VLC Support within Xlobby

[smotta]

Hi All,

I'm new here and probably have a stupid question. I have the latest version of Xlobby and from my forum searching see that it now includes its own internal movie player. Well to start the internal player does not work for me - the computer finds the video_ts folders for all my movies from the HDD but won't play them. I have been using VLC with good results lately and have seen that i can incorporate that with Xlobby, the problem is i have no idea how. I have seem things that tell me to change the execute within settings but that doesn't seem to work for me. Is there any way someone can give me a detailed step by step on how to make vlc my default full-screen player for my video_ts movies? Also - this is probably a much more difficult request but is there a way that i can tell xlobby to instruct VLC to automatically set de-interlacing within VLC to "Blend"

Thanks in advance guys, great forum!
-Sean

[Jay]

I'm puzzled too. My free version works with external players. The pre-releases with the internal player do nothing.

[cmhardwick]

try this thread on disabling the internal player. Haven't looked through it or tried it as I'm still using an old free version for now

http://www.xlobby.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5582

[smotta]

It could be that i'm simply interpretting those instructions terribly wrong or are they unclear to everyone else as well? I've tried 3 different ways of reading those and none have worked. That is will a "full update" reinstall between each.

Thanks for the post though - i had read that before

Keep the advice coming!

Cheers
-Sean

[wesblack]

Sean,

We have recently added the ability for xLobby to use graph files from external players to reliably play MPEG-2 files from the internal player. You can select a graph file from the setup menu (F2) under media player (DVD Graph), the current graph support can be set for default meaning the current MPEG-2 decoder installed on your system or for Power DVD software, so if you installed power DVD versions 4 and up xLobby should have no problems playing MPEG-2 files, (DVD's). Additional graph files will be included in the final release of xLobby, so other DVD playback software will be fully supported and shown in the list. This will always secure the correct graphs for playback. The graph files will provide users the ability to modify the graphs using software called GraphEdit to modify decoders of video and audio as necessary, providing a user configurable decoding system.

More Information on GraphEdit:
http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/downl ... t_141.html
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms787855.aspx

If you do not have a MPEG-2 decoder installed in your system then you can download FFDSHOW, if other decoders are installed in windows then it will pick the current decoder that was last installed or selected by the other mpeg-2 decoder software thru windows. This sometimes creates problems for xLobby to correctly decode MPEG-2 files using FFDSHOW as this decoder may not always be the default decoder in windows. If xlobby will not play MPEG-2 files correctly and consistantly then it may be necessary to un-install all of the other MPEG-2 decoders \DVD playback software in your system, and again this will not always guarantee complete removal of the mpeg2 decoders from windows.

Posted information from the Download page on MPEG-2 decoders
If you plan on using xLobby's default built in media player (direct show based) for your playback, you should keep in mind that you might have to install various codecs. Sometimes a codec will be needed to play a certain video and audio format that is not usually playable on a standard installation of Windows.

For example, if you wish to play a DVD you will require what is called an MPEG-2 decoder. The reason behind this is that Windows cannot play DVD files without it. Some installations of Windows will come pre-loaded with a DVD decoder, some will not. xLobby does not currenly come with an MPEG-2 decoder, but we do have plans to include one.

There are many different video and audio formats on the internet, the link below is to a free piece of software called "FFDShow" which is an "all in one" audio and video decoding filter. It supports many different media formats including the video formats DivX, XviD, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264 and the audio formats AC3, DTS, MP3 and Ogg Vorbis. To download "FFDShow" and for more information see the links below.

Download Stable Build FFDSHOW rev. 610 (20061201)
http://www.xlobby.com/filters/ffdshow_r ... _clsid.exe

wikipedia ffdshow , http://sourceforge.net/projects/ffdshow
sourceforge ffdshow , http://sourceforge.net/projects/ffdshow

I hope this helps.




Wes Black \ Calrad

[smotta]

Wow, certainly a lot of information, thank you for that.

So does this mean that with the current edition of Xlobby it is not possible to use VLC?

Thanks again for everyones continued support
-Sean

[wesblack]

xLobby still supports external players. Under (F2) select file types, this is where you configure settings for external media players. Try reading these threads to further setup the VLC player.

viewtopic.php?t=5241&highlight=vlc

http://xlobby.com/forum/search.php?keywords=%2Bvlc




Wes Black \ Calrad

[smotta]

GREAT! Thanks for the help guys, i have gotten Xlobby to open VLC when i click play. The problem is that VLC does not seem to know that i want it to play the movie. Does anyone know the "command lines" ((????)) that i need to enter to tell VLC to play the movie i have just selected in FULL SCREEN? Right now it won't play at all but it's opening!

Thanks for the help guys
-Sean

[hvs69]

Wes,

I am perhaps repeating other xlobby veterans by saying this. You guys are shooting yourselves in the foot with this whole "internal media playback" thing. There is absolutely no need for it since there are so many other great applications to handle media playback and most of them work out of the box. I don't think that novice users can successfully play with graphedit and chain the directshow filters and splitters in the correct order to get media playback. Even if you bundle several graph files with xlobby you will not be able never be able cover all the possible scenarios since there are so many codecs and filters out there. I think you will have a nightmarish situation providing technical support to get media playback sorted out. At the end of the day, Xlobby media playback will still seriously lack many features that external applications are currently providing.

