Plugin Index
| Plugins | Metadata Managers | External Players | Utilities | Codecs | Media Tools | Submit |
I’ve scoured multiple sites in order to compile the following list of plugins, tools and utilities that are available for Media Center and/or aid in making the Media Center experience more enjoyable. I have not tried many of these, so I may have some incomplete or incorrect information posted. If you see a ? listed under the compatibility for a specific plugin and you know whether it works or not, please use the contact form at the bottom of the page to notify me and I will update the list. You may also use the contact form to send in any other plugins, tools and/or utilities I may have missed or that you find useful and, finally, to help me clear up any other discrepancies I may have posted. Hope this list helps!
Each column can now be sorted by clicking on its header.
Plugins
| Name & Description | Free | Compatibility | Category | Image | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Life|ware Industry leader in home entertainment and automation. Requires proprietary hardware. | N | VMC,7MC | Automation | View | 10/1/09 |
| mControl Control your home automation system from within Media Center. Trial available. | N | All | Automation | View | 10/1/09 |
| mceNetCam Monitor IP-based webcams live from within Media Center. Supported camera required. | Y | All | Automation | View | 10/1/09 |
| Media Center Communicator Control your Media Center…by voice! Trial available. | N | MCE,VMC,? | Automation | View | 10/1/09 |
| Power Manager Tell any PC on your home network to wake up or enter standby/hibernation…right from Media Center (or Windows Mobile phone!)! Has Server, Desktop and Media Center versions. | Y | VMC,7MC | Automation | View | 10/1/09 |
| QuiiQ Automation Control your digital home’s lighting, appliances, security and more! | N | VMC,? | Automation | View | 10/1/09 |
| Task Scheduler Run, view or stop tasks from a specified user…within Media Center. Great for managing any background batch scripts from Media Center. | Y | VMC,7MC | Automation | View | 10/1/09 |
| Big Screen Contacts v2 Interact with your Windows contacts directory via Media Center. | N | VMC,7MC | Communication | View | 10/1/09 |
| Facebook/Twitter Status Update your Facebook and/or Twitter status from within Media Center. | Y | VMC,7MC | Communication | View | 10/1/09 |
| mceContacts Manage your contacts from Media Center that are stored in a convenient MS Access-compatible database. Trial available. | N | MCE,?,? | Communication | View | 10/1/09 |
| mcePhone for Skype Make calls via Skype using your Media Center! Trial available. | N | MCE,?,? | Communication | View | 10/1/09 |
| Media Center Mail Access POP3 email accounts from within Media Center. | Y | VMC,7MC | Communication | View | 10/1/09 |
| Media Center Outlook Access Microsoft Outlook to read emails, consult your calendar, view contacts, check tasks and read notes…all from within Media Center. | Y | VMC,7MC | Communication | View | 10/1/09 |
| Media Center Video Phone Make and answer video (SIP) calls using Media Center. | Y | VMC,7MC | Communication | View | 10/1/09 |
| Vista Media Center Twitter Follow and post status updates to your Twitter account with this plugin...right from Media Center! | Y | VMC,7MC | Communication | View | 11/25/09 |
| BeebMC BBC Radio Listen to BBC radio within Media Center. Supports “Listen Again” functionality. | Y | VMC,? | Music & Photo | View | 10/1/09 |
| Big Screen Photos v2 Instant access to Yahoo! flickr and more…right from Media Center. Trial available. | N | VMC,7MC | Music & Photo | View | 10/1/09 |
| CasaTunes Proprietary hardware-dependent plugin that brings multi-zone audio to your Media Center. | N | MCE,VMC,? | Music & Photo | View | 10/1/09 |
| Magic Slideshow Play music and get a slideshow that matches the date of the song! An alternative to the built-in slideshow functionality of Media Center. | Y | VMC,7MC | Music & Photo | View | 10/1/09 |
| MCEfm Listen to Last.fm (and many others) in Media Center. According to their site development is suspended and current version may not work. | Y | VMC,? | Music & Photo | View | 10/1/09 |
| mcShoutCast Internet radio at its best…right to your Media Center. | Y | VMC,? | Music & Photo | View | 10/1/09 |
| Music Browser Plugin for folder-based navigation of music files. Supports ID3 tagging and album art extraction with list and thumbnail views. Based on Video Browser source code. | Y | VMC,7MC | Music & Photo | View | 10/1/09 |
| Photato Connect to your Facebook account so that you can view your photos within Media Center. | Y | VMC,7MC | Music & Photo | View | 11/18/09 |
| PowerPlaylist Adds a new tile to Media Center that automatically launches an audio, slideshow or audio/slideshow combination that you have created using the included configuration utility. | Y | VMC,7MC | Music & Photo | View | 10/1/09 |
| RadioTime Get unlimited FREE access to thousands of DJs and on-air personalities from your zip code and around the world! Listen to Internet radio or local FM stations using your FM-capable tuner! | Y | All | Music & Photo | View | 10/1/09 |
| Song Lyrics Add-in Retrieve and view song lyrics for your music collection. | Y | VMC,? | Music & Photo | View | 10/1/09 |
| Big Screen Headlines v2 Access the latest RSS news feeds, watch VOD, read blogs, listen to podcasts, view photocasts and more…without leaving your couch! | N | VMC,7MC | News & Weather | View | 10/1/09 |
| Big Screen Weather v2 The latest weather, forecasts and imagery right to your living room! | N | VMC,7MC | News & Weather | View | 10/1/09 |
| Heatwave Groovy live weather plugin. 7MC compatibility is now here also! | Y | VMC,7MC | News & Weather | View | 11/2/09 |
