Am I dreaming ?

[kasje]

For 3 weeks now, i'm trying to set xlobby to my needs. I'm a real novice..and still i'm just 3 screens further..pictures..music and weather screen.
I looked at all those nice screenshots and i think..yes..this is a dream coming through. And then the nightmerry begins...it's made for xperts.

People with skinning, programming, designing, variables, events etc experiences. woops.. is it really that difficult?

I've have it all..a nice livingroom....4 pc's..a beamer..a 17inch tft touchscreen..a intranet ...a beautiful wife but i can not adapt xlobby to those fantastic screenshots.

I download...install...try skins..and then..some screens work..other don't. I know by now that xlobby is just a front and i need all kinds of other software to make all things come together...but then the problems start..i have to learn all the other software like ant moviedatabase..winamp..foobar..zoomplayer..i didn't even speak about the plugins. And as english is not my native language, i always have to read the forum and documentation 5 times to translate and understand

Like most people, i'm not a movie collector...ia have a bunch of mp3's..a bunch of divx and mpegs..and a whole lot of xrated..yeagh
Wasn't it easier if i could just see my directory structure in xlobby and there was an interior software who make, let's say 5 thumbs of each movie in the directory structure. So i could see all the movies and the tumbs of them in a seperated window or something.

I know that just a few people can make xlobby to its full potential cause when i read the forum only a handfull of names always comes back.

Wasn't it easier when you have 3 different setups of xlobby:
1. xlobby with frontscreen and music, pictures and movies..novice setup
2. xlobby with frontscreen..music, pictures, video, movies and weather
3. xlobby for experts..with tv..automatisationsplugins ir controle etc

sorry guys...the wife is getting frustrated...she has seen those nice screenshots to and pushing me to deliver to same.

Or isn't it possible when you download a skin..all the events, variables and other difficult stuff is with the skin. With a small doc included that explains how you have to organise your movies and music in your directories.

Thanks for listening


sorry for my english.
Kasje Belgium

[P3rv3rt B3ar]

Been putting XLobby together since april... and still lot to be done. However i have vision about the end result, and its sweet one, im certain that any of those other out of the box HTPC apps, cant deliver anything near that.

So i guess it all depends about your wifes patience... wether she understand that good things are worth of wait or not...

EDIT: my GF didnt, ditched me after two months... but u have to think about bright side... more time for XLobby

[lar282]

Hi
I think it boils down to this.

Xlobby is really hard to get started with, BUT if u can get over the first learning curve u will be reworded. I do not think there can be an easy way to make xlobby simple because it is soooo flexible and it is that fact that makes it the best frontend out there! If one is happy with MP or MCE than one should stick with that. It's when u start tinkering with the small details that u notice that the other softwares out there is just not good enough

Give it another try and keep on asking questions and we all will help u. Try to specify the questions as much as possible and start reading these docs

http://www.xlobby.com/files/jowaldo/doc ... /index.htm

http://xlobby.incolby.com/SkinningXlobbya40.2.htm

http://www.xlobby.incolby.com/EventVariableSheet2.htm




//Lasse

[Marbles_00]

I have to agree with P3rv,

Good things come, with patience and perseverence. When I first started, I knew very little about Xlobby, tried too much to start, got frustrated and migrated to another package.....got even more frustrated and came back. Those guys that put together the nice skins have put alot of time themselves into perfecting Xlobby to do exactly what "they" want it to do for them. Chances are, any skin you download, you will have to modify to suit your needs as no two people have the same needs and requirements. But in hindsite, any skin you download will most likely be able to perform the basic functions which sound like you require. If you want to move away from Steven's default skin, may I suggest the KISS skin. It does not have all the "bells and whistles" like the other skins, but is very structured for the beginner....and it looks sweet too.

As for the extra software learning curve. Winamp/Foobar, Zoomplayer, Theatertek controls are all built into Xlobby. You don't need to fully understand any of that software in order to get the basics working within Xlobby. You only need to install it. Then in Xlobby configure it to open the proper files. From there, you can customize it further to suit your needs at your own pace.

Ant movie database/DVD profiler are just extra software which aid in the creation of databases to use in Xlobby to make your life easier. If you don't wish to use them....don't. But you will appreciate what they offer after you enter your entire DVD collection in manually. One or two movies, not bad, but get up to around twenty and more....gees, learning how to use Ant becomes trivial.

