Quick start guide
Template:XBMC wiki toc Congratulations, new user, in your choice of media center software: XBMC.
This guide is designed to get you up and running with XBMC in the shortest time possible, and was written with the most typical use cases in mind. For more in depth information please refer to the XBMC Online Manual.
The XBMC interface is designed with the 'Home Theater' in mind. This means it is best viewed on a large-screen TV while you sit on your couch 10-feet away from that TV, rather than on a small monitor while you sit at your desk. Because everything is designed with the home theater experience in mind, the best way to interact with XBMC is with a remote control, rather than a computer mouse. If it helps, think of XBMC as the ultimate DVD-Player/Set-top-box (and nobody uses a mouse with a DVD-Player/Set-top-box).
XBMC main features
- XBMC can be used to play almost all popular audio and video formats
- Use your media as-is: XBMC can play CDs and DVDs directly from the disk or image file
- Powerful library that can automatically scan media to retrieve covers, descriptions and fanart from the internet.
- Playlist and slideshow functions
- Weather forecast feature, a "news ticker" of your favorite RSS Feeds
- Flexible, simple to use Add-ons that can extend the functions of XBMC
- Network playback built in - stream any playable media from anywhere in the house or internet.
Installing XBMC
XBMC is cross-platform software currently being developed for: Linux-based OS's, iOS, Mac OS X, and Windows. Platform specific guides can be found here.
Adding files
While you can just use XBMC with plain file views, adding/scanning files to the library will add rich features such as cover art, summaries, thumbnails, trailers, and more.
Adding videos to the library
XBMC can search the Internet and automatically find information about your Movies and TV shows using "scrapers". To be most effective your Movie and TV show files should be named according to standard naming conventions.
The filename is referenced by a search within the online records and the closest match is selected. If the filename is not exactly or very close to the movie title the automatic scan may not always offer accurate matches.
Adding music to the Library
- See main page: Preparing your Music
In order to be able to include information on your music collection in the Library, XBMC needs your music to be tagged. When your collection is scanned, XBMC stores all the tagging information (artist, album, year, genre, etc) in the database which allows you to efficiently search and manage your music collection. Today most media applications and players (e.g. iTunes / iPod) organize music by this ID tag information.
Note: Your audio files MUST have a valid ID tag for them to work properly in the XBMC Music Library.
Adding pictures
Adding sources for your Pictures follows the same method as adding other media sources. From the Home Page navigate to Pictures, select Add Source and browse to the location of your picture files.
Using a remote control
Often the most convenient and user friendly way of controlling XBMC is using a remote control. This further enhances the appliance feel of the XBMC and fits next to (or replaces) the other remotes that are likely to be in your entertainment room. MCE Remote controls are usually the cheapest and easiest to use with XBMC, but many other remote controls have been very successfully used with XBMC.
For more information on remote controls and XBMC please explore the links below:
- Remote Control Reviews
- Remote Controls
- Using an MCE remote control in Windows
- Using a remote control with XBMC
- All in One Remote
- XBMC Online Manual
Important note about the Context Menu
As you read this wiki and experiment on your own, you will quickly learn about the value of the contextual menu.
To use it, while highlighting an item, press the "C" key on the keyboard. If you are using a mouse, you can right click while hovering over an item. With remote controls, the option to bring up the contextual menu differs based on the remote control that you use.