| MCEWeather Full-featured weather plugin. | Y | MCE,VMC,? | News & Weather | View | 10/1/09 |
| Media Center RSS Reader Subscribe to and view to the latest news feeds from Media Center. Also supports podcasts and vodcasts! | Y | VMC,7MC | News & Weather | View | 10/1/09 |
| The Digital Lifestyle Reader If you keep up with Ian Dixon's The Digital Lifestyle site, then you will want this plugin. It's a plugin that has complete access to all of TDL's material...right from Media Center! | Y | VMC,7MC | News & Weather | View | 11/18/09 |
| Vista4Cast Specify your location and then view detailed weather information about your area. Weather information is obtained from Weather.com. Very customizable. | Y | VMC,7MC | News & Weather | View | 10/1/09 |
| Vista Media Center Stocks Got stocks? Follow them within Media Center with this nice plugin. Features include historic prices and graphical statistics. | Y | VMC,7MC | News & Weather | View | 11/25/09 |
| Weatherstation Two applications = weatherstation server, which downloads your weather forecasts, and weatherstation for Media Center, which is used to view them in Media Center. | Y | VMC,7MC | News & Weather | View | 10/7/09 |
| BBC iPlayer Watch the available wmv streams from BBC iPlayer with this plugin. | Y | 7MC | Streaming Media | View | 12/1/09 |
| Boxee Download and install this streaming TV, movie, music and photo aggregator and launch it from Media Center with this add-on! Also plays local media! Boxee works with XP, Vista and Win7, but the launcher is only good for VMC/7MC. Could also be added using MC Menu Mender/MC Studio. | Y | VMC,7MC | Streaming Media | View | 10/1/09 |
| Hulu Desktop Can be used in conjunction with HuluDesktopWMC to create an entry point that opens Hulu Desktop from within Media Center. Or, create your own using MC Menu Mender/Media Center Studio. This is not a native Media Center application. | Y | All | Streaming Media | View | 10/1/09 |
| MCEWebView View web pages inside MCE. Use MCE remote to move cursor, click links and scroll web page. Use back button to close app and restore MCE. Disables screensaver while running. Good for running websites like ABC’s iView. Config file can be edited for use with any streaming media website. | Y | VMC,7MC | Streaming Media | View | 10/1/09 |
| MiraWorldTV Consolidate and watch your Internet TV streams with this plugin. You must use ORCA to edit the installer for it to install on 7MC, or download a copy I have already edited here. | Y | VMC,7MC | Streaming Media | View | 10/1/09 |
| MyBlockbuster Manage your Blockbuster Total Access account from Media Center. There is trailer streaming capability. | Y | MCE,VMC,? | Streaming Media | View | 10/1/09 |
| MyNetflix View and manage your Netflix queue, browse movies and stream using the WatchNow! feature. Not sure if this one works anymore…development ceased a long time ago. | Y | VMC,? | Streaming Media | View | 10/1/09 |
| NetflixMC Netflix account manager/WatchNow! viewer for Media Center. Development discontinued and no known download available. | Y | VMC,? | Streaming Media | View | 10/1/09 |
| SecondRun.tv Watch RSS-based TV and movie content hosted by hulu.com within a native Media Center interface. | Y | VMC,? | Streaming Media | View | 10/1/09 |
| TubeCore Another web streaming plugin for Media Center. Supports hulu, Netflix, PlayOn, TVersity and more! Trial available. Beta 6 has sporadic reports of success in 7MC. I assume beta 7 is better. | N | VMC,7MC | Streaming Media | View | 10/1/09 |
| TunerFree MCE TunerFreeMCE is a free plugin that allows you to use Media Center to stream live and recorded TV from a number of sources like BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five, Hulu. It also allows other sources to be added with it's own plugins. | Y | VMC,7MC | Streaming Media | View | 10/1/09 |
| VMCNetflix Manage your Netflix account or search and watch videos from the WatchNow! library from within Media Center! Support for this may have given way to the PlayOn plugin. | Y | VMC,? | Streaming Media | View | 10/1/09 |
| VMCPlayIt Use your PlayOn Server (not free) to stream all of its content directly to your Media Center. Use VMCPlayIt to browse and watch it! Tons of content available! | Y | VMC,7MC | Streaming Media | View | 10/1/09 |
| Yougle Vista Browse and view from many different streaming media sites (like YouTube) from Media Center. Basic functionality is free…additional features come with for a price. 7MC compatibility appears to be for x86 only. | Y | VMC,7MC | Streaming Media | View | 10/1/09 |
| Zinc Another nice external web media aggregator/viewer than can also play local media. Use MC Menu Mender/Media Center Studio to create an entry point for VMC/7MC. I have a post here that explains how I did it in VMC using MC Menu Mender. | Y | All | Streaming Media | View | 10/1/09 |
| Media Browser Open source successor to Video Browser. Browse DVD rips, BluRay rips, TV and more with automated metadata and image downloads. Highly recommended! Currently free (pay version is TBD). | Y | VMC,7MC | Video Managers | View | 10/1/09 |
| More TV for Vista TV series collection viewer. Displays collected metadata and artwork for recorded/ripped TV series. No longer developed or supported. | Y | VMC,? | Video Managers | View | 10/1/09 |
| Movie Browser Flash-based movie browser. No news on this in over a year, so I suspect it to be vaporware. | Y | VMC,? | Video Managers | View | 10/1/09 |
| Movie Collector MCE Organize your DVD collection using an enormous online database. Then, use the included plugin to view your collection in complete detail. Trial available. | N | VMC,7MC | Video Managers | View | 10/1/09 |
