A Few Noob Questions :)

[RichyF]

Hi Guys
I have been playing with my new MP system over the last few days and am very impressed with it. Its my first touch of any such system so am still getting used to the concepts etc.
I am not as yet using any TV functionality, just using it as a player.

I have a few questions if thats ok:

I have so far been playing xvid movies fine and everything has been cool, however one or two of my latest files are mkv files (h264). These play fine via vlc but i was wondering if i can get them to just play via the mp interface as they are sat next to the other movies in the "My Movies" section. I have enabled the vlc plugin but when i click "configure" on it nothing happens. Have i done something wrong?

My Music, I have copied a boat load of my mp3 files over the the machine, it all plays very well but i was wondering if i can have visualizations from winamp or mediacenter on it?

Is it also possible to add radio stations that are available in winamp to the "My Radio" section? Or some of the online bbc ones for example.

I would like to be able to "RIP" my dvd's to the hdd when i put them in to play, is this possible (In a similar way to itunes does with music?). Also is it possble to burn MP3 / Xvids to dvd / cd from the MP interface?

Sorry if im asking common questions ive had a look through the forums and not really been able to find the answers myself (although they seem very basic).

I plan to have a main machine downstairs and use a tv card to connect to my pace telewest box (really old one). Then have a small machine upstairs (or an xbox). So far im extremely impressed
GJ Guys

[Kasuo]

Welcome to the forums!

I'm abit of a noobie here, myself, but I can still help out.

For playback of mkv files, I've yet to get a chance to look at the plugin. Are you sure you placed everything in the right place? I'll hopefully get a chance at trying the plugin abit later this evening.

As for visualizations while playing music files, I've yet to see a plugin for it. Then again, it's another that I've yet to look into.

For ripping, you can use apps like Alcohol (sp?) to auto rip DVDs to ISO images. I believe that I saw a plugin for loading ISO images which you could use. Or you could use one of the several MPEG rippers available on the web to auto-rip the movie into a mpeg file. I'll try to find a decent one for ya.
For mp3s, you can have an app in the background auto rip the desk - I'd recommend MusicMatch for that. Just make sure it'll place the mp3s in the right folder for ya.

Earlier versions of WinAMP held the stations in playlist files in the main program folder - if that's the case, you could link MP to that folder and you can use those playlists through the MyRadio plugin. Or you could copy those playlist files and place them in something like [root]\My Radio with your other selected radio stations to keep track of them easily in MP.

And finally for burning, I know you can burn Movie DVDs through the MyBurner plugin (which is really nice). I'm unsure about CD burning though - I'll check up on it.

[Inker]

Regarding mkv playback, you don't need to use vlc for that. Generally, anything playable through Directshow can be played inside MP.

So for mkv, install a matroska splitter (haali for instance) and depending on the video and audio codecs, install the relevant filters (ffdshow for instance). Then add mkv to the video extensions (if it isnt already) and your good to go.

You can also playback .flv (flash), .mov (quicktime), .rm (real media) etc. by installing the relevant directshow filters :-)

Inker

[mbuzina]

Originally Posted by RichyF

Hi Guys
My Music, I have copied a boat load of my mp3 files over the the machine, it all plays very well but i was wondering if i can have visualizations from winamp or mediacenter on it?

With the latest releases (SVN) you can select the BASS Audio Player in Setup (might be default by now) and you may store your Winamp Viz in MusicPlayer\Plugins\visualizations. Then you can configure them in the Config App.

Originally Posted by RichyF

Is it also possible to add radio stations that are available in winamp to the "My Radio" section? Or some of the online bbc ones for example.

The Radio Plugin can also play Internet streams. Set your Streams directory to a dir on your HDD which contains PLS (Winamp) Files and off you go.

Originally Posted by RichyF

I would like to be able to "RIP" my dvd's to the hdd when i put them in to play, is this possible (In a similar way to itunes does with music?).

Not with MP. You can play ripped DVDs by installing deamon tools (Virtual DVD Drive) and MP will autoload the dvds when selected (also config option).

MP will also RIP Audio CDs when you install the LAME mp3 encoder and configure mp to use it. (Navigate in Shares view to the CD Drive, right-click for the context menu and select something like rip (don't recall the name)).

Originally Posted by RichyF

Also is it possble to burn MP3 / Xvids to dvd / cd from the MP interface?

Yep, you have the Burner Plugin. But (as almost everything) it is not 100% Release ready.