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Mawu
Senior Member
Germany
1027 Posts |
 Posted - 23 Jul 2013 : 17:12:18
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After six month of ignoring xMM8 I gave xMM8 a second try.
Part 1: The import from xMM7
First I started to import my old xMM7 database into xMM 8.0.6.9. First annoyance: The old custom fields only can be transferred completely to the new fields or not. I used some of the custom fields for the IMDB stuff others for my own stuff. Here I was missing an option to select specific custom fields for import. And no I don't want to re-import all the stuff from IMDB as I always edit the content that was imported. I now use Access to move the content between the data fields, but not everybody has Access available (feature request: option to move data from one data field to another).
Without Access I would be completely lost.
Other problems:
- The boxsets (I still hate the way they were implemented in xMM8) are not sorted together with the corresponding movies which makes the whole list a little bit disordered. There is no way to insert them according to the MovieID.
- All infos for boxsets are imported into the access database but the amount of data fields in the edit window has been cut too much and some fields are missing now (see: http://www.binaryworks.it/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=10965)
- DVD features field only contain checkboxes (which is ok), but the imported data can't be displayed correctly (all stuff is "pressed" into the first item in the features table) although it's correctly listed in the access database. Some solutions for this problem I've discussed some time ago in other threads. For now I moved the dvd feature content in Access to a custom field. All "general" dvd features I "transfer" to the dvd features field manually for every movie, unique features of a specific movie remain in the custom field (which I named "extras")
BTW: For naming the custom fields I have the problem that german umlaute are not accepted
- Media language exists as data field doublette in the edit window although I can't edit data (and can't find the data field in access database; where is it?). Also existing as doublettes: media label, number of media
- For boxsets the purchase date is imported to the notes, also the extras.
- items in the lists (like genre, country,..) are more or less crap. This lists should be empty for a new database and then populated according to the imported data. First of all I had to delete every item and put my set of data on the lists (also for movie and dvd features). On the other hand it's a nice improvement to be able to multi-select items in the several data fields (e.g. country, genre)
- some data like dual layer/dual side are lost
Part 2: import from IMDB et al.
- For IMDB-import I selected the IMDB(complete script). BTW: In the script list some scripts are marked in a yellow colour. Why?
- Looking at the script options there are many options from xMM7 left which does not inspire much confidence
- Not in every case the WebID of the crew members are imported.
- The script doesn't seem to support download of soundtrack and movie connections. Why? Most of the script doesn't make full use of the new data fields or the infos that are available on the websites (most of all for extended dvd/blu-ray info, e.g. DVD-Palace or OFDB)
- I don't like the background download. There should be an option to see the step-by-step population of the data fields. I always want to know what is going on. Ok, I've seen now the option for advanced users but that's not a nice presentation. BTW: When download is finished the window doesn't close automatically and the engine seem to be in an idle mode.
- script chains are not easy to find (there is no additional tab like in xMM7)
Part3: Reading Discs
a) adding a disk
- I can only add one disk to a movie (disk tab)
- dual layer isn't recognized
- diskID is crap
- Media Label and Filesize seem ok
b) reading a movie file
reading vob-Files (DVD) and m2ts-Files(Blu-ray):
- Codec, Bitrate, FPS, Media Label (in Video Tab), Resolution are ok
- only one audio stream is listed in audio tab (although my Test-DVD has 2), media language is also not recognized
for mkv-Files import is ok
c) reading disk
- it's not possible to read a disk for an already existing movie in database
- for DVD: Codec, FPS, Resolution, Media Label (in discs tab) are ok; the rest doesn't work
- conclusion: the reading disk feature is unusable and should be deactivated.
For my collection I would expect a "read dvd/blu-ray" feature for new/existing movies that is able to recognize:
- all disk parameters (disc number, media label, diskID, disk size, dual layer yes/no)
- main movie with all video and audio parameters
To be continued.... I cancel my test. At the moment it makes no sense to try to update a database with 1200 dvd/blu-ray with the existing bugs and glitches. xMM8, maybe we see us on christmas vacation again. For now I shut down my pc and enjoy the sunny weather.
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www.schlemmerkino.de - Die Nr.1 für filmische Leckereien |
Edited by - Mawu on 05 Aug 2013 14:06:44 |
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Saphir
Junior Member
Germany
136 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jul 2013 : 14:43:50
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I too don't like the backround download and why?: If I have a new movie I bring it to the database, download the information than control and edit them. For this the backround download is not helpfull. It could helpfull by importing my old database and let the actors new download in the backround but what I have seen till now there are no actors downloaded? For what I shoulden't import the old actor list if there are no new ones?
Would be good if I can select if the download is in backround or not. |
eXtreme Books Manager 1.0.4.6
eXtreme Movie Manager 7.2.3.6
eXtreme Games Manager 1.0.3.8
eXtreme Movie Manager 8.0.7.0 |
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apd
Junior Member
Greece
378 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jul 2013 : 16:31:31
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Ok, here's my take on importing from v7. This time I decided to import directors and actors too. It took ~2hrs to convert. In the end:
* No covers were copied, I had to copy them manually to the new folder. Then, they were recognised directly.