| MyMovies Movie collection management and playback plugin. Organize your movie collection from a user-driven online webservice. MyMovies basic is free. Additional features are unlocked via donation or webservice contribution. MCML release due in October ‘09. | Y | All | Video Managers | View | 10/1/09 |
| MyMovies Browser MCML-based frontend for MyMovies that also adds Apple trailers, TV metadata and artwork retrieval. | Y | VMC,? | Video Managers | View | 10/1/09 |
| myTV Automatically archives TV along with metadata and artwork to a database. Trial available | N | VMC,7MC | Video Managers | View | 10/1/09 |
| Open Media Library (OML) Open source media organizer and viewer with automated metadata and artwork retrieval. Also supports importing from many popular other movie organizers. | Y | VMC,7MC | Video Managers | View | 10/1/09 |
| Play All/Shuffle All Automatically play all videos in a folder in order or randomly with this plugin. | Y | VMC,7MC | Video Managers | View | 10/14/09 |
| Plugin Filme Another video plugin developed by Maschmo. The site is in German, so I can’t tell you much about it. | Y | VMC,? | Video Managers | View | 10/1/09 |
| QuiiQ Movies Archive, manage and watch your entire movie collection with direct links to titles, actors and more! Trial available. | N | VMC,? | Video Managers | View | 10/1/09 |
| Video Library TV and movie library with fully automated metadata and artwork retrieval. Organize, search and sort your collection to your won tastes! | Y | VMC,7MC | Video Managers | View | 10/1/09 |
| ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre 3 Brings BluRay and HD-DVD playback to Media Center. | N | VMC,7MC | Miscellaneous | View | 10/1/09 |
| Auto Rip n Compress Automate much of the DVD ripping and compressing right from Media Center! Requires DVDFab HD Decrypter and Handbrake. | Y | VMC,7MC | Miscellaneous | View | 11/25/09 |
| BookMarkIt Create video ‘bookmarks’ that will allow you to return to any point of any show for later viewing. XP version also exists, but link is for Vista version. I do not know if this works on 7MC. Screenshot is XP version. | Y | MCE,VMC | Miscellaneous | View | 10/1/09 |
| clipShow Create “video slideshows” of your personal videos. Also creates custom playlists and organizes according to tags stored in metadata. | Y | VMC,7MC | Miscellaneous | View | 10/1/09 |
| Cyberlink PowerDVD Launch BluRay and HD-DVD natively from Media Center. | N | VMC,7MC | Miscellaneous | View | 10/1/09 |
| EMUCenter Manage, emulate and play your SNES, Windows, Arcade, Atari, etc. games from within VMC. Free to use, but donation unlock additional features. | Y | MCE,VMC,? | Miscellaneous | View | 10/1/09 |
| Google Calendar Viewer If you keep a Google Calendar, you can access it within Media Center with this plugin. | Y | VMC,? | Miscellaneous | View | 10/1/09 |
| LCDWriter Output Media Center operations to your compatible VFD. | Y | MCE,VMC,? | Miscellaneous | View | 10/1/09 |
| Made for Media Center Upcoming project that will allow you to browse and install participating plugins right from your Media Center! | Y | N/A | Miscellaneous | View | 11/18/09 |
| MC MultiMon Dynamically send your Media Center window to any monitor with the click of a mouse! | Y | All | Miscellaneous | View | 10/1/09 |
| MCE Skipper Adds seek bar functionality to Media Center. | Y | MCE,VMC | Miscellaneous | View | 10/1/09 |
| MCE Virtual Remote Control your Media Center from any other PC! | Y | All | Miscellaneous | View | 10/1/09 |
| MCEAuction Browse, bid, buy and receive notifications on eBay from Media Center with this plugin. | Y | MCE,VMC,? | Miscellaneous | View | 10/1/09 |
| MCETAPIRex Display caller-ID information for incoming calls and view call history from Media Center. Requires TAPIRex (not free) and compatible modem for operation. | Y | MCE,VMC,? | Miscellaneous | View | 10/1/09 |
| MCEZone Too many plugins to list individually, so I decided to make one link to them all. They have both free and commercial plugins for movies, trailers and other things you never would think of! | Y/N | All | Miscellaneous | See Site | 10/1/09 |
| MCE Remote Plus Toggle subtitles, audio streams and enable FF/REW using your Media Center remote. Small utility runs in your tray and requires ffdshow and DirectVobSub to operate. | Y | MCE,VMC,? | Miscellaneous | View | 10/1/09 |
| Media Control Take control of your media experience with Media Control. Enjoy TRUE fastforward/rewind for all video formats, resume videos, switch between audio/subtitle streams, adjust picture quality and more! Requires ffdshow for operation. | Y | VMC,7MC | Miscellaneous | View | 10/1/09 |
| MountImage Mount your ISO images for playback in Movie Library and Video Library! Requires VirtualCloneDrive (free). | Y | 7MC | Miscellaneous | View | 10/1/09 |
| My Channel Logos Spice up your 7MC guide listings with official network logos of all your channels! | Y | 7MC | Miscellaneous | View | 10/1/09 |
| My Drinks As if Media Center wasn’t already the life of your party, it can now supply you with hundreds of drink recipes. Complete with tons of search options from ingredients to drink names. Over 6,000 drinks! | Y | All | Miscellaneous | View | 10/1/09 |
| NControl NControl is a free iPhone/iPod Touch application that allows you to use your iPhone/iPod Touch as a remote control for your Media Center. It enables users to browse through pictures, video, recorded shows, tv channels, as well as navigate the Media Center interface. It also has a set of standard buttons found on traditional remotes such as play, pause fast forward, rewind, stop, mute and volume. | Y | VMC,7MC | Miscellaneous | View | 2/1/10 |
| Position Changer Add-In Allows you to skip to specific times while playing back video files. Hit ‘right’ directional pad and then key in the time in minutes+seconds. | Y | VMC,7MC | Miscellaneous | View | 10/1/09 |
