Use your favorite movie catalog app in MediaPortal on your big screen TV!

Are you a film buff?  Do you have a movie catalog? Did you know you can use it in MediaPortal to watch, browse and search your movies in a myriad of ways on your big screen TV, all while lying back and using a remote?

The My Films plugin combines the superb media center features of MediaPortal with the powerful features of movie catalog software, such as advanced searching, updating by field, sorting by any field, grouping and viewing your movies however you wish.

Eight different movie catalog apps are supported out of the box: 

• Ant Movie Catalog (4.1 new!)
• EAX Movie Catalog 
• Ember Media Manager (EMM) (new!)
• Personal Video Database
• DVD Profiler 
• Extreme Movie Manager (XMM)
• My Movies
• Movie Collector

(see Supported Catalogs for specific setup and details). 

No need to re-scan your data, you can start using your existing movie catalog in MediaPortal within minutes, and continue to use it with My Films.

My Films 6 adds support for NFO files, so any movie catalog app, or even other media center plugin, that supports NFO files can also be be used with My Films.

If you don't already have a movie catalog, as of version 6.0 you can create one using My Films (in AMC/XML format), which you can use with Ant Movie Catalog software, and take advantage of the many advanced features My Films offers for updating your database.

If you are new to MediaPortal - see the MediaPortal Setup guide in the My Films wiki to learn how to set up MediaPortal for use with My Films and your movie catalog.

Download via the MediaPortal Extension Installer (MPEI) or My Films in the Extensions section of the MediaPortal website.

My Films 6 supports MediaPortal 1.2.x as well as 1.3.0 alpha/beta

^{Once you've used your movie catalog with My Films, you'll never want to use anything but MediaPortal!}

Team MediaPortal is very happy with the positive response the Titan skin has received from both the press and users. Not only is the design concept being ported to other similar products, morpheus_xx and joostzilla have already begun porting Titan to MediaPortal 2!

As a result, morpheus_xx has created a development thread, that has now also become a guide, or step by step tutorial, to skinning MediaPortal 2! The thread is public, but "read only" to keep it clean and thus easy to follow the progress. Comments are more than welcome in the separate Comments thread.

Here is a little teaser of the work done so far:

Development thread (read only)

Comments and questions go here

Ho-ho-ho!

Santa is here, and he is curious how much our beloved community knows about the history of MediaPortal and the MediaPortal team.

Think you are a MediaPortal know-it-all?

Have a go at the questions below and leave your answers as comments on our facebook page

The winner will receive a mystery prize from Team MediaPortal!

Mehr über MediaPortal 1.3.0 erfahren Sie in usnerem neusten Video auf YouTube: 'MediaPortal 1.3 Beta - Neu Funktionen in der Übersicht! - Enjoy the new Titan skin!' - erstellt von SiLenTYL

Das Prequel findet sich hier: 'MediaPortal 1.3 Alpha Released - Installation und Konfiguration' - lehnen Sie sich zurück während Sie SiLenTYL durch die Installation und Konfiguration von MediaPortal 1.3.0 begleitet.

Für weitere interessante MediaPortal-Videos, abbonieren Sie SiLenTYL's Kanal auf YouTube oder direkt den Team MediaPortal-Kanal.

It's been a bit quiet since the last remotes release (almost too quiet), little did you know - a lot has been going on in the background. Today, we're announcing new versions of all MediaPortal remote software: MPExtended and WebMediaPortal 0.5, aMPdroid 1.1 and WifiRemote 0.7.

MPExtended

Things have progressed a lot since we started developing a remote interface for MediaPortal. Since we released the first version (0.4) a year ago, we've added a lot of new features. Unfortunately, this proved difficult without breaking compatibility with the old version, so we decided to break compatibility and create the a new API, which we've stabilized right ahead. This means that as of MPExtended 0.5, we will not break compatiblity between versions without giving due notice. Clients compatible with MPExtended 0.5 will thus be compatible with at least a few future version of MPExtended too.

