Looking to switch from WMC/WMP

[RAP58]

Hi there - just registered and I have some basic questions on how CMC provides similar experience as WMC; for Movies, Music, Photos and OTA DTV.

Movies: Like many WMC users, I use My Movies Collection Management and the WMC plug-in. It looks like you've implemented a direct connection to My Movies though CCC? I am running 5.40 of MM and from what I read, it should provide a seamless change-over?

Music: In a similar vein, WMP is really the back-end for WMC. I see that the CMC GUI is very similar to WMC - but I'm curious about how you get the metadata. WMC used the WMP database; can you use its metadata dB too? If no - then I have a bunch of other questions - but if yes, then that would be awesome news! If no, then does CMC use folder structures or metadata to collect this? WMP was pretty good at finding things but I like how easy it was to create your own metadata too. Any information on how this works (links, videos, etc., would be great.)

I also have a large library of surround music in the form of DTS-HDMA files - typically rips of now defunct SACD and DVD-A. How does it handle these audio-only surround formats within the CMC Music area? In WMP, I created a Surround Sound genre, and WMC reflected these; all my surround material was available there and logically grouped together.

Photos: I have a large collection of photos and family home videos. I'm amazed at how well WMC worked for this - while other media centers were pretty poor. (Kodi comes to mind). I liked the approach of folders working as albums and the ability to nest folders. I could not find much on this site regarding photos. Curious if I've missed something - or if its on the roadmap?

OTA DTV:
I have the older HD HomeRun tuners - but I'd be willing to get a new one if it works with CMC. My worry

Thanks for your help...

[Pauven]

Hi RAP58, welcome to the community. You've asked some great questions.

Yes, CCC provides the connection between My Movies and CMC. It takes a few steps to get it going, but once it's running it's pretty seamless. You can also safely run CMC+CCC side-by-side with WMC, see definitely give it a try before you abandon WMC.

The WMP database is proprietary, so we can't use it. CMC reads the metadata directly from your music files. You can use pretty much any metadata management program to maintain your collection, so one advantage here is that you're not tied to WMP. There's a "Getting Started" section on this website that gives lots of guidance on using the audio library.

CMC uses a high-end audio codec library, so it can easily handle your surround sound music. During development we did extensive testing on high bit-rate surround sound DVD audio. All you need to do is configure the audio output settings to match your actual hardware. We think it sounds incredible, hopefully you'll agree. And you can still use genres to group these albums together.

CMC currently has an early version of a photo library, but I don't think it's what you're after. Currently it is linked to Google Photos, and is only accessed from the Music Library to play like a slideshow while you're listening to music. I noticed the other day, while testing the new v5.0, that this is partially broken in v4.2, no idea when that happened. Anyway, it's on the roadmap to build out the photo library to make it a full WMC replacement.

I use HD HomeRun daily myself, so I can confirm it works well with CMC.

Hope I answered all your questions.

Paul

[Jamie]

I also have a large library of surround music in the form of DTS-HDMA files - typically rips of now defunct SACD and DVD-A. How does it handle these audio-only surround formats within the CMC Music area? In WMP, I created a Surround Sound genre, and WMC reflected these; all my surround material was available there and logically grouped together.

Thanks for your help...

Hi Rap58. Could you send me a PM on ripping SACDs. I have never been able to find a tool that does this.

Jamie