| Recorded TV Manager Add-in Integrates Windows Home Server and the Recorded TV Manager found down the list to provide complete access to your entire recorded TV collection. | Y | VMC,7MC | Miscellaneous | View | 10/1/09 |
| Refresh Changer Change your refresh rate from Media Center. | Y | 7MC | Miscellaneous | View | 10/2/09 |
| MC7 Sleep Timer Keep passing out before getting a chance to send your HTPC to sleep? Install this little utility to take care of it for you. 30min, 60min and custom options for turning putting Media Center into standby (and can turn your monitor off too). | Y | ?,7MC | Miscellaneous | View | 10/1/09 |
| Squirrel Stash Password protect your media files in an encrypted ’stash’ and view them once a correct password is entered. Free edition limited to 1GB. | N | VMC,? | Miscellaneous | View | 10/1/09 |
| tvitty Moderately featured bittorrent client that can access RSS content, Yahoo! feeds, xsl and Python feeds and custom tvitty.com content…all from Media Center using a remote! | Y | VMC,? | Miscellaneous | View | 10/1/09 |
| Vista Caller-ID Full featured caller-ID plugin, call manager and server (Home Server plugin also available). Requires compatible modem. | Y | VMC,7MC | Miscellaneous | View | 10/1/09 |
| Vista YAC Add-in Display caller-ID information in Media Center. Requires a YAC server with compatible modem for operation. I needed the Vista YAC Client with the Listener disabled for it to work on one of my systems. YMMV. MCE2K5 version available. | Y | VMC,7MC | Miscellaneous | View | 10/1/09 |
| VMCBrowser The world on your TV! A web browser for your Windows Media Center. x86 and x64 versions are available. Does not work with Media Center remotes, but remote functionality has been added to the ‘to-do’ list. | Y | All | Miscellaneous | View | 10/1/09 |
| WOLPacket A small Media Center application that will send a Magic Packet to wake up a file server every time you start Media Center. You can call the application at anytime using the tile in the program library. | Y | VMC,7MC | Miscellaneous | View | 10/1/09 |
Metadata Managers
| Name | Free | Compatibility | View | Added | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DVD Library Manager | dvdid.xml editor for the Vista Media Center DVD Library. Can scan your collection then allows you to download metadata and artwork from IMDB and Amazon. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| HD Movie Trailer Downloader | Automatically download HD trailers from Apple iTunes and Yahoo!, complete with metadata and artwork compatible with Media Browser! | Y | VMC,7MC | View | 10/1/09 |
| HD-Trailers.net Downloader | Command-line utility for downloading HD trailers in 480p/720p/1080p from HD-Trailers.net. Can be set up for batch scheduling. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| Media Center Master | Automatic metadata and artwork fetching application for Media Browser. Grabs content from IMDB, tMDB and theTVDB. Can also grab trailers and torrents. | Y | VMC,7MC | View | 10/1/09 |
| Media Scout | Automatic metadata and artwork fetcher and file renamer for Media Browser. Works for movies and TV series. Sporadically maintained and no longer developed, but still works…most of the time. Some support available at the Media Browser Forums. | Y | VMC,7MC | View | 10/1/09 |
| MetaBrowser | All-in-one metadata retrieval utility that pulls metadata and artwork from tMDB.org and theTVDB.com. Originally designed to work exclusively with Media Browser, MetaBrowser can now save content for additional media libraries (i.e. info and dvdid.xml files). More functionality than any one person knows what to do with! | Y | VMC,7MC | View | 10/1/09 |
| Metadata Tool | Compact metadata and artwork fetching tool. Scrapes IMDB and stores files compatible with Media Browser. | Y | VMC,7MC | View | 10/1/09 |
| My Movie Finder | Grabs metadata (dvdid.xml) and cover art for the 7MCbuilt-in movie library. | Y | ?,7MC | View | 10/1/09 |
| Salami’s Movie Organizer | The original metadata and artwork fetcher for Video Browser. Simple and easy-to-use metadata retrieval from IMDB and posters from IMPAwards. No backdrop retrieval. | Y | VMC,7MC | View | 10/1/09 |
| Stark Covers | Complimentary utility to add some very nice effects such as 3D, case framing, gloss, etc. to your existing folder (poster) images automatically while preserving the original image. | Y | All | View | 10/7/09 |
| TV Metadata Finder | Replaces the old Ruby Scraper coded by Sam Saffron for populating TV series in Video Browser (Media Browser). Now includes a GUI and much more functionality. | Y | VMC,7MC | View | 10/1/09 |
| YAMMM (Yet Another Media Manager) | Runs as a Windows service, automatically scanning specified folder structures for new movie files and then can rename them, grab metadata and artwork, create playlists and then store it in a number of formats that are compatible with the most popular media managers. | Y | VMC,7MC | View | 10/1/09 |
| Name | Free | Compatibility | View | Added | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boxee | Download and install this streaming TV, movie, music and photo aggregator and launch it from Media Center with this add-on! Also plays local media! Boxee works with XP, Vista and Win7, but the launcher is only good for VMC/7MC. Could also be added using MC Menu Mender/MC Studio. | Y | VMC,7MC | View | 10/1/09 |