* In films with two or more directors, when directors names are separated with [|] only the first name (the text string until the first separator) was imported. When the separator was [,], all the names were imported (and properly, as separate persons).
* If two or more names exist in the fields Producer, Writer, Musician, Photographer separated with [|] or [,] only the first text string was imported.
* No biggie, but strange: Something has changed that affects my custom html template: in v.7 I can see actors names in it, as well as "special" characters. In v.8 no actors/roles appear and all "special" characters are simplified to their non accented version.
I keep an eye for the updates, but even though we've had more than 20 of them since January, very few important things have improved. I understand that Alessio has a family to feed, but in the end it's disappointing to dedicate so much time to test and write, only to be ignored. In the last months, he doesn't even have time to address issues in the forum. Now that there are signs that even the scripts begin to fail, maybe we'll sadly have to look for greener pastures, after so many years with XMM.
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Edited by - apd on 24 Jul 2013 16:47:48 |
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Saphir
Junior Member
Germany
136 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jul 2013 : 17:09:11
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| I can understand very well if Alessio has not so much time to do all the work which is needed in the moment but this not time having must be managed too. That's the reason why I have suggested the to do list again: http://www.binaryworks.it/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11469 |
eXtreme Books Manager 1.0.4.6
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Edited by - Saphir on 24 Jul 2013 17:09:49 |
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Alessio Viti
Forum Admin
Italy
9171 Posts |
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yan00s
Moderator
405 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jul 2013 : 20:36:30
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quote:
Originally posted by Mawu
- I started to update the movie "Ist das Leben nicht schön?" (It's a wonderful life). As the movie is correctly imported I expected a quick update procedure (in xMM7 this works for that movie), but I had to search again. And nothing was found. The problem is that the search via script has problems with the german umlaute. I also had problems to download the director and not in every case the WebID was imported.
To me it seems that everything what's listed in the IMDB.com scripts below SUBSTITUTEWEBQUERY does actually make things worse in V8. Therefore I remove it and results look better. Your mileage may vary though ... |
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Saphir
Junior Member
Germany
136 Posts |
Posted - 31 Jul 2013 : 21:15:15
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| 3b) I was reading a movie file and my 2 Audio Streams were added |
eXtreme Books Manager 1.0.4.6
eXtreme Movie Manager 7.2.3.6
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Mawu
Senior Member
Germany
1027 Posts |
Posted - 01 Aug 2013 : 11:56:20
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quote:
3b) I was reading a movie file and my 2 Audio Streams were added
I will re-try with some other dvd. Maybe xMM doesn't like italian movies.  I tried it with the DVD "Das Leben ist schön" (La Vita è bella). A german and an italian stream is available and xMM only recognize one stream (audio codec, dolby codec, sample rate, audio bit rate, channels are ok; no media language is detected) when reading the VTS_01_1.VOB file (main movie) |
www.schlemmerkino.de - Die Nr.1 für filmische Leckereien |
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Saphir
Junior Member
Germany
136 Posts |
Posted - 01 Aug 2013 : 14:27:58
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Maybe it doesn't work with VOB files.
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eXtreme Books Manager 1.0.4.6
eXtreme Movie Manager 7.2.3.6
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eXtreme Movie Manager 8.0.7.0 |
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Mawu
Senior Member
Germany
1027 Posts |
Posted - 02 Aug 2013 : 23:32:21
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quote:
Maybe it doesn't work with VOB files.
Can you confirm this? Here with vob-Files (DVD) and m2ts-Files (Blu-ray) it doesn't work. With mkv-Files it worked.
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www.schlemmerkino.de - Die Nr.1 für filmische Leckereien |
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yan00s
Moderator
405 Posts |
Posted - 03 Aug 2013 : 12:18:59
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quote:
Originally posted by Mawu
quote:
Maybe it doesn't work with VOB files.
Can you confirm this? Here with vob-Files (DVD) and m2ts-Files (Blu-ray) it doesn't work. With mkv-Files it worked.
Made a quick test with an m2ts from a Blu-Ray: 5 out of 9 audio streams were added. I suppose there's a hard limit how many streams are taken from MediaInfo. And: if MediaInfo does not recognize the language you will not get it written to the stream entry in XMM.
What I did was reading the first movie part from the BDMW directory (you have to find out first which file to select - no automation provided). |
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Saphir
Junior Member
Germany
136 Posts |
Posted - 06 Aug 2013 : 00:10:05
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| I tried a Blu-ray too but couldn't add anything out of the disk. No Audio information and no Video information? |
eXtreme Books Manager 1.0.4.6
eXtreme Movie Manager 7.2.3.6
eXtreme Games Manager 1.0.3.8
eXtreme Movie Manager 8.0.7.0 |
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yan00s
Moderator
405 Posts |
Posted - 08 Aug 2013 : 22:08:48
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quote:
Originally posted by Saphir
I tried a Blu-ray too but couldn't add anything out of the disk. No Audio information and no Video information?
