Alternative to MyMovies

[aeblank]

I have an issue with mymovies that I posted about in their forum. Basically, I can't hit "back" after watching a movie, or it freezes my xbox.
http://www.mymovies.dk/forum.aspx?g=pos ... 54&#195754

So, assuming I can't fix this issue, what are my other movie add-on options?
Honestly, my WMC7 and 3 xboxen have been working fine for me, so I only skim through this forum now and then.

I don't need some super whiz-bang interface or anything.
I'd like something that fits into the WMC theme.
I like MM in that I can manage things on a client computer
I like MM's online movie list
I just hate this one navigation problem with MM.

Open to most any thoughts on the subject, including fixing MM.

[Doctor Feelgood]

This recent thread seems to suggest that Emby is the choice...

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... f=9&t=8702

Although I have no problem with MyMovies, I may need to try it out to compare them myself.

[aeblank]

I do recall emby (mediabrowser was it?).

So, for your MM, can you hit "back" all the way out?
Can you on an xbox extender?
If so, how come you can and not me?

I just checked (remotely, so it was a PIA) and on MCE itself, I do not have the "back" problem with MM. Almost seemed like at one point that it worked on one extender and not the other too (this is tickling that ever so faint memory). I've since added a 3rd xbox that I can test on too.

Not sure if that helps, but it's a data point. Honestly, I'd rather fix MM.

[aeblank]

Does emby need a stand-alone app on an xbox, or does it work as part of being an extender.
I.E. - I don't want to exit MCE on the xbox in order to start an Emby app.
Also concerned about the "poor" extender performance that was discussed in that thread. Then again, I don't use/like MKV because of how they work on extenders. So, I already have everything in an MP4.

[Doctor Feelgood]

I fired up a DVD rip and Blu-ray rip from MyMovies while on an XBOX extender last night... Started the movies, pressed stop which returned it to the MyMovies splash screen for the movie, pressed exit (I am using a URC WR7 universal remote with the buttons all reprogrammed for MCE), which took it back to the tiled view of all movies in MyMovies, and pressed exit again which put me back on the MCE main menu. Neither movie presented an issue in doing this. But - Neither uses any special codec or compression, and as mentioned the remote is not a standard MCE unit. Not sure any of that should matter.

Also - emby will be from within MCE - no need to go back to the XBOX menu.

[DavidinCT]

I thought the built in Movie Library had problems but, after troubleshooting it more, I got it working perfectly, this is why I put my Movie Library replacement on hold. The thread on above was mine. I had NOTHING but problems with My Movies, after about 2 weeks and troubleshooting to the hill, I gave up on it. I think for now the built in product works really well that I fixed it.

I use Yamm for art and metadata, and when I would go in the movie library, art would show up, then flash (show just colored boxes), then come back in about a min or 2 (this is with a little over 300 movies), then when I stop a movie, it would not show any meta data for about 30 seconds, this drove me NUTS.

What I found was a simple check box, Settings>General>Automatic Download Options> and Uncheck Retrieve CD album art, media information for DVDs and movies and internet services from the internet.

After unchecking this box (letting YAMM do handling of meta data and art), When I go into the movie library, it does it's search for about 2 seconds, all movies art shows up with all meta data (and stays that way), when I open a movie, all meta data shows, and when I hit stop on a movie, it shows meta data right away.

It's working like it should and works on the extender faster than most other products because it's designed for extenders from the start.

I know people hate it and prefer other products but, it still is the fastest on an Extender and I wanted something that showed my movies with meta data and art, and now that it's fixed it does work like it should.

If you have a lot of Music in WMC, and you want it to search for meta data/covers for that, You can enable it for a day time to time to update everything but, disable it after, it keeps what it's found and wont try to update it..

MKV formats are spotty on Exenders, your right but, on my Main HTPC, I want the full DTS/DD master HD audio formats and MP4 cant do it... So I limit movies for the kids in lower formats so they play on the exenders as most Adult (non kids movies) are run off the main setup.

[aeblank]

I use Yamm for art and metadata, and when I would go in the movie library, art would show up, then flash (show just colored boxes), then come back in about a min or 2 (this is with a little over 300 movies), then when I stop a movie, it would not show any meta data for about 30 seconds, this drove me NUTS.

It's working like it should and works on the extender faster than most other products because it's designed for extenders from the start.

INTERESTING!
Is there any way, by chance, to use MM to get the movie library art/data? That would let me keep my existing setup, yet have a more responsive extender experience. A second or two to populate is no biggy to me, that's for sure. I have 400 movies (I really need to trim that down, most of them I don't care to watch ever again).

[DavidinCT]

I use Yamm for art and metadata, and when I would go in the movie library, art would show up, then flash (show just colored boxes), then come back in about a min or 2 (this is with a little over 300 movies), then when I stop a movie, it would not show any meta data for about 30 seconds, this drove me NUTS.