| Hulu Desktop | Can be used in conjunction with HuluDesktopWMC to create an entry point that opens Hulu Desktop from within Media Center. Or, create your own using MC Menu Mender/Media Center Studio. This is not a native Media Center application. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| Media Player Classic – Home Cinema | Based on the original Media Player Classic player. Can be used by some Media Center plugins to externally launch video files for better codec functionality and support (such as DXVA hardware acceleration). | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| VideoLAN Client (VLC) | Highly portable multimedia player. Can be used by some Media Center plugins as an external player. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| Zinc | Another nice external web media aggregator/viewer than can also play local media. Use MC Menu Mender/Media Center Studio to create an entry point for VMC/7MC. I have a post here that explains how I did it in VMC using MC Menu Mender. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
Utilities
| Name | Free | Compatibility | View | Added | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Screen EPG | Third party EPG tool that really has too many options to list in a confined space. Instructions for registering for the download are here. | Y | 7MC | View | 10/5/09 |
| Daemon Tools | Optical media emulator required by many Media Center plugins to mount disc images. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| File to Folder Script | A little script I wrote that became very popular. Instantly create and move all the files in a folder into a folder of the same name. | Y | All | N/A | 10/5/09 |
| Guide Tool | External application for complete Media Center guide management. Tons of options and has DVBLink compatibility. LIsted VMC compatibility is for TV Pack versions only. | Y | VMC,7MC | View | 10/3/09 |
| Impact’s Playlist Generator (IPG) | Command-line drive application that automatically scans specified directories and then creates custom playlists from their contents. Excellent when using this as a scheduled task. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| MC7 Hide Menu Strips | Alters the registry (no resource hacking) to hide/display 7MC menu strips. | Y | 7MC | View | 10/1/09 |
| LCDWriter | Output Media Center operations to your compatible VFD. | Y | MCE,VMC,? | View | 10/1/09 |
| LEDSdriver | LEDSdriver can control the LEDs on any PS/2 or USB keyboard, or up to 3 LEDs connected to a standard serial (COM) port. This makes it a simple job to mod the HDD LED of your HTPC into a recording LED. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| The Maxifier | Display assistant for running Media Center on two screens. | Y | MCE,VMC,? | View | 10/1/09 |
| MC MultiMon | Dynamically send your Media Center window to any monitor with the click of a mouse! | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| MCE Standby Tool (MST) | Take control of your Media Center’s power settings with this utility. No more fighting with entering and resuming out of standby! | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| MCE Virtual Remote | Control your Media Center from any other PC! | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| Media Center Studio | Take advantage of advanced resource editing to completely customize your VMC and 7MC menu and theme. Update of the popular MC Menu Mender. | Y | VMC,7MC | View | 10/1/09 |
| ngRC | Next generation remote control! Use your PSP or iPhone to control your Media Center! | Y | MCE,VMC,? | View | 10/1/09 |
| Recorded TV Manager 3 | A collection of Windows applications that are designed specifically for home networks with one or more Media Center systems recording TV programming for later viewing. Works with DVR-MS and WTV files. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| RemoteKC | An autohotkey script that allows use of the Media Center remote as a mouse and triple-tap keyboard. | Y | MCE,VMC,? | N/A | 10/1/09 |
| Sony PS3 Remote Application | Use your PS3 Bluetooth remote to work as a standard Media Center remote. | Y | MCE,VMC,? | N/A | 10/1/09 |
| Transcode360 | Transcode otherwise unsupported media to the XBOX360 and other extenders. Widely used in many different media plugins for Media Center. | Y | All | N/A | 10/1/09 |
| TunerDJ | Tool that eases the the registry configuration for tuners in Windows Media Center. Configure, manage, rename, backup and restore settings, change tuner preference and more with this tool. | Y | ?,VMC,? | View | 10/1/09 |
| Vader’s Transcoder | Better quality transcoder than Transcoder360 and much more configurable. Trial available. | N | MCE,VMC | View | 10/1/09 |
| Virtual CloneDrive | Free, no frills virtual drive software. Simple, yet gets the job done. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| VMCMote | A native IPhone/IPod Touch application to wirelessly browse the Vista Media Center music library, play/enqueue tracks, create playlists, etc. A rudimentary "Remote Control" functionality is also included. 'Lite' version is free. Full featured version available for a small price. | Y | VMC,7MC | View | 10/5/09 |
| WebGuide | Enjoy live TV streaming, with PVR functionality, or remotely control your Media Center’s recordings from any web browser. | Y | MCE,VMC | View | 10/1/09 |
| WTV Watcher | If you run VMC with TV Pack or 7MC and need to constantly convert your recorded TV programs to DVRMS format, then you need this to make it painless. | Y | VMC,7MC | N/A | 11/16/09 |
Codecs
| Name | Free | MCE/VMC/7MC | View | Added | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7MC Codec Configuration Bible | “Aim: get best quality, including from network, with the lowest CPU, within 7MC, with fast forward & rewind, (auto) resume, and both audio stream switching and subtitle stream switching enabled, mainly for AVI’s (DivX, XviD,…) and MKVs. Important note: this guide is based on a 32-bit installation of Windows 7. Not sure if everything would work as indicated under x64.” I’ve looked at this and I guess it’s a pretty good guide for the most part. I don’t agree with some of it, but if your a novice, you could do worse. | Y | 7MC | N/A | 10/1/09 |