I personally want to see improvement in the area where Xlobby is really good at, namely being a highly customizable and configurable front-end. So far, I have not seen any significant features being added in any of the pre-release versions to make me buy Xlobby.

[wesblack]

Sorry HVS69 I disagree. I have used all the other external players and it usually makes for a incomplete experience when trying to control it with remotes, touchscreens etc. . For this to continue with the big boys in home theater systems we need our own player as well as access to external players for those who want it. The Graph file is necessary for consistant playback in xLobby, I simply wanted to show what's possibe, not that everyone will need it. There are also some interesting thing's Steven and I have planned for the Graph interface for the future that I do not have the time to discuss on this post at the moment.

You don't see Sony, Elan, Russound, Crestron, AMX or other companies making external add-ins for there products to function or play basic content. The product needs to perform reliably for DVD playback and work out of the box. Installers and consumers do not have the patience for the 10 hour tinker factor, they just want it to work " Play Movie Please". Even the user who started this thread is pulling his hair out to get it working. I remember setting up Zoom player for the first time with xLobby years ago, the free version of Zoom player at the time would only playback DVD's from the optical drive not the hard drive, it took hours of research to find out that only the paid version would only allow you to playback movies on the hard drive from xlobby. Leaving the xlobby interface to play movies with external players only has alway's seemed very clunky and filled with issues to get it just right for a finished look.

We are now selling many xLobby media systems each week prior to the official launch of the program to system integrators and the systems that are installed are all working for there customers without issues in playback just like they expect it to. This is what they need to continue to sell the product over and over, not "Well let me try this and let me try that, oh yeah lets try this player and see if it stops 30 minutes into the movie,or I am sorry your system locks up every few day's while playing your movies, etc". Also not to mention the addition expense of third party DVD software.

Unfortunately the xLobby platform needs to consider other customers and markets besides the hobbiest's or tweakers out there, not that i am knocking our community of xLobby loyal user's.

I appreciate all the concerns and your comments







Wes Black \ Calrad

[smotta]

As the "Poster" of this thread i can say that i'm fairly comfortable with computers but have never done any media applications.

First off, my compliments to the developers this is an amazing program - and trust me, i've tried every one i can get my hands on.

Two, i also agree that any software that is designed for a mass market should have some kind of media player integrated so that users who do not want to "tinker" can use it as is. One a criticism(Positive!) note i would encourage the developers to make this decision slightly more user friends (and from some of the posts i have read it seems they are working on this).

To continue my questions though, with some tinkering i have convinced xlobby to open VLC and play the movie in fullscreen as well as disable the internal player. My only 2 desires left over are to command VLC to de-interlace the video and also when it is done to simply close and return to xlobby.

Again, my continued support for the devlopment team, keep it coming i can't wait for the official release!
-Sean

[hvs69]

Thanks Wes for taking time to respond to my concerns. I appreciate your viewpoint and wish you success. While I have your attention, I am wondering if you are going to publish the future roadmap for Xlobby in detail anytime soon. I have been hearing about the future enhancements here and there but there is no posting (AFAIK) which consolidates all the features that you plan to add say within next one year. I will certainly appreciate that and I also believe other xlobby users will too.

Smotta,

Sorry for hijacking your thread. I am not sure if I understand your questions correctly. But if you want to command your player while it is in full-screen & in foreground, you can use your keyboard, if VLC support keyboard shortcuts. You can also use a remote with something like girder to achieve those results (I am currently doing this with ZP).

[smotta]

What i am trying to do is have the "play" button of Xlobby inside each DVD (stored on HDD) open VLC, set to full screen, deinterlace, and play.

Right now i have it doing everything there except the deinterlace.

Apparently "--fullscreen" is the command line i have to tell vlc to send for fullscreen in VLC, so now i'm just looking for the command line to tell xlobby to command VLC to de-interlace the upcoming video.

Cheers,
-Sean

[bmblank]

I'm not sure as I don't use vlc, but is there, in the vlc options/setup, an always deinterlace or open as deinterlace checkbox? I use TT and besides the play command, all other options are set IN TT (including fullscreen).
As for controls, I wouldn't be suprised if somebody has an events file just for vlc. All you'd have to do is copy the xml into your skin's events directory. Then in setting up your skin, have the buttons you want perform those vlc events. Big ones for me are pause, top menu, stop, close, next, back, etc...

[smotta]

Alright, with nothing better to do at work today i've been reasearching. LOTS of researching.

In the event that anyone else is interested in using VLC you must FIRST command VLC to turn deinterlacing on.

To open a movie - full screen - deinterlaced with blend in vlc you need (without quotes)

"--fullscreen --vout-filter deinterlace --deinterlace-mode blend %path%"

Thanks for the help guys!
-Sean