Ortus Screenshot & Information Thread

[tchapin]

This looks really really interesting. Taking any beta-testers?

One thing that I'd like to see is a better organization of the settings menus. In both the stock STV and SageMC, it's not clear which settings effect just the extender / placeshifter / client that you're viewing from and which effect the whole server.

How will this look on SD displays? Not all of us have HD yet...

How does a watcher identify themselves to allocate the correct "watched" icons?

Are you adding any concept of "smart playlists"? Or at least the ability to back up playlists that are made in SageTV?

Thanks.

Todd

[ohpleaseno]

looks very cool. kind of reminds me of some of the great XMBC skins with a ton of functionality underneath.

Keep up the good work!

[Stylisticz]

whoa pretty cool, you guys used the cover profile i made for the my movies cover profile contest, thats awesome, you guys are more than welcome in using it too i think its awesome for my work to be used

[jaminben]

Originally Posted by Stylisticz

whoa pretty cool, you guys used the cover profile i made for the my movies cover profile contest, thats awesome, you guys are more than welcome in using it too i think its awesome for my work to be used

Cool, its my favorite cover style, if you fancy making some more for other media types please feel free to contact me.

Originally Posted by tchapin

One thing that I'd like to see is a better organization of the settings menus. In both the stock STV and SageMC, it's not clear which settings effect just the extender / placeshifter / client that you're viewing from and which effect the whole server.

How will this look on SD displays? Not all of us have HD yet...

How does a watcher identify themselves to allocate the correct "watched" icons?

Are you adding any concept of "smart playlists"? Or at least the ability to back up playlists that are made in SageTV?

The settings are pretty much the same..... default Sage settings are setup via the default UI and Ortus settings are setup via Ortus....not much point in changing that to be honest.

I can't say how it looks on SD TV's..... I dont actually own one anymore.

The watched system is run via a user loggin system. There is a default user if you don't fancy this.

Your "smart playlist's" sounds intresting can you expand on this? Perhaps send me or another team member a PM outlining what your idea's are.

Cheers

Ben

[PLUCKYHD]

Originally Posted by jaminben

Cool, its my favorite cover style, if you fancy making some more for other media types please feel free to contact me.

PLease it for mymovies native as the others so the mymovies stvi can still benefit from this as well

[pjpjpjpj]

The interface looks great, I think I might even be able to pry my wife away from default STV for this. (and, really, that's what it's all about )

Two things:
1) I admittedly have not been keeping up with this forum recently, but what's the "Team Ortus" deal, what thread(s) did it spring from? Is this thread (in which I am posting) a spin-off from another where I can read more background as to what/why brought this about? Thanks.

2) Any chance that there might be other EPG views available? I can see my wife (and frankly, me) going for all the other GUI aspects, but a grid-type EPG (versus the Tivo-type one indicated on the first page of this thread) might be a deal breaker.

[HelenWeathers]

Originally Posted by pjpjpjpj

Is this thread (in which I am posting) a spin-off from another where I can read more background as to what/why brought this about? Thanks.

There's some discussion here:
http://forums.freytechnologies.com/f...&postcount=481

[jaminben]

Originally Posted by pjpjpjpj

1) I admittedly have not been keeping up with this forum recently, but what's the "Team Ortus" deal, what thread(s) did it spring from? Is this thread (in which I am posting) a spin-off from another where I can read more background as to what/why brought this about? Thanks.

Not really, its been in development for just under a year now and I guess we've settled on the final design with most screens more or less working. There is no more info other than what you read in this thread....if you do read something else its probably out dated and wrong.

Originally Posted by pjpjpjpj

2) Any chance that there might be other EPG views available? I can see my wife (and frankly, me) going for all the other GUI aspects, but a grid-type EPG (versus the Tivo-type one indicated on the first page of this thread) might be a deal breaker.

At this stage no.....its Tivo style all the way. I too was sceptical at first having never used or seen it before but like everything it just takes a little getting used to.

Cheers

Ben

[Skirge01]

Ack! That was actually one of the few "features" I never cared for or used with any of my Tivo units. I always used the grid-style guide. Granted, I rarely use the guide at all and just search for everything, so this probably isn't all that big of a deal.

[petereader]

Love the clean, elegant look. All the info we need without looking cluttered (the screens you show almost look spacious). I have to admit, not a big fan of the Tivo EPG either, but if Team Ortus puts its touch on it just like they did for the other screens, then I bet it will be something to look forward to.

Keep up the great work! Let me know if I can help in any way. That way I won't feel so bad when I end up using it and getting all the accolades when someone admires my setup

[Fuzzy]

I agree with the Tivo guide, only in that it minimizes the amount of info on the screen at any given time, which seems to go along with the rest of the ortus theming. It just matches the rest better than a full grid would. Even if it a little harder to use, most don't even USE the guide in sage.

