Custom STV Summary/Bells & Whistles

[malbec]

I am relatively new to this. My experience consists of about 3-4 months of rebuilding a PC for my new hobby (a HTPC) and experimenting with a variety of software (Beyond TV, gbPVR, BeyondTV, etc.) and decided Sage was the one for me!

Now, as I dig deeper into Sage and all that it can do, I could use a little help (please keep in mind my limited experience).

Has anyone compiled a list of available STVs along with a feature or pro/con list comparison?

I have tried a few...
Cayars - I found the "everything but the kitchen sink" approach to be very overwhelming and well, need a very high WAF. And, well, i foudn the user interface to be overly complex.
Malore's - I found the menu setup to not be as pleasing as I have found others (sorry).
mlbdude's - I really liked this one a lot format wise. But, I am not entirely sure what all it can/can't do.

Have seen something about SageMC...have not tried this yet...am a bit confused...is this the same as mlbdude's or something else?

My ideal feature list....
1) Be able to play personal DVDs stored on my hard drive and have them show up in the video list with a .jpg to help identify the DVD.
2) Weather integration (nice to see as a core component in the latest beta release )
3) Built in commercial skip for Live TV (as well as commerical skipping for recorded shows)
4) Have not ripped my CDs yet, but a .jpg for each album with the associated songs. If possible, a tie in with iTunes format so the two integrate (not sure/doubt that is a STV thing)
5) Recording over firewire looks way cool!

and well if I am really allowed to day dream

6) A sports module similar to the weather module where you could pull scores, stats, etc. however you want to configure it for various teams (not sure there is a free source of XML information or whatever is needed for this).
7) A movie module similar to the weather module that would show movies currently playing in the local theaters, start times, etc.
8) A news module that pulls and summarizes the headlines for various XML feeds one would like to track. Ideally, with the capability of clicking on a particular news feed to have the article then pulled up on the TV.

And, to be honest, I must admit I did not spend a great deal of time with the Cayar's STV as the level of complexity kind of did me in rather quickly. But, if my feature list here shows an irony in that I need to be looking harder at Cayars as that is the best option to meet the above desired list....well, please let me know.

Anyway, given all of that, anybody care to make a few suggestions as to the ideal setup?

Thanks!!!

-Malbec

[Wheemer]

Not sure if you are running the current beta or not. But the default STV has come a long way. There are also importable modules for added features, like some of the ones you are looking for. Also there are hidden extras build it to the v3 stv that enable even more modification.

But if you haven't tried SageMC yet, then give that a shot too. It's by far the best looking STV.

[briands]

I felt the saem as you about the Cayars STV originally. Too many options and the menu did not really fit my wife's expectations. A quick (relatively) update to the menu definition file improved the layout by removing a lot of unused items as well as simplifying the navigation.

I switched to SageMC a while back (when the commercial skip was added) because I thought the lack of development would kill off the Cayars STV.

[Humanzee]

From what I understand the STV developers have been invited by sage to use their studio tool to create custom stv's. To that end I'd check the first thread of this forum, Andy (Opus4) has posted links to the available STV's and customizations. All of the available options "should" be referenced there. The details about them specifically would have to be discovered through reading through the various threads. Most developers keep their first post updated with their current version, screen captures and change logs etc.

I know it can be a bit daunting when there are 1000's of posts in a thread. Personally I am used to the constant change as I have been using every beta that comes out, and then updating the stv with imports etc to my liking. Sage is an interesting hobby and there are lots of helpful folks here to help with your questions. Just make sure you search and read and search and read before you ask your questions, these forums go pretty deep. Things change over time, so topics in old threads may have new value if replenished with new ideas or information.

There is also lots of info over at http://www.sage-community.org/ that might be helpful.

Just remember to treat this as a hobby. When you get into customizations your set up is not always going to work the way you thought it would. But then you get to have fun learning and fixing it. Not always the best for the WAF, but it is fun. (Secret: If you don't program her favorites, it doesn’t have to be her hobby too.)