It's working like it should and works on the extender faster than most other products because it's designed for extenders from the start.

INTERESTING!
Is there any way, by chance, to use MM to get the movie library art/data? That would let me keep my existing setup, yet have a more responsive extender experience. A second or two to populate is no biggy to me, that's for sure. I have 400 movies (I really need to trim that down, most of them I don't care to watch ever again).

I completely removed MM (I did a backup before installing it, then just restored it). I would use Yamm, it's tiny, all automatic, drop a movie in and it finds it. VERY easy to trouble shoot if it finds the wrong movie.

After unchecking that box, I am still in AWE on how well the built in product works, It works perfect now and exactly what I wanted for a Movie library, Trust me when I had My Movies installed, just running it from WMC too about 5-8 seconds to open, freezing up WMC till it opened.

You can run them side by side, I was as I was testing MM, to compare speed and meta data quality. Trust me when you get the built in product working like it should, I don't think you would want to use MM any more, it looks the same but, OMG the build in product is so much faster that anything else I have tried and it's a comom complaint with EMBY (media browser) esp on Extenders.

[aeblank]

I do see your point, but I like a couple of the things MM does. Mostly the database of all my movies, and it syncs with my phone (I paid for that app!), and MM's website.
If Yammm could read the mymovies.xml (which it references on the webpage) and just put the metadata in the folder based on that.... It's a little odd, I suppose, but it would work for me. MM would control the rest of it, and yammm would just be a go-between to make the stock WMC movies display nice.

[DavidinCT]

I do see your point, but I like a couple of the things MM does. Mostly the database of all my movies, and it syncs with my phone (I paid for that app!), and MM's website.
If Yammm could read the mymovies.xml (which it references on the webpage) and just put the metadata in the folder based on that.... It's a little odd, I suppose, but it would work for me. MM would control the rest of it, and yammm would just be a go-between to make the stock WMC movies display nice.

YAMM creates the xml to the name of the folder (depends on how it's configured).

\Movies\My Movie (2001)\My Movie (2001).xml

So, when the built in Movie Library runs, it only reads the Yamm XML files (because Yamm makes an entry where the xml files are stored).

You can run both side by side, My movies will read the mymovies.xml and the built in product will use the YAMM xml files. In this case, you will have 2 XML files in each movie folder.

The Only thing that can conflict is art, but, in Yamm it has an option to download movie art(you can disable it to keep the art the same), it pulls all it's metadata and art from the IMDB.

Your art is just a folder.jpg that is in each folder, so when you open the built in product, and point it to the movie folders, it should show art for everything but, it wont be able to use Mymovies.xml files, as they are encrypted (look at one you will see), a limit mymovies puts on their XML files. You will need YAMM or another option to do meta data in the library (there is other options if you want the control like you have with my movies, or YAMM is automatic)

This is a my movies thing, not a Media Center thing.

and for remote access, I use Remote Potato it seems to fit, shows all content including movies that I can stream, there is apps for WM, iOS and Android.

I personally have a Windows Phone (Nokia 929/ICON) and it works great with that.

[aeblank]

So the only thing that keeps me from using MyMovies Collection Manager, yet use the stock MC7 movie interface is the fact that MM encrypts their .xml files...
I can use Yammm to create a second .xml (that will hopefully be the same).

I use remote potato too, though complicated by my ISP giving me a private IP, so Hamachi helps with that.

[gator99]

I was a paid supporter of MyMovies a while back, but switched to Mediabrowser v2, then v3 and now it is called Emby, and have not looked back the software is great and integrates really well with WMC and also has many other benefits, I highly recommend it.

[dejavux2]

I highly recommend Emby as well... I've been with MediaBrowser since in started, and the new MB3 (Emby) is great. I have not had any problems on any of my Xbox 360's or on the Ceton Echo when it comes to Emby...

[aeblank]

Can it be set up to have a movies "reel" like stock MC7 or MM?

I would probably set it up for movies only, at first. Perhaps expanding it into "videos". I use "videos" as an augmentation of recorded TV. Basically things I've downloaded that I plan to watch/delete or quicker access to kids videos (might be a "movie", but faster to go to videos/Ethan to get to them than to browse 400 movies). Not sure Emby would be useful there, or what it would do.
I don't think I want to use it for recorded tv. Is all that possible?

I guess what makes me hesitant is that I tried recordedTVHD and did NOT care for it at all. This seems similar-ish.

Looks like I'll be creating a restore point and doing some experimenting, at the very least. That thread about Emby did catch my eye, whenever that was.
Thanks all for the continued feedback.

[grinchy]

I have an issue with mymovies that I posted about in their forum. Basically, I can't hit "back" after watching a movie, or it freezes my xbox.
http://www.mymovies.dk/forum.aspx?g=pos ... 54&#195754

So, assuming I can't fix this issue, what are my other movie add-on options?
Honestly, my WMC7 and 3 xboxen have been working fine for me, so I only skim through this forum now and then.

