I wish the one for the xbox looked this pretty

Darkmatter91

My jaw, it flaps up and down in astonishment. This, this is more than just an entertainment center alternative. This beautiful bit of software makes me want to go buy a Mac.

In other words... Meh. It's all right.

Happy_Man

Maybe you shouldn't have had a DVD screenshot with a pirated copy of Wall-E showing ;)

ticklemeozmo

Oh wow! Now we just need to wait for Windows and Linux ports and we should be all set.

sonar_un

This is just the MediaStream skin you can use the same skin on all versions of xbmc including on the xbox. T3CH is starting to include this skin in the builds along with PM3 so you have a choice and I wouldn't be surprised if it's included with the stable point release thats coming up.

mcatrage

That is a beautiful interface, very professional looking. I should find something like that for GB-PVR...

TheTick

For Linux, just add the PPA repos and install xbmc. I'm running on 8.04 right now, working very well.

[xbmc.org]

jalopwill

@Darkmatter91: the latest xbox one looks exactly the same

badsandwich

amazingly you missed out the best aesthetic improvement: support for fanart images.
if you reindex your library, you'll start to get full screen images as backgrounds depending upon what you're looking at.

badsandwich

Looks great! Just as I was getting used to Vista Media Center too...I may have to switch...

Arcking

why is it yelling at me?

funkyou52

wow pretty!

marksman7328

@Darkmatter91: The latest release of XBMC for Xbox (from t3ch) contains this skin too. I switched a week ago. Its very nice.

dylan_k

Can't wait for this to be available on linux / Ubuntu

dwmurray57

Anybody figure out how to turn off that clicking sound?

collider

@ticklemeozmo: +100. I *knew* there'd be some snafu like that when I was scrolling down and saw a list of files... :)

Shawn

This click sound is driving me nuts..

collider

click

neal whitehouse piper | whiper

You do realize XMBC for OSX FORKED, it did not CONVERT. A fork means two. There is still an XBMC for Mac done by TeamXBMC and there is Plex. Your information in this article about that is wrong.

Second, it was not redesigned, it just uses a different skin. (It's called Media Streamer). And, @DarkMatter91, you can get this skin for the Xbox, too. T3CH was also kind enough to include it in his latest releases.

duiu

Anything for Windows XP?

Bolero

Just updated the post to clarify the software wasn't redesigned, it's simply wearing a new skin. Thanks again for fact-checking me!

Gina Trapani

@duiu: Yup, as the post says, forked.

@Nitesh84: Awesome, thanks for the extra screenshots. You get a star for that!

Thanks to everyone for pointing out that this is the new Media Stream skin that you can get on any XBMC install. I'll update the post.

Gina Trapani

As a few have said this is the now default Media Stream skin which is absolutely gorgeous.

As I said on the Plex forums... Plex plus the Media Stream skin makes Front Row look like a school project not the work of a Multi Billion dollar company.

@ Gina the real genius of this App/skin shines once you scan your media with the built in scrapers (you've outlined the process a few times before on LH). Here are some shots of my Movies and TV Shows section...

Movie View:

TV Show list:

TV Show Season List:

TV Show Episode List:

The real fun (for us UK users at least) is this amazing BBC iPlayer plugin:
[xbmc.org]

iPlayer within my gorgeous, free Media Center all controlled with my Apple Remote? Bliss!

Oh and the devs have iTunes integration high on their list. Can't wait.

(sorry for the biggish pics, the smallest I could get them whilst still showing off the content)

Nitesh84

@Bolero: [xbmc.org]

afolex

@Gina Trapani: Thanks!!

Bolero: Yes there is the original XBMC project (the one Plex forked from) - [xbmc.org]

The default skin for that is Project Mayhem 3, just install the Media Stream skin to get the eye candy above - [www.teamrazorfish.co.uk]

Might also be noting that bugs etc found in Plex are not actively being looked into by the devs of Media Stream. Not that i've found any so far, only bugs when using XBMC + Media Stream are considered - [forums.plexapp.com]

Nitesh84

Thanks Nitesh and Afolex!!

Bolero

Leopard only? Yikes. Installing linux now...

musab

@ticklemeozmo: bahahaha. I saw that one coming...

Avielus

Even though it's not Plex dependent and is just a skin... It is a nice skin. I've been running it on my Xbox. It's still incomplete and I hope the final works well.

jonny6pak

Is there any way to get this on an XBOX 360 yet?

diggity

@diggity

No, but the MediaStream skin works with XBMC for Windows, Linux, Tiger or Loopard:

codelogic

The XBMC for Mac release (Atlantis Alpha 4, which works on Intel Tiger Macs too) also ships with the awesome MediaStream.

Visualisations in MediaStream: [flickr.com]
Download: [xbmc.org]

codelogic

my imbd info downloader doesnt seems to work :/

soulslave

@soulslave: I can't get it to work either. It flashes "Querying" then goes back to the "Enter Title" screen.

anonymii

@soulslave: did you guys read the faq? it's not exactly very user-friendly, the set-up process...scraping is not an intuitive thing (or, wasn't for me...). Apparently they're working on supporting data you've already got in itunes, but it doesn't exist yet.

Shawn

Pain in the butt to setup. That being said....

Once it is setup, it's really beautiful to work with.

Gideon

Except the music part.... I find it to be not terribly worth it.