As I said ... I navigated into the stream directory and used a m2ts file directly. MediaInfo (and thus XMM) can't provide the information by simply reading the disc. And if it's drm'ed you will most likely need an additional helper proggy to read the streams. |
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Saphir
Junior Member
Germany
136 Posts |
Posted - 20 Aug 2013 : 06:38:19
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quote:
As I said ... I navigated into the stream directory and used a m2ts file directly. MediaInfo (and thus XMM) can't provide the information by simply reading the disc. And if it's drm'ed you will most likely need an additional helper proggy to read the streams.
That's what I did too?
quote:
Originally posted by Mawu
To be continued.... I cancel my test. At the moment it makes no sense to try to update a database with 1200 dvd/blu-ray with the existing bugs and glitches. xMM8, maybe we see us on christmas vacation again. For now I shut down my pc and enjoy the sunny weather.
1200! Wow I would have stopped using XMM 8 immediatly  My Movie collection is not really big and my XMM 7 collection was not really finished with editing, so I change now to XMM 8 but have to do edit every movie again. What goes through my mind is XMM 9 in hopefully far future. If every version change makes such a work, I have to look if there is something else than XMM.
Mawu, I think it will at no point make sense to change from XMM7 to XMM8 if you don't want to reedit every movie again. There are to much new thinks which work completley different. |
eXtreme Books Manager 1.0.4.6
eXtreme Movie Manager 7.2.3.6
eXtreme Games Manager 1.0.3.8
eXtreme Movie Manager 8.0.7.0 |
Edited by - Saphir on 20 Aug 2013 08:50:56 |
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Mawu
Senior Member
Germany
1027 Posts |
Posted - 21 Aug 2013 : 11:17:35
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quote:
Mawu, I think it will at no point make sense to change from XMM7 to XMM8 if you don't want to reedit every movie again. There are to much new thinks which work completley different.
A switch from xMM7 to xMM8 only makes sense when every step in the workflow of the movie data re-edition will work correctly in a semi-automated way. One year after the first alpha of xMM8 for me not a single step is working as it should. I described it in many threads, but since christmas nothing happened.
The second problem I have with xMM8 is that I don't really understand why it was necessary to write the program new from scratch and not improve the old xMM7 version step by step. Or when writing xMM new from scratch why not making further changes:
better database format (SQL), adjustment of interface for small devices, touch gesture support, touch version for Windows 8, apps for all systems (the android app is very simple; ok in the meantime I've a windows phone and now I'm completely lost with xMM). The question is if xMM is really able to overcome the future challenges - most of all in the smartphone and tablet market. Is it really possible to see a native iPhone/iPad/Android/Windows8/Windows Phone8 app in the near future? You simple have to look at Movie Collector, DVD Profiler or MyMoviez. That's where it's happening in the meantime.
quote:
What goes through my mind is XMM 9 in hopefully far future. If every version change makes such a work, I have to look if there is something else than XMM.
For me at the moment: not really. Therefore I've invested too many time in building the database. And I use xMM since 12 years . There are not many movie managers with that long lifetime available. The problem is that when you switch to another program the whole database and picture integration is lost. Most of the popular programs don't allow grabbing data from websites but have their own database. This allows you e.g. with an exported list of EANs to switch within 30 minutes from xMM to the other software, but in most cases 10-20% of the movies were still not found (even when you have original dvd/blu-ray, for rare TV recordings the rate is even higher). The phsycological strain has to get much bigger until I switch. In the meantime I will stay with xMM7. And - I know it sounds crazy - I have found out that it's possible not only to manage my dvd/blu-ray but also watch them on TV. I think that's a better way to kill my time at the moment than switching from 7 to 8
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www.schlemmerkino.de - Die Nr.1 für filmische Leckereien |
Edited by - Mawu on 21 Aug 2013 13:31:31 |
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apd
Junior Member
Greece
378 Posts |
Posted - 21 Aug 2013 : 12:43:15
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Hey, Mawu, these are my thoughts exactly. Plus, some disappointment, as I had the impression that August would be a month when Ale would have some time for XMM, which doesn't seem to be the case eventually. Personally, I'd be happy with a really usable v8, even without the extras you mention.
I've also checked other SW, but nothing seems to be as good as XMM 7.2 - so long as the scripts work, it'll be OK; after that, who knows. An interesting, different take is Coollector, for anyone who'd like to try. And I keep an eye on JRMC to see if the video library section upgraded in the upcoming v19. |
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Mawu
Senior Member
Germany
1027 Posts |
Posted - 18 Oct 2013 : 11:24:08
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Bump!!!
As the big boss seem to be back in the saddle again:
There are still many things that were discussed here and are missing in the newest xMM version.
Bye Byte & Happy Coding
Mawu |
www.schlemmerkino.de - Die Nr.1 für filmische Leckereien |
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Topic |
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Self-test: Switching from xMM7 to xMM 8
