My Anime plugin (4 Viewers)

[Raytestrak]

Thanks;
Didn't noticed it so far as I were quite satisfied with StreamedMP.

Without going into too much off-topic. You know what are the major differences?

No sorry, tried them both in the beginning and had some serious issues with streamedmp so I stuck with MediaStream, haven't tried StreamedMP anymore since day one so maybe it's a great skin now. It's a matter of taste I guess, the look and feel are a bit different. In the end it doesn't really matter for me anyway since I modified movingpictures and mptvseries (those are my main plugins) so much they don't look like either skin

 

[bert_r]

Regarding the hashing speed: I just spent several hours trying to improve the hashing speed, and it seems it's already quite fast. I tried several strategies in c#, including starting several threads to hash the chunks parallel, and the largest improvement I could manage is 4%. Thinking that C would be the fastest language to calculate such things, I also tried creating a separate C dll to do the hashing, resulting in a 10% speed improvement.

The best that I could manage (until now) is a 10% speed improvement, which isn't much. My files take an average of 6 seconds to hash, which would lower to 5.4 ... hardly a difference. So unless somebody has a brilliant idea, I'm afraid we're stuck with the current hashing speed (except for small improvements).

lwerndly: I also love the v2 screenshots so far. If you need any help, let me know!

One other problem I noticed, which may also be a problem in v2: When scanning new files, it would probably be best to check if the hashed file already exists. A few days ago I renamed a few directories (I have the habit to start a directory name with an underscore for series I'm currently watching, I can find them easier that way because they're sorted on top). When I opened the dir in MP, all the files in the renamed directory were rehashed (which is logical) and I had lost all watched statuses (which is less logical). When I checked the database, all these files occurred twice (same hash, different dir).

 

[FdL]

Ohhhh, it's MediaStream, not StreamedMP... I was going to ask why none of my screens look like that
Is there any degree of customization? I mean, that looks awesome, but when I try skins for AnimePlugin I don't ever get it to show the same screens you guys post :s
Does it really come with a Bakuretsu Tenshi splash screen for anime as default? How cool is that?

In short, I want my MP to look like your screens

That's it, I'm installing MediaStream.

 

[lwerndly]

This is gonna be a long one

Okay, so with these dvds I can tell the plugin manually "I have these episodes on this disc"? I'm talking of dvd-format content, not of video files, of course.

To be honest I hadn't considered that yet. I will need to add this to my list of things to support.

1. In every menu except the main menu, the wallpaper changes into the default wallpaper (The Burst Angel from the main menu).
2. I can't get the posters to show in list view
3. Filmstrip is broken altogether (crashes MediaPortal).
4. It doesnt memorize watched status or the chosen view, it always starts in list mode.

Just a quick reminder that the version you are using is really an alpha.
My To Do list has about 50 features/bugs that I know about already. This is without even really considering MyAnimeList and TheTvDB support

1. will need to test this out
2. Probably best to post you XML files and I will take a look. I'll try and get some basic skins for MediaSteam and streamedmp.
3. Filmstrip and wide banner views are not really supported yet. I only added basic support to test rendering etc
4. Yup this on on my to do list

lwerndly, how does the group organizing work? As you can see, I now have two Code Geass banners (and Three for Zero No Tsukaima and two for Bakuretsu Tenshi, and x for ... you get my drift). And can i manually add episodes? I have dvd's on my harddisk and mptvseries scans on folder/filename, so for instance, if I have Tsubasa Chronicle the movie as s00e01 it recognizes it as the movies since it is special (season 0) and episode 1 (which is the movies according to thetvdb.com.

Ok quick tutorial on the importing process.
mp-tvseries usually has the following structure
Series - Season - Episodes (based on TheTvDB.com)

Myanimeplugin2 does the following
Group - Series - Episode Types - Episodes

When you open the pugin, what you are seeing are all the groups.

When you import a new file, it gets all the data from AniDB, which does not support seasons.
For instance Naruto and Naruto Shippuden are considered two different series by AniDB.
When importing a new file it will do the following
1. Create the episode
2. Create the series based on AniDB information if one doesn't already exist
3. Create a new group if one doesn't already exist for the above series

Also movies and OVA's on AniDB are usually associated with a particular series, but classified as a different episode type.

