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Tuesday 5 July 2011
Friday 9 July 2010
Mini Display
The Mini Display plug-in in Media Portal now works in version 1.1 RC6! My Antec iMON LCD display for the first time very display MP titles and messages!!
Tuesday 6 July 2010
MediaPortal version 1.1
It is all very exciting at the moment with the build up to the release of MediaPortal, version 1.1.0. This is due around the 16th of July. But in the meantime, the release is up to RC6, and is available to download and test MP here. The lastest Streamed MP (with MovingPictures and TV Series) is available here.
The menu has now shifted from the center to the left.
The new central horizontal menu looks interesting.
The categories facilities described yesterday is only available in MP 1.1.0 and the lastest Streamed MP for this build.
The menu has now shifted from the center to the left.
The new central horizontal menu looks interesting.
The categories facilities described yesterday is only available in MP 1.1.0 and the lastest Streamed MP for this build.
Monday 5 July 2010
Moving Picture Categories
I've just discovered the ability to customise MovingPictures - the plug-in for your movies in MediaPortal - mainly the ability to sections your movies. See this thread.
This is handy for me as I wanted to section out my kids movies with our more 'adult' movies.
So entering MovingPictures now present you with the following:
Three subfolders or sections, with Olivia's Movies, All Movies and Unwatched Movies. The latter is a dynamically generated folder that is quite handy, I think!
This is handy for me as I wanted to section out my kids movies with our more 'adult' movies.
So entering MovingPictures now present you with the following:
Three subfolders or sections, with Olivia's Movies, All Movies and Unwatched Movies. The latter is a dynamically generated folder that is quite handy, I think!
Friday 2 July 2010
Converting H264 recordings to MKV format
So what do you do once you've recorded all those World Cup matches, producing 11-15Gb of files that is filling up your hard drive? Well, you need to convert them into a compressed format but at the same time as keeping the quality of the video. DivX HD is one such format, but the one I'm going to use is the MKV container format. I'm just going to see what file sizes I can achieve by leaving the video and audio in their native formats and putting them into the MKV container.
Here are the free tools that I am using to transcode to mkv:
1. Edit .ts file using H264TS_Cutter: http://www.videohelp.com/tools/H264TS_Cutter (save as .ts)
2. Process .ts file to mkv using MeGUI: http://www.videohelp.com/tools/MeGUI (following these instructions)
A sample clip (Visa World Cup advert using Pixies Isla de Encanta) is available here.
A full set of instructions by myself will appear on a nearby wiki soon! Two initial problems were solved here and here.
Here are the free tools that I am using to transcode to mkv:
1. Edit .ts file using H264TS_Cutter: http://www.videohelp.com/tools/H264TS_Cutter (save as .ts)
2. Process .ts file to mkv using MeGUI: http://www.videohelp.com/tools/MeGUI (following these instructions)
A sample clip (Visa World Cup advert using Pixies Isla de Encanta) is available here.
A full set of instructions by myself will appear on a nearby wiki soon! Two initial problems were solved here and here.
Wednesday 30 June 2010
Recording the 2010 World Cup
Well the idea was to attempt to record ALL the 2010 World Cup in HD on my Humax Freesat HDR, but as I want to eventually move the recordings off the box and process them somehow (convert to mkv?), then it was not possible. The only way to record HD non-encrypted on the HDR is to do an instant record in non-freesat mode, and since I have a job, I could not be around during the day to do this...
Well that was when my HTPC and MediaPortal came into play. Timers can be set in MediaPortal (using PowerScheduler, either manually or via the EPG) on the HTPC to wake up the PC and record. All went well, until two things happened; first thing I found was that when I had missed some matches, and set timers for the early morning repeats, they did not record! I think this is a bug in PowerScheduler... Second thing was that I eventually ran out of diskspace! Each HD recording took up between 11-15Gb of space...
Well that was when my HTPC and MediaPortal came into play. Timers can be set in MediaPortal (using PowerScheduler, either manually or via the EPG) on the HTPC to wake up the PC and record. All went well, until two things happened; first thing I found was that when I had missed some matches, and set timers for the early morning repeats, they did not record! I think this is a bug in PowerScheduler... Second thing was that I eventually ran out of diskspace! Each HD recording took up between 11-15Gb of space...
Monday 30 November 2009
MediaPortal TV: HD channels
I have solved viewing of HD channels using MP! After trying a few things, including un-installing PDVD8 and installing PDVD9, it did not work, I had a read on the MP forums.
No such luck on solving my problem specifically, but did find this SAF codec bundle. This did help me though. I downloaded the beta and started installing it... First of all it recommend that I unistall codec packs - so I removed CCC codec pack on my system - and then it detected I had an old version of DX. The nice thing was that it pointed me to where I can download the newer version which I did so. Unfortunately it errored out at the HD codec... saying that it could not find the PDVD HD DLL - even thought PDVD9 was installed!
Well this prompted me to install PDVD8 at the same time as PDVD9. I then pointed the HD decoding to the PDVD8 codec via MP configuration, and magically it worked. Now I can view BBC HD and ITV HD via the TV plugin... Weird!
No such luck on solving my problem specifically, but did find this SAF codec bundle. This did help me though. I downloaded the beta and started installing it... First of all it recommend that I unistall codec packs - so I removed CCC codec pack on my system - and then it detected I had an old version of DX. The nice thing was that it pointed me to where I can download the newer version which I did so. Unfortunately it errored out at the HD codec... saying that it could not find the PDVD HD DLL - even thought PDVD9 was installed!
Well this prompted me to install PDVD8 at the same time as PDVD9. I then pointed the HD decoding to the PDVD8 codec via MP configuration, and magically it worked. Now I can view BBC HD and ITV HD via the TV plugin... Weird!