I don't need some super whiz-bang interface or anything.
I'd like something that fits into the WMC theme.
I like MM in that I can manage things on a client computer
I like MM's online movie list
I just hate this one navigation problem with MM.

Open to most any thoughts on the subject, including fixing MM.

I've been a MM user for quite a few years now. If I'm reading this correctly, this sounds exactly like the issue I had years ago. If its the same thing that I was experiencing, I've discovered:
1) It's an Xbox issue, not MM
2) The Xbox appears frozen, however it really isn't. The interface is - if you "blindly" navigate, say to Live TV, I could hear TV playing, etc.
3) I also opened a issue with MM years ago and there isn't a resolution (as I don't think it's an MM issue, per say).

Long story short - I never found an issue around it. I do not have the problem when using the HTPC directly. Since most of my movies are high bitrate, they don't play well on the Xbox anyways... so when the issue occurs, I just reboot the xbox. Yes, not ideal... but I do like the integrate look and feel of the MM interface; along with their CM software.

I'll probably give Emby a try at some point though... however the Xbox is the biggest limiting factor when in WMC.

[aeblank]

1) It's an Xbox issue, not MM
2) The Xbox appears frozen, however it really isn't.

All fine and dandy, but barely matters in the end.
The larger point, at least for me, is that Emby (or others?) don't exhibit the same problem. What are they doing different?

I'll try Emby perhaps, many seem to like it.
I'll try Yammm probably first, as it might be more "seamless".

We'll see.

[grinchy]

1) It's an Xbox issue, not MM
2) The Xbox appears frozen, however it really isn't.

All fine and dandy, but barely matters in the end.
The larger point, at least for me, is that Emby (or others?) don't exhibit the same problem. What are they doing different?

I'll try Emby perhaps, many seem to like it.
I'll try Yammm probably first, as it might be more "seamless".

We'll see.

From my experiences, the issue occurred based on the movie that was being played - particularly how it was encoded, etc. It's been a while, but I recall similar symptoms when trying to play from the base Videos section when using the Xbox as well so the launching interface didn't matter in my case.

Definitely come back and update on your Emby experiences on the Xbox though; I'd be curious. I used MediaBrowser years ago and switched the MM since it was more integrated at the time - but I'd like to revisit it at some point.

[aeblank]

So far, I un-disabled the stock movies banner. It worked, but was certainly slow at times too (tried to thumb through title/genre/date/etc. at the top and totally froze it on an xbox). I un-checked the option that was said to uncheck. However, I couldn't reboot till after bedtime, or this morning. So, not sure how that changes things. It shows the movies with cover art, but no description, as expected. Didn't figure I'd bother installing YAMMM until/if I decide to go that way.

We'll see where I end up.

[aeblank]

So, I've installed Emby server and WMC add-on. I sorta like it, and I sorta don't.
I don't like that you have to know to go to "media browser". I'd rather have the "movies" reel. Same for "videos", naturally.
Also, it takes *forever* to load. I guess I just find the "integration" lacking. Maybe some of this can be overcome with skins or themes, but that's overwhelming too. I have a job, a wife, a kid, firewood to split, lawns to mow, etc. etc. That's just where my life is these days.

I debated not using MB in MC, but still maintain the server for tablets/phones. That seems pretty cool, so that one could watch a movie or show on a tablet. Might still do that, not sure.

I found the way you have to handle recorded TV crummy. Basically you have to move shows into some folder structure / rename shows. What a pain setting that up. So much for watching recorded tv on the tablets without a lot of messing around. Dangit.

I started thinking about all the movies I do have. Like 400. Many/most are ones that are watched once, and that's it. Or perhaps they still need to be watched that once. So, why do I have them. Then again, when guests come over, it's nice to have a large library to choose from. Just on a whim I moved all but about 40 movies OUT of the movies folder, to see if the native "movies" would work better. Honestly, it didn't seem to change it much, which confused me. I had thoughts of trying to have multiple smaller movie libraries, like "dad's movies", "sappy mom movies", and "family movies" each with smaller numbers in them. But if the smaller movie count didn't help the response, what's the point.

I wish MM would explain the "instability with the way the extender and its playback system works" a bit. And/or FIX IT. Simply put, nobody else has this problem that I'm aware of, so why do they? Figure it out!

So that's my status, for anyone who cares.
Certainly still taking suggestions.

[Doctor Feelgood]

So, I've installed Emby server and WMC add-on. I sorta like it, and I sorta don't.
I don't like that you have to know to go to "media browser". I'd rather have the "movies" reel. Same for "videos", naturally.

Can't comment on most of your post, since I haven't tried Emby... But, on the quoted comments, perhaps you could change the titles of those headers using Media Center Studio:

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/wiki/index ... ter_Studio

Can typically hack up the interface anyway you want with that.