2011-03-14, 10:55
I canot begin to express my admiration for both Jason and Jtucker on the work of this plugin. The is probably the only plugin currently in fulltime use in our house on 3 xbmc machines and everybody loves the "cable" like experiance.
What still concerns me is the new move to make it more friendly for newcomers and those with limited comprehension of smart playlists. I completely understand the move and 100% support it but i feel it may be a step in the wrong direction with genres and television networks being of different categories.
I discussed your plans last night with my wife and daughter (both use the XBMC and Pseudo extensively) and neither understood the concept of having to go to a networks category for a virtual NBC, whilst again having to move to another category for a mixed TV channel. They both voiced that it would simply be easier to go to films for films, and entertainment for entertainment. This i have to agree is still within my thinking of how the script should function and is far more akin to a cable, sat box experience.
I think ultimately it will confuse, rather than help, the end user, who, in all honesty, expects things a certain way. After all, with having to use genres, directors, network studios etc as categories, wouldnt it be fair to say that this then just becomes a smart playlist that is accessible from within XBMC itself ? I.e. you could just select the playlists for a certain genre, or director.
For me, the idea is to go on moods. So today i want to watch a film, i drill down into the film category, and there presenting in front of me are preset and custom channels i created playing a variety of different movies. Likewise i fancy education, down i go to the documentaries section and again select from a variety of custom and presets. Kids programs, unto childrens etc etc. For most end users this is what is expected in my experience.
Regarding the configuration side, i fully understand that logistically this causes a few complication, but lets face it, the end user experience superceeds setting up procedures (at least for me). As when configured its a fire and forget system.
Its like the idea of limiting custom channels to say 25. I see straight of the bat that you have no virtual networks aimed at UK. So BBC, ITV, etc will likely be created by the end user. Add to this a wealth of foreign language channels, Smaller network channels etc and you could easily create 25 virtual custom channels on networks alone. Its the flexibility that draws people to both Pseudo and smart playlists.
Some of our currently highly used custom channels in PSeudo are
I have plans for many more too like
etc. And now i see how you managed networks, i can add those too.
So straight away there are two categories i could pop these in (if predefined)
Movies
Entertainment
This way we can continue having the flexibility. You could even introduce an order option
<Channel Order>1</Channel Order>.
I'm not sure if it would hinder xbmc but i would imagine it would ignore those tags.
Then what you could do is continue the path you are heading with the presets and a toggle to turn of all presets in favour of a custom set of categories and channels for those who want to get their hands a little dirtier.
Just some suggestions ...............
What still concerns me is the new move to make it more friendly for newcomers and those with limited comprehension of smart playlists. I completely understand the move and 100% support it but i feel it may be a step in the wrong direction with genres and television networks being of different categories.
I discussed your plans last night with my wife and daughter (both use the XBMC and Pseudo extensively) and neither understood the concept of having to go to a networks category for a virtual NBC, whilst again having to move to another category for a mixed TV channel. They both voiced that it would simply be easier to go to films for films, and entertainment for entertainment. This i have to agree is still within my thinking of how the script should function and is far more akin to a cable, sat box experience.
I think ultimately it will confuse, rather than help, the end user, who, in all honesty, expects things a certain way. After all, with having to use genres, directors, network studios etc as categories, wouldnt it be fair to say that this then just becomes a smart playlist that is accessible from within XBMC itself ? I.e. you could just select the playlists for a certain genre, or director.
For me, the idea is to go on moods. So today i want to watch a film, i drill down into the film category, and there presenting in front of me are preset and custom channels i created playing a variety of different movies. Likewise i fancy education, down i go to the documentaries section and again select from a variety of custom and presets. Kids programs, unto childrens etc etc. For most end users this is what is expected in my experience.
Regarding the configuration side, i fully understand that logistically this causes a few complication, but lets face it, the end user experience superceeds setting up procedures (at least for me). As when configured its a fire and forget system.
Its like the idea of limiting custom channels to say 25. I see straight of the bat that you have no virtual networks aimed at UK. So BBC, ITV, etc will likely be created by the end user. Add to this a wealth of foreign language channels, Smaller network channels etc and you could easily create 25 virtual custom channels on networks alone. Its the flexibility that draws people to both Pseudo and smart playlists.
Some of our currently highly used custom channels in PSeudo are
- The Twilight Zone
- Pretanatural
- Stargate TV
- Startrek TV
- Steven King Movies
I have plans for many more too like
- Sunday Films
- UK TV comedy
- UK TV Movies
etc. And now i see how you managed networks, i can add those too.
So straight away there are two categories i could pop these in (if predefined)
Movies
- Sunday Films
- Steven King Movies
- UK TV Movies
Entertainment
- UK TV comedy
- The Twilight Zone
- Pretanatural
- Stargate TV
- Startrek TV
This way we can continue having the flexibility. You could even introduce an order option
<Channel Order>1</Channel Order>.
I'm not sure if it would hinder xbmc but i would imagine it would ignore those tags.
Then what you could do is continue the path you are heading with the presets and a toggle to turn of all presets in favour of a custom set of categories and channels for those who want to get their hands a little dirtier.
Just some suggestions ...............