I know are unlikely already:

• Client for XBox360 or PS3
• Integrated support for Bluray (very likely not possible due to DRM restrictions)

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by Brent

Not really. I could re-phrase the request this way: Allow log output real-time to RSS or other method. This would allow for a webserver app to access that log output...

So you mean dump the log info in a more "web-friendly" format?

[QUOTE]Not sure I understand what you're saying here. I look at it this way. The fewer steps a new user has to do to install things such as commercial detection the better. Given the fact SageTV seems to not want to put commercial detection inside the SageTV install like BTV does why not include the commercial skip monitoring into the install and just require the user install comskip itself. One less step = easier on the new user. This is already done in SageMC and seems to work just fine.[/QUOTE

You mean basically incorporating the comskip file reading ability? Because incorporating logic to launch comskip seems somewhat silly if you're not including the exe. I guess I look at it this way, the ability to monitor directories and launch comskip goes with the comskip creator, while I could see how the ability to read edl (or txt) comskip files would be nice as a "builtin".

Because I want it . No seriously this is a not a must-have thing or anything, just another way to differentiate from the competition. Java games should be easy to put in there like Tetris, a trivia game (based on music, tv, movie media and metadata etc. This could be a plugin thing and not a core thing of course...
I know this is a love-it or hate-it thing and that's why it must be an option and not on by default. But I think its one of those things that can give a good first-impression to reviewers and/or new users. Give the Tivo converts their Tivo-like sounds for goodness sake... And it wouldn't take more than a tiny bit of code to make it an option either so why not?

The wink was there for a reason

Tell me why its a bad idea. I actually added that one from a request earlier in this thread. Just need to get my head around what was bad about it.

Kind of depends on how it's implimented, but many circular buffer implimentations delete the buffer if you decide to record what you're watching. Better buffer implimentations let you do that, but they flush it whenever you change channels.

One benefit of the way Sage does it is if you change channels, and then return, you're only missing the part of the recording from while you were "away" from the channel, a circular buffer will lose everything from before the channel change.

Niether is perfect, and both have their benefits, but the non-circular buffer is a feature that has made Sage unique among PVRs.

I mean a more organized DVD Library where you can view all movies/videos in one place as a single, simple interface - more like SageMC does it.

Guess I don't know how SageMC does it then. Sage has a DVD library built in. And actually I prefer to have my DVDs and videos separated.

Also built in should be a way to handle accessing/importing metadata in the way SageMC does. Maybe it's just me, but the way the default STV my-videos works is not enough for me.

I would like build-in metadata support, that is built-in metadata retrieval.

Why not? The less a keyboard is required, the better. I'm moving more-and-more towards extenders and a HTPC client PC at the main TVs and a server hidden away in the basement. The more I can do without the keyboard at that client HTPC, the better.

That's the thing, why do you want to rip CDs in the livingroom? I rip all my CDs/DVDs from my desktop PC, where I've got a KB/mouse. But then again, I don't want just anything ripping my CDs, I use EAC or J River Media Center in secure mode for CDs, encoded to FLAC, and I use DVD Shrink to strip out the extras on the DVDs I rip. The way I do it, automated tools don't work.

Based on your comments, you don't use your HTPC much for music.

I used to, I spent a good bit of time with another forum member trying to integrate J River Media Center with Sage, with some success. But "over the years" I've come to realize that I don't listen to music when I'm on my HTPC or when the TV is up (so I can access music through my HTPC).

For me, and really I'd guess for many people, Music and TV are somewhat mutually exclusive in their use. Do you really want to have to turn on the TV to listen to music?

Many do including myself. And in some situations, I sometimes like to have music on while a sporting event is playing on the TV set. I do this sometimes for parties for instance.

So you have music going instead of the TV audio? Guess maybe I'd feel different if I had sports-watching parties.

I understand your viewpoint and all, but disagree. We already have clients around the house connected to the server, why add unecessary software and hardware for only one type of media (music in this case) when you already have the basic tools to do it with your HTPC?

Trust me, I understand the theory of the "do it all device", I wanted my HTPC to be my hub for everything for a long time (see the JRMC work I did). But eventually I came to realize that the only time I really want music going is when the TV isn't on, or isn't around.

For me, it's not about 1 or 2 devices, it's about the interface. Sage extenders make absolutely no sense for music for me because you have to turn on the TV (or Projector) and I don't want to burn the electricity to run my huge CRT or the lamp cycles on my projector if I'm not going to be actively watching the display.

All music served on one HTPC server accessible from a single media interface. In the end, I would like to have the ability to control this with an iPhone or some other "Sideshow"-type device.

If we had controllers like the Squeezebox controller, or something else with integrated display so that the TV would not be necessary to listen to music, then it would be a bit different.

Why? We can already view ripped DVDs as long as it's movie-only - why would adding full dvds in folders be different?

Because you're not really viewing a DVD, you're viewing an MPEG file. Technically no different than watching a recording. Streaming recordings isn't all that popular with the industry, ripping DVDs is even less so. Streaming "DVDs" across the internet is just asking for trouble IMO.

I definitely agree. But I needed input (just like you just gave me) before doing so. After I get some more input and feedback etc, I'll redo this as a text document in a more organized manner.

