Thinking of switching from Meedio

[dandirk]

I would like your input on xlobby and what it can or cannot do...

OK just a little history... got into HTPC 2+ years ago... Briefly looked at xlobby about a year ago and decided to go with meedio due to ease of use (will expand on that later).

I am planning on rebuilding my media server (200+ movies in DVD vob files and mp3s/+some lossless format for music purchases). I also am planning to purchase a 50" plasma this year so I have started my research for new HTPC front ends and find myself revisiting xlobby.

Planned use for HTPC/xlobby: Play DVDs (with ffdshow once I get the plasma) with random trailers. Listen to MP3/music collection, playlists etc. I am NOT looking to timeshift TV but want to be able to expand to that easily if I want in the near future. 100% control with USB-UIRT!

As you can see I use my HTPC for the basics and previously choose Meedio as a front end due to the fact it facilitated these uses VERY easily and inside of meedio itself. I got rid of zoomplayer, girder (have a nice learning remote, so no need to blast and no need to control zoom anylonger) when I when to meedio.

The problem with meedio is that there really is only ONE decent skin and that is the HDeeTV Theme almost everyone uses for 16:9 displays. Its a great configurable theme but there are a number of great xlobby ones out there!!! The DVD player is also not the best, since it doesn't seem to display certain apect ratios well (Boondock Saints fills center quarter of display and letterboxed!).

Finally my question is this... what kind of issues will I run into by converting to xlobby?

I know it requires an external player like TT2 or ZoomPlayer (not an issue proably would be better)...

Does that mean I will have to get back into Girder/USB-UIRT to control Zoomplayer for RW/FW etc through a remote?

If so I had a similar setup with myHTPC and remember having problems with commads sent to control the player while playing a moving... apon finishing the movie find those same keyboard commands were moving to different screens in myHTPC. So I had to create a complicated girder event to turn off/on control groups which was just a bit to complicated and ran into useage problems for non-techies...

I really like the skins in xlobby and also want to look into the client/server configuration a bit. I also really like the ability to easily remove buttons and stuff that I don't use through the editor (wow I was really impressed with that).

I would like to really try xlobby out but if I have to implement complex girder commands and such just for DVD viewing I may have to live with meedio:(

Thanks for your imput.

[CiXel]

You may still be able to leave Girder behind. There is a USB-UIRT plugin for Xlobby that allows direct control of the IR via xlobby. Some fancier operations are still easier to implent via girder, but I've left my copy behind. I'm using it to control stuff onscreen and to have it shoot out IR to components when pressed like to change inputs and the like. All that has to be done is to LEARN the commands from your remote, and then associate those commands with actions in Xlobby. Pretty straight forward.

[milanp]

There are lots of skins with different possibilies.
Some of them do not require Girder control for external players but have the player controlled from the skin.
The best thing about Xlobby is that is highly configurable.
The best working combination for me is Xlobby+Girder+ZoomPLayer+SageTV.
If you want to do anything serious with HTPC by yourself you MUST learn girder.
I use a modified version of Naylia's SAGEMC skin but with picture rotation (something that you don't have standard in XLobby),multi resolution and other stuff I could not do without Girder.
I have a laptop which is widescreen 16:10 but when I dock it on the docking station it is connected 19" 5:4 monitor. Across the house I have PC's connected to 19",15" monitors and one plasma+2 LCD TV's.
I wanted to have the very same installation on all the PC's.
I wrote a girder script which tests for resolution and selects (copies the correct Xlobby.xml) appropriate skin file.
For picture rotation I use command line programs which rotate the pictures for 90,180,270 degrees. I use girder for this also to call the commands and wait till finished and redraw the new rotated picture.
During the rotation I display a message in the upper corner "please wait"
I also don't like the popup screen when sagetv client starts.
I wrote a script that overlays the sage popup with "my TV" picture which resembles the look of the myTV icon in the skin and starts the sagetv client.
The whole setup looks more consistent this way (to me).
These are just few examples that you need girder if you want something extra.I use girder and like it a lot.
The latest free Girder version is 3.2.9 and you can find it on the net for sure.
To utilize the power of Xlobby you will need some time, but after that you have no limits and you can customize the skins exactly to your needs.
I tried Meedio many times but found it too limited for my use.
Besides that all the skins for Meedio are not adding any new possibilites but just changing the graphics.
My suggestion is to try Xlobby. It is free and there's nothing you can loose.

[Atlas]

For the basics you are doing you shouldn't need girder. As stated earlier you would use the USB-UIRT plugin for xlobby. Also you may want to check out the XRemote plugin for xlobby. Study up on xlobby's "events" and "triggers". There are forum articles covering that. As you mentioned an external software DVD player is needed. Favorites are ZoomPlayer and TT. Check out one of BaddaBing's skins. He has events for both of those players. No doubt there is a learning curve for xlobby but worth it in the end.

[dandirk]

Thanks for all the input... I really would like to not have to implement girder, I think my needs are so basic that it should not be needed.

I will have to play around with xlobby... I guess my main concern is control of zoomplayer with my USB-UIRT plugin/remote and possible focus issues. I remember last time I played around with zoomplayer with myhtpc, focus would be lost after closing zoomplayer and would have to do something in girder to get it back to the frontend application.

Question about the in skin zoomplayer controls... I have seen this in some skins and just wondered if you have to press a button to bring them up, or are they up all the time (that would be annoying)? Would just sending a FF signal through the UIRT plugin activate FF AND bring up the controls menu?


Thanks again for all the input.

[rembetis]

Question about the in skin zoomplayer controls... I have seen this in some skins and just wondered if you have to press a button to bring them up, or are they up all the time (that would be annoying)? Would just sending a FF signal through the UIRT plugin activate FF AND bring up the controls menu?

Depends on the skin. Some skins are setup for multi-monitor situations, where the movie plays on a hi-def tv or projector, while Xlobby displays on a touchscreen or lcd, etc. (in which case having the controls available all the time is useful). The nice thing about Xlobby is its flexibility -- you can configure your control any way you want. With the UIRT plugin, you shouldn't have any focus problems so long as you're using the "Send Message" command to communicate with Zoomplayer (akin to command line messages that don't require focus). Check out some of Baddabing's skins for good examples of this (I use an adapted version of Redeux).

[dandirk]

With the UIRT plugin, you shouldn't have any focus problems so long as you're using the "Send Message" command to communicate with Zoomplayer (akin to command line messages that don't require focus). Check out some of Baddabing's skins for good examples of this (I use an adapted version of Redeux).

Ah... this is what I will certainly be looking for... how to send direct FF, RW, Stop, Pause commands to zoom through the UIRT plugin... sounds perfect!

[dandirk]

Thanks Rembetis... Your hint led me to http://www.xlobby.com/forum/viewtopic.p ... nd+message.

If the commands work with zoomplayer and the USB-UIRT plugin, all I have to do is find a good skin for a x720 resolution and I will be set! NO girder needed.

I don't mind girder, I have played around with it back in the myhtpc days. I have just learned that the more apps you have to use in a HTPC the more problems you run into setting it up so even dummies could use it.