For Naruto you end up with two different groups and one series under each of those groups.
You can then go into the config screen, and move one of those series to the other group, and then delete the group with no series left in it.
See the screenshots below



Another note - I notice it looks like you have been assigning all the banners and fanart via the config screen already.
Personally I wouldn't start using this plugin seriously yet.
I am still doing some major database changes, and a future version may require you to delete your database.
I will try to make future versions upgradeable, but there is no guarantee until an "official" version is released

Regarding the hashing speed....

Yeah i tried looking for a C library as well
I also read that dvdkhl who has has a UDP app (avdump2 I think) has written a really fast hashing algorithm.
Might be worth a try to contact him.

I also love the v2 screenshots so far. If you need any help, let me know!

I already have my code on google.
But I am waiting for the DB structures to settle down enough before I open it up.
This should happen once I get some basic TvDB/MAL support in next week some time.

One other problem I noticed, which may also be a problem in v2: When scanning new files, it would probably be best to check if the hashed file already exists. A few days ago I renamed a few directories (I have the habit to start a directory name with an underscore for series I'm currently watching, I can find them easier that way because they're sorted on top). When I opened the dir in MP, all the files in the renamed directory were rehashed (which is logical) and I had lost all watched statuses (which is less logical). When I checked the database, all these files occurred twice (same hash, different dir).

Yeah I have attempted to tackle this problem in v2 in a couple of ways.
It now stores a cache of file names and hashes in the database, so it no longer needs to go to the web service when you move a file.
I am also attempting some tighter integration with AniDB.
So when you add a new file it checks for the watched status online and sets it locally.
You will still end up with records in the database, but they should be cleaned up by the process which removes record for files which no longer exist.

Also renaming folders won't work in v2, because it is no longer folder centric. Of course you could rename the groups via the config screen.
Is there a reason why favourites don't work for you?

 

[Raytestrak]

1. In every menu except the main menu, the wallpaper changes into the default wallpaper (The Burst Angel from the main menu).
2. I can't get the posters to show in list view
3. Filmstrip is broken altogether (crashes MediaPortal).
4. It doesnt memorize watched status or the chosen view, it always starts in list mode.

Just a quick reminder that the version you are using is really an alpha.
My To Do list has about 50 features/bugs that I know about already. This is without even really considering MyAnimeList and TheTvDB support

1. will need to test this out
2. Probably best to post you XML files and I will take a look. I'll try and get some basic skins for MediaSteam and streamedmp.
3. Filmstrip and wide banner views are not really supported yet. I only added basic support to test rendering etc
4. Yup this on on my to do list

I'll post my xml's tonight, they are coming along nicely, but someone with real skinning skills would probably think it's a nightmare. There's a lot of unused code in it and data it can't resolve (as you can see in the screenshots). I do think I broke filmstrip, because the default skin does work (I think ... I never use it).

Ok quick tutorial on the importing process.
mp-tvseries usually has the following structure
Series - Season - Episodes (based on TheTvDB.com)

Myanimeplugin2 does the following
Group - Series - Episode Types - Episodes

When you open the pugin, what you are seeing are all the groups.

When you import a new file, it gets all the data from AniDB, which does not support seasons.
For instance Naruto and Naruto Shippuden are considered two different series by AniDB.
When importing a new file it will do the following
1. Create the episode
2. Create the series based on AniDB information if one doesn't already exist
3. Create a new group if one doesn't already exist for the above series

Also movies and OVA's on AniDB are usually associated with a particular series, but classified as a different episode type.

For Naruto you end up with two different groups and one series under each of those groups.
You can then go into the config screen, and move one of those series to the other group, and then delete the group with no series left in it.
See the screenshots below

Thanks, I'll try it tonight if I can find the time.

