| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
Mawu
Senior Member
Germany
1028 Posts |
 Posted - 25 Apr 2006 : 16:58:21
|
Hello Alessio,
here my comments to the newest version.
Thank you for the offline registration modus. Now I can use XMM also on my offline pc. The only thing missing now is a possiblity to be mobile also for the configuration parameters. A perfect solution would be a config file for each database (if possible).
New Scripts: Thank you for the Filmposter-Skript and IMDB Full Cast. Great Job! Have you modified the whole import engine for the filmposter script? Because the final script version differs only little from my version. You may reckon that I'll bother you with further tricky script problems in the near future.
Import of old XMM database: The solution for ID import is perfect for my purpose.
Two problems concerning import - a little one and a big one - remain for me.
1.media year is not imported correctly. I put format dd.MM.yyyy as import format for default year, the real import format is yyyMMdd. When I try to change the media year manually only the first two letters are stored.
2.The second one concerns the series import. I have to admit that until now I have payed no attention to the series stuff. Looking at my imported series I must say that the way series are integrated now is almost useless for me. For series I used in XMM 4.8 all the data fields for movies and most of them are gone now (e.g. codec, media type etc.). At the moment I see only one way for me: importing the series stuff as ordinary movie. I will have to use 2-3 custom fields, e.g. one for series name (which can also be used for movie series like "James Bond" or series without "season scheme") to simulate the series support of XMM 4.8. I have to admit that I have no good idea how to handle this things better; maybe when you have for example a DVD box with a whole season of a tv serie that I first put this dvd to the movie database (with all data fields for media, dvd parameters etc.). After that there should be a possibility to jump directly to the series database to get additional info (vice versa).
Cover manager stuff: new command to delete all covers except the first should be also available in cover manager. Missing: mark covers, delete all marked covers, possibility to zoom (=expand) covers, drag & drop to sort covers, link to cover print manager, add more than one cover at once manually
Change of MovieID: Thank you. The only thing missing now is the ability to simply eliminate gaps in collection numbering.
Mark/unmark movies: I don't like so much that I have to "waste" space for the "marked" column in movie grid to find all marked movies. You should think of cortexwave's suggestion to intergrate a color code with colored rows for that and other stuff in future.
Chain manager: what is the empty tab "import with scripts" for?
[Nothing, simply I cannot hide it  ]
Data fields: additionally to my wish for pulldown menues I would like to see a bigger features field to store all the dvd-feature stuff ( one single line is not enough)
Edit window: When opening the add/edit window the main window is locked
Grid view: when I make some modifications like deleting a movie after refresh XMM has jumped to the bottom of the grid. BTW: refresh is very slow
[Deleting it's more fast now (No Grid Refresh)]
Something I asked some time before (and never get an answer ): What is the "VideDVD" field for?
So that's all for the moment.
Bye
Mawu
BTW: I think I will switch now completely to the new version. Some main hindrances are gone now and the import of 50 covers for "King Kong" with coverpradies and filmposter script chain in one go was very convincing. But don't fade, the wish list is feeded with new stuff. |
Edited by - Mawu on 27 Apr 2006 15:46:03 |
|
|
Alessio Viti
Forum Admin
Italy
9171 Posts |
Posted - 27 Apr 2006 : 16:53:01
|
Hi Mawu,
Sorry I haven't answer to your post before.
I have finish just now the Mini Statistic, so will be available in next release (I thinkg I will add more informations on it in future).
I will asnwer to some of your question directly in your topic.
About "VHSAdv", this is an old field that determines if you have or not advertising in your VHS 
Bye!
Alessio |
 |
|
|
Alessio Viti
Forum Admin
Italy
9171 Posts |
Posted - 27 Apr 2006 : 16:59:52
|
quote:
2.The second one concerns the series import. I have to admit that until now I have payed no attention to the series stuff. Looking at my imported series I must say that the way series are integrated now is almost useless for me. For series I used in XMM 4.8 all the data fields for movies and most of them are gone now (e.g. codec, media type etc.). At the moment I see only one way for me: importing the series stuff as ordinary movie. I will have to use 2-3 custom fields, e.g. one for series name (which can also be used for movie series like "James Bond" or series without "season scheme") to simulate the series support of XMM 4.8. I have to admit that I have no good idea how to handle this things better; maybe when you have for example a DVD box with a whole season of a tv serie that I first put this dvd to the movie database (with all data fields for media, dvd parameters etc.). After that there should be a possibility to jump directly to the series database to get additional info (vice versa).
