Quick update!  The first beta to Media Browser has just been released to the public.  See a highlights/features list and link to download here.  Screenshots are in my previous entry.

As far as I know, the last SVN has been committed that would prompt the first beta release of the new Media Browser plugin.  There’s not a ton to add since I gave the first sneak peek a few weeks ago, but I wanted to include the latest screenshots and give a quick rundown of some of the features.  Media Browser (renamed from Video Browser) now includes:

• Automatic metadata and image fetching
• Automatic thumbnail generation
• New settings and configuration interface
• Resuming of playback
• Multiple views (detail, poster, thumb, banner, etc.)
• Vertical or horizontal scrolling (you decide!)
• Adjustable poster sizing
• Automated playlists (adjustable too!)
• Smart sort indexing
• Adaptable view settings
• Multi-threaded background caching for fast metadata loading and library browsing
• Greatly enhanced information screens with selectable synopsis and actor fields
• …and more!

Instead of posting screenshots here, I’m just going to link a gallery that I created.  The images are a little higher res this time around as NextGen Gallery is finally working with it’s new version for WP 2.7.  I have no idea on a formal release date for the new beta, but I do know that is very close and there should be no discernible changes between what you see here and that time.

Take a look and then head on over the Media Browser forums to let them know what you think!

The development around the plugin widely known as Video Browser is quietly taking a turn towards a more appropriate title – Media Browser.

I had noticed for a week or more that not a whole lot had been updated on the Video Browser SVN trunk and started to worry over it a bit.  I realize the developers are volunteers, but it was storming forward with masses of new features and then really hit the brakes.  After some digging, I came across the read-only developers forum and found a very interesting post.  One of the developers had created a new SVN branch and pretty much had rewritten/reorganized the entire plugin.  I was very excited and found a way to grab this branch and compile (I’m not a programmer, so figuring out how to grab that branch was big for me!).

Once I had compiled and installed the new Media Browser, I was floored.  To think what I saw was a partially working beginning to a new browser plugin left me in a state of disbelief.  I’m only going to give away a couple of teaser shots here since I want to wait for the developers to settle on a few things that change every few updates to the SVN.  All screenshots were taken using r199 as reference.

Install indicates the new title (Media Browser).

Prompt for configuring Media Browser on first run.

First configuration page.

Full configuration page (accessible via the settings icon at top left)

My folder categories (notice the unwatched counter within the “star” overlay – it is scanning my folders, but has not run full course in this screen).

My “Movies” folder (notice that other organizational folders have the unwatched star with number of unwatched videos).  Settings and sort options are on the top left.

“View” dropdown menu for changing the way titles are displayed (Poster, Detail, and Thumb Strip with optional banners, labels and poster resizing).  You can also choose vertical scrolling instead of the native horizontal.

“Name” dropdown menu for sorting.

“None” dropdown menu for alternate sorting (will probably get renamed).

Full movie details screen.  The actors and synopsis fields are selectable for scrolling.

My TV Shows folder in Thumb Strip view.

A series in Poster view (notice the fan art backdrop – this was downloaded automatically, to my surprise!)

A season in Thumb Strip view.

Aside from what I’ve shown, there is also some automated metadata fetching going on.  Since my movie shares are not writable over the network, it has to be caching all of the metadata locally on the HTPC.  This kind of sucks if you have multiple HTPCs since they’re all going to have to go out and grab their own metadata, but would speed up access after pulling it all.  Like I said though, this is still early developmental SVN builds, so there’s a lot of work to be done and I know the Media Browser team will make it right.

Awesome work guys!  Head on over the the Media Browser Forums and give them your support!  They’re also currently working on a new website, so stay tuned for updates on that.

Just wanted to leave a quick notice of a few popular Vista Media Center plugins that have ramped up as of late and introduced new versions with some excellent features.

