how can I make tv in xbmc a little more like boxee?
#1
ok, first off, I just can't stand boxee. I hate the look and feel and I cannot get used to it.

I found xbmc which looks very clean and simple so I'm really into it. however, one thing boxee does that I really like is list tv shows.

how can I make xbmc offer me a "tv shows" option in the main menu, of which, I can select, and have it show me all the shows available just like boxee does when you choose tv shows in it?

thank you so much in advance!
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#2
Well I've only ever tried boxee briefly. However...

To get a "TV shows" button depends on your skin, and most likely either requires you to scan your TV show files into your library before the button will appear or requires you to select it in the skin settings.

As far as "show what tv shows are available" there is something you must understand...

Boxee emphasizes streaming content, while XBMC's emphasis is to play local files stored on your hard drive. XBMC CAN play TONS of streaming content using addons--however, unlike boxee, it does not integrate those shows into your TV section, so you must access them directly through the addon's interface.

So admittedly, if you are wanting streaming sources to show up in your library as shows along with your own content, Boxee is more suited for you than xbmc.

However, without instructing you to break the law, you could investigate programs like sickbeard as an alternative.
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#3
thanks for the reply!

gee, I'd never want to break the law. why, that would be illegal!Confused

lol.. sickbeard looks pretty sick. at face value, I'm not sure I totally understand it but I will give it a good look later.

what addon do you recommend to stream the tv shows? last night for example, my wife and I hit "tv shows" then chose, "glee", then we got the episode list. Is there an addon that sort of replicates that sort of behavior? plus, my 7 year old daughter has GOT to have her kid shows.

I was looking for a one stop replacement for windows media center. I was using that with cable and a tv tuner but I gave the cable up, so no more dvr. and windows media center interenet tv selection sucks.

I have lots of backed up dvd movies stored locally but as far as tv shows, I don't have any interest in storing seasons of shows. I just pretty much want to watch them and move on. especially current stuff like "glee" and "raising hope".
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#4
Well, I mean... there is a hulu plugin, for example-- however, you will be accessing it not through the type of interface you would expect from xbmc, probably.

You could mod your skin very slightly to have a home screen button that launches hulu, and that would be that solution--but if hulu doesn't have a show, you will have to launch a different plugin--you can't integrate shows from different sources into a single list and display it as a unified "TV shows section".

Pros to sickbeard:
-Choice of quality. You want all HD? just tell it that.
-All shows, all networks, one source, no commercials.
-Automatically updates XBMC's library and scrapes metadata when a show is added.
-Access the shows from your hard drive with full control over playback with no annoying buffering.
-Local library instead of streaming, so you can make playlists.
-Shows can be automatically deleted periodically through a variety of methods if you don't want to store them long term. I believe there is a plugin in XBMC's repository called Library Cleaner that can do it.
-No need to modify the skin to give you a "TV shows" button that takes you to a plugin rather than a library.

Pros to a streaming plugin:
-Nothing legally questionable, though the alternative is still very safe.
-Nothing downloaded locally.
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#5
so is sickbeard a stand alone windows application or is it an xbmc plugin?
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#6
moveright Wrote:so is sickbeard a stand alone windows application or is it an xbmc plugin?

Standalone, cross-platform.

Keywords to search for are sickbeard, sabnzbd+, utorrent, nzbs.org, nzbmatrix, etc.

Both sickbeard and sabnzbd run as a web interface, which means you can access them from anywhere through your webrowser at http://yourip:porttheyarerunning on, usually 8080 or something
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#7
Just install the hulu plugin if you're in the us and stream your content - this is all that boxee is doing, it's just that you don't know you're getting it from hulu (necessarily) - i.e. boxee aggregates from various services to produce the "tv shows" list you have.

XBMC (currently) works the other way around - we have addons for each service so you go to the service and then select what to watch.

Cheers,
Jonathan
Always read the XBMC online-manual, FAQ and search the forum before posting.
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#8
So I took a look at sickbeard. wow. it's brilliant. absolutely brilliant.

Now I'm back. I really like XBMC as opposed to boxee so I'm going to use it as my sole media center for a while and see if I can't get used to it.

So the Hulu plugin? ok, I will grab that.

Also, what's with the Nav-X plugin? any experience with that or is it a waste of my time?

thanks for all of your help all of you!
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#9
when you say "skin modification" what do you mean? there's a way to add "tv shows" to the main menu? I mean, tv shows for my recorded shows on my hard disk, not streaming.
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#10
moveright Wrote:when you say "skin modification" what do you mean? there's a way to add "tv shows" to the main menu? I mean, tv shows for my recorded shows on my hard disk, not streaming.

Well...

For one, many skins won't display the TV Shows button if there are no TV shows scanned into the library, so I would see if this is the case before you proceed...

In fact, most skins have this button by default, so I'm like 95% sure regardless of the skin you are using that if you scan some stuff into your library, you will see the button appear. Also, under your skin's settings, you can usually enable/disable the available home screen buttons.


That being said, to answer your question more directly--yes, you can add basically anything to your homescreen just by modifying your skin, and it is really pretty easy. Just PM me if you want specifics on how to do it in a particular skin. It is so easy, I will figure it out for you and show you specifically, because it really takes just a moment.

ALSO, in addition, progress has been made in just the past few days in your first post. I have not tried this program myself yet (because sickbeard is WAY more satisfying than streaming from hulu), but it seems that it is now possible to add content from the hulu plugin directly into your library, boxee-style.

Check out THIS thread for details.

This might actually be really cool to use in addition to sickbeard for daily content that you don't want to archive, like talk shows.

One more thing: I am not sure where it is but I think that someone actually got streaming NZBs accomplished recently. If streaming is your goal, you might wanna check it out, though I honestly don't see much of a point in it if sickbeard is grabbing your content in advance and plopping it in your library all nice-n-pretty like...
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