| AntiPack | Andy VT’s special package that not only supports the most needed codecs, but also helps in explaining what your are doing with them. Extremely useful if you’re a beginner but want to customize your 7MC filter set. Read the installation guide…there are additional requirements! | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| AC3Filter | Free, high quality audio decoder and processing filter. Takes most audio formats as input and can provide pass-through capabilities, equalizer functionality, transcoding to other formats, upmixing and more! I’ve used this one for years! | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| CCCP | I don’t like codec packs, but if I have to list one, this is it since it provides MKV playback for many novices that otherwise could not get it to work correctly. Issues have been reported with Win7, so YMMV. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| CoreAVC | Extremely efficient h.264 codec that also includes GPU acceleration with supported video adapters using CUDA technology. Excellent for older systems, but has plenty of options for the most powerful current HTPC. Trial available. | N | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| DivX | DivX has long been an industry leader in mpeg-4 video playback and now includes MKV capability supporting h.264 video and AAC audio! Playback is free, but if you want to create DivX content you have to pay for the Pro version. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| ffdshow | Awesome open source media encoder/decoder. There’s almost no media format that it doesn’t support. Highly configurable audio mixing, video post-processing, subtitle support and more! This is what I have used for years (clsid builds). Use in 7MC requires a utility that allows DirectShow filters to be manipulated. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| Gabest’s SourceForge Files | If you’re a little more on the advanced side of the fence and like to tinker, you may want to visit Gabest’s SourceForge repository and play with some of the many filters, splitters, etc. he has developed. | Y | All | N/A | 10/1/09 |
| Haali Media Splitter | A must-have if you rely on MKV (Matroska)/MP4 playback. Elusive x64 beta version is available in my downloads section. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| MPCVideoDec.ax | This is an included Media Player Classic – Home Cinema filter that can be separately registered to provide full DXVA for supported files. You must also have a supported GPU for h.264 DXVA. | Y | All | N/A | 10/1/09 |
| Preferred DirectShow Filter Tweaker | Developed by clsid (ffdshow developer), this tool allows you to pick and choose your own DirectShow filters in Win7 – overriding the preferred WPF filters. You must have additional supported codecs already installed (listed on linked page). | Y | 7MC | View | 10/1/09 |
| QuickTime Alternative | If you need QT support (.mov, .3gp, etc) and don’t want the bloat of the full package, then you should give this a try. Does not include the QT player making it perfect for HTPC use. Includes MPC as an option. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| Real Alternative | Like the QT Alternative, this package installs the files necessary for playback for RealMedia formats (.rm, .ram, .rmvb, .rpx, etc.). No player or background processes to eat away your HTPC’s resources. Includes MPC as an option. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| Shark007 Pack | Complete codec solution for Media Center and 100% UAC compliant. Centralized configuration and handles practically any and every media format. Downloads for x86 and x64 available. | Y | VMC,7MC | View | 10/1/09 |
| Vista Media Center Codec Bible | A user’s documented experience in codec configuration with Vista Media Center. I don’t quite understand why so much work was required to get everything working correctly to justify everything in that guide, but it seems fairly popular, so use your own judgment. | Y | VMC | NA | 10/1/09 |
| VSFilter/DirectVobSub | If you don’t use ffdshow (which also supports it) and you want to display subtitles, chances are you are going to need this. v2.23 appears to be the most common, but v2.39 is the latest version. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| XviD | Perhaps the most popular and widely used open source mpeg-4 video codec available. Link is for | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
Media Tools
| Name | Free | Compatibility | View | Added | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AnyDVD | Pretty much a “must have” if you rip BluRay discs or want to watch them without hassle on your HTPC’s BluRay player. Removes disc encryption on DVD also allowing uninhibited playback and/or ripping. Includes disc ripping utility also. Trial available. HD version must be purchased for BluRay/HD-DVD. | N | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| AVIDemux | Free, multiplatform video editor designed for simple cutting, filtering and encoding tasks supporting many different input and output formats. I would consider this the evolution of VirtualDubMod. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| AVISynth | A scripting language and collection of filters for simple (and not so simple) non-linear video editing tasks. Frameserves video to other applications. If your serious about encoding video, you really need to get a grip on this! | Y | All | N/A | 10/1/09 |
