Domotix: A Free Media Center

Video module


The video module allows you to play all video types, DVD, ISO and automatically recover information about films (display, summery), create video playlists, sort your video library by genre, films you’ve watched or not, start a film from where you left it….



Configuration

Like with the music module, you should first of all define where your video files are stored. To do this, click on the “Options” button and select “Select folders”. Once you have done this, Domotix will analyze the list of files, recover information about them on the internet and organize your collection by genre, year… This operations is completely transparent and all files added at a later time will be taken into account.

Note: The information search option is done from a file name, which means it is therefore important that you keep them correctlynamed (avoid “the_3_musketeers{ripped_by_someone-www.toto.com}”).

Still in the options window, you have the possibility of selecting the video player type: DirectX, VLC or Media Player Classic.

• DirectX: this is the player integrated into Domotix, which means that it requires video CODECS to be installed. This is the lightest player, recommended for older computers.
• VLC: No need to present this one, it is also integrated into Domotix, and allows you to watch VD (either from a disk or saved on the hard drive) as well as DivX. This is the easiest to use.
• Media Player Classic: For those that like to fine tune. Be careful though as MPC must be installed on the computer and you therefore have to define its location via the “Configure video player” option (available here).

Use

The main video screen module allows you to access your video library in a number of ways:

• Browse by folders: access your files in the defined folders
• Explore by genre/year: your files are classed depending on the information recovered from the internet.
• Browse by progression: allows you to see a list of videos, all seen, partially seen or not watched at all.
• Playlist: access your video playlist
• Search: Perform a search by keyword on videos title, summery, actors…

By clicking on a video, you directly access the corresponding file. From this screen, you can view the video, take off from where you left it last time (the time watched will be displayed) or modify the videos information.
In the “watched” section, Domotix automatically changes the screen to full screen when you start a video. In full screen mode, you can pause, browse through the video with the use of the arrows (no more then 30 seconds) or the “Backwards” button.

You also have the possibility of changing the viewing format by clicking on the full screen button (or F11): normal mode -> 16/9 mode -> Panoramic -> Zoom
You can also come back to the menu at any time by pressing the quit key (or escape).

If you watch a DVD, you can control the cursor with the directional arrows and click with the OK button (or enter), this allows you to browse through the DVD’s menus and sub menus.

The Playlists

The video module also allows you to manage your playlist: select the videos to add to the playlist and these will be put into the loop (useful for clips for example).
To manage your playlist, open the “Options” menu and select “Manage the playlist”. The playlist manager will appear with all of your videos listed to the left (browse by folders) and the contents of your playlist on the right.
To add a video to the playlist, select it from the list on the left and click OK. To delete a video from the playlist, simply click on it.

Once you have created your playlist, leave this screen and select “Playlist” in the browser.

Other functions

Import Movie Ant
Ovie Ant Catalog is a video library management program. Domotix allows you to import the contents of the Movie Ant database as well as updating your video files.
To do this, go to the “Options” menu, and select “Import Movie Ant”. Domotix will ask you to select the folder that hosts your database and it will then automatically import it.


Modify a video file
As we previously said, Domotix automatically recovers information about films from the internet. This said, in some cases the information can be erroneous or incomplete. You have the possibility of manually editing the information in a film file. To do this, select the film you want and in the file, click on “Update”. You will then have the possibility of automatically or manually updating the file. By selecting manually, you can edit the title, summery, director, actors and associated details.