There are too much new things in MPExtended 0.5 to cover them all here, but we can offer a few highlights:

• Translations into Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish.
• Search function.
• Improved stability and responsivity.
• MyFilms and mvCentral support, along with improvements for Moving Pictures, MP-TVSeries and stock MediaPortal support.
• Improved streaming framework, with better stability, seeking, network drive and HTTP Live Streaming (iOS) support.
• PowerScheduler plugin to keep the TV Server awake as long as there are active streams.
• Much improved and more easy-to-use setup system.
• For developers: Improved API with extensive filtering support.

You can download the new version HERE, or find more information in this forum post.

WebMediaPortal

Bringing MPExtended up to 0.5 allowed for new features and improvements to the HTTP client, WebMediaPortal. Much like MPExtended, WebMediaPortal is almost a complete rework. The new MPExtended API has allowed for WebMediaPortal to jump lightyears ahead.

Here are some examples of the WebMediaPortal changes and enhancements:

• Much improved default skin
• Extended support for custom third-party skin and plugins.
• Improved TV server support, with extended scheduler options, TV guide and status information.
• Share authentication database with the service and configuration interface.
• HTTPS, IIS Express 7.5 and working multiseat support.

You can find out how to install WebMediaPortal with the installation guide, or find more information in this forum post.

aMPdroid

Since there very so many changes in MPExtended, aMPdroid would only work with the developer version of MpExtended so we decided to combine our next release. aMPdroid 1.1 will ONLY work with MPExtended 0.5 or later. This and other factors lead to a major rewrite of the aMPdroid codebase which is part of the reason why it took so long for an update. It was worth it though, the codebase got slimmed down quite a bit and is now much more extendable and maintainable. Stuff like that isn't really interesting for users though, so what changed in aMPdroid that you can actually see?

Layout changes

The tabbed layout proofed to be a major headache. Without going too much into the details, the Android framework just didn't support this kind of layout, and dealing with all the hacks and ways around it got too time-consuming. Also, having tabs meant a restriction on the number of views that could be added.

So now instead of tabs you get a dropdown menu where you can select your view. And with the filtering framework of MPExtended in place, adding views is much easier now (e.g recently added, by year, grouped by letter, ...). There was also quite the performance improvment with this layout change.

Even more important: in the future it will be much easier to add additional views, maybe even allow users to define their own views/filters.

What's new

That's something you can now always see at first glance. The homescreen now features the latest items for movies, episodes, recordings or albums. You can even configure which items should be shown. If you don't care which new albums you have on your server, you can simply hide the latest albums.

Having this kind of "What's new" view was planned since the very first version of aMPdroid, so I'm glad that it finally got implemented.

Streaming

The internal media player has been completely redesigned and much of the codebase has been written from scratch. It has also been updated for the later versions of Android, for example it now hides the soft buttons when video is played back.

And since aMPdroid 1.1 uses the awesome MPExtended 0.5 for streaming, you get a few awesome new profiles (e.g. direct and HTTP live streaming).

Oh, and did I mention you can now stream music?

What else you might ask?

• Actionbar actions (turn on/off in settings)
• Improved actionbar
• Further improved tablet layout
• Support for MPExtended user access requests
• Support for ZeroConf
• Support for NetBios names instead of IP addresses
• Support for mvCentra (music videos)
• New and updated languages (new: Finnish, Swedish)
• Better support of ICS and JellyBean devices
• And many many bug fixes all over the place

What didn't make it in

aMPdroid has become quite huge and thus it's not that easy to maintain it and add new features. I know everyone knows what "killer feature" has to be implemented for the world not to end in 2012, but it's simply not possible for me to implement everything. As to what I would like to implement in the future for aMPdroid, here are a few of my top items:

• Widgets: Homescreen widgets to e.g. start aMPdroid with a specific client / show recent items.
• Video playlist playback: Play multiple videos in a row (e.g. music videos).
• Settings redesign: the settings page hasn't changed much since the beginnings of aMPdroid, so a rework is in order.
• Better navigation for non-touchscreen devices: In the long run, a version optimised for google tv and similar devices.
• Searching: Add search functionality to quickly find media items.

