SageMC Import - iMovies Beta 1

[jvl711]

This is a replacement/supplement to the My Videos screen in SageMC. I have been attempting to make an interface that is a like the apple coverflow. This is a work in progress, but I want to get it out there so that people can provide feedback on the features.

This is a Beta release, so it is not feature complete or bug free yet...

Download Link:
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/down...do=file&id=268

Setup:
Unpack the contents of the zip file into the SageTV directory. Import the iMoviesBeta1.xml file from the Settings screen in SageMC. You will need to define a new menu entry for the plugin. The screen is named iMovies.

If you are upgrading from version one I would not update over the other plugin. It may or may not work.

Use:
Once in the iMovies screen

Filter Options: use the up arrow to get to the filters menu. Use the right arrow to scroll thru the filter option pages. All settings in this menu are persistent and will still be there the next time the menu is launched. Use left, up or down arrows to exit the filters option menu.

AlphaNumeric Index: Use the down arrow to get to the index. Select the first character of where you would like to navigate in the active video list.

Main Screen:


Category Filter:


File System Filter:


Misc Filters:


Index:

[gplasky]

Looks very nice. I'll have to give this a run-thru tonight.

Gerry

[Brent]

Looks nice - I'll be trying this one when I get home.

[petereader]

Same here! You've given me something to do tonight. I'll report my thoughts and findings here. Thanks for working on this. Screenshots look great!

[evilpenguin]

Wow, love the concept, i'll have to try this out to see it in action

[jaminben]

Originally Posted by jvl711

but I want to get it out there so that people can provide feedback on the features.

Tried it and like it, very good job

My only sugestions would be the way the title text pops up for each movie. I'd prefer to have static text which doesnt zoom in or even better have an option to disable the title text completly.
Also I have tv series, family movies and main movies filtered out using the sagemc_menu properties file so the movies dont get mixed up and are accessed via diffrent menus. With yours this doesnt happen and all the movies get thrown into one view, would it be possible to seperate these movies or allow me to alter a properties file to achieve this?

Thanks for the cool import.

Regards

Ben

[jvl711]

I have been wanting to make this import for a long time now. I had to learn Studio first, which took longer than I would have expected. I used the Stock Manager plugin as a learning experience before I jumped into doing this plugin.

[Brent]

Just gave it a spin - very nice.

It seems to be mixing tv shows in with the video/movies. Is that how you designed it to work?

[jvl711]

Originally Posted by Brent

Just gave it a spin - very nice.

It seems to be mixing tv shows in with the video/movies. Is that how you designed it to work?

Archived TV shows are in by default if that is what you mean, but you can remove them with one of the filter options.

If there are other TV shows showing up that could be a bug. Let me know if you think they are not archived shows.

I am glad you like it!

[ghostlobster]

Sweet looking! I've got to give it a shot.
I do have a question, however...I've not had to do many imports or customizations other than the basic SageMC install. Your instructions say:
"You will need to define a new menu entry for the plugin. The screen is named iMovies."

How is this done?"

[mikejaner]

Looks good. I have a few suggestions if you are looking for input.

Top Menu's:
It's a little confusing to push up, and only be able to push right, to flip through menus. I find myself hitting left to go the other way, when scrolling through the menu's, only for them to be closed by accident. I would put a back/close button at the top of each menu to close, Which would allow left key presses. Oh yeah, and make it so pressing right makes the menu slide in from the right.

I would also see if you could allow up and down key rollovers, which is a little more user friendly. You could even allow an option to turn off rollovers, for those who don't like it, so that the cursor doesn't move if your are on the top item and press up again.

Bug?:
When testing this morning from my placeshifter client, I hit OK/Enter to select a movie, nothing happens, and I have to hit ESC to be able to sift through movies or call up one of your menus again. I chalk it up as a placeshifter thing, but I would assume that selecting a movie would take you to the descripion page for the movie.

Again, this looks really great, and I hope you keep working on it. I love what you have done so far.

[jvl711]

Originally Posted by jaminben

Tried it and like it, very good job

My only sugestions would be the way the title text pops up for each movie. I'd prefer to have static text which doesnt zoom in or even better have an option to disable the title text completly.
Also I have tv series, family movies and main movies filtered out using the sagemc_menu properties file so the movies dont get mixed up and are accessed via diffrent menus. With yours this doesnt happen and all the movies get thrown into one view, would it be possible to seperate these movies or allow me to alter a properties file to achieve this?

Thanks for the cool import.

Regards

Ben

I will look into an option to remove the title text. That is not hard to do at all.

Would you mind showing me your entries for the dynamic menus that filter out the video library. I would like to add this feature, I am just not sure how it is currently being done. Does anyone know how the dynamic menus pass the filters?

Thanks for the good suggestions!

[mkanet]

It certainly looks cool, but, it looks like it's missing critical element that the default SageMC imported videos has...

SageMC users are used to automatically opening up to a screen listing Genres to select from (if Genre is selected). Having an cumbersome additional step to select category filter every time isnt too practical.

Now, if you can have the ability to automatically present and first select Genres in a nice graphical view that matches iMovies, then see the iMovies style listing of videos in the catagory selected, that would be best of both worlds. Good luck!

[jvl711]

Originally Posted by mikejaner

Looks good. I have a few suggestions if you are looking for input.

