You should check out the LoadDVD plugin.

Quoting Dr. Killpatient:

Quote:
You should check out the LoadDVD plugin.

Will do.  However, I have doubts it can interface with dedicated media players like Dune or Popcorn Hour.

Quoting gbarbay:

Quote:
Quoting Dr. Killpatient:

Quote:
You should check out the LoadDVD plugin.

Will do.  However, I have doubts it can interface with dedicated media players like Dune or Popcorn Hour.

Actually, it (LoadDVD) can do anything I want it to. But there are only so many hours in the day. Would you be willing to pay for the upgrade? (e.g., see LoadDVD Pro).

And, BTW this is not the first request for "Popcorn" support. Last time it was suggested, I asked what functions did they have in mind. I'm still waiting for the answer. So, I challange you with the same: what specifically would DVDP or a plugin, or some combination, actually DO with Popcorn?

And as far as the interface is concerned, DVDP allows you to create skins, save layouts and build custom HTM frames, so that you can decide exactly how to use your own screen space. I'll bet that the sample screen that you showed can be re-created with a DVDP HTML section very easily.

While I wouldn't want something quite like that, I wouldn't object to having an option for a slightly 'glossier' interface.

Personally I would love the option to have an interface like this.

I've recently moved over to a new program for my CDs/Books/Games etc specifically because I liked the interface. The program itself didn't have as many functions as other programs but it looked a damn site better.

I've always loved Profilers wealth of features but, at the same time, have been disappointed at it's inability to be fully customisable without the requirement of being able to write HTML code. For example the ability to customise the General Info tab to display ONLY the information I want to see.

More and more programs have jumped on the Virtual Shelf look (which Profiler did with the last update), but the interface on other programs is much more versatile.

Therefore, I would welcome with open arms, the ability to make Profiler look as sleek and fancy - or as simple and functional - as possible; thereby giving everyone a slice of what they'd like.

There is far too much emphasis on needless data and less on functionality and aesthetics IMO.

First off, don't get hung up on the fancy graphics. My Movies (for example) has the option to show either something as simple as the case cover or it can show more detail as I posted above.  I am not an expert on the various media managers out there, but I do believe that most of them have such capabilities.  Again, though, the main point of my post is not about the graphics. 

Its about the overall experience of managing my digital media (well, video anyway), where I can store, manage, and play said media to multiple display devices in a networked, multiple hardware type environment.

The above is a bit of a mouth full, so let me try to break it down.

Here is what I would like:

1. A database of my digital video media (movies or TV shows). Easy entry of data. Ability to automatically download data or manually enter if not available online. Nice graphical interface that allows me to customize the way I organize and display the data.
DVDP already does a great job here, plus a whole lot more. No real issues here.

2. Now, I want to rip my discs to a digital storage medium of some type.  Then I want to be able to click the title in DVDP and have it play automatically on my PC from where I have the video files stored.  It shouldn't matter if the movies/TV are stored as full discs with menus or just as individual video files.  It should not matter whether the data is stored as ISO's, DVD/BD folder structure, or some other format such as mkv's.
Now, part of the support for this is based on what the media player can handle, but the management software should not have an issue either. I have not looked at mediadogg's plugin, so I don't know what part of that it can support.  If it can do it all, great.

3. I want to be able to store the video at the location of my choice.  This could be on the PC's hard drive, a NAS, a WHS machine, or on a thumb/flash drive. Of course this has to account for being networked.
In my particular case, I have a WHS, so that's my situation, but I imagine the software will have to be aware of the many different options people are using.

4. Now, I also want to be able to play my video on my home theater with the same flexibility I can play them on my PC.
Some people have an HTPC.  Some, like me, don't.  I have a Dune player on order right now. I want to be able to see my video on my TV with the management software displaying through my Dune, then choose what I want and have it play. This is not an easy programming problem to solve.  The media players are not computers, so data, including the GUI, has to be generated on a computer then sent over the network to the media player, and then have the player communicate back to the program. Lots and lots of details to worry about here (the following questions are rhetorical, so lets not get into a debate about the best way to solve them).  Where to keep the db info? PC?, WHS? Player?  IF you keep it in multiple places, how do you keep it synced up? Now do you keep everything straight when you are managing on the PC, storing on WHS, and playing on the media player?  Does that mean you have to keep your PC on when you are watching TV in your living room?  Etc, etc, etc...

Note that I have a Dune and others will have a Popcorn Hour, and there are other media players out there coming into the market as well. So, there is the added complication of supporting multiple pieces of hardware.

And yes, I would be willing to pay for a solution that works.  Of course, the rub is, it has to work for me, and you as a software developer has to make it work for a larger variety of situations. Yes, it's not easy and I appreciate that, but you asked what I want.

I am sorry but DVDP does have strong competition in this regard.  And again, I am not talking about the GUI.  I am talking of the functionality I detailed above.  Solutions exist for what I want to do, My Movies being one of them.  Please, please don't let this degenerate into a MM vs DVDP thread.  MM is not perfect either, but based on my research MM does do these things already.  There are other programs as well. 

My point here is that, while I like DVDP, my needs are changing, and it appears to me that DVDP cannot do the things I need it to do.

Please note that I am not saying DVDP should be a media player.

I am saying it should be a profiler with the additional ability to work with media players across a network to initiate playing of the video. Big difference.

I also point out that there other programs that are doing this now. We can debate how well they are doing it compared to DVDP, but the fact remains they are doing it.

If Ken makes the decision to not take DVDP in this direction, I can respect that.  However, IMO, I feel that DVDP will become left behind by its competitors if that is the case.

Quoting gbarbay:

Quote:
Please note that I am not saying DVDP should be a media player.

I am saying it should be a profiler with the additional ability to work with media players across a network to initiate playing of the video. Big difference.

I also point out that there other programs that are doing this now. We can debate how well they are doing it compared to DVDP, but the fact remains they are doing it.

If Ken makes the decision to not take DVDP in this direction, I can respect that.  However, IMO, I feel that DVDP will become left behind by its competitors if that is the case.

So far, I have seen only one thing in your list that DVDP does not do today.