Okay folks.... that about wraps it up. I encourage each of you to take your MediaPortal setup beyond your front door!!! Dont forget to leave your 3D glasses in the buckets on your way out the door. Please dont steal our glasses.

Please add comments here

A Taste of Things to Come

Hello again, fellow MPers! Sorry for the long absence of my weekly blogs, but I am happy to announce that we will be kicking those off again this month. I have been super busy, so I have been slacking in our blogs. But here is a little blog about some of the things within the MediaPortal community as a kind of teaser until we get back to While You Were Sleeping and the other weeklies.

MediaPortal

A lot of buzz is going on about MP 1.3, and in case you might have missed it here is the word on some of the new features of MP 1.3:

• Skin Engine Enhancements
• New Codecs Included
• Blu-Ray Support
• MyVideos Rework
• ... many, many more

As many are aware, an Alpha release of MP1.3 will soon be released to the public for testing. How soon, I cant say at this time (well, not without suffering the loss of a random limb), but I would go so far as to say "very" soon. More details will be released soon about MediaPortal 1.3 Alpha, so keep an eye out.

MediaPortal 2

Development of MP2 has not been without its improvements, thanks to the feedback from testers of it's Alpha release. A lot of work has been done on it's default skin and TV series handler. Tons of work has also been done in other areas, but our MP2 developers are in great need of more feedback and more developers. If you have not done so, please download the MP2A installer and give it a test run!

I can tell you that a special "Summer Release" of MP2 Alpha will be coming very soon, then some weeks later an Alpha 2 will be released. Lots of fun stuff ahead!

Mobile Access

In the past many MP users have discovered that you can access your live TV and stored media on the go. It was accomplished by using a little program called General Media Access WebService, or GMA for short. GMA was handy and did its job, but not well. We needed something better, so Oxan and a few others decided to take matter into their own hands and MPExtended was born. MPE is simply a service that allows clients to connect to your MediaPortal HTPCs. As for current clients, there are two readily available, aMPdroid and WebMediaPortal, or WebMP, for short. If you have an android device running 2.3 or better, then visit the Google Play store to get your copy of this awesome free app. WebMP is also developed by the MP developers and can be used with any browser on almost any laptop or tablet/phone.

Now some of you have been using MPExtended and WebMP 0.4.x, but let me tell you about 0.5. MPExtended has changed so much since its last version that it is "almost" a new piece of software. Seriously... no joke. Even Oxan had to go back and look at some 0.4.x code a couple weeks back and had a hard time comparing the two. So be prepared for a mobile access experience that is greatly enhanced. Below are some videos of WebMP (plus the jQui skin for WebMP) and aMPdroid.

Events

MediaPortal is trying for a few booths at state fairs again this year. So far it looks like Texas, Louisiana & Virginia are possible with some MP booths at trade shows in California, Mississippi, Arizona and Utah. If you are interested in hosting a booth at a local event to you, please send a message to Lyfesaver. Remember the cost of the booth will be paid for by Lyfesaver.

Extensions

Most plugin developers have been working on adapting their projects to take advantage of the new forthcoming 1.3 features, so expect some updates from popular plugins.

Also, if you have done lots of changes with your databases, you might want to check out MPCleaner

Skins

Much like extensions, a lot of skinners are starting to play with the new enhancements to the skin engine for 1.3 Alpha. I expect a few will have lots updates for the 1.2.x clients as well.

For example, aMPed will soon be releasing 3.4 Beta, which is basically a complete rework.

Area 51

As you may, or may not, know... our developers are hard at work on adding new features, and Area 51 is where it all happens. But with MP, and unlike the US government, we are open about the inner goings on. So lets take a peak at some of the cool things taking place, that we may see in the future for Mediaportal.

• Configuration settings from within the MP GUI
• Rework of SQLite wrapper
• Switch to Log4Net logging framework
• ... many, many more

.:Leave a Comment:.