aMPed 3.0 - revaMPed (1 Viewer)

[Dadeo]

ned_flanders - First, that is great you got the MyHome Menu working! You can use the fix scrollbar to set where you want the focus on MyHome. First disable it, then open MP, put the focus where you want, then close MP and in the Home Plugin Config, select Fix Scrollbars. It will set it to where you last had focus in MP (i.e. on the center item if you like that)

Do you mean the new Music Videos plugin (ver 0.4)? I just finished the new skin files for that as there were skin changes in the latest version. I am considering a new hover (which Bleazle graciously sent me) different from the one we used for Mvids (the old verison of Music Videos, which is what BasicHome in aMPed currently links to).

Are you using the new plugin? If so, would you be willing to test the new skin files for me? If so, I can put them in SVN if you are comfortable using SVN. If not, I can post them here in the forum.

Here's the Bleazle hover, what do you think?

 

[ned_flanders]

Thank you for the hint with the focus thing

Yes, I mean the new Music Videos plugin in version 0.4 (very nice plugin btw). The Bleazle hover you posted is very nice in my opinion, maybe there could be some more contrast between the background and the crowd to make it a little bit more visible in little hover mode.

I would love to test the new skin files for you, maybe it would be easier to put the files directly in this thread.

I'll also take a look at the Shoutcast plugin alternatives you mentioned some posts ago

 

[chefkoch]

Big :THX: for this great skin.

I am another one who still is using a 4:3 tv.

I tried the skin a few weeks ago, with the plain svn files from google but was not very happy with it, don't no anymore why.
Now I downloaded the installer and gave it another try. and it's great. Especially the config tool is great and easy to use and usefull. :THX: :THX:

After using for a few minutes, I have only one suggestion so far, but it is not very important.
Using the revampedBasicHome screen Mod 3.0 and pressing Movies seems to open MesFilms plugin. Since I am using MovingPictures I changed the id in BasicHome.xml from 7986 to 96742 for the movie control. It's no problem for me, but maybe for others an option in config tool could be usefull?

best regards
chefkoch

 

[Dadeo]

Yes, I mean the new Music Videos plugin in version 0.4 (very nice plugin btw)

I have asked Chris, the developer, if he can support fanart like the previous version of mvids, so keep your fingers crossed! For now, aMPed will use your fanart from the media\fanart\music folder if you have any. I just copied my mvids fanart there!

The Bleazle hover you posted is very nice in my opinion, maybe there could be some more contrast between the background and the crowd to make it a little bit more visible in little hover mode.

I agree we need more contrast on smaller screens. Here's a few options I came up with. Let me know what you think.

And the skin file is attached. You can overwite the existing one in the aMPed skin folder. You won't get the Most Played Artist or Video unitl you have played at least one Video fully. You can see how it should look from the 3rd last screenshot in the first post - the one displaying Mattafix (my fav artist atm!). Most Played artist shows on the menu in Artist View, Most Played Video on the menu in Video view since with larger fonts and smaller 4:3 screens they both won't fit!

 

[Dadeo]

Big :THX: for this great skin. I am another one who still is using a 4:3 tv.

Thanks Chefkoch, does that mean we get an inside track on patches? It was really difficult getting everything to work with larger fonts! I can give you a long list of all the problems I have! Just kidding. Migue has already submitted a number of patches for MP 1.1.0 that will help. And there are a lot of new skin developments coming that are really exciting and will make aMPed 3.1 in MP 1.1.0 much better!

You are absolutely correct about the revaMPed 3.0 Mod. I am already working on it. I just threw that in at the last minute as a sample for users to see how to do their own Mod. It was just a quick Mod I did for my own system. And it proves the point you should not throw things in at the last minute!

I think the revaMPed 3.0 BasicHome is a good generic version for most users to start with. But I am trying to come up with an alternative particularly for MovingPictures users who won't have a Videos database (so Videos and Movies on revaMPed 3.0 will do nothing for them) So if you have any suggestions feel free, now is the time!

EDIT: And yes, we do have plans to incorporate some BasicHome configuration into aMPedConfig, but as it is new, we wanted to get feedback and refine BasicHome so we don't automate a mess!