| ComSkip | Free MPEG commercial detctor which can be used in conjunction with a number of other utilities to cut out commercials. Supports several formats and containers. h.264 support available for donators. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| DivX Converter | Included in the Pro package for DivX 7. Allows for the conversion to DivX and DivX Plus (h.264) content. Trial available. | N | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| DVDDecrypter | Decrypt and then rip your DVD to ISO, VIDEO_TS folder or by IFO (movie only with selectable audio, video and subtitle tracks). No longer in development, but I still use it regularly. Can also be used to burn ISOs to disc. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| DVDFab HD Decrypter | Rips DVD and BluRay discs, removing all protections. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| DVD Shrink | No longer updated, but still useful. Still removes most DVD encryption and can remove title menus, extras, alternate audio/subtitle tracks and can encode the main movie for smaller file sizes. Can be used to completely reauthor any DVD. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| DVRMSToolbox | Automatically encode, convert and/or strip commercials from your Media Center recordings. Compatibility with WTV files (TV Pack and 7MC) appears to be hit-and-miss, so no specific download link is available. If you have any info on this, please contact me or comment. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| eac3to | Use this to extract and convert E-AC3, TrueHD, PCM and DTS-HD to more compatible AC3, DTS or FLAC formats. Used by many free all-in-one utilities that convert HD movies. Official forum thread at Doom9. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| FairUse Wizard | I don’t use too many “one-click” encoding solutions, but this one has been invaluable to me for encoding all of my sons’ cartoon series. Can take an entire DVD/ISO and output individual encoded episodes – not many that can do that at all…and do it well. Several output formats and quality is very good (better than most “one-clicks”). Limited feature free version is available. | N | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| Gordian Knot | Integrated package for automated encoding to DivX/XviD. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| GraphStudio | Open source and more powerful (more recent also) than GraphEdit, this tool allows for the display and manipulation of how a system’s DirectShow filter graph operates. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| Handbrake | Open-source, GPL licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded video transcoder. Fast and dead-easy to use with quality output in many popular formats. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| Lifextender | Lifextender scans your recording directories for new recording files and then utilizes ComSkip or ShowAnalyzer to remove the commercials and saves as a new file or replaces the old one…with a much smaller file size. The key to Lifextender is simplicity. Does not currently support the WTV format. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| MakeMKV | Encoding not your thing? This app can take your DVD/BluRay and mux the video, audio and subtitle streams you want directly to an MKV container in no time! Can also be used to rip individual series episodes. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| MCEBuddy | Automated service for Media Center that converts native DVR-MS files to a more user-configurable format (WMV, h.264 or DivX). Can be used along with ComSkip or ShowAnalyzer for commercial removal also. WTV format is not yet supported, but development is scheduled to resume Oct. ‘09. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| MeGUI | If you want total control over your encoding jobs along with no end to configuration options, then MeGUI is for you. It’s easy enough for an educated beginner, but can go as advanced as you could ever want. I use this one regularly. Official forum thread at Doom9. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| MKVToolnix | Multiplatform utility to create, alter and inspect Matroska (MKV) files. If you mess with MKV files and don’t have this, I don’t know how you manage. Grab MKVExtractGUI to go along with it. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| RipBot264 | Simple and easy to use GUI. Convert from DVD, Blu-ray or any video to IpoD, PSP, PS3, XBOX360, PC(MP4,MKV), Blu-ray or AVCHD without exotic filters and unnecessary settings. Requires AVisynth, ffdshow, haali media splitter and .Net Framework. I use this one almost exclusively and love that it can accept AVS scripts. Official forum thread at Doom9. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| ShowAnalyzer | “Commercial” automatic commercial detection application that can then be used in conjunction with a number of other editors to remove them. Trial available. | N | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| VideoRedo | As far as I know, this is the preferred application when dealing with WTV files with as little hassle as possible (and no prior converting to DVR-MS or MPG first). Plus and TV Suite editions available. Trials also available. | N | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| VirtualDubMod | This thing is like that rusty old pocketknife your uncle gave you. I always have it around because I still have a use for it. Still a good video capture and linear processor. Necessary for many encoding applications that utilize frameserving. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
| Windows Media Encoder 9 | If you like to encode to WMV/WMA formats, then this is where you probably need to start. | Y | All | View | 10/1/09 |
If you know of a plugin or utility that you think should be added to the list, please fill out the form below and I will consider adding it.
