Video playback
About My Videos
My Videos is the component of Xbox Media Center that handles videos. To access My Videos, select it from the Home screen. Some of the key features of My Videos are:
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Using My Videos
You will find the interface of My Videos as easy to operate as the rest of Xbox Media Center. General Navigation
Using Bookmarks in My Videos
Bookmarks are an important aspect of My Videos. Setting bookmarks allows you to easily access your videos.
XBMC gives you the ability to bookmark media that is:
- On your computer or a NAS (Network Attached Storage) device/system, which supports SMB sharing
- Stored directly on the hard drive of your Xbox
- On CDs/DVDs in the Xbox DVD drive
- Streamed from the Internet
For information on setting up your bookmarks, see Bookmarks.
Listing Modes available in My Videos
Files ViewFiles View is the most basic way of browing your videos. In Files View, you browse through your bookmarks folder by folder, in the exact same way that they are stored. What you see in Files View is the same as you would see if you were to view the folders on your computer. |
Library ViewLibrary View is much more advanced and has many more features than Files Mode. In order to utilize Library View, you first need to scan your videos into the Video Library using the context menu option Query Info For All Files (Only available in Files View). Be patient, as this can take quite a while if you have a large music collection. For more information on using Library View, see Video Library. |
Thumbnails
There are a number of ways to get thumbnails to display in My Videos. One is described in the IMDB (Internet Movie Database) section.
If you want a custom thumbnail, or just don't want to use the IMDB feature, you can add a .tbn file to your movie directory. The .tbn file can be either a .JPG or a .PNG file (with transparancy) that you simply rename the extension from .jpg/.png to .tbn.
The size of the picture can be anything from 64x64 to 256x256 in pixel-size (you may want to use a larger pixel-size if you use XBMC in 720p/1080i HDTV resolution to get a sharper image).
A much more detailed information on how exactly thumbnails work in all sections of XBMC can be found here (link).
Examples:
In the following example moviename.avi will now use the thumbnail moviename.tbn.
Movies\path\moviename.avi Movies\path\moviename.tbn
The same goes for playlists, and internet-stream files, example:
Movies\path\videoplaylistname.pls Movies\path\videoplaylistname.tbn Movies\path\videostreamname.strm Movies\path\videostreamname.tbn
If you store each of your movies in a separate subfolder to keep things organized, you can also make the movie folder have a custom thumbnail image. To do this you either need to save your .JPG/.PNG thumbnail as folder.jpg and place it in your movie folder, or you can save it as <foldername>.tbn and place it inside the same folder where your folder is located (XBMC first checks for <foldername>.tbn before checking for folder.jpg).
Example:
Movies\path\moviename\folder.jpg
or
Movies\path\foldername\ Movies\path\foldername.tbn
Now your movie folder will have a lovely custom thumbnail image icon.
OSD (On Screen Display)
The majority of the video functions can be controlled through the OSD (On Screen Display)
1. Now Playing - Selecting this opens the "Now Playing" playlist (where you can save and manage playlists) |
Subtitles
XBMC supports both subtitles that are embedded into the video-file (as is the case when watching DVD-Video movies) as well as stand-alone subtitle files, (embedded VobSub subtitles, also known as DirectVobSub, inside AVI, OGM, MKV, or MP4 are however not supported yet). XBMC supports SRT, SUB, TXT, SMI, SSA, AQT, JSS, MPL and VobSub subtitle formats. To use stand-alone subtitle files with video files simply place the subtitle file in the subtitles folder defined in AdvancedSettings.xml, (this subtitle folder defined in AdvancedSettings.xml can be a SMB share), or alternatively use the same folder as the video file. You can also choose to manualy browse for the subtitle file. You can configure the way that they are displayed though the Subtitles Settings, and you can also adjust where they are displayed onscreen through the Video Calibration Screen.
The subtitle and video files must have the same name, for example:
Video File: The Matrix.avi Subtitle: The Matrix.srt
By default subtitles are turned on except when playing a DVD-Video movie. They can be turned ON\OFF manually from the OSD (On Screen Display). Note! External stand-alone subtitle files are not yet supported for DVD-Video movies.
It is also possible to use flipped (bi-directional) subtitles. This means that the subtitles will be displayed from right to left instead of left to right. This is useful for subtitle in Semic languages (Arabic, Hebrew, Farsi..., etc.).
XBMC also supports (compressed) VobSub subtitles. Please note that the subtitles inside the RAR archive still need to have the same name as the video file.
Video File: The Matrix.avi Subtitle: The Matrix.idx (this is the VobSub index-file which should be keept outside the rar-archive) Subtitle: The Matrix.rar (containing the VobSub-file The Matrix.sub that has been compressed with RAR)
Using Multi Language Subtitles
XBMC supports the use of more than one external subtitle. This of course is most useful when you have more than one subtitle file, (eg. for more than language).
To use this functionality you need to rename the video file and subtitle files as follows:
Video File: The Matrix.avi Subtitle 1: The Matrix.English.srt Subtitle 2: The Matrix.French.srt Subtitle 3: The Matrix.German.srt
The dot after the filename but before the extension specifies the language (you can use anything here, mix numbers and and letters or just use one or the other).
You can even mix subtitle format, XBMC currently supports MicroDVD, srt, smi, vplayer, rt, ssa, aqt, sub, jss, mpl and VobSub (idx + sub) subtitle formats. eg:
Video File: Movie Name (2006).avi Subtitle 1: Movie Name (2006).Chinese.idx Subtitle 1: Movie Name (2006).Chinese.sub Subtitle 2: Movie Name (2006).Japanese.idx Subtitle 2: Movie Name (2006).Japanese.sub Subtitle 3: Movie Name (2006).English.srt Subtitle 4: Movie Name (2006).French.smi Subtitle 5: Movie Name (2006).German.ssa
Adjusting Subtitles Position
The position of the subtitles can be adjusted vertically (but not horizontally) in the Video Calibration screen, you can also configure the way that they are displayed though the Subtitles Settings.
Changing Subtitles during Playback
The subtitles can be changed or turned On and Off via the OSD (On Screen Display) while watching a movie.