[aflat]

I use the grid guide all the time when browsing movies(and sometimes shows). If I see something that is going to start in like 20 minutes I can busy myself for those 20 minutes waiting for it to come on.

Also, searching for sports using the grid guide is simple, search with no keyboard is painful.

[pjpjpjpj]

Originally Posted by HelenWeathers

There's some discussion here:
http://forums.freytechnologies.com/f...&postcount=481

Ah, SageMC. I wondered if it came from there, since I don't use MC and have not been in that forum....

Glad to see I am not the only one who prefers grid-style EPG... though I am surprised at those of you who say you just "search" for what you are looking for... with an extender, that seems tedious, having to "type" out search terms. Plus, if I know something is on, I'll have already set it to record. I use the grid for surfing for something unplanned. My two reasons for liking the grid are:
1) You can see what shows are on opposite each other - several at once, how long they last, how they overlap (several shows on one channel vs. several on another channel), etc. I find this helps in avoiding conflicts with tuners and such, when deciding what I want to watch.
2) Often I like to just surf around and see what is on, especially if I am looking to watch, say, college football on a Saturday afternoon. I find it easier to just scroll through the grid and look for all the games and see who is playing, and choose one... rather than having to scroll around and try to pick out all the games amongst every channel. But regardless of whether I have something I want to watch or not, I like so see (visually) how far into a show I am, and/or how much time is left, which is often a big factor in what I choose. But if shows are just a line item, you actually have to choose each one to see the duration, when it started, etc. You know, you actually have to think about it.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by pjpjpjpj

Ah, SageMC. I wondered if it came from there, since I don't use MC and have not been in that forum....

Glad to see I am not the only one who prefers grid-style EPG... though I am surprised at those of you who say you just "search" for what you are looking for... with an extender, that seems tedious, having to "type" out search terms. Plus, if I know something is on, I'll have already set it to record. I use the grid for surfing for something unplanned. My two reasons for liking the grid are:
1) You can see what shows are on opposite each other - several at once, how long they last, how they overlap (several shows on one channel vs. several on another channel), etc. I find this helps in avoiding conflicts with tuners and such, when deciding what I want to watch.
2) Often I like to just surf around and see what is on, especially if I am looking to watch, say, college football on a Saturday afternoon. I find it easier to just scroll through the grid and look for all the games and see who is playing, and choose one... rather than having to scroll around and try to pick out all the games amongst every channel. But regardless of whether I have something I want to watch or not, I like so see (visually) how far into a show I am, and/or how much time is left, which is often a big factor in what I choose. But if shows are just a line item, you actually have to choose each one to see the duration, when it started, etc. You know, you actually have to think about it.

i think you've pointed out why I don't use the guide anymore. Though, honestly, I don't really search much either. I've gotten my system to a point where there really aren't any conflicts. And I never need to 'surf' because I've always got quite an impressive backlog of unwatched shows.

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by pjpjpjpj

... I am surprised at those of you who say you just "search" for what you are looking for... with an extender, that seems tedious, having to "type" out search terms.

I have no idea whether this is a default STV only thing or not, but I don't have a problem searching for airings on an extender -- using the hidden feature's One Touch Numeric Text Input, just type the text pressing 1 number for each letter in the search term; there are no multiple presses to get to the exact letter you want. Maybe they will include that entry method here too.

For those who like the non-grid guide view & want to use it now, the malore custom menus can have 3 different 2-column guides configured with multiple views for each. As far as I know, that has been converted to a SageMC import.

- Andy

[Skirge01]

Exactly as Fuzzy said, I have 2 HD-PVRs and 4 OTA tuners, so conflicts pretty much never happen... exactly as I intended. As far as the searching goes, it's not so much typing things in as much as searching for "types" of things. Every so often I search for movies to see if I've missed anything. Without a Netflix subscription, we often don't catch movies for a year or so after they were in the theater. This is how we finally catch them.

[Fuzzy]

I find the Malore Custom Menus perfect for searching for upcoming movies. Schedule Recordings -> Extra: Custom Menues -> Upcoming Movies -> Group by: Category

EDIT: Sorry for taking this off topic Ortusites.. But it is good for you to see/hear how other's use their systems.. ;-)

[jphipps]

A grid guide would not be that difficult to put in, the menu's are dynamic. Depending on feed back we may put the 2 styles of guides in so a user can pick the type of guide to use. Actually we could tie that into the user account mechanism to allow a per user view of the guide...

Thanks,
Jeff

[Brent]

Love what I see so far - awesome work guys.

I like the TiVo style guide, but the wife says the grid is a requirement for our TV.

[toricred]

User account mechanism?????? That would be absolutely awesome. Please tell us more.