Teddyboy wrote: ↑Sat Jan 12, 2019 8:01 pm
Part of my madness is driven by the mantra of one media app to rule them all. Media center was the closest platform during its time that came close to that.
My madness too! WMC was brilliant, and for a while there I was in heaven with My Movies, Cablecard, a Hulu plugin, and gaming. I don't understand how we went backwards.
While my original goal was to simply replace the My Movies functionality, my new goal is to create that elusive one media app to rule them all. Harder done than said, unfortunately.
Teddyboy wrote: ↑Sat Jan 12, 2019 8:01 pm
Why is Netflix, Hulu, Prime, and pandora important to me? It’s because of their (netflix, prime, and Hulu) premium content that they produce for thier subscribers.
Yes, I agree 100%. But the trend is worrying to me, as cable/satellite TV is dying, being replaced by streaming (good), but instead of a single streaming service, you are forced to subscribe to more and more (CBS All Access, HBO, Disney is launching their own soon, etc.). I'm already at the point that I will subscribe to a service for only a single month a year, and binge watch all their shows in that month.
Having a Roku helps, and my dream solution is a Windows version of a Roku that I could embed in CMC. Wouldn't that be something.
Teddyboy wrote: ↑Sat Jan 12, 2019 8:01 pm
I have subscriptions to these services which is why it so important to me. If silicon dust had them available on thier platform, then I’d be there in a heartbeat. Couple that up with your application being integrated into that then I’d be really happy. At this point I’m looking at Silicon Dust and Apple TV. Worse case I’d end up with Apple TV and your application running on my mini itx htpc.
Definitely. I understand that the HDHomeRun is a very different type of solution (live TV + DVR) from on-demand streaming services, and there is a need for both. From my vantage point, one thing I am seeing is that there are a LOT of users staying with WMC simply because of Cablecard and OTA TV, and its wonderful DVR functionality. These users won't consider CMC because it offers nothing to replace this capability. The Silicon Dust HDHomeRun already has their attention, and if I can integrate it into CMC, then that just might address their desires for live TV and DVR capability.
Silicon Dust just announced a new HDHomeRun this past week at CES, and it offers automatic commercial skipping and a built-in DVR!!! Hopefully the API survives intact.
On the flip side, all these Smart TVs, Chromecast and AppleTV and Roku and PlayStation etc. have pretty much already handled the need for streaming TV. Adding that functionality to CMC would make it just another option. It's hard to compete against the resources of these million/billion/trillion dollar companies who are still actively developing platforms for streaming, especially when a developer API is not offered for the most popular streaming platforms.
I still plan to try offering streaming integration, but my impression is that integrating the HDHomeRun is the wiser path at the moment. This is certainly not without its own challenges, though. While I have created a player to view the HDHomeRun content, and for the first 30 seconds or so it works wonderfully, within a few minutes the video quality degrades and eventually becomes a stuttering mess out of sync with the audio. So even having a API to develop against isn't the easy homerun (pun intended) I expected.
And maybe we'll get super lucky and Silicon Dust will decide to start offering Roku like on-demand streaming service integration. I think it is certainly possible and would be a wise move on their part.
Teddyboy wrote: ↑Sat Jan 12, 2019 8:01 pm
As for iTunes I’d like to be able to search iTunes for new music keep the two libraries separate, but look as if they are one library. I have a iTunes subscription, so I can either stream or download the music including podcasts permanently to my iTunes collection. IHomeserver aggregates iTunes into one location so that I can distribute it to any part of my house, so I think you’d be interfacing with iHomeserver. My server is down and is in desperate need of upgrading which I am in the process of doing. Once it’s up I’ll buy the software and play with it, and then we can have a conversation about it.
Okay, that makes a bit of sense to me. Essentially, you want CMC to serve as a front-end to browse and play your music that would live on an iHomeserver.
I was always fascinated with WHS, but unfortunately I never picked one up. Not having one of my own will certainly make development harder. I've also never been an Apple guy, so I have very limited experience with iTunes, and obviously no experience with iHomeserver. I'm certainly willing to explore this type of solution with you, but as of yet I can't make any promises as I don't know what level of integration is feasible.
For the most part, it sounds like iHomeserver is just a solution to run iTunes as a service, and doesn't sound like it adds any functionality or an API, but maybe I'm mistaken. It also seems like you could do this on any PC, and would behave similarly on any PC as on WHS. If so, then it really just boils down to interfacing with iTunes. But I'm really just making some educated guesses at this point, and maybe I'm way off base.
Teddyboy wrote: ↑Sat Jan 12, 2019 8:01 pm
Once my new server is up I’ll pick up your software as I think it’s mature enough for me to use. I’ll have to upgrade to power dvd to replace total media theatre as well. You need parental controls implemented and tv series needs more work as it’s not as nice as MyMovies which is why I still use that. I’ve certainly got my money’s worth out of MyMovies I paid for the points outright instead of contributing because I liked it so much. It’s getting time to move on though.
PowerDVD is not the only option. DVDFab Player works (and can do disc menus like PowerDVD). MPC also works great, but won't have Blu-ray menus (which might be desirable for some users) and is free. PowerDVD is still my favorite go-to for watching Movies, though I like MPC better for watching TV Episodes.
Parental controls is something I've been planning to implement, but every time I ask no one seems to need it. Since you seem to need it, that means you can help set the requirements for how this needs to work.
You're right about My Movies having a more polished TV Series experience. There is a bit more I plan to add to CMC to improve the experience, but my hands are somewhat tied by the lack of meta-data exported by My Movies (TV Series info isn't exported correctly). The My Movies API might offer some solutions, so I plan to look at that in the future - which would be a benefit to users like you who have already invested in My Movies points and have API access. That said, there are some CMC users who say they actually prefer the CMC GUI for TV Series. Perhaps as I add functionality I will make it a user option as to how TV Series are presented.
Teddyboy wrote: ↑Sat Jan 12, 2019 8:01 pm
Thanks for your comments. I appreciate them, and I’m looking forward to continuing this conversation.
Ditto!
Paul