Need some direction (Media Player + Elve)

[BracketNova]

Hello everyone,
 
I've done my best to keep from the typical newb post, but alas I must
 
I am running Elve on a pc I have.  So far so good.  I'm contolling lights, TVs etc, and I have a few timers going too (have somfy interfaces on the back burner until I get the below going  ).  Where I am struggling is my media library, more specifically my Blu-rays and DVDs I am currently in the process of putting on my PC.
 
I want to be able to flick through coverart of my movies on my iPad mini, tap, and play.  Elve has it's own media player, which I was planning on using, but I am having trouble piecing it together. I think I just need pointed in the right direction to start.  So far I have been impressed with Elve's documentation, but I am having a hard time with this.  Does Elve's media player overlay Windows Media Player?  How does it know where to get files?  Elve also supports J. River, is that better?  I would run whatever from a pc (the same one Elve is on if that matters) that would transfer the video via HDMI to my matrix then to where ever.
 
Is there a player out there I can use with Elve that will play the bdmv files that I now have from using AnyDVD HD...or do I need to make them something else (mkv?).  I like quality, so not interested in compressing...just really going for fast, easy access to my movies - tap and play
 
Thanks a ton
- Greg
 

 

[electron]

hi Greg,
 
I believe Zoom Player is another popular media player which can be integrated with various solutions.
 
That said, I honestly would reconsider your strategy of relying on Elve.  I have heard from several sources now that he is too busy with his new job, and that Elve is no longer a priority.  Judging by the lack of forum activity and communication, I would agree this is the case.  I hope I'm wrong, but don't think I am.

 

[iostream212]

Hello,
 
The Elve media player is just for audio only. The way it works is you bind the media player to an audio media library and the media player will play the music on whatever computer you select it to run on. So the media library is one way Elve knows where your files are. (See add driver, then either audio, image, or video library from the management studio).
Another way Elve gets media info is from a media driver, like JRiver. Different drivers implement Elve's IMediaLibraryDriver interface, which provides a bridge from the application's (like JRiver) media library to Elve's media browser control. Currently there are no controls for a flick style coverart viewer. The current media browser is a grid or a list with the media details and coverart.
 
You may be interested in a driver for Elve that I am currently writing for Xbox Media Center. XBMC has its own database saying where songs are and videos are, and all the additional metadata to go along with it.
 
This driver would get the files from XBMC and format them in a way the Elve media browser can display. Then when you select your media browser library XBMC becomes a selectable bindable library because the driver supports it.
 
Now when you use the media browser it is populated with your XBMC library. The media browser allows you to bind a media player as well. I have XBMC as the bound player since it plays darn near everything, including ripped blurays... You should hop over to the Elve forums for additional info. I am on their daily and can help if you continue with it.