Top Menu's:
It's a little confusing to push up, and only be able to push right, to flip through menus. I find myself hitting left to go the other way, when scrolling through the menu's, only for them to be closed by accident. I would put a back/close button at the top of each menu to close, Which would allow left key presses. Oh yeah, and make it so pressing right makes the menu slide in from the right.

I would also see if you could allow up and down key rollovers, which is a little more user friendly. You could even allow an option to turn off rollovers, for those who don't like it, so that the cursor doesn't move if your are on the top item and press up again.

Bug?:
When testing this morning from my placeshifter client, I hit OK/Enter to select a movie, nothing happens, and I have to hit ESC to be able to sift through movies or call up one of your menus again. I chalk it up as a placeshifter thing, but I would assume that selecting a movie would take you to the descripion page for the movie.

Again, this looks really great, and I hope you keep working on it. I love what you have done so far.

Top Menus:
I already have the code in place to scroll both ways. I just have not created the options menu yet to control look and feel type changes. I currently have it staticly set that left is back on option menus. This will be an option in the next release.

The close button I am not to sure about. I will have to think about this one. Having no close button was kinda part of the overall design. I just made it that you can close the menu by going all the way up, or all the way down. And if you have left as back off then left will also close the option menu.

Bug?:
Hmmm... That is intresting. What version of SageMC did you import the plugin into?

Does anyone know if the program info page ever had a differnt name in any of the version?

[jvl711]

Originally Posted by mkanet

It certainly looks cool, but, it looks like it's missing critical element that the default SageMC imported videos has...

SageMC users are used to automatically opening up to a screen listing Genres to select from (if Genre is selected). Having an cumbersome additional step to select category filter every time isnt too practical.

Now, if you can have the ability to automatically present and first select Genres in a nice graphical view that matches iMovies, then see the iMovies style listing of videos in the catagory selected, that would be best of both worlds. Good luck!

I understand completely what you are saying, But it goes against the design that I was going for. The idea of the design is that the view always shows movie covers, and the user uses the filter options to slim down the list of videos. I have tried to reduce the number of remote clicks or keyboard clicks by keeping all settings persistent between uses of the screen. I do agree that it is a bit more combersome.

If more people share you thoughts i would be willing to reconsider my design though.

[mikejaner]

Originally Posted by jvl711

Top Menus:
I already have the code in place to scroll both ways. I just have not created the options menu yet to control look and feel type changes. I currently have it staticly set that left is back on option menus. This will be an option in the next release.?

Do you mean Left/Right scroll, or the Up/Down Scroll?

The close button I am not to sure about. I will have to think about this one. Having no close button was kinda part of the overall design. I just made it that you can close the menu by going all the way up, or all the way down. And if you have left as back off then left will also close the option menu.

Oh, I noticed one or two of your menus allowing rollover when going down. It would seem to me scrolling off the menu, therefore closing it would be a little different to some people.
IMHO The general idea of a vertical sub menu, is to be able to scroll to the top or bottom, and have it either stop at the last item, or rollover to the top item.

Bug?:
Hmmm... That is intresting. What version of SageMC did you import the plugin into?

Again, I was testing with a placeshifter, and the 6.3.8 version, so I am not sure if that is an accurate test. I will test when I get home later, from a real client.

[jvl711]

Originally Posted by mikejaner

Do you mean Left/Right scroll, or the Up/Down Scroll?


Oh, I noticed one or two of your menus allowing rollover when going down. It would seem to me scrolling off the menu, therefore closing it would be a little different to some people.
IMHO The general idea of a vertical sub menu, is to be able to scroll to the top or bottom, and have it either stop at the last item, or rollover to the top item.


Again, I was testing with a placeshifter, and the 6.3.8 version, so I am not sure if that is an accurate test. I will test when I get home later, from a real client.

Sorry, yes I meant left/right scroll is already coded. I just have left scrolling disabled because people seem to like the left as back. This will be an option in the next release.

Would it make more sense if I only allowed going all the way up to close the menu but going all the way down would wrap focus back to the top of the options menu?

Thank you for your input.

[mikejaner]

Originally Posted by jvl711

Sorry, yes I meant left/right scroll is already coded. I just have left scrolling disabled because people seem to like the left as back. This will be an option in the next release.

Would it make more sense if I only allowed going all the way up to close the menu but going all the way down would wrap focus back to the top of the options menu?

Thank you for your input.

I would say stop the scroll at the bottom item, with no rollover, then close the menu at the top.

[jvl711]

Originally Posted by mikejaner

I would say stop the scroll at the bottom item, with no rollover, then close the menu at the top.

I will make that change. With that change and the (left as back) being an option I think most people will be happy.

[briands]

Originally Posted by jvl711

I understand completely what you are saying, But it goes against the design that I was going for. The idea of the design is that the view always shows movie covers, and the user uses the filter options to slim down the list of videos. I have tried to reduce the number of remote clicks or keyboard clicks by keeping all settings persistent between uses of the screen. I do agree that it is a bit more combersome.

If more people share you thoughts i would be willing to reconsider my design though.

Maybe you could use another key (Channel+/-) to cycle through the genre list. Then you could dsiplay the Genre name at the top of the screen in another rolling menu.