Another note - I notice it looks like you have been assigning all the banners and fanart via the config screen already.
Personally I wouldn't start using this plugin seriously yet.
I am still doing some major database changes, and a future version may require you to delete your database.
I will try to make future versions upgradeable, but there is no guarantee until an "official" version is released

Hahaha, no I just did the first page of banners for posting the screenshots. I know it's an early version, but I think it shows what your plugin is capable of. For serious use I'm still on my slightly bugged copy of mptvseries dedicated for Anime. I already had the fanart and banners locally, so all I had to is copy&paste (a lot )

 

[lwerndly]

Quick release
- Can now add series, and episodes via config screen
- Removed retrieval of media info for now, as it was causing lock ups every now and then
- Added a debug file so that log files will include code line numbers for debugging purposes
- Removed an unneeded EPISODE command when adding a new file (saves 2.5 seconds per file)

 

[Raytestrak]

Thanks lwerndly, the grouping works fine. What's the .pdb file for you've added to test3?

I've made some screenshots from mptvseries (actually mpanimeseries, an old adapted version of mptvseries) and anime2 to show the difference. I've also included my skinfiles, which do more strange things when grouping, showing banners where I'm expecting posters etc. Basically ... it's a mess

Oh and i've also added a screenshot of the episode select screen, with logo support (mpanimeseries)

p.s. The Anime2 screens should show the same wallpaper as the mpanimeseries screens, but that's a skin error.

 

[lwerndly]

the pdb file is a debug file.
All it does is allow more detailed debugging information in the log files in the case of an error.
i.e. It will say exactly which line of code the error happened on.

Can you also attach your skin files for mp-tvseries.
Thanks

 

[bert_r]

I am also attempting some tighter integration with AniDB.
So when you add a new file it checks for the watched status online and sets it locally.
You will still end up with records in the database, but they should be cleaned up by the process which removes record for files which no longer exist.

Isn't this what I added to v1 (0.3.1)? When you add an episode it will immediately set the watched state if it's already in your AniDB MyList.

Also renaming folders won't work in v2, because it is no longer folder centric. Of course you could rename the groups via the config screen.
Is there a reason why favourites don't work for you?

I do use the favorites (and my folders are renamed anyway).ut b Because I have to regularly add files for these animes, it's easier if these few series are at the top of my explorer then to find the folder in a list of 100+ folders. I could use the drop folder feature of course ... it's mostly a habit of before had a HTPC, and habits are hard to abandon.

EDIT:
Regarding the hashing speed: There's one thing I didn't try yet: assembler. I found some MD4 assembly code (From Shareazaa, GPL'ed). When building a C dll with the assembly MD4 hashing, and using this dll from C#, I manage a speed improvement from 28% average: I tried 4 large files (>220 MiB), and the hashing time went from +/- 13 seconds to +/-9.5 seconds. I have no idea if this will work on all (or most) machines though ... assembly is processor dependent, so there might be problems there (my build was x86).

 

[lwerndly]

Isn't this what I added to v1 (0.3.1)? When you add an episode it will immediately set the watched state if it's already in your AniDB MyList.

I couldn't see anything in your code which gets the current watched status from AniDB when you are hashing a new file? Does the MYLISTADD command do this somehow? I am current just using the MYLIST command.
I get the feeling I am doing it in the inefficient way.

I do use the favorites (and my folders are renamed anyway).ut b Because I have to regularly add files for these animes, it's easier if these few series are at the top of my explorer then to find the folder in a list of 100+ folders. I could use the drop folder feature of course ... it's mostly a habit of before had a HTPC, and habits are hard to abandon.

Ah ok, I do something similar where I have one folder for my regularly watched stuff, and another folder for series I plan to watch one day

Regarding the hashing speed: There's one thing I didn't try yet: assembler. I found some MD4 assembly code (From Shareazaa, GPL'ed). When building a C dll with the assembly MD4 hashing, and using this dll from C#, I manage a speed improvement from 28% average: I tried 4 large files (>220 MiB), and the hashing time went from +/- 13 seconds to +/-9.5 seconds. I have no idea if this will work on all (or most) machines though ... assembly is processor dependent, so there might be problems there (my build was x86).

Worth a try