# HTPC | Media Server software



## 4U2NVME (Aug 20, 2010)

Good early Morning,

I should be in bed, but I'm here again, its a new addiction  I scanned the first 7 or so pages of this Threads of posts, and I did not see any actual software that people are using, please forgive me if it has been written a lot and I'm just really missing it.

What I am interested in is some software that will rip my disks, go out to the Internet and grab some details on the movies, allow me to play to different Screens etc. Is there anything like that? I did find a serve that was prebuilt etc but it was over 10k I think 

I'm very good with PC's and should be able to get whatever working, just need a push in the right direction to get my media PC rockin.

-NV


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

Just to be clear, any commercial disks that have copy protection can not be legally circumvented unless you are using it for educational purposes or for the creation of documentary film. To that end, we DO NOT allow the discussion of circumventing copy protection on the forums.

Back to the question, I rip to ISO and just use a windows desktop rather than an HT specific front-end. I spent a lot of time trying to get a pretty UI with slick graphics and it never worked properly because I'm playing music/video with multiple codecs and from multiple sources. My HTPC is all purpose, so that means streaming on-demand and live video/audio from Netflix, Hulu, Pandora, Slingbox, Groove Shark. I'm also playing iso, mkv, flac, wma, mp3, and plenty more.

After spending more time trying to setup my system instead of watching it, I decided that even if it wasn't pretty, just keeping a mouse/keyboard device handy and double clicking on the file worked easiest. Good tech is tech that gets out of the way to facilitate what you want to accomplish. I believe that most HTPC UIs are just flash that actually make life difficult.

Having gotten that off my chest, I will add a caveat...if you want to use a remote, and only a remote (i.e. simple transport controls and a directional pad). For that, try out Boxee, XBMC, and Windows Media Center. Just be ready to spend a lot of hours (days really) trying to get your files in the proper file format with the the proper meta data and art.


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## Andre (Feb 15, 2010)

All my home movies are on a HD connected to a WD TV to add pictures I use Imagegrabber. It works ok


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## 4U2NVME (Aug 20, 2010)

Andre said:


> All my home movies are on a HD connected to a WD TV to add pictures I use Imagegrabber. It works ok


Thanks Ima, I think you need more acronyms though.. =/


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## Whsperz (Apr 27, 2010)

I use DVD Fab to make my files, Ember Media Manager to process and pull movie nfos, fanart, boxart and trailers, and XBMC to stream them to when playing on the TVs. Ember works great for WDTV as well.


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## natlight (Jan 6, 2010)

I use a dedicated windows 7 media center box on my main tv (and have for about 6 years now). It can nativley play back dvd files, wmv's, avi's and other standards. It can also play many newer formats provided you install the proper codec. I play dvd, mkv and various avi type files back all the time with no issues, all right from the comfort of my couch with a remote control.

As for ripping non-copywrited dvd's or blu-rays (say from your camcorder etc) there is a one button push converter that a lot of people use called make mkv. It rips your discs to mkv format which is playable in WMC with the correct codec installed. Here is the website http://www.makemkv.com/ . I don't run this software yet but I will be soon. Just found out about it. Ihave used dvdfab to pull my camcorder videos off the disc to my hd in the past.

I also have a couple MCE plugins that I have installed to make it easier to navigate through my dvd library and get the correct meta data etc. MediaCenterMaster automaticly downloads all your meta data from imdb, amazon etc, including reviews, art and actor info. Just point it to a folder on your hd and it fetches the metadata. It also has some functionality to automaticlly manage a bit torrent client. Here is the link with more info: http://mediacentermaster.com/ 

I use another plugin called Media Browser to read all that meta data and put it in a really nice graphical interface inside media center. It has a really slick interface that uses the screen shots from the movies and reviews etc. Website: http://www.mediabrowser.tv/

All of this was really easy to setup. WMC is pretty foolproof these days. It only gets tricky when your trying to record hd content from cable/sat/iptv. but that is for another thread


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## 4U2NVME (Aug 20, 2010)

Whsperz thank you for the information I'll look at the softwarz, and Natlight I really appreciate the write up. I'll check the stuff out, the Box I have for my media PC is currently in storage as my new house is being built but your post should really help as well!


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## natlight (Jan 6, 2010)

No problem. Let me know if you have any questions once you get working on that PC.


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## Owen Bartley (Oct 18, 2006)

I was just at a friend's place, who has been using an HTPC for some time. He has recently made some changes and showed me through XBMC which I was really impressed with. I loved how it took content (movies, TV shows, whatever) and automatically found cover art, plot synopsis even down to each episode of TV series, and set it all up in a very nice, and usable interface. It looked very clean and professional, and seemed pretty easy to use as well. I would look into that for sure. I think if I was going to set up a digital library this is what I would use. It even made choosing your movie look like fun.

Edit: I forgot to mention it was open source (I think) and highly customizable.


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

Yes, I lumped XBMC in with the rest of the great-looking, but time consuming to setup/maintain software list.


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## 4U2NVME (Aug 20, 2010)

Hey that product sounds cool. I'm quite computer Savoy and should not have to much problem. It sounds like it maybe something that I maybe interested in. Thanks for the great details and information, keep it coming.

-NV


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## Jusbegood (Dec 24, 2006)

I really don't exactly know what you're looking looking for, but check out afterdawn.com for software apps to rip dvd's, different codecs + software updates etal. It's a good source for what you might be looking for. Are you looking for a front end software interface for your HTPC?


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## 4U2NVME (Aug 20, 2010)

What I am looking for, is something I can access my PC on the HT screen, it will have different movies, synopsis, facts, links etc about each film. It will have a nice graphical interface, look pretty professional.


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## Rick P. (Sep 13, 2009)

I use and like XBMC. It doesn't rip (there are other tools for backing up your stuff) but it works great, plays every format I've thrown at it and looks very professional. I haven't found it to be time consuming to setup and maintain at all and my young kids have no problem using it - they prefer it over satellite because it's easier to use. As a bonus, I'm not constantly replacing their DVD's due to scratches anymore. 

XBMC Live is a free download and can boot off a flash drive so you can take it for a test drive without installing anything on your computer. If you don't like it, simply remove the flash drive and reboot. There's also Mythbuntu, Boxee and a number of others that I haven't tried before. Lots of options out there, each with their pros and cons and very knowledgeable and helpful support bases to answer specific questions. Hope this helps.

Rick


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