Newbie questions (1 Viewer)

[meierk]

I'm sure that everything I am going to ask is buried in these forums somewhere, but I spent at least 2 hours readings posts last night and cannot find everything I need. I have never used MediaPortal, Microsoft Media Center or any other such tool in the past so please bare with me. I am a little overwhelmed right now and just need to sort out the many questions in my head.

Questions:

1. I found an article (ExtremeMhz.com-Extreme Guide: Build the Perfect HTPC) titled "Build the Perfect HTPC" that sparked my curiosity. In the article, the author make mention of a produce called My Movies and TheaterTek to manage or view the movies. I cannot find anything of value about using My Movies with Media Portal, but I found a lot of discussion around My Films. Can any shed light on this for me. Is My Movies more of the MCE tool and My Fields for MediaPortal? Are they comparable? Is it possible to use My Movies with MP?

2. All information regarding My Films mentions something called an ANT database. Is this a separate product that has to be installed before using My Films?

3. To use My Films, do I need to install the full product to manage my movie collection and then the plugin so that MP can access the My Films (ANT) database or can the plugin utilize the information from the MP database? Any documentation that would hand hold me through this would be greatly appreciated.

4. One of my goals for a media pc is to reduce the number of individual components in my theater equipment stack. One of the components is a Karaoke player which if I understand correctly, is nothing more than a DVD player with a few mic inputs and tone controls. Is there an equivalent product that could be used with MediaPortal?

5. I current have StarChoice satellite for my regular TV viewing, but also have IPTV as an option from my local ISP, Telus. I don't think that there will ever be a StarChoice PC card so I'm guessing that the IPTV might be worth investigating. I DO NOT have access to my local cable provider as I have accidentally dug up the cable coming into my house. Can anyone point me to information or provide details on the pros and cons of each? I have heard that Telus sends a signal in the stream that can stop subscribers from recording, but apparently if you ask, they will remove that from your stream as there is some incompatibilities with some televisions.

6. I like to dable a bit with FTA receivers and would ultimately like to incorporate this into my media pc. Any links to advice on card manufactures or programming information?

7. I have found numerous manufactures or media center appliances. Is there any vendors that are building MediaPortal appliances?


Thx,
Kevin

 

[Furetto]

My Videos is a standard part of MP. It has some capabilities of managing your movies by doing an IMDB lookup and storing them in a database. You can do an automated indexing of your movies through MP configuration. If your movies are named correctly, it is quite good. If your movies are badly named, it is hell.

My Films is a plugin that uses an Ant Movie Catalog database to represent movies inside MP. Ant Movie Catalog is an independent product. Inside AMC you can link movies to files on your harddrive, but you could also have only a database of your DVDs in a cabinet. On top of AMC you do need to install the MyFilms plugin.

This more or less answers questions 1-3

I have no good answers to the rest of your questions.

 

[meierk]

Thanks Furetto, I'm happy to get any answers, even if they come one at a time. I will take a look at the Ant Movie Catalog as I have already run into the limitations of the MP auto indexing that you mention.

Kevin