• JackLuminous’ Video Library over at TheGreenButton has re-added movie metadata fetching capabilities now that TheMovieDB.org has a working API.  There has been a lot of updates for this project lately, so check often.
• Sam Saffron’s Video Browser has a new public beta available on his Google Code site.  You can read about all of the new additions here and I have some screen shots of the preceding SVNs a few posts back.  Bill Daugherty II has some additional screenshots (higher res than mine) also.  Head over to his Windows Media Center blog to see them.
• Finally, a new release for VMCNetflix is out (1.1.7) from eluttmann1 at TheGreenButton.  It fixes login issues as a result of changes on the Netflix site.  I’m sire there are some other changes, but you can read about them on the VMCNetflix site.  Support, comments and discussion are available at TheGreenButton.
• MyMovies has also released v2.49 about a week ago.  I was going to hold off since there is going to be another release very soon that will be removing the locked down sort field that I complained about.  But, I’m not sure that it will warrant a new version.  I would wait, personally, for that one to come out if you need to upgrade.  The Windows Home Server version is also now at v1.01.

There are other plugin updates, but these are all that I really use and follow.  I did notice that there is a little spark of life back in the OML project.  There were a few SVN changes during the week, so that’s reassuring.  I believe the volunteers’ real lives have interfered a bit, so hopefully things will progress in the coming weeks.  Keep an eye on them though…it’s eventually going to be a very nice plugin.

I’m planning on posting instructions on how to relocate the default location of the MyMovies database soon.  I’ve come across some interest in that and thought I’d share how to do it.  It’s not a supported “hack”, so I didn’t want to post it on the MyMovies Forum.  I know Brian doesn’t want to deal with any complications that it may bring, so it will be at your own risk.  It’s also a bit involved (if you’re a typical user), so be prepared for some moderately scary stuff if you’re not comfortable with SQL tools.

Ever since I started using Media Center (even MCE), I’ve felt that the video library plugins available have just been missing something.  MyMovies filled in perfectly in the pre-Vista Media Center days, but it appears when a MCML version for it shows up, Windows 7 will be knocking on our door and who knows if it’ll be compatible.  Then came OML and their open-source offering that got everyone excited.  While it looks great and has features to dream of, it still leaves some of us lacking.  It doesn’t support layered folder structures or TV collections.

I don’t want to take anything away from MyMovies or OML.  They’re both great in their own rights and have huge followings of loyal users.  However, I can’t really wait any longer.  I have a huge collection of movies and TV shows that are folder-based and in a layered directory structure.  It used to not be folder-based, but I changed in order to use a plugin that, at first, I hated to love – Sam’s Video Browser.

Video Browser is a very simple folder-based plugin that requires a folder.jpg image (poster) and mymovies.xml file (metadata) to be present in order to work properly.  A series.xml file and metadata folder (containing individual episode images and xml episode metadata) are used for TV episodes.  It is currently the only plugin that I know of that actively supports both movie and TV collections.  As of late, development has really ramped up to provide some absolutely fantastic features and display options.  I’ve included just a sneak peak of a few of their views below.

Poster view

Poster view with title label

Poster detail view

TV detail view

There are more views available (including a new beta strip view), but I don’t want to give away everything.  You can also change the poster sizes to accommodate more, or less, posters on the screen (less makes them larger).

Other new features include the display of TV show metadata (not just individual episodes anymore), director sorting, separated caching folders (so you can refresh image cache without wiping out your settings) and more.  One of the things that really set Video Browser apart from the others is what most users find most important – they lack a collection management system.  That’s right – Video Browser doesn’t have a single data file, database or any other centralized form of managing your collection.  This is really the beauty of folder-based video collections, however.  When you get a new movie, you throw it in a folder of the same name, generate your metadata, grab your poster, throw it in your library and you’re done!  Video Browser automatically finds it and caches it for your.  The problem I find with plugins that rely on a backend is that if you forget to add the movie or incorrectly link it, you may never notice it’s not actually there or not configured properly (especially if you have a very large collection – even a new movie can easily get lost in the crowd).  If you ever want to remove a movie, it’s as simple as deleting the folder.

Aside from everything I’ve mentioned, Video Browser looks great and is lightning fast.  Initial caching of my top level folder (nearly 900 images) took just seconds.  I highly recommend you take a look at this plugin and drop by their forums to offer your suggestions…I’ve already had two of my recommendations included simply by asking.  The developers are all about providing a plugin that users want.

Great job Video Browser team!