Tweet
Okay, who's up for having one thread to keep a) keep track of advice and info and b) a one stop shop for useful programs, tools, plug ins and anything for having a kick ass media center?
I can update the first post with all sorts of useful info that gets added so everything is easy to find and anything a user might want to do is covered.
Windows:
XBMC - www.xbmc.org
Current version (stable) 10.0: Dharma
Initial setup guide (Movies/TV):
You may prefer different methods but I have them set up with one dedicated folder for movies and one dedicated folder for TV. Each film has its own subfolder. It's important to name each folder as close to the scrapers database entry as possible, par example:
If you are using the IMDB movie scraper and you have Transformers from 1986 in a folder. As there are 2 films that could take this name it's possible the automatic library update may take the 2007 edition as what it is and give a false info blurb for it. Therefore, adding the date in brackets after the movie name will help it find the correct title. To be completely sure, check its entry at IMDB and give the folder name the exact same title. This should ensure you have a painfree life when it comes to adding movies to the database.
For TV shows, it's a similar story with some slight differences (as TV shows have episodes to keep track of). Thetvdb.com is the main scraper that XBMC uses for TV. You can use separate folders for seasons inside the shows folder if you really wish. I do, but it makes no odds to XBMC. As with movies, putting the year helps it find the right show. The important thing with each episode is to make sure it has the season and episode number in the filename (You can also use .nfo files, but this method is my preferred way)
For example:
"Archer S01E03 Diversity Hire.avi" - Tells XBMC that its season 1, episode 3 which ensures it adds the correct entry.
"24.S08E13.720p.HDTV.x264" - Denotes season 8, episode 13.
As you can see you do not have to name everything an entirely specific way, just as long as you get the SXXEXX into the filename and you have the parent folders named correctly.
Finally, you need to tell XBMC to use the TV and Movie folders. So load up XBMC, press return on "Videos" on the menu screen. Press the left arrow key on the screen and just ensure "Library Mode" is off (it is the first time you start) and that "Add Source" is available on the menu in front of you. Scroll down to it and browse to where you movies folder is. Select OK, tell XBMC it contains Movies then to use the IMDB scraper (unless you wish to use another scraper - but this tutorial has been IMDB based - probably won't make much difference however), the check "Run automated scan" and "Use folder names for lookups" and click OK. Then sit back and watch whatever movies you have in the folder added to the library. Then repeat the process for TV, remembering to tell XBMC it contains TV shows. Voila! You now have the basis of the setup sorted.
Useful tools:
DVD Fab
Easy to use software for ripping DVD's to many formats (including ISO's - which let you keep the menus). Trial is free for 30 days and fully featured.
Handbrake
Great little program for encoding video in the H.264 codec. Especially useful if you don't care about having menu's on your DVD rips. DVD movies can be brought down and made about 4 times smaller without any noticeable loss in quality.
Bulk Rename Utility
Looks as confusing as the controls of a 747 when you first start it but a very flexible and powerful renaming utility. Plus no changes are made to you hit the rename button so you can test it out without fear of messing anything up. A godsend.
Remote controls for XBMC
Playstation 3 Remote
Small app that you can pop in your startup folder and it will take care of PS3 remotes inputs
PS3 remote config file (Not fully featured yet, I'll be adding more keys to the config as I need them - you can customize your own, of course.
Configuration file for above application
Getting your emulators running:
[This tutorial assumes you already have an idea of how emulators run and have them already set up.]
Making your Media Center more than just a video player - XBMC v10 makes this very easy to do without having to go searching the net for plugins. Simply load up XBMC, then go to "Programs" on the menu screen and then "Get more" on the next screen. Scroll down to Launcher and install that. Go back to the previous menu list and press Launcher. You now have to options "Standalone" and "File Launcher" the first is to start PC games you already have installed on your hard drive. File Launcher is the one we want as it has to find the game roms to load up as well as the emulator, we want to emulate a Sega Genesis with Fusion 36. So click that then navigate to where your emulator exe file is (ie e:/Emulators/Fusion36/Fusion.exe) and select it. Application arguments is command line instructions (see more in your emulators readme) - Snes9x requires you to put a "-fullscreen" argument, unless you want it to run in a window. However, on Fusion36 I've found as long as you've set up the config properly beforehand you won't need to add any here, so just click Done. Next step is to tell XBMC where the games roms are so navigate to the folder than contains those and ok. It will then ask you to input the filename extensions. Add all the ones that are in the directory with a | (not a capital I - the key to the right of the left shift key) - ie, in my folder I have .bin .md and .smd extensions so they are keyed in as "bin|md|smd" and then press Done. Give the launcher a name (Sega Genesis seems logical). It will now appear in the menu. Click on it and it should load all the roms in the directory. I say should as this part seems to make my xbmc freeze, if that doesn't work then close XBMC and try right clicking the launcher and selecting "Import files from path" - that I have better luck with. Also right click on your new launcher and select the "Toggle Wait State" to enabled, very important when leaving the emulator.
Right, games don't really have scrapers yet and launchers search leaves a lot to be desired, so first thing you'll notice is that your library looks a little drab. However, this method ensures you have the right box art every time. Find the boxart for the games you have on google or whatever and copy that to the same folder that your roms are in. Then give it the same name as the rom you want it to be associated with ie:
Sonic The Hedgehog 2.smd - Rom file
Sonic The Hedgehog 2.jpg - Boxart
Do this and XBMC will automatically use that file as the thumbnail for the game meaning you the exact picture you want for the rom. Then all's left to is select a game and get playing!