Gideon

[xbmc.org]

whoopss... see that discussion of this post

mfresco

I was lucky enough to work a little with the people who are designing MediaStream (Team Razor Fish)they are a great, creative, helpful and talented bunch. I knew this skin would really take off and truly wish I would have had more time contribute. That said, I am using this skin on Windows and Linux. I had been using MediaPortal so that it would keep track of my watched/unwatched but switched back once I saw that XBMC had implemented this feature as well as this skin beautifully displayed it. I would say it is well worth getting Atlantis (Alpha 4) and MediaStream. If you want to see it in it's full glory (fanart) then it is best to use a PC or a Mac.

Reginald476

Does anyone have any suggestions for a XBMC skin this pretty that doesn't require using the media library? I have my PC record TV programmes and just add them to the share drive, so forcing XBMC to update its library every time I switch on was becoming far too much of a bind when I can just use the Samba share to look through the real file structure. That said, this is much prettier than PM3...

simonjp

@anonymii: If you get given the entry form again, it means it didn't find anything. Try reformatting the text to be closer to the title (eg, change "wall-e_telesync" to "wall" and scroll through the options). If this doesn't work, you'll need to check the scraper is set up correctly - I can't remember how to do this off-hand, but it's in the context menu for the folder, I believe.

simonjp

Whats the difference between "Videos" and "Movies" both screen shots are showing movies?

555Filk

If I have heard right plex,is currently teaming up with centerstage, another media center to create something, is that different or is this it?

takemetoyourtoaster

@simonjp: Here are the sub forums of the big players in the XBMC world at the moment:

[xbmc.org]

On my actual XBOX I don't use the Library mode. And I don't have a HD TV (so Media Stream and Aeon etc look weird). So I use the Focus skin. Very simple. Plus scrapers still work in standard Video mode so you can still have DVD Covers etc.

@555Filk: Videos just pretty much gives you a list of Videos (although you can vary the views so it's not actually a list), you don't get the detailed plot synopsis etc. Movies (and TV Shows) gives a more detailed view of your content (for example TV shows will be browken doen into Seasons etc)

Nitesh84

hey guys, i downlaoded plex, started it up, and it says that I only have one TV show out of five different tv show folders. this is really annoying because I DEFINITELY have more than one tv show, is it because they have weird names (some are tvshow name + date aired on them)? I am really confused on why only this one is showing up out of all of these shows. please help

takemetoyourtoaster

@Nitesh84: Thanks for that, I'll have a look through! Although I have a 16:9 TV, it's SD, so the fonts in MediaStream is read - and did anyone else find that switching from normal to larger to massive made no difference? Regardless, I think Focus is certainly one to check out. Thanks!

simonjp

@takemetoyourtoaster: The scrapper should parse that out, although I have found if you do not have the shows in a hierarchy like below it may skip/miss some of the info. Or are the shows not showing up at all? I am not sure if Plex takes you right into Library mode or not.
---------
Show
>Season
>>Episode (Weeds 4x1.avi)
---------

@simonjp: The fonts only change the information areas ie: Plot text [xbmc.org]

Reginald476

@duiu: Minor point but isn't t3ch a she?

solareclipse2

I have been using the early versions of this skin on Xbox for a few weeks now and it works great. Absolutely fantastic. For those having problems with media scaners, look into XBMC Media Companion. This program will scrape all the info for you movies and TV Shows on your server and place a thumbnail(.tbn), movie info(.nfo), and fanart(moviename-fanart.jpg) along side the media file. It's much faster and more permanent that XBMC's media scrapers.

joebrady

Anyone know of something similar to this that runs on a PPC Mac Mini? Looking to turn the mac mini into something useful before I fork out cash for a shiny new MBP. Any suggestions are appreciated to help me justify the purchase of a new MBP!

jumperson22

Curiosity leads me to wonder why there's not a Universal Binary for this...

baz1860

I love PLEX (been using it since its beginning) and I urge everybody who think that it is a great Media Center software for OSX to donate to the project !
Also, is that me or is the 0.5.14 version number even ? So it's not bleeding edge, as said in the article, but stable ?

davidp57

The problem with Plex is that it has to be run on a OSX. I don't have any problems with Mac but there isn't any suitable hardware if you want HD.

XanthusPeleus

This is just a new skin called MediaStream, it can be used on all versions. I'm running it on my XBMC for Xbox ([www.oitobits.net]), it looks GREAT.

viniciusfs

It's not just a Plex skin, it can be downloaded for all versions of xbmc (i've got it running on my xbox right now!). It's called MediaStream and was made by a group of People calling themselves "Team Razorfish". Linky goodness here: [www.teamrazorfish.co.uk]

InNeedOfTea

this is sexy!!! i'll tackle this when i have more time, and maybe more media, to make it seem worth it...

pinkskittles

Is there anything like this for PC?

SAMIDAE

Plex is not the Mac version of XBMC. Plex is a fork of XBMC for Mac.

There are official Mac, Linux, XBOX and Windows versions of the XBMC software. Your title is misleading and should be adjusted if you want to talk about Plex.

What it really looks like your talking about is the MediaStream skin, one of many professional looking skins available.

xerus02

Plex is a fork of XBMC and your title is misleading. There is Plex and there is a Mac version of XBMC. These are not the same things.

xerus02

Plex is not XBMC for the Mac, technically. It's a fork of XBMC for the Mac. The Mac build of XBMC can be had at XBMC.org. I'm not trying to say it's not good, it is, but it needs to be clarified.

pumkinut

Plex is technically a fork of XBMC for the Mac. You can download the Mac build of XBMC at xbmc.org.

pumkinut