I did include many unlikely "pie in the sky" ideas as well. I know these are unlikely, but it never hurts to put them out there. If you can help me with which ones are really unlikely I'll note them as such. Here's the ones I know are unlikely already:

• Client for XBox360 or PS3
• Integrated support for Bluray (very likely not possible due to DRM restrictions)

Well like I said, personally I think a wiz.bin rethink is very unlikely (though maybe getting the metadata duplicated in the recording isn't), I'd guess the VOD stuff (specifically the ones that require buying/PPV) is rather unlikely (though I'd like to think the Hulu/Netflix stuff is possible).

[evilpenguin]

@ Brent, I think that's a good list. Its a nice mix of improvements that hit on all the major areas.

I especially agree with the photo/music sections. Those are two areas where Sage is just doing the absolute bare minimum ("Can we display a JPG? Photo section finished!") and it really gives off "Phoned it in" feeling. Its not like a lot of the stuff Brent mentioned is very difficult, most of those online services are wide open with mature API's and RSS feeds.

[Brent]

Originally Posted by evilpenguin

@ Brent, I think that's a good list. Its a nice mix of improvements that hit on all the major areas.

I especially agree with the photo/music sections. Those are two areas where Sage is just doing the absolute bare minimum ("Can we display a JPG? Photo section finished!") and it really gives off "Phoned it in" feeling. Its not like a lot of the stuff Brent mentioned is very difficult, most of those online services are wide open with mature API's and RSS feeds.

Thanks. And as I said above, I know there are some things in there that in the end either won't make sense or won't be possible. Still there are bunches of items that are possible. And if SageTV doesn't do it, the competition will.

If I had to point to the big four things in general that need to be done it would be like this:

• UI Improvement (very generic but very possible and needed imo)
• Music Improvement
• Photo Improvement
• Online Content - integrated with Extenders (will become more-and-more important as time goes on)

[briands]

Originally Posted by stanger89

[/LIST]There's already a Keep at Most x episodes setting.

and unfortunately when I have relied on this in the past, it sometimes ends up keeping ZERO... there is no keep AT LEAST setting.... I have been asking for this since my daughter started watching TV. Nothing worse than not having an episode of Barney when you really need it.
Would work equally well for those sitcoms you like to have handy.

BTW, Brent, I started this exercise a while back, but gave up about 3 pages into this thread. -I'll see if I can dig up my list to see how it compares.

[tmiranda]

Brent,

You forgot the "Order Dominoes Pizza" import mentioned in another thread.

Seriously though, good list.

Tom

[Brent]

Originally Posted by briands

BTW, Brent, I started this exercise a while back, but gave up about 3 pages into this thread. -I'll see if I can dig up my list to see how it compares.

Please do. It's entirely possible I"m missing something as the thread is a long read....

[MeInMaui]

Originally Posted by stanger89

For me, and really I'd guess for many people, Music and TV are somewhat mutually exclusive in their use. Do you really want to have to turn on the TV to listen to music?

I just thought I'd chime in on this one. In my setup, I have my living room HD100's audio connected through my stereo receiver. I often pull up a music play list for parties or whatnot and then turn off the TV for the remainder of the evening. Sometimes I'll leave the TV on and switch it to a slide show. I also have wireless speakers connected to a secondary set of outputs on the receiver that I use when entertaining outside. I just pull them out when I need them and they work great. I find this setup very convenient for playing music and I would rather not have to buy additional equipment to get the job done. I just thought I'd throw in a counter example.

Aloha,
Mike

[stanger89]

One more comment, then I'll stop beating the horse

Originally Posted by MeInMaui

I just thought I'd chime in on this one. In my setup, I have my living room HD100's audio connected through my stereo receiver. I often pull up a music play list for parties or whatnot and then turn off the TV for the remainder of the evening.

So, do you turn on the TV because you want to? Or would you rather not have to? What kind of TV is it? Is it a projector where you're reducing the lifespan each time you cycle the lamp, or a plasma/CRT that's got warmup time, or an LCD that's just "on"?

That's the thing, none of my TVs are the type I'm comfortable just turning on for a minute to queue up a playlist. My projector, which is what's "connected to" my good audio system, is horribly impractical for that as it takes a good 30s-1 min to display a picture.

Contrast that with a Squeezebox where I can just grab the remote and queue up a dynamic/sql playlist and go. I think you'll see what the winner is there.

Heck with the Squeezebox duet, you can control your music from anywhere within range of your wifi.

And I guess that's really the other issue, I don't really switch back and forth between music and, "not music". I usually do one or the other, so the fact that they're not "integrated" is no issue to me. I prefer using the best interface available for each.

[toricred]

When did comskip monitor start coming with MC? I thought it still had some really old legacy code that did sort of the same thing, but not comskip monitor.

[MeInMaui]

Originally Posted by toricred

When did comskip monitor start coming with MC? I thought it still had some really old legacy code that did sort of the same thing, but not comskip monitor.

This is correct. SageMC can initiate comskip after a recording completes, but it does not include comskip monitor. In fact, this feature is really just legacy code and not recommended. Comskip monitor and Dirmon2 are much much better for a number of reasons.

Aloha,
Mike