dirtracinfan: Steps: Answer these questions:
Q1) First step (for me) is to understand what the a/v equipment you already own is,
Q2) What PCs do you already own that you'd like to use? For example, I have an office PC that I'm using as a 2nd video renderer when not in use. That way I have an easy way to get more concurrent video sources, and don't have to deal with a ton of DirecTV receivers or TIVO units. I have 2 DirecTV receivers and an OTA HD antenna feed SageTV, and use the HTPC's to act as infinitely more controllable video sources.
Q3) 2nd step (for you) is to understand where your zones & sources will be. (ie, this zone has HDTV, this zone is SDTV, this zone is audio only, etc)
Q4) get your wiring down, so you can connect it to the right equipment, so you can actually have CQC control something.
My caveat: I haven't used ML since V2, so everything I walk you through will be based on my understanding of how I've used CQC to make this whole thing actually work. I'm attaching a diagram I wrote up for another user if you want to see a sample. In addition,
I've begun documenting my setup here if you want to see that . Ignore everything after Chapter 1 - that's based on the V1.5 version of CQC, haven't yet updated that bit.
AnthonyZ: CQC doesn't support Flash, which is entirely fine by me as I personally dislike the use of animation in my interfaces. For my target audience, which is a bunch of complete non-techies, if it's not on the screen they're not going to understand it. Even my wife, who uses the web heavily, detests Flash menu's with a passion.
If you must use Flash, look into MainLobby. It's not as powerful or secure as CQC, esp if you have multiple PCs or PPCs, but it does support flash.