Plugins, if you have no reason for it, don't use it. From what I can tell, you sound as though you only really need a weather plugin, the USB-UIRT plugin or XRemote/Girder, Xant, and maybe XEvent (for some basic timing events like shutting down the computer at a pre-determined time). If I'm correct, then forget all the other plugins...until it comes a time when you may need them.

The one thing you have to remember, all the "experts" all started right where you are.

Keep at it, your wife may be getting frustrated now, but once you get it working, she will appreciate the time you've put into it (aka...your getting lucky buddy!! )

Hope this helps

[kasje]

thanks for all the reply,

now i have a few questions?

-the commands screen (eventmanager)has different items..like girder, timer,xlobby, category etc ...does these groups ever change or are these the standard commandsgroups?

- how do i begin to make a frontend for my purpose.
must i first make paper cards and lay then in a way so i see the whole structure of my frontend. and write on all cards what i wish has to stay or has to change on that particaly card or screen.

How did you all start making your frontend? Did you just make it from another skin that excited or did you build one from scratch?

Is there a plugin or some other software that can make thumbs from a movie..with bsplayer you can make thumbs of a movie. So for exemple i give all the movies a folder for them selfs and then the plugin could run the movie and make every 5 minutes or 15 minutes a screenshot with tumbs of it?

I have a hauppage 250 pvr in a pc and i saw there was a xltv plugin but it doesn't scan my channels..so does the plugin work with pvr cards or do i just have to make a front with all the command to trigger the card.

I have over 500 musicvideo ...yes that my collection..that why i asked about the possibility of a thumbs or screenshot plugin.

Oke..thats it for now.

btw P3rv3rt B3ar the wife did say if i didn't watch out and take more time for xlobby then for her, i maybe go in the same direction as you

[lar282]

thanks for all the reply,

now i have a few questions?

-the commands screen (eventmanager)has different items..like girder, timer,xlobby, category etc ...does these groups ever change or are these the standard commandsgroups?

The groups wont change. They haven't changed since I started with XL.



I have a hauppage 250 pvr in a pc and i saw there was a xltv plugin but it doesn't scan my channels..so does the plugin work with pvr cards or do i just have to make a front with all the command to trigger the card.

Look at mediaportal plugin.pvr250 works.

[P3rv3rt B3ar]

I personally started by selecting skin which pleased me eastheticly most, evaluated it, and started a slow process to modifying it and backend towards my particular needs.

Currently only easy solution to make thumbs (which im aware) is my own zoom player plugin (ZPd), it does everything automaticly as the video is played. However as for now its not yet ready for public release... hopefully within a month or two...

Allthought XLobby is pretty impressive... keep in mind that wife is rather nice toy to play with too

[badubo]

I have a hauppage 250 pvr in a pc and i saw there was a xltv plugin but it doesn't scan my channels..so does the plugin work with pvr cards or do i just have to make a front with all the command to trigger the card.

XLTV can use wintv2000 that is the default front end for pvr cards.
You must naturrally first correctly configure it (without xlobby nor xltv) and then importing your channels

[jmv]

My 2c of advice...step 1) start out with someone elses skin, but don't spend any significant time perfecting the "look and feel" play with the buttons, their commands, the category's, get the functionality right. Play with fonts, images, hide / show. Just test things out, but make the skin functional...I say all this, because if you embrace Xlobby as "your front end"...you are going to throw all that "work" away move on to step 2 and develop your own custom skin once you've got it down.

If the card thing works for you great, use that method, I used a bunch of scrap paper, and drew out my functions/links. I now have between 5~10 screens in each of the 4 skins I use (customized for remote control through the big screen, customized for touchscreen access in the kitchen, customized for my game/media PC, and customized for my PDA). I would also suggest that you just add your custom screens to the skin you hacked in step 1 and eventually delete the old original, screens once you have your own custom one built up...if you have a screen that is "close" using the clone tool (screens tab under the pause-break skinning editor menu) and then hacking away is a good trick.

And Xlobby is like Photoshop...Photoshop is a pain in the arse to learn all the features...you can make lines and circles and stuff from day one...but to make things look great in Photoshop, takes time and effort to learn. Xlobby same thing...but as others have said, once done, it is a joy to use, behold and modify to add that extra button or capability every now and then.