Secret animations in v6.2

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by flachbar

I am using them too

Same here... well, except for my XCard system.

In fact, I keep looking for more places I can use them.

- Andy

[evilpenguin]

How about using a few of these core animations on the screen saver? That thing could sure use a little attention

[mrcandu]

We think the Animations are looking and working gr8!

My GF commented.... "Wow Mat, Sage is looking slick today, what have you done?"

[tmiranda]

I use them too, but only when I am using one of the SageClients, which is not that often. I showed the animations to the wife and kids and they wanted to know why Sage looked better on Daddy's computer than it does on the TV.....

I have to rememeber that when the wife sees the credit card bill for the HD Extender.

[technazz]

Does this work with SageMC?

Technazz

[kricker]

It only partly works with SageMC. You'll have to wait for flachbar to fully integrate, that is if he plans to.

[dflachbart]

Originally Posted by kricker

It only partly works with SageMC. You'll have to wait for flachbar to fully integrate, that is if he plans to.

Correct, we get the smooth table scrolling for free, but the other stuff requires coding.

Dirk

[FZ1]

Because they produce the best quality video playback I've found, I only use Sage through MVP's. Are the new animations planned to support the SD media extender some day? They look great on that youtube video, but I wouldn't use them if they slow the MVP down any more. Their response time seems to have gotten slower with every gui enhancement, and any slower will get too annoying fast.

[Opus4]

As far as I know, the MVP simply doesn't have the capability for such animations.

- Andy

[FZ1]

Fair enough, thanks!

[traker1001]

Nice,
But not for me, Waste of resources that could be used in other places, But then again Im they same guy who got Vista Ultimate and Did everything possible to make it look like windows 98

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by traker1001

Nice,
But not for me, Waste of resources that could be used in other places, But then again Im they same guy who got Vista Ultimate and Did everything possible to make it look like windows 98

I agree. First thing I do when I install any OS is turn the animations OFF!

I finally had to upgrade Sage to the release version. I had been using the 6.1.??? beta, but after a second instance of problems with my scheduled recordings disappearing I finally had to bite the bullet and install the release version.

This has tilted the scale and now I'm going to have to either A) live without HD until the new HD Extender arrives or B) build a new server that can transcode to the MVP.

Under the 6.1.?? beta I could transcode to the MVP as long as Show Analyzer wasn't marking commercials. Now with the release version I can't view transcoded HD AT ALL!

So my P4 1.8ghz HT processor machine is finally too antiquated to do HD transcoded to the MVP.

<sigh> danged bells and whistles.

[mayamaniac]

Originally Posted by waynedunham

So my P4 1.8ghz HT processor machine is finally too antiquated to do HD transcoded to the MVP.

wow, I had no idea that a 1.8Ghz P4 could transcode HD to an MVP. I always thought that a lot more power is needed.

I think all of us will have to wait another month or so for the HD extender. It's silly to built a PC client at this point when the HD Extender is near release.

[sleonard]

Originally Posted by mayamaniac

...

I think all of us will have to wait another month or so for the HD extender. It's silly to built a PC client at this point when the HD Extender is near release.

Not necessarily, websurfing and playing PC games are a great on a large screen HDTV. Since I need a PC connected to do these things I might as well throw on Sage client SW and have a single box to do it all.

S

[tmiranda]

I disagree that the animations are a waste of resources. I've long advocated that Sage needs a better "out of the box" UI, something that attracts attention and just "looks good". Unfortunately many people will base their PVR choice on a few minutes of clicking through the menus.

I'd like to see Sage add sound effects as well. Eye (and ear) candy is not interesting to the "hard core" but it is interesting to newbies (and they turn into hard core users). As long as it's configurable, can be tweaked and even turned off, I'm all for it.

Sage is finally getting some marketing know-how. The underlying core of Sage seems to be far superior to other altrernatives and now the UI is getting the attention it deserves. Keep it up. Bravo!

[Apap]

I just tried this and it is a big hit!

Nice and slick. The whole family approves.

Thanks
Apap

[robk]

Very cool! I had to revert to SageTV3.xml to get all the effects, but it looks great.
Rob

[nielm]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

I disagree that the animations are a waste of resources.!

They only use (system) resources when they happen anywhay! (programmer resources, now thats different!)

2 things that actually make sage easier to use with the animations (really) are the smooth scrolling (its easier on the eye, because it's easier to follow where the next item you are looking for is, especially if you use PgDn), and the way the selection highlight moves to it's next position: I often had to look for it on 6.1, while in 6,2, it drags the eye to the new position.

(example: entering detailed setup, or moving from the left to the right hand side in detailed setup)

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by mayamaniac

wow, I had no idea that a 1.8Ghz P4 could transcode HD to an MVP. I always thought that a lot more power is needed.

I think all of us will have to wait another month or so for the HD extender. It's silly to built a PC client at this point when the HD Extender is near release.

I think I spoke too soon. I tried several recordings and they all had that problem, but last night I gave it a try again and some worked very well with no stuttering, dropouts, etc.
So it may have been an issue with one tuner on the HDHR, or bad signal over the cable. I'm running an experiment right now recording simultaneously on both HDHR tuners to see if I can track it down.
The strange thing is not all of my recordings have the "encoded by" line in the recording details. I'm not sure why that is the case. I don't have that many HD recordings on the server, and the few I have from before updating to the release version of Sage and the ones after are all on the same tuner.

Well the experiment just finished and the "encoded by" line is in the details for both recordings/tuners so I'm still stumped as to why some don't have that line there. Older recordings done by my PVR-500's all have that line.
Also, I could see the microstutter people have been talking about. Luckily it doesn't show up on the MVP, only on the server which is only used for viewing when I'm troubleshooting.

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

I disagree that the animations are a waste of resources. I've long advocated that Sage needs a better "out of the box" UI, something that attracts attention and just "looks good". Unfortunately many people will base their PVR choice on a few minutes of clicking through the menus.

I'd like to see Sage add sound effects as well. Eye (and ear) candy is not interesting to the "hard core" but it is interesting to newbies (and they turn into hard core users). As long as it's configurable, can be tweaked and even turned off, I'm all for it.

Sage is finally getting some marketing know-how. The underlying core of Sage seems to be far superior to other altrernatives and now the UI is getting the attention it deserves. Keep it up. Bravo!

Everyone has their own preferences as far as bells and whistles go. Myself I hate animations in a UI, be it an OS or an application. ....and don't get me started on sound effects.
I have 4 ReplayTV's and thankfully they have no sound effects in the UI. It would have been very expensive if I'd bought TiVo's due to the holes in the windows from them flying out after about 3 minutes of that "boop" sound every time I hit a remote button.
Never owning a TiVo and only seeing the demo machines in stores I don't even know if you can turn that off in the settings, but I do know that by the time I got to about the 3rd "boop" on one of the demo machines that's as far as I ever got at the TiVo "experience".

That is one of the things that make Sage SOOOOOOOOO much better than the competition. It gives the users flexibility in their configuration with the open API's allowing 3rd parties to make enhancements/addons, while still doing a great job of maintaining system stability.