[[els]]

Hi.
How to open a file (example .cbr) from XBMC pictures or files with an external program?
In XBMC pictures option you can view files (. Cbr), but the content is in full page, not allowing adjustments or zoom. Only next and previous. Any tips?
Tks.
[els]

[jhsrennie]

In your userdata folder create the file advancedsettings.xml with contents:

Code:

<advancedsettings>
  <videoextensions>
    <add>.cbr</add>
  </videoextensions>
</advancedsettings>

Now create the file playercorefactory.xml with contents:

Code:

<playercorefactory>
  <players>
    <player name="Comical" type="ExternalPlayer">
     <filename>C:\Program Files\Comical\Comical.exe</filename>
     <args>"{1}"</args>
     <hidexbmc>false</hidexbmc>
     <hideconsole>false</hideconsole>
     <warpcursor>none</warpcursor>
    </player>
  </players>

  <rules action="prepend">
    <rule name="cbr" filetypes="cbr" player="Comical" />
  </rules>
</playercorefactory>

Now just start XBMC, go into Videos and add a source pointing to the directory where your CBR files are. The above example uses the Comical player, but you can just change the <filename> tag to use whatever player you want.

I've set this up as a video type because this seemd more appropriate that making it a music type. You can't configure an external player for the Pictures section.

JR

PS I have both CBR and PDF types set up because some of my comics are in pdf format. If you're interested in doing this here's a copy and paste of my config files.

advancedsettings.xml:

Code:

<advancedsettings>
  <videoextensions>
    <add>.pdf|.cbr</add>
  </videoextensions>
</advancedsettings>

playercorefactory.xml:

Code:

<playercorefactory>
  <players>
    <player name="Acrobat" type="ExternalPlayer">
     <filename>C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 9.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe</filename>
     <args>"{1}"</args>
     <hidexbmc>false</hidexbmc>
     <hideconsole>false</hideconsole>
     <warpcursor>none</warpcursor>
    </player>
    <player name="Comical" type="ExternalPlayer">
     <filename>C:\Program Files\Comical\Comical.exe</filename>
     <args>"{1}"</args>
     <hidexbmc>false</hidexbmc>
     <hideconsole>false</hideconsole>
     <warpcursor>none</warpcursor>
    </player>
  </players>

  <rules action="prepend">
    <rule name="pdf" filetypes="pdf" player="Acrobat" />
    <rule name="cbr" filetypes="cbr" player="Comical" />
  </rules>
</playercorefactory>

[[els]]

Young jhsrennie.
Working 100%. Thank you very much.
[els]

[bridgman]

Thanks for the info this works great I never thought of adding to the video sources.Like many people I use XBMC in the living room and my other PC's it's great to add PDF and text media.I have already used wordpad launched from XBMC to take quick note.I was wondering since the source is now in the video section if there would be a way to add a scraper to XBMC and get info from comic vine like the script for ComicRack.Or if an .NFO in the folder would be readable now. XBMC displays CBRs fine for my taste but it's great to have the external viewer option.

[jhsrennie]

If you have categorised .cbr as a video extension and added the source under Videos then I expect a .nfo file would work.

However I must admit I've gone back to reading .cbrs natively in XBMC rather than using an external viewer.

JR

[TheBigDog]

This is very interesting, I've been looking for a way to display comic book metadata (stored as a NFO) and I think this might do it. If I understand correctly, I just set up my comics share using an external player as above, but in order to display the information for each issue I would have to:-

a) 'Set Content' to a TV show scraper (all my comics are in folders by title)
b) Add a profile to XBMC (just to keep my comics and movies separate)
c) Make sure the comic book XML tags match the movie XML tags in the .nfo

So if the above is correct, XBMC will scrape the nfo details for my comics into the database which I can then access from the library...

I think I might test this theory tonight!

[bridgman]

I scraped the the cbr folder with media companion and it found about 15 matches that were similar to the comic title so there is a .nfo for them now. But there will still be actor director and so on instead of writer artist and.......
xbmc will scrape also . I haven't tried anything else ,may be a good way to have a fan art background at the least. I hope there is a way to mod and scrape comicvine and have legit info displayed.I don't think there is a way to grab nfo data in picture mode.I wish there was I also rather use XBMC as the viewer maybe I'll add to video source yet not add new player for CBR. Now that I think of it I wish all media . Script Launchers, Pics, etc. could have access to .nfo 's.

I also set up Gom player to launch .SWF files very cool to use flash apps. I launched a website I created for someone from my hard drive and navigated through it played the mp3 player and video player.Could be useful for flash toys or games you create.

[Blotto]

bridgman got me wondering... is there a way to add CBRs to the Video section, and still be able to open up and view them within XBMC? If so, wouldn't that be a decent solution for displaying a comic collection, since you can have fanart and bigger thumbs in the Video section (as opposed to the limited options in the Pictures section)?

[shaktoo]

Thebigdog... any luck with the idea ?

[dugan26]

very interested too ... any updates?

[dugan26]

If you have categorised .cbr as a video extension and added the source under Videos then I expect a .nfo file would work.

However I must admit I've gone back to reading .cbrs natively in XBMC rather than using an external viewer.

JR

Hi can you explain how to do this? As far as using xbmc natively without external viewer ? I too would like to view comics without launching external apps.

[jhsrennie]

Hi can you explain how to do this? As far as using xbmc natively without external viewer ? I too would like to view comics without launching external apps.

Just go into Pictures and add a source pointing to where your CBR files are.

JR

[dugan26]

Just go into Pictures and add a source pointing to where your CBR files are.

JR

Is there a way to use the "native picture" viewer (as you say) and still enjoy cool visuals such as showcase or panel or wall ?

[jhsrennie]

As far as I know, the built in player is quite basic and just shows one page at a time. Having said that, I read comics on my (Android) tablet not on the PC so there may be facilities I'm not aware of.

JR

[dkplayaclub]

I would like to bump this just because it doesn't work on either my main PC or my HTPC and I am wondering if it is just outdated?
Looking for a way to use an external comic reader that is a bit more friendly than the current one in XBMC. Also very interested in more options for browsing my collection (fanart, custom thumbs etc...)
If anyone has any suggested reading that is working with Eden, please hook me up with some links. This is a big plus for my HTPC.