Page History: HDI Dune Template Customization
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Page Revision: 2010/10/22 16:19
Version Notice!
This guide is based on the functionality in My Movies for Windows Media Center and My Movies Collection Management 3.18 or later, or My Movies for Windows Home Server 1.61 or later. If you are running an earlier version, please upgrade before proceeding with this guide.
Introduction
My Movies Collection Management and My Movies for Windows Home Server can be used to store an advanced meta-data index for the HDI Dune media players. The meta-data index generation is based on a user customizable XML based template, which advanced users can edit and change to their personal preference. This page will go throug how template customization works. Be aware that simple template customization can be done by most users, but advanced changes also requires advanced and technical users.
Understanding Dune
The meta-data index for the Dune is created by storing a set of instruction files and graphics files that the Dune reads and displays. Before you start customizing the template, it is recommended that you read how this instuction file method works - the instruction files for the Dune is called "dune_folder.txt", and the specification on how it works can be found here:
http://dune-hd.com/firmware/misc/dune_folder_howto.txt
My Movies will store a set of these files, which differs based on their location in the index.
Template File Locations
The template files for the Dune is stored in the "C:\ProgramData\My Movies\FileStorage\User Customization\Meta Data\Dune Templates" folder on Windows 7 and Windows Vista, and in the "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\My Movies\FileStorage\User Customization\Meta Data\Dune Templates" on Windows XP. Users of My Movies for Windows Home Server can access the template on the share "\\servername\MyMoviesFileStorage$\User Customization\Meta Data\Dune Templates". It is recommended to use the My Movies Collection Management program during template customization, as it offers a better overview when making changes than the Windows Home Server console.
The default template My Movies uses is stored in the file "My Movies Default.xml" with a corresponding "My Movies Default.zip" compressed file. The compressed files is automatically uncompressed onto a "My Movies Default" directory the first time a template is used. To create a new and custom template, you should start by copying the "My Movies Default.xml" to a custom name such as "My Template.xml", and similar copy the "My Movies Default" folder to a folder with the name "My Template" - if the "My Movies Default" folder does not exist, you can create it by extracing the "My Movies Default.zip" file. Compressing the "My Template" folder back to a Zip file is not needed.
The "My Template.xml" file will now be the file to edit for changing the template content, while the "