On a side note, time shifting is a lifestyle change. I tend to watch less net hours of TV since SageTV came into my life. When I do watch SageTv, it only takes 40 minutes for an hour of programming without the commercials. In the long run this may gain you points with the wife by spending more quality time with her when the time is right. Since you won’t have as strong a desire to be in front of the TV during primetime, you can also get more things done that you have been meaning to do. The downside is that I have 250 hours of unwatched recordings to get through, sometime. But it will be on my time.

Welcome to the forum. For your reference I'm currently using the malore 3.13 stv with the imdb import, I also use DirMon and ShowAnalyzer for my commercial detection. It does everything I need it to do. Your mileage may vary.

[malbec]

Thanks and sorry....I really thought I had explored things, but apparently missed the entire "SageTV Customizations" section and feel rather stupid about wasting people's time now...sorry.

[steingra]

Originally Posted by malbec

Thanks and sorry....I really thought I had explored things, but apparently missed the entire "SageTV Customizations" section and feel rather stupid about wasting people's time now...sorry.

Hey...I am in the same place as you. I am trying to figure out which STV to use. I like your list. I wouldnt mind having all that stuff too If you dont mind, post back here when you have more progress.

I would like to try Cayars STV, but man it seems like there is soooo much to it. I know I can figure it out, if given enough time. its like peeling off all the layers on a big onion.

It probably would make more sense to try a more simple one first. But I am still in research more...trying to figure out which one has everything I want, and then the one that seems to have *enough* new stuff to make it worthwhile to use it.

Its yet another quest to go on.

I love SageTV. It has really ignited my fascinations with PC's all over again!!!!

[mayamaniac]

One thing about SageTV is the forum has a lot of people that are willing to help. Like you, I came from the BeyondTV side of the HTPC world about a year ago, and spent a lot of time reading the SageTV forum and finally decided to give it a go. I found out that the users here are extremely helpful. SageTV or Frey Technology is a small company, and still is, and can only provide so much tech support, if any. But somehow, they intrigue enough talented users with their products that many are willing to help develop it into a better product, mostly through feedback and added plugins. Personally, I don't think I would be using SageTV if it weren't for this guy named "nielm". Without nielm's dynamic menu imports and webserver plugin, I don't think SageTV standard features would've won me over. And Opus4/Andy is a big help to everyone, the best moderator of any forum I've seen. Read my SageTV Review, link is in my signature.

[steingra]

Originally Posted by mayamaniac

One thing about SageTV is the forum has a lot of people that are willing to help. Like you, I came from the BeyondTV side of the HTPC world about a year ago, and spent a lot of time reading the SageTV forum and finally decided to give it a go. I found out that the users here are extremely helpful. SageTV or Frey Technology is a small company, and still is, and can only provide so much tech support, if any. But somehow, they intrigue enough talented users with their products that many are willing to help develop it into a better product, mostly through feedback and added plugins. Personally, I don't think I would be using SageTV if it weren't for this guy named "nielm". Without nielm's dynamic menu imports and webserver plugin, I don't think SageTV standard features would've won me over. And Opus4/Andy is a big help to everyone, the best moderator of any forum I've seen. Read my SageTV Review, link is in my signature.

I agree. I have been online for a long time, and people here are so knowledgeable, and ready to help. It is a great place. Any problems I have had, have been resolved either by reading, or when I get stuck, I post questions. I really like SageTV. I spent a lot of time reading about all the various products, and it is these forums, packed with information that won me over. I knew if I had problems, that people here seemed willing to help. Thousands and thousands of threads.

In fact there is sooooo much information, it makes it a little frustrating sometimes, to find the right answer.

Its funny how many times I go to read about one thing, and end up finding out about something else cool, or some other addin, or utility or whatever.

My knowledge of the PC was pretty decent before, but after building my first HTPC, it has gone to a whole new level. It made me look at things in a whole new light. So yeah, I am just excited to be here, and for the experiences I am gaining. And the fun I am having with the product (and everything else that goes along with filling up a HTPC with fun content)

PS
I installed the neilms web server in like 15 minutes last night, and had it configured and doing user based security, serving files from several different directories, etc...that was my latest victory

[jlabrue]

I would love to see the movie listing module. I have one on my personal website that was freeware and it is really cool. Uses Yahoo on the backend I believe. That would be a great addition, and probably not too terribly hard for a developer to create. It could work just like the weather module where you input a zip and select a couple of theaters in you area to query from. Maybe that's why there is the online services section of the menu in the STV in hope's that developers could add plugins to this section????