[...] Media Center plugin list [...]
[...] Media Center plugin list [...]
Browser: Internet Explorer 6.0 OS: Windows XP
Very well written and complete list.
Browser: Internet Explorer 8.0; OS: Windows Vista
Very happy I found this list, extremely helpfull. Thanks !
Browser: Maxthon 2.0 OS: Windows 7
very good list , thanks for your work
waiting for 7mc updates
Browser: Firefox 3.0.13 OS: Windows XP
Please add my plugin for Vista and W7 – it’s a more flexible slideshow application than the standard MCE functionality…
You can download it here – http://thedigitallifestyle.com/cs/media/p/20807.aspx
Thanks!
Browser: Firefox 3.5.2 OS: Windows Vista
I beat you to it…I’ve had it on the index for a couple weeks now :)
Browser: Internet Explorer 8.0; OS: Windows Vista
`Is there a way to turn off “The Magic Slideshow” logo? It seems like there is a single transition. Is there a way to randomize multiple transitions?
Browser: Firefox 3.5.2 OS: Windows XP
That would probably be better asked over at TGB. I’ve never used or seen that plugin…I only list it on my index.
Browser: Internet Explorer 7.0 OS: Windows XP
Thats f*** nice! ;)
Browser: Google Chrome 4.0.211.7 OS: Windows 7
Jon- Great job.
Browser: Firefox 3.5.3 OS: Windows 7
Thanks and thank you for your apps! Really looking forward to your finished menu editor for 7MC.
Browser: Google Chrome 3.0.195.21 OS: Windows XP
this is a great list, and i love it. the problem is that when you add new things its impossible to know what is new.
Browser: Firefox 3.5.3 OS: Windows 7
Yeh, I’m working on that actually. Finding the best (and easiest) way for me to do it is the problem. I want to keep from manual interaction as much as I can since I just don’t have the time, but I’m not quite sure what’s available without doing yet another complete redesign of it. That’s probably going to be my only real long term option though.
Browser: Google Chrome 3.0.195.21 OS: Windows 7
BookMarkIt does not work under 7MC. Just thought you’d like to know :)
Browser: Firefox 3.5.3 OS: Windows 7
Thanks…will update!
Browser: Internet Explorer 8.0; OS: Windows 7 x64 Edition
Thank you so much for this. Fantastic work!
[...] Plugin Index [...]
Browser: Google Chrome 3.0.195.24 OS: Windows XP
Looks great Jon!
Browser: Firefox 3.5.3 OS: Windows 7
Thanks!
Browser: Internet Explorer 7.0 OS: Windows Vista
Thank you for taking the time to update the index, and for maintaining such an informative Blog. Your website has been instrumental in keeping me up to date in the perpetually changing landscape of Home Theater PC’s. Thanks again.
Browser: Firefox 3.0.14 OS: Windows XP
@Jon (1st Aug) – thanks Jon, I hadn’t seen it on there already!!
@Dr. Andrew Egol – I’ve added an option to hide the title – should be on there in a few days time. I had considered adding more animations, but I don’t know how to set them dynamically in MCML/C#. Anyone got any ideas??
Browser: Firefox 3.0.14 OS: Windows XP
Jon – Magic Slideshow works on W7 as well as Vista… Cheers.
Browser: Internet Explorer 7.0; OS: Windows XP
It would be nice the add a column indicating whether the plugin works with extenders.
Browser: Internet Explorer 8.0; OS: Windows 7
Can you add a column “Extender Supported”?
Browser: Firefox 3.5.3 OS: Windows 7
I can, but right now I don’t have time to research which ones are or are not supported. Plus, I don’t have any type of extender to test it myself. If anyone wants to start a list of what is and isn’t supported and submit20, I’ll start updating as they come in until I have time to look into it on my own.
Browser: Firefox 3.5.4 OS: Windows 7
Very nice list.. Probably on of the most complete list of plug-ins on the net.
Keep up the good work
Browser: Internet Explorer 8.0; OS: Windows 7
Kudos points all round, I think you have the lead on the place to come for the definitive list.
Thanks for taking the time to do it and keep it up to date.
Its gone into my bookmarks..
Browser: Internet Explorer 7.0 OS: Windows XP
I don’t normally respond or comment on anything but I certainly wanted to say Thank You for taking the persoanl time to begin, update and maintain a list for all to use on the net. Thanks Again.