About to Install Moving Pictures (1 Viewer)

[jsimmons]

I'm currently running Vista with MediaPortal 1.0, and I have four hard drives with over 360 movies and about 200 TV shows (from various series).

I'm going to be installing Windows7 Ultimate (64-bit), Daemon Tools, MediaPortal 1.02, and then Moving Pictures (1.04). I have some questions:

0) I will not be using the Media Portal database. What will MovingPictures do?

1) I don't want fan art or background images. Can I completely turn that stuff off?

2) Should I delete the cover art I've already got on the hard drive?

3) Am I correct in assuming it will scan all folders listed in the Videos section of the Media Portal config?

4) Is there anything else I need to install or do before running this stuff for the first time?

5) Will MovingPics 1.04 run on Media Portal 1.02?


Just thought I'd mention that I couldn't find anyplace (including the FAQ the wiki, or wherever else you might happen to mention) that describes what you need to do to get ready to install MP, nor what it does when you start it up the first time. I looked for over an hour (maybe my google foo is running low, I don't know).

 

[pirivan]

Be aware from the MediaPortal release information that even with the latest stable version of MediaPortal:

"Please be aware that we are currently not supporting installations which contain the Vista TV-Pack, nor Windows 7."

I tried to install MediaPortal 1.0.1 on Windows 7 x64 Ultimate and the installation caused a BSOD. Suffice to say I immediately looked up the latest stable version and noticed the above. The good news is that this was on my secondary PC; where I just have MP installed for testing. Better that it happened on my secondary box before I upgraded the HTPC to 7 and ran into issues!

 

[jsimmons]

Well... "crap" is about the only response that really fits here.

 

[catavolt]

AW: About to Install Moving Pictures

Before moaning around you should use the latest MP 1.1. RC1 which is stable and compatible with Win 7

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

0) I will not be using the Media Portal database. What will MovingPictures do?

1) I don't want fan art or background images. Can I completely turn that stuff off?

That sounds more like you need MyFilms than Moving Pictures, as it has its own database and none of the above bling.

 

[ZealotSix]

1) I don't want fan art or background images. Can I completely turn that stuff off?

Maybe if you disable all of the artwork data sources. I have not tested this though. You will do this under the Importer Settings tab in the configuration.

Also most skins are going to look a little odd without cover art. There will be an empty spot where the cover would have been. Backdrops shouldn't be a problem though, as most skins have a default backdrop for movies that are missing this.

3) Am I correct in assuming it will scan all folders listed in the Videos section of the Media Portal config?

No, you are incorrect. Moving Pictures has it's own watch folders that are independent of MediaPortal's Video watch folders. This is set up on the Movie Importer tab of the configuration.

4) Is there anything else I need to install or do before running this stuff for the first time?

After installing, you should go to the Moving Pictures configuration.

It will ask you what language you want to use, and it will enable some default scrapers based on this information.

You should then go over to the Importer Settings tab to manually disable all of the cover and backdrop scrapers.

After doing this, go set up your watch folders in the Movie Importer tab. It will then start finding all of your movies. You can sit here and watch it, or go to the gui, and this process will run in the background.

Once the importing is done, you can exit the config and go to the Media Portal gui to check things out.

5) Will MovingPics 1.04 run on Media Portal 1.02?

Yes.

Just thought I'd mention that I couldn't find anyplace (including the FAQ the wiki, or wherever else you might happen to mention) that describes what you need to do to get ready to install MP, nor what it does when you start it up the first time. I looked for over an hour (maybe my google foo is running low, I don't know).

Thanks for the heads up. The wiki could certainly use some freshening up and a getting started guide.

 

[jsimmons]

Re: AW: About to Install Moving Pictures

Before moaning around you should use the latest MP 1.1. RC1 which is stable and compatible with Win 7

Yep - downloaded that too, and while I would really like to wait for RC2, I have a free weekend right *now* so I'm kinda backed into a corner.

0) I will not be using the Media Portal database. What will MovingPictures do?

1) I don't want fan art or background images. Can I completely turn that stuff off?

That sounds more like you need MyFilms than Moving Pictures, as it has its own database and none of the above bling.

Well, even if I could specify a common background, that would be okay. I just don't want to waste a lot of hard drive space with files that don't matter in the grand scheme of things.

1) I don't want fan art or background images. Can I completely turn that stuff off?

Maybe if you disable all of the artwork data sources. I have not tested this though. You will do this under the Importer Settings tab in the configuration.

Also most skins are going to look a little odd without cover art. There will be an empty spot where the cover would have been. Backdrops shouldn't be a problem though, as most skins have a default backdrop for movies that are missing this.

But I *do* want cover art.

As long as I can specify my own default backdrop, I'm fine with that.

 

[tommiejoie]

Well... "crap" is about the only response that really fits here.

I got MP working on W7RC. It seemed to work OK but as I recall I had some hardware/driver issues, and I didnt think W7 added anything to the HTPC (in fact it took away from the experience because I couldnt customize certain features, so I reverted back to XP.

I will upgrade again to W7 when theres an MP release that makes me go WOW. I havn't updated since I got everything working properly after months of tinkering (literally) so I didnt want to go messing with it again. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

But anyway, my reccomendation, if you want to go to W7 try it out. If it doesn't work out you can always fall back on ole reliable XP.

 

[jsimmons]

Just so everyone knows I went ahead and installed Windows7/64, MediaPortal 1.1.0. RC1, and Moving Pictures 1.04, and after some weirdness with the renderer (a MediaPortal problem?), all is well.

I've even gotten used to the kinda quirky importer stuff.

All in all, a not too shabby experience.