I can update the first post with all sorts of useful info that gets added so everything is easy to find and anything a user might want to do is covered.
Windows:
XBMC - www.xbmc.org
Current version (stable) 10.0: Dharma
Initial setup guide (Movies/TV):
You may prefer different methods but I have them set up with one dedicated folder for movies and one dedicated folder for TV. Each film has its own subfolder. It's important to name each folder as close to the scrapers database entry as possible, par example:
If you are using the IMDB movie scraper and you have Transformers from 1986 in a folder. As there are 2 films that could take this name it's possible the automatic library update may take the 2007 edition as what it is and give a false info blurb for it. Therefore, adding the date in brackets after the movie name will help it find the correct title. To be completely sure, check its entry at IMDB and give the folder name the exact same title. This should ensure you have a painfree life when it comes to adding movies to the database.
For TV shows, it's a similar story with some slight differences (as TV shows have episodes to keep track of). Thetvdb.com is the main scraper that XBMC uses for TV. You can use separate folders for seasons inside the shows folder if you really wish. I do, but it makes no odds to XBMC. As with movies, putting the year helps it find the right show. The important thing with each episode is to make sure it has the season and episode number in the filename (You can also use .nfo files, but this method is my preferred way)
For example:
"Archer S01E03 Diversity Hire.avi" - Tells XBMC that its season 1, episode 3 which ensures it adds the correct entry.
"24.S08E13.720p.HDTV.x264" - Denotes season 8, episode 13.
As you can see you do not have to name everything an entirely specific way, just as long as you get the SXXEXX into the filename and you have the parent folders named correctly.
Finally, you need to tell XBMC to use the TV and Movie folders. So load up XBMC, press return on "Videos" on the menu screen. Press the left arrow key on the screen and just ensure "Library Mode" is off (it is the first time you start) and that "Add Source" is available on the menu in front of you. Scroll down to it and browse to where you movies folder is. Select OK, tell XBMC it contains Movies then to use the IMDB scraper (unless you wish to use another scraper - but this tutorial has been IMDB based - probably won't make much difference however), the check "Run automated scan" and "Use folder names for lookups" and click OK. Then sit back and watch whatever movies you have in the folder added to the library. Then repeat the process for TV, remembering to tell XBMC it contains TV shows. Voila! You now have the basis of the setup sorted.
Useful tools:
DVD Fab
Easy to use software for ripping DVD's to many formats (including ISO's - which let you keep the menus). Trial is free for 30 days and fully featured.
Handbrake
Great little program for encoding video in the H.264 codec. Especially useful if you don't care about having menu's on your DVD rips. DVD movies can be brought down and made about 4 times smaller without any noticeable loss in quality.
Bulk Rename Utility
Looks as confusing as the controls of a 747 when you first start it but a very flexible and powerful renaming utility. Plus no changes are made to you hit the rename button so you can test it out without fear of messing anything up. A godsend.
Remote controls for XBMC
Playstation 3 Remote
Small app that you can pop in your startup folder and it will take care of PS3 remotes inputs
PS3 remote config file (Not fully featured yet, I'll be adding more keys to the config as I need them - you can customize your own, of course.
Configuration file for above application
Getting your emulators running:
[This tutorial assumes you already have an idea of how emulators run and have them already set up.]
Making your Media Center more than just a video player - XBMC v10 makes this very easy to do without having to go searching the net for plugins. Simply load up XBMC, then go to "Programs" on the menu screen and then "Get more" on the next screen. Scroll down to Launcher and install that. Go back to the previous menu list and press Launcher. You now have to options "Standalone" and "File Launcher" the first is to start PC games you already have installed on your hard drive. File Launcher is the one we want as it has to find the game roms to load up as well as the emulator, we want to emulate a Sega Genesis with Fusion 36. So click that then navigate to where your emulator exe file is (ie e:/Emulators/Fusion36/Fusion.exe) and select it. Application arguments is command line instructions (see more in your emulators readme) - Snes9x requires you to put a "-fullscreen" argument, unless you want it to run in a window. However, on Fusion36 I've found as long as you've set up the config properly beforehand you won't need to add any here, so just click Done. Next step is to tell XBMC where the games roms are so navigate to the folder than contains those and ok. It will then ask you to input the filename extensions. Add all the ones that are in the directory with a | (not a capital I - the key to the right of the left shift key) - ie, in my folder I have .bin .md and .smd extensions so they are keyed in as "bin|md|smd" and then press Done. Give the launcher a name (Sega Genesis seems logical). It will now appear in the menu. Click on it and it should load all the roms in the directory. I say should as this part seems to make my xbmc freeze, if that doesn't work then close XBMC and try right clicking the launcher and selecting "Import files from path" - that I have better luck with. Also right click on your new launcher and select the "Toggle Wait State" to enabled, very important when leaving the emulator.
Right, games don't really have scrapers yet and launchers search leaves a lot to be desired, so first thing you'll notice is that your library looks a little drab. However, this method ensures you have the right box art every time. Find the boxart for the games you have on google or whatever and copy that to the same folder that your roms are in. Then give it the same name as the rom you want it to be associated with ie:
Sonic The Hedgehog 2.smd - Rom file
Sonic The Hedgehog 2.jpg - Boxart
Do this and XBMC will automatically use that file as the thumbnail for the game meaning you the exact picture you want for the rom. Then all's left to is select a game and get playing!
Comment