 

[chefkoch]

You are absolutely correct about the revaMPed 3.0 Mod. I am already working on it. I just threw that in at the last minute as a sample for users to see how to do their own Mod. It was just a quick Mod I did for my own system. And it proves the point you should not throw things in at the last minute!

I think the revaMPed 3.0 BasicHome is a good generic version for most users to start with. But I am trying to come up with an alternative particularly for MovingPictures users who won't have a Videos database (so Videos and Movies on revaMPed 3.0 will do nothing for them) So if you have any suggestions feel free, now is the time!

Like you said, it's a good start, and I really like the "Mod" version very much. because of it's clean list on the left and the free space on the right. But others maybe like the nonmodded version.
Same goes for the news item, which is used by a huge part of users, but I personally don't use it, nevertheless it's no problem that it's in basichome, because so I will give this plugin a try over the next days

Keep up the good work
regards
chefkoch

 

[Dadeo]

chefkoch (and others) Here's my latest attempt at a BasicHome mod for MovingPictures users- revaMPed 3.0 Mod If you want to give it a go, I'd appreciate the feedback! Its a first draft so there are bound to be things that need changing.

Movies is preset to go to MovingPictures on Enter/OK. The Main Menu contains only the most used (imo) Items: Weather, Music, Movies, Videos, TVSeries, TV. They all have submenus except TVSeries. I added a 'More' item that goes to a submenu with Pictures, News, Games, System, Settings, Plugins. The News, Games and System items have another level submenu. Although News is used a lot, I moved it because you can access InfoService News feeds by pressing Enter/OK when you are viewing the 5 day Weather forecast. Of course, you need the InfoService plugin for both those features. I think we will include InfoService in the next release of aMPed since it is somewhat integral to BasicHome.

You can copy the attached file to your \layouts\BasicHome\revamped (3.0) Mod folder. Or, if you want to keep the previous Mod, you can just copy the folder first. Any folder in \layouts\BasicHome will show up in aMPedConfig in the drop down box for BasicHome Layout (but without previews)

 

[chefkoch]

Great, it's working nice here, thx good work

 

[ned_flanders]

Hi Dadeo,

I had some time now to test the new MusicVids.xml. First of all it looks very nice in general.
One thing that might be an issue or might be intended this way is that the informations about the band wich the focus lies on are only displayed when I turn down the "left" button to reach the menu. Maybe that information should be displayed on the main page. You can see what I mean by looking the attached screenshots I think.
Then on the overview over the seperate vidoes from one band you could use almost the whole screen width to display the title of the videos instead of only the left part of the screen.
Last thing: dunno if it is a skin or a plugin thing, but when entering a special band to get the list of their videos it should be displayed the amount of the videos from that selected artist in the lower left corner instead of the total number of all artists and videos.

 

[Dadeo]

@Ned - thanks for the feedback. Yes I could put the Band Bio on the main window, but I did intend it that way because:
1. The list will have to be shorter so you won't see as many bands/artists
2. You only read the bio sometimes (usually first time), mostly you are looking for your videos to play, the bio is really just reference material
3. In large fonts, the Bios always scroll as they are often quite long. I try to keep scrolling on the main window to a minimum so I don't make users dizzy. That's a design standard throughout aMPed so you are probably not going to like that in a lot of places

Regarding the width of the list of videos, you can set your own preference in aMPedConfig on the layouts tab, though that will apply to most lists. It is limited to a max of 410 so that lists won't overlap the video image in the lower right, or the media overlay when video is playing. The idea was that some users like to see all the text in lists while others prefer to see more fanart and read the list data in larger fonts at the top of the screen. So it's your choice!

However, the video title should be displayed at the top under the artist name, and I see it is not so I will have to fix that!

I agree completely that the videos layout should show the number of videos for that band/artist, not the total artists/videos, but that is a plugin issue and I have requested it a couple of times already! I'll remind Chris!

EDIT: Why don't you have an artist image for Kyuss? Did the plugin just not find one? Do you usually get artist images in the lower right? You should!

EDIT 2: You didn't say which hover you like best