[steingra]

Originally Posted by jlabrue

I would love to see the movie listing module. I have one on my personal website that was freeware and it is really cool. Uses Yahoo on the backend I believe. That would be a great addition, and probably not too terribly hard for a developer to create. It could work just like the weather module where you input a zip and select a couple of theaters in you area to query from. Maybe that's why there is the online services section of the menu in the STV in hope's that developers could add plugins to this section????

I would really like to have that too. Since the wife and I are movie *nuts*...why not have it in SageTV. LIke you said, its not that different than the concept of the weather module.

[jlabrue]

Here is a link to the script that is used on my site if any developers are interested. It is no longer supported. I am sure there are probably others as well
Yahoo Movie Time Ripper

[mightyt]

Originally Posted by jlabrue

Here is a link to the script that is used on my site if any developers are interested. It is no longer supported. I am sure there are probably others as well
Yahoo Movie Time Ripper

This would be awesome ....

I brought it up more than once over a year ago ...

http://forums.freytechnologies.com/f...ings#post59845

Apparently no one on the development side considers it worthy to explore ...

Sorry, didn't mean to spoil you hopes ...

T.

[Crashless]

Not that it's not worthy, for me at least - I'd love to have a movies listing in SageTV too.

Problem is, these sites change their layouts CONSTANTLY, and each change requires a code change in the parser. This means constant upkeep for one plugin. Look at the Meedio plugin for this purpose, it's constantly broken until the developer has time to fix it.

This means the developer can't spend as much time working on other things.

I'm still building out my STV, adding features, and then going back and tweaking. Once my STV gets more stable, I'll be looking into more projects like this, along with a J.River Media Center plugin, and others. But for now, I feel that I need to make the core STV as solid as possible before taking on other diversions.

I obviously am not speaking for everyone, but I thought I'd point out my own reasons for not undertaking this project.

[mightyt]

Point taken! ...

Though I wish that were not the case ... to bad there's not a place that stays generically the same for a length of time ...

So do Yahoo change that often?

Thanks, T.

Originally Posted by Crashless

Not that it's not worthy, for me at least - I'd love to have a movies listing in SageTV too.

Problem is, these sites change their layouts CONSTANTLY, and each change requires a code change in the parser. This means constant upkeep for one plugin. Look at the Meedio plugin for this purpose, it's constantly broken until the developer has time to fix it.

This means the developer can't spend as much time working on other things.

[jlabrue]

Ditto from me. You guys keep up the good work on all the STV's. This is just a thought for some of the people that would like to see it. It would be nice if there was more development on plugins rather than full STV's. I'm sure that horse has been beat many times over since studio hasn't been released to the general pop I'm not a developer and don't desire to be, it's just always good to throw out ideas and "wish lists" every so often in case someone does have time and maybe they are searching for inspiration

Originally Posted by mightyt

Though I wish that were not the case ... to bad there's not a place that stays generically the same for a length of time ...

So do Yahoo change that often?

Thanks, T.

For what it's worth the script I use has not changed in over a year and a half. It did have a change about 2 years ago thanks to Yahoo but he was able to fix it quickly and it has been consistant ever since. That's not to say it won't change tomorrow....

[malbec]

Not to side track this thread, but keeping in mind my inexperience with everything here.....

I am curious. I CERTAINLY do not mean to slight anyone here, but it seems the avatar for most of the very well recognized members ... Opus4, nielm, mlbdude, narflex (and please forgive me if I don't have you listed...again very new here) all are pictures of cats.

Is there a significance of this? If I were to get one, would it increase the odds in anyway of SageTV developing native MVP or UPnP support?

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by malbec

I am curious. I CERTAINLY do not mean to slight anyone here, but it seems the avatar for most of the very well recognized members ... Opus4, nielm, mlbdude, narflex (and please forgive me if I don't have you listed...again very new here) all are pictures of cats.

Is there a significance of this?

See: Cat avatars - what's the deal??? for some theories.

- Andy

[malbec]

Nice!