Aqua-Soft ForumsSorry, I thought it was a rip-off, but I wasn't sure. Thanks for the info.
VideoShelf RC1
the new gui is everytime better, and tags are really useful 
.
if is possible:
-seems large cover viewver is always focused and override the other windows
-i think it is not a good idea to lose the case sensitive maybe better if an option ,
becasue if i search for an actor,movie or director and sometimes ,
for example a movie title has the first letter or the article in capital font ,
the application will not found that movie
and it is frustrating also when what i need to search is a bit different or not strictly the same has been saved
simply becasue i don't remember it exactly
so the case sensitive is extremely useful:
for example if i search for "rambo first Blood"
and it has been saved has "Rambo First blood ("b" not in capital)"
i will never find it.and i will never find it also if i search for "rambo",
same for actor and director.
-is it possible a pre-buffer for the next 15-30 movies so the browsing should be better and faster?
-i've seen has been added also movie release date but not in edit option tab, should be add in future?
ps: i can see in the topleft a to little sqare buttons(still inactive) that make me thinking about the listview is coming to be implemented am i in wrong?
@Zorda: I really appreciate you taking the time to leave your comments and suggestions. Thank you very much.
To answer a few of your concerns/questions:
- I will change the way the 'large cover viewer' window is handled to behave as if a normal window.
- Checked the case-sensitive searching and found ti work correctly on my computer. Searches with even jumbled cases, ie: SoPranOs still located correctly the entries for The Sopranos. I will take a look at the code and see if anything could be wrong.
- At the moment, due to the way in which I go about displaying the DVDs I do not believe I will be able to pre-fetch the next/previous batch of DVDs when browsing. Having said that, I will look into it and see if there isn't some way of achieving this.
- I am currently redesigning the 'edit' window and will include all available information to edit.
Regarding those two little buttons in the top-left. You are not wrong. I am working on adding a listview mode that will look and act similarily to that of the 'Add DVD' window. Still fleshing out the complete idea to make it as fast and reliable as the DVD shelf mode. I hope to have it working by version 2.0.
Also, by version I hope to have full skinning capabilities enabled. Magnus Wild has been making some mockups of a more OS X-like version of VideoShelf for a while now and they look great so far.
PS: Not sure why I had to rewrite this twice. The first post didn't seem to take.
Thanks Sranshaft for this awesome program.
I love the idea! however there are two things that prevent me from using it much at the moment:
1) lack of manual dvd addition-------a lot of my dvds are foreign titles that simply aren't on amazon!
2) Support for dvd image files (iso, img, nrg) to be mounted by daemon and then played by external app ie windvd
I know that there are many others out there with a large collection of various dvd image files and if your awesome program could handle them, as well as having the ability to launch a seperate external app for avis/mpegs/wmvs it would really be all powerful!
Thanks again!
@Kiboy6: Thanks for the comment.
1. I am in the process of adding manual DVD addition.Look for it in the next update.
2. I have been meaning to get around to adding iso, img, etc...just haven't yet. While saying that, I won't be able (I don't think) to have VideoShelf mount them automatically. You'd have to do that yourself.
You are able to luanch a seperate player for avi and mpegs already. Simply right-click the DVD case of the movie stored on the hard drive and 'Location' > 'Hard Drive', then browse to the location of the movie file. Selecting 'Play' then from the right-click menu will start the movie in your player of choice.
Thanks Sranshaft,
Videoshelf wouldn't have to mount it...as long as videoshelf can tell Daemon tools to mount the image that would be great.
(As a bonus it would be really cool If Videoshelf could even make another external app such as windvd then play the mounted "dvd" .. However even if only Daemontools were integrated it shouldn't be too hard for videoshelf users to make windvd "autoplay" uopn mounting of the image.)
Looking forward to the next update!
I wouldn't know where to begin to add that feature. I would have to take a look and see if daemon tools has some sort of SDK so that I might be able to hook into it. As of now though, I don't see this feature being a part of VideoShelf.
Don't worry Sranshaft, as long as user can choose which program will open iso, img, nrg image files, then all we'll have to do is point videoshelf to daemon.exe and off we go.
