Media handling, an essential part of the HTPC?

[Lyxalig]

Hi all.

I have not been writing on the forum for a while, but I am a daily user of MP.

I have been brewing on a few thoughts regarding MP for a while now, and I think this is the time to give them as this is supposed to be the new MP. These are my first ramlings, and if anyone finds this to be constructive, I will write down the rest.. I hope you take the time to comment on this.


I like the idea of beening able to change things from within MP, and I have read the multiple of posts stating pros and cons in this matter. My opinion is that settings should remain a seperate part of any GUI. A settings section in the GUI should suffice for any user, and the rest of the GUI should remain free from such visual noise.

That been said I am supprised that you, the developers, chose to include settings as a big part of the GUI, and state that a wizard comes later on in the development cycle. Let me ellaborate: In my opinion a HTPC is worthless without content. When installing, a user should be presented with a «smart» wizard that guides the user through any setting that HAS to be made in order to use the product to its fullest, before the user is presented with the «end user experience.» Codecs and the likes should be standardized, but configurable of course, but location of media should be configured. Such a wizard could present the user with choices such as:

-Where do you store music
-Albums
-Get information and covers
-Compilations
-Get information and covers
-Podcasts
-Singles
-Get information and covers
-Downloads
-Option to move to a different folder

-Where do you store video
-Movies
-Get information and covers
-Home movies
-Clips
-Rated

And the list goes on for any kind of media the CORE product should be able to play, sort and present for the user. If this seems too complicated for the average user, give an option to search the computer for media, and intelligently categorize them. This can be done by analyzing the folder structure, file size, file extension, meta data, and online services such as last.fm, imdb, tv.com and others.

When the user is done, the product should using the resulting database be able to provide a preconfigured easy to use interface, with virtually no need for additional settings to be made.

Bets regards Fredrik

[geov]

I agree with you, a smart-wizard will make MP far more user friendly and help those users that are not very technical.

[Darre]

Originally Posted by Lyxalig

That been said I am supprised that you, the developers, chose to include settings as a big part of the GUI, and state that a wizard comes later on in the development cycle.

As this was only a tech-preview, putting settings in all sub-menus was just to show how much of stuff you actually can change from within MP. MP2 Isn't suppose to work yet, its just out there so we all can have a look.

I agree with you in how it should be as a finished product, and I'm pretty sure the devs are too. So don't be shocked by the way things look now, as they will most probably change a lot even before the next alpha. One of the devs even thought that 90% of the core might be rewritten before final release.

[frodo]

Actually i disagree

In my opinion its not very user friendly to ask the user all information when he first starts up MP-II
I would much more like MP-II to ask these questions when needed.

For example, suppose i never use My Pictures
Then why should i need to enter information where i store my pictures ?

Another example suppose i install MP-II and wanna watch a movie
Then why would i need to enter information about where my music/pictures are stored?
I want to play a movie so MP-II should only ask where the movie-media is stored
and not come up with annoying questions about music and pictures...

[Darre]

Yeah I agree thats better, the wizard starts when you try to enter the specific menu entry.. And for the more experienced users the ability to disable the whole wizard madness from the external config app. Wizards drive me nuts, but they are awesome for people who just want to sit down with the remote and have everything just working. Which probably includes most of the worlds population.

[Lyxalig]

Originally Posted by frodo

Actually i disagree

Valid points, but in my opinion for MP I. I think MP II should be smarter than MP I, and provide the user with overall media handling capabilities.

Originally Posted by frodo

In my opinion its not very user friendly to ask the user all information when he first starts up MP-II
I would much more like MP-II to ask these questions when needed.

For example, suppose i never use My Pictures
Then why should i need to enter information where i store my pictures ?

If you don't have any particular place for pictures, MPII should choose the system wide folder. Why do this now you say? Lets say you include a feature (I think this would be a must-have) to recognize whenever a camera or memory card containing pictures are connected to the HTPC.

Possible features to come with MP II;
-Transfer these into the standard directory/folder with a push of a button
-Tag pictures as a collection
-Tag pictures individually
-Upload to and download from flickr, community sites or similar. (Community plugins that would need this CORE feature)

Still: if you don't use it, you wont see it.

Originally Posted by frodo

Another example suppose i install MP-II and wanna watch a movie

This really deviates from earlier stated "MP is supposed to be a application to turn your pc into a mediacenter"
If you "just" want to see a movie or organize pictures or play music, there is lots of better alternatives out there.

Originally Posted by frodo

Then why would i need to enter information about where my music/pictures are stored?

This is just the same as with pictures: If needed, MP II, or maybe even more important community plugins, can utilize this information.
- Rip cd's
- Move music to/from memory cards, mp3 players.

Originally Posted by frodo

I want to play a movie so MP-II should only ask where the movie-media is stored
and not come up with annoying questions about music and pictures...

The wizard should then be able to skip these steps, and use "standard mappings".

To sum this up, make the CORE application organize and control all possible media, let plugins do the "fancy features."

Fredrik

[SpiffBB]

Actually I think all opinion could go into one solution.... What about a smart light wizard where you first choose what parts you want to use (movies, pictures etc) and then configure chosen parts. So IF you have chosen pictures you then enter folders (and if you havent chosen pictures the picture viewer plugin is disabled). More advanced options like fading etc is only in the standard (advanced) configuration tool. This way you dont end up with a MP-meny there you have "pictures" and if you press it it starts to want information (because this in my opinion wont give a "solid" impression). If you change your mind you could later on rerun the easy wizard or activate it in the main advanced configuration tool.

By the way - why all posts about the configuration integrated or not? Isnt it a perfect way we have it now there you can enable/disable its appearance in MP within the configuration program?! Myself would realy not want it in the MP-meny for others to destroy all settings but I can understand others who want the possibility - temporary or permanently.

Best regards
Oscar

[Avigrace]

A wizard for each section and when you first run MPII it asks "Do you want to configure movie settings now?" Yes/No and then the same question for each section. If you choose no then in the settings for that section should be the option to rerun the wizard.

[moiristo]

When I was reading this topic, I automatically thought of the Debian installer I used recently. The installer starts as a wizard, but when you close the wizard it presents you with a screen showing subsections of the whole wizard (for instance: partition hard drives, sound, network, ...). Maybe it is a good idea to do something similar in MPII. Users that want to use everything follow the whole wizard, while users that only want to play movies just configure the subsection for doing that.

[The_Stig]

Yeah, and we're back to the good old problem again...for who do we build MP? For the experienced user that like many options and possibilities or for the not-trained (aka noob) user who wants an very intuitive way of controlling MP?
So more options always means more complexity. And we will loose many users with too much complexity. I very much agree with frodo about the way its handled now.