Video Library: Direct to Titles View from Movies and TV Shows in Library Mode?

jmarshall Wrote:To use that stuff you'd have to add it outside of the video window (eg 2 buttons on home.xml) and/or create a dummy window for the video library front end with 2 buttons on it for TV shows and Library.

I was attempting this myself. I kind of had the xml files sorted - wasn't pretty without the proper artwork and Spiff pointed out the code to link directly to the TVside. Then I ran out of time as my media server setup took priority (and still does). Hopefully soon I will have that side of it completed and I can get back to tweaking the interface.

The "dummy window" you mention could be the window that is accessed when either Movies/TV is NOT set as default. (Source/playlist window?) Yes or No?

jmarshall Wrote:Ideally this needs to be addressed at the code level - I'm not sure exactly how to do it as yet, as you don't want to lose the ability to get to the additional nodes, but still want it fast to access the usual ones. Any ideas will be considered.

I'm not sure I know enough about how it all works to offer any real answers. I like the idea of having all the buttons on the home page, but then it gets "busy" with too many. An extra screen/page works but adds another step.

I have my set-up starting directly inside the movie area currently (being primarily movie based), which is a pain when you want to watch the TV side. I've always thought it would be great to have buttons in both Movies and TV so you could switch between the two without having to back-button out (which means cycling through many screens.) Not sure if this is possible. And...if you wanted another "video area" could you easily add that to the set-up (and the extra button?)? I've even thought about adding these jumps to the context, but without having the ability to set it up or test my ideas I can't really judge how successful it would be in practice - and that's the part that counts. Also, a context menu hides the buttons (link?) away from others using the system - not always good.

Certainly would like to see this implemented somehow.

jmarshall Wrote:Ideally this needs to be addressed at the code level - I'm not sure exactly how to do it as yet, as you don't want to lose the ability to get to the additional nodes, but still want it fast to access the usual ones. Any ideas will be considered.

Cheers,
Jonathan

Jonathan,

My suggestion is for the same the way XTV works (described above)

I guess it'd be activated either via a GUI setting or an advancedsettings.xml entry such as...

I'd say this makes for fast access to titles lists, while retaining the ability to use all nodes.

Thanks

Shorty

It also is non-obvious in the returning via B in that it goes back further than you may expect.

Good point, it would be good to alter this behaviour because as you say, it's not intuitive.

Perhaps there could be a button available somewhere within the library (a context button or maybe a new button for skinners to access) that cycles between all theese lesser used nodes, while the parent nodes would link directly to the chosen node?

Shorty

jmarshall Wrote:To use that stuff you'd have to add it outside of the video window (eg 2 buttons on home.xml) and/or create a dummy window for the video library front end with 2 buttons on it for TV shows and Library.

It's easy to get it set up action-wise, but probably reasonably tricky to get all the animations etc. working nicely.

Ideally this needs to be addressed at the code level - I'm not sure exactly how to do it as yet, as you don't want to lose the ability to get to the additional nodes, but still want it fast to access the usual ones. Any ideas will be considered.

Cheers,
Jonathan

From a usability point of view, there are few ideas floating around in my head. In order of difficulty to implement, here there are.

Option A: Menu control

In the video settings screen, have an option to enable or disable defaulting to the Title view.

Option B: Context menu "Make Default"-esque control

Utilizing some sort of context menu option, perhaps "Make Default TV Show View/Make Default Movie View" control which view is shown on first use. The action would go down like this: Select My Videos > Enable Library Mode if not already active > Select Movies > Highlight Genre, Title, Actors, etc folder and activate context menu > Select aforementioned option.

Option C: Radial redesign craziness

I don't have a complete idea fleshed out here, but basically what's floating around in my head is as follows. Instead of having an option to select genre, etc from a folder list view, instead default to the Titles section but also have a secondary non-invasive feature on the left menu to active a special directory sorted listing of Genre, Actor, Studio, Year, etc. I have even further crazy ideas to link these together into a sort of Video Explorer type feature, where you might want to see any other movies directed by the same director as a selected movie, etc. As I'm new to this forum, I don't know where to post such radial ideas. However, I'm from a IT Project Management background, and would love to work out some design documentation detailing an overhauled Video Library concept I'm working out in my head. Would any of the developers be interested this, or would I be wasting my time?

Thanks!

Rob

(P.S. I'm going to try out the previously mentioned skin, and also try my hand at modifying Project Mayhem to do the same.)

I'd personally be interested in anything you come up with. Whether that means it's implemented is a different story.

Fresh ideas are where good progress is made

Defaulting to Title views on an advanced setting is easy enough to add in, and I'm happy to do that as long as spiff is happy (it's his baby primarily, so I'd prefer to check with him first).

Cheers,
Jonathan

KidKiwi Wrote:Does this also apply to the TV side? (ActivateWindow(MyVideoLibrary,TVTitles??)

Also, do you know what xml file this is added to. Knowing the correct file can save hours of hunting, especially when you don't really understand what you're actually looking for or at

For my XBMC, I modified the PMIII skin home screen to show the following buttons:

• Movies
• TV Shows
• Music
• Pictures
• Weather
  

In the button configuration in home.xml, I use:
Movies: <onclick>ActivateWindow(MyVideoLibrary,MovieTitles)</onclick>
TV Shows: <onclick>ActivateWindow(MyVideoLibrary,TVShowTitles)</onclick>
Music: <onclick>ActivateWindow(MyMusicLibrary,Albums)</onclick>

which jump to my favorite views for each section.

while i certainly dont object to the advanced setting, i dont think its the 'ultimate' solution.

we should come up with a way to customize both the music and video libs completely. it should be quite doable from the code side, it just needs a nice ui

spiff Wrote:while i certainly dont object to the advanced setting, i dont think its the 'ultimate' solution.

A good short-term solution...

spiff Wrote:we should come up with a way to customize both the music and video libs completely. it should be quite doable from the code side, it just needs a nice ui

But I think Spiff is right here allrighty

was this ever resolved?

I have looked at the on line manual and it says you can have two seperate buttons on the main menu jump to two different sections in one source. i.e. if I have sources "Videos" and in this I have Movies and TV programs I should be able to set up the "Movies" button jump to MyVideos,movies and TV programs jump to MyVideos,TV programs.

But this does not work.... whichever was the last view of either is the view of both?

I may be doing something wrong but I am trying to change "scripts" on the main menu to "TV Programs".