Monday 23 November 2009
Star Wars: A New Hope - ITV HD
Here's some screenies of what I did manage to record with a manual timer!
Setting a manual timer to record!
Well, I think I've lost the skill of setting a manual timer to record a programme - like we all would have done once upon a time on our VCRs... It was an experience a bit like writing a letter with a pen... The skill was long forgotten, as I am so used to using an EPG to schedule a record timer, and hence I got it all wrong! :(
Well, with Star Wars: A New Hope showing on ITV HD over the weekend, I decided to get my HTPC to record it... I had a paper guide with me and looked up when it was on and set a manual timer in MediaPortal accordingly... I managed to put the HTPC in S1 sleep mode, set WinOff to turn off accordingly and went out for the evening...
I returned and looked at the HTPC to see if it had recorded, and fair enough it had. However, I checked the recording and it turned out the programme had started late and the recording end midway through! I was puzzled to why it ended so early, and checked the guide again, and noticed Star Wars was in two parts! If I had used my Humax FOXSAT-HDR it would have setup the 'split event' recording and recorded both parts without trouble - and also would have coped with the late running of the film - both features are part of the Freesat+ specs.
There's more to this sad tale... As I have recently returned to Windows XP as my prefer choice of OS for a HTPC, I have not managed to set up the TV viewing and recording properly. For some unknown reason, I am unable to view BBC or ITV HD (using PDVD8 or 9). This is with the new install of MediaPortal 1.0.2. I am able to record the HD channels (as above) and view the recordings in PDVD9, but I can not view the live channel in MP! MP just freezes, and on BBC HD, I just have sound... I think another re-install of MP is needed!
Well, with Star Wars: A New Hope showing on ITV HD over the weekend, I decided to get my HTPC to record it... I had a paper guide with me and looked up when it was on and set a manual timer in MediaPortal accordingly... I managed to put the HTPC in S1 sleep mode, set WinOff to turn off accordingly and went out for the evening...
I returned and looked at the HTPC to see if it had recorded, and fair enough it had. However, I checked the recording and it turned out the programme had started late and the recording end midway through! I was puzzled to why it ended so early, and checked the guide again, and noticed Star Wars was in two parts! If I had used my Humax FOXSAT-HDR it would have setup the 'split event' recording and recorded both parts without trouble - and also would have coped with the late running of the film - both features are part of the Freesat+ specs.
There's more to this sad tale... As I have recently returned to Windows XP as my prefer choice of OS for a HTPC, I have not managed to set up the TV viewing and recording properly. For some unknown reason, I am unable to view BBC or ITV HD (using PDVD8 or 9). This is with the new install of MediaPortal 1.0.2. I am able to record the HD channels (as above) and view the recordings in PDVD9, but I can not view the live channel in MP! MP just freezes, and on BBC HD, I just have sound... I think another re-install of MP is needed!
Thursday 5 November 2009
TV Server
What was the reason I removed the 7010iX tuner card from the HTCP, you wonder... Well, I wasn't using it much to watch TV or record from... so I had the bright idea of building an energy efficient PC as a dedicated TV Server...
I was worried about the power consumption of my HTPC - averaging 150W at times - and leaving it on to record programmes late at night. The idea was that if I could build an energy efficient box - using 50W when running - I would sleep better at night ;) and use it more to record TV...
Just today, I see this Acer PC for sale on eBuyer: Acer Aspire X1300 SFF Desktop PC.
It has the energy efficient AMD processor in it: the 5050e and according to the guy on Coding Horror, he's built a energy efficient PC using it.
But after a quick calculation of the components making up that PC, I think it can be built for less. Using near-equivalent bits from Scan, I can make a box cheaper than the asking price of £250:
CPU: AMB Althlon 64 X2 5000+ @ £43
Mobo: Asus M3N78-VM @ £48
RAM: 2 x 1Gb Hynix 667 @ £33
HDD: 320Gb Hitachi £31
DVD: Samsung SH @ £18
Case: mATX case @ £31
Total: £204
Admittedly, there's no OS or warranty costs, but still a saving of about £45... Well I think I'm going to wait for the AMD X2 240e processor (as I don't seem able to get the 5050e anymore) to be released to start building this box...
Another reason to pull of the 7010iX card is to reduce the energy consumption of the HTPC, and speed up the boot process. Uninstalling TV Server or configuring it so it does not start up the service on boot or on MediaPortal start, means that MP loads faster for Movie watching...
I was worried about the power consumption of my HTPC - averaging 150W at times - and leaving it on to record programmes late at night. The idea was that if I could build an energy efficient box - using 50W when running - I would sleep better at night ;) and use it more to record TV...
Just today, I see this Acer PC for sale on eBuyer: Acer Aspire X1300 SFF Desktop PC.
It has the energy efficient AMD processor in it: the 5050e and according to the guy on Coding Horror, he's built a energy efficient PC using it.
But after a quick calculation of the components making up that PC, I think it can be built for less. Using near-equivalent bits from Scan, I can make a box cheaper than the asking price of £250:
CPU: AMB Althlon 64 X2 5000+ @ £43
Mobo: Asus M3N78-VM @ £48
RAM: 2 x 1Gb Hynix 667 @ £33
HDD: 320Gb Hitachi £31
DVD: Samsung SH @ £18
Case: mATX case @ £31
Total: £204
Admittedly, there's no OS or warranty costs, but still a saving of about £45... Well I think I'm going to wait for the AMD X2 240e processor (as I don't seem able to get the 5050e anymore) to be released to start building this box...
Another reason to pull of the 7010iX card is to reduce the energy consumption of the HTPC, and speed up the boot process. Uninstalling TV Server or configuring it so it does not start up the service on boot or on MediaPortal start, means that MP loads faster for Movie watching...
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