TV Series support is not really "easy" to do, I have spent much time for do it (especially MagicScript Engine) and must be improved a lot.
As you can see there isn't any field for "codecs" in the TV Serie itself, but I have put these fields in Episodes (you cannot see now, but fields are in the database). I have in mind to make a "Mass import" from HD/CD/DVD of episodes. It's not easy, so I must think to this better.
IF you have any ideas, just write me.
At this time the TV Serie cannot read codecs, but you can use to know how much TV Series and Episodes you have (this is how I use it)
Thank you!
Alessio
|
|
|
|
Mawu
Senior Member
Germany
1028 Posts |
Posted - 28 Apr 2006 : 19:21:43
|
Hi Alessio
quote:
About "VHSAdv", this is an old field that determines if you have or not advertising in your VHS
Oh, I meant the "VideoDVD" field in DVD/VHS tab
TV-Series: In fact we need almost all the data fields for movies also for series. For me it will be fine to have them on episode level (as it was your intention), because I record them directly from TV with my digital receiver or VHS in former times. For people who own dvd boxes of tv series it's better to have these info on "season level". That means that we have to take into account that we need a special way to manage these dvd boxes.
At the moment I have imported all series as ordinary movies with full access to required data fields like codec etc.. With xMM 5.0 we have two fields for category so it's no probblem to sort them out of all the movies. Extended infos will be also stored in the series database. The only thing I'm missing now is an elegant way to switch between movie and series database. Maybe that's also a way to manage dvd boxes of tv series.
Bye
Mawu |
|
|
|
Zep2000
Starting Member
Belgium
3 Posts |
Posted - 29 Apr 2006 : 11:53:43
|
Hi Alessio, Hi Mawu,
I must first say that I am impressed, I mean, REALLY impressed. I bought 5 copies of XMM 4 some years ago now and I have always been delighted of the way Alessio manages his developments and the quality of the product.
I installed XMM 5 a few months ago now and I must say I am amazed. It now looks much better. The functionality is still there but it looks so much better. That is my main comment. Thanks a lot for that Alessio, this is just great.
Now, here comes the real feedback ;)
What is good:
- automatic updates: this is EXTREMELY cool and it works superbly
- proxy setting is withheld now when saved (thanks for that, it works now)
- stars for personal rating, this is nice
- import XMM 4 DB flawless
What is less good:
- cloning a movie creates a "clone of xxx" item which is sometimes now easy to find as it starts with C. Would be better to have it like "xxx (Clone)", easier to find.
- when upgrading to a new XMM 5 version, the fields selected to be shown in the grid are not withheld and restored to the default list
Finally, what I don't like at all (Sorry Alessio, I just support Mawu here)
The way series are handled just doesn't work for me and I don't use. I import my series as videos because I cannot do better.
The way I use series is the following, maybe that can help trigger some new ideas:
Serie episodes are stored on CD or DVD. BUT, not all episodes of a serie are stored on the same CD/DVD.
Example:
Serie: 24
DVD 1: Season 1, epīsodes 1 to 12 - I named my DVD as "DS0045"
DVD 2: Season 1, episodes 13 to 24 - I named my DVD as "DS0046"
Previously, in XMM 4, I used the "Location" field to store the Media ID (e.g. DS0045) and I could just use the view "Serie/Season".
So, in your new setup in XMM5, it'd be nice to have the same thing:
- use same fields as for movies (codec, etc just like Mawu said)
- add a field where one can indicate on which DVD the episode is stored
- add a way to set that field for all the selected episodes (multi-edit) otherwise that'd take too long to do (24 is 24 episodes, man x the number of seasons :) )
- add a way to view the episodes by serie/season or serie/DVD
But, overall, I like the concept, it's just that it can only be used as a reference db right now and not really as a serie catalog. My opinion. I'm ready to help feed some new ideas, let's start discussing to make it better.
Finally, my last wish, although it's a nice-to-have. I'd like a way to see my movies in the form of covers only like a library shelf. I know another tool that does that nicely but that is missing all the great features of XMM. So, I'm just asking :)
Thanks again for the fantastic job and openness you always showed.
Regards,
Nico |
|
|
|
Alessio Viti
Forum Admin
Italy
9171 Posts |
Posted - 29 Apr 2006 : 13:09:56
|
Hi Zep2000!
Really thank you for your words, I am really happy when people like so much our hard work.
I will try to do all things you asked, I will answer directly in your post when features will be ready.
Thank you again!
Alessio |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
XMM 5.1.0.7 - A comment