Hello,

I have created Logos for each of my 340 films on my media center but it only seems to display the screenshot.

Is it possible to make Media Center <vista> display logos instead?

Thanks in advance

Colin

you can put each movie into a folder with the jpeg and call the jpeg "folder" or I think if you call the jpeg the same name as the movie file that may work too ....... 

Just curious, are you a graphic design artist?  If so, mind publishing some of the logos you created?

I tried that and it didnt work.  I actually created the .ICO files, right clicked properties and then changed the icon that way.. but not joy.

No I am not a graphic designer, I created them from google images and resized and brushed up where needed using photoshop.  I then used and Icon software to create the icon.

If you call it folder.jpg it will display on the folder, however if you want it to replace the auto generated thumbnail you need to name it the same as the video file.

i.e if the file is called american_gangster.avi you should call the graphic file american_gangster.jpg

I've been looking to do the same thing, but I am unsure of what size to make the images and they always seem to look lower quality when within VMC?

I have worked out that the folder images are in the ratio of 2:1 and that the thumbnails of the actual videos are in the ratio of 4:3, but I am unsure of the actual pixel sizes on a 1920x1200 screen (which I have).

Here is what I have been working on sorting out instead of using plugins:


(click to make it larger)

As you can see from the "new" folder I have been looking at including more information in the images for the movies like rating a certification.

ColinB:

Hello,

I have created Logos for each of my 340 films on my media center but it only seems to display the screenshot.

Is it possible to make Media Center <vista> display logos instead?

Thanks in advance

Colin

ColinB, take a look here: http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/permalink/282693/282693/ShowThread.aspx#282693

Not Bad Cheetah05 -

Perhaps format them as 16x9 images?

rgreenpc:

Not Bad Cheetah05 - Perhaps format them as 16x9 images?

You can't, it will always be in 2:1 for folder images and 4:3 for thumbnails of videos, its the ratio built into VMC, otherwise I would have had the movie art in its original aspect ratio.

Cheetah05:

rgreenpc:

Not Bad Cheetah05 -

Perhaps format them as 16x9 images?

You can't, it will always be in 2:1 for folder images and 4:3 for thumbnails of videos, its the ratio built into VMC, otherwise I would have had the movie art in its original aspect ratio.

There is that.

Cheetah05:

I've been looking to do the same thing, but I am unsure of what size to make the images and they always seem to look lower quality when within VMC?

I have worked out that the folder images are in the ratio of 2:1 and that the thumbnails of the actual videos are in the ratio of 4:3, but I am unsure of the actual pixel sizes on a 1920x1200 screen (which I have).

Here is what I have been working on sorting out instead of using plugins:


(click to make it larger)

As you can see from the "new" folder I have been looking at including more information in the images for the movies like rating a certification.

That screen shot looks very nice.  I don't understand why Microsoft doesn't do more things like that to make Media Center a much nicer product to use. 

ryan.tollefson:

That screen shot looks very nice.  I don't understand why Microsoft doesn't do more things like that to make Media Center a much nicer product to use. 

Well that is all possible with the standard Vista Media Center functionality (no plugin is used).

All it is, is images I have created and named "folder.jpg" and put in the appropriate folder.

Only problem is, you have to create the images yourself.

Cheetah05:

ryan.tollefson:

That screen shot looks very nice.  I don't understand why Microsoft doesn't do more things like that to make Media Center a much nicer product to use. 

Well that is all possible with the standard Vista Media Center functionality (no plugin is used).

All it is, is images I have created and named "folder.jpg" and put in the appropriate folder.

Only problem is, you have to create the images yourself.

Cheetah -

How do you then deal with the logitics of moving shows into said folders etc?

This is my directory structure for the inbuilt video library. I have two folders which have the videos in them, one named "Movies", one named "TV Series". No plugins are used here.

TV Series Structure

This is the general structure for how the videos are stored. I hope you can make sense of this:

\TV Series\[Series Name]\Season [Season Number]\[Series Name] - [Season Number]x[Episode Number] - [Episode Name].[Extension] - E.g. \TV Series\Chuck\Season 1\Chuck - 1x01 - Pilot.avi

For renaming your video files to include the episode numbers and titles I use this piece of software: Media Renamer.

To get the pictures to show up in the "Video Library" I do the following:

\TV Series\folder.jpg

this image is just an image to represent the fact is the TV Series folder.

\TV series\[Series Name]\folder.jpg - E.g. \TV Series\Chuck\folder.jpg

this image is in every series folder, with a unique image to represent the series which is shown by the example below. Every folder has its own "folder.jpg". You can set the images to "hidden" if you want in Windows Explorer so they don't show when looking at the directory.

(click image to enlarge it)

Here is an example of the "folder.jpg" image used for the "Chuck" series folder. These are created manually as they need to be in the same ratio (2:1) as the image below:

You can go on further to create individual images for all of the different seasons within a series, but I didn't and just let Vista create the standard thumbnail previews for the folders and videos as seen in the images below:

As you can see these are very low quality, but they do the job. I wonder if there is anyway to get Vista to make higher quality thumbnails?

(click image to enlarge it)

(click image to enlarge it)

Movies Structure

All the movies are in the root movie folder and named as follows:

\Movies\[Movie Name] ([4 digit Movie Year]).[Extension] - E.g. \Movies\Meet the Spartans (2008).mkv

The movie name and year is copied exact from: IMDB.

To get the pictures to show up in the "Video Library" I do the following:

\Movies\folder.jpg

this image is just an image to represent the fact is the TV Series folder.

\Movies\[Movie Name] ([4 digit Movie Year]).jpg - E.g. \Movies\Meet the Spartans (2008).jpg

this is the image that will be displayed instead of the video preview thumbnail that you usually get in Video Library and there is a unique image for each movie. These again can be set to "hidden" so they don't appear in Windows Explorer if you want. IT MUST have the same name as the movie!

(click image to enlarge it)

Here is an example of the "Meet the Spartans (2008).jpg" image used for the "Meet the Spartans (2008).mkv" movie. These are created manually as they need to be in the same ratio (4:3) as the image below:

(click image to enlarge it)

If after you have completed all the steps correctly, you still get the original video thumbnail previews instead of your new movie art images, you may have to clear the thumbnail cache! Details of how to do so are in the next section.

Clearing Thumbnail Cache

If you need to clear your thumbnail cache, here are the steps on how to do so. Every step must be followed, otherwise it may not work:

1. Start Vista in Safe Mode.
2. Click Start and then Run.
3. Type the following into the textbox:

%userprofile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Media Player

4. Click OK and a folder showing you your library files will appear.
5. Erase all the files and folders. (Select All -> Delete).
6. Cut the movies and the accompanying movie-art* and paste them in a new temporary folder that you create on the same drive (should be an instant cut & paste if you have done this step correctly).
7. Delete the original movies folder.
8. Rename the temporary folder to what you want - in my case it was the same name as the original movies folder named "Movies".
9. Run a disk cleanup on the drive you installed Vista too, de-select all the check boxes apart from the "Thumbnail cache" box and run the cleanup.
10. Restart into Normal Windows.
11. Open Microsoft Media Player.
12. Push F3.
13. Select the locations for you media files you wish to add.
14. WMP will reindex all your media.