In fact i think there is a very easy solution to the challenge of implementing support for iso,img, and indeed all video files.
I was playing around with mediaman (ok prog but not nearly as pretty and sleek as videoshelf)
However mediaman presents a good method of playing all video files. Once the path is defined for each movie file in the collection a "play now" option is enabled. When selected this simply opens the video file with the default application.
In other words, you would not even have to implement any choice of media player within videoshelf. As long as the path can be opened with the default application (as if it were double clicked) then the user can configure his system however he likes.
(just as an example i have my computer configured to mount iso files with daemon.exe when they are double clicked. Similarly if i double click on an avi, bsplayer will launch the movie. As long as videoshelf is told the path of each movie it would only have to send the command to "open" the file and windows xp can take it from there!)
Hope that makes sense to you Can't wait for the next release !
Ps....One other thought...don't know how easy it'd be to implement but as well as manual search some other search engine options such as imdb would be awesome!
This function is already included in a way. You can already begin movies on the hard drive by right-clicking the DVD on the shelf and selecting 'Play' from the menu. I will look into just sending an 'open' command (I believe I know how I will do this). Look for it in the next update.
As for manual searching - that would be quite difficult especially for IMDb as they do not offer APIs or XML feeds. I would have to manually parse the HTML of the page and to be quite frank, I'm just not up for doing that. I already have to do this to get thing like the actors, genres and such (I know there is an easier way using Amazon's APIs but as a now I have not yet found a way to do it. I can get the other info fine but it's the actors list that gives me the great hassle.
Moving on - I haven't been able to work much on this for the last week or two. Been hard up for cash as of later (real life with a family can do this) and as such have been having to spend my free time doing freelance graphic arts work. I'll hopefully have a free night this week to finish the edit window and those other things I had planned.
Thank you so much Sranshaft! Great news that the "open" command may be possible. Of course it's not a problem if the imdb type search is too much work. As long as one is able to add image and description manually that would be more than sufficient!
I'm already grateful for your great little program - there is nothing else out there freeware, shareware or commercial that i've been able to find that does this task so simply, effectively and attractively. Of course there are lots of other media organizers / htpc front ends out there, but they are all a bit cumbersome and annoying if all you want to do is manage the dvds on your pc!
So just wanted to let you know that your work is really appreciated and i hope i didn't sound presumptupous or demanding! I was just letting you know my suggestions on what would make videoshelf perfect for me !
Any news on when the improved videoshelf will be released?
I'm holding off cataloging my dvds with another program because videoshelf would be SO much better!
Just wondering if there was any ETA for the improved release? (so i know whether to keep waiting or make do with something crappier like mediaman)
Thanks so much!
Well my CPU went and crapped itself on me so I have to wait to get it up and running. It won't be too long but I don't see it happening in the next week or two. There was still some things I was working on and ned to get done for the next update before I can release it.
Ok...thanks so much for keeping us updated!
Any news on the development of your exciting app Sranshaft?
As I said before, my main computer is still down. I will let everyone know when there is a new update available.
ok thanks a lot for letting me know Sranshaft....didn't mean to bug you!
No worries. You're not bugging me. It's just been a trying couple of weeks trying to get the computer back up and running. I appreciate your enthusiasm and continued interest in the program. I hope the wait will be worth it to you.
. I hope the wait will be worth it to you.
I'm sure it will be .... I know how difficult it can be when computers die on you!
Just checking in to see how you're doing with your pc woes Sranshaft my friend.... Any news on videoshelf development?
Happy new Year!
Well hello and a Happy New Year to you as well. Yes, I've finally gotten the computer up and running! I'm in the process of fixing a few things and will release a final version in the next week or two.
I say final because I have started writing a new movie collection database using C# which should begin beta testing by the end of the month (I've got a working alpha which is usable finished but I want to add some more feature in).
I will uploading some screenshots of the new app shortly.
Great to hear from you Sranshaft and to hear about your developments
Look forward to all your future developments - eye candy with depth !!
Awesome Sranshaft! Can't wait for the final version of videoshelf!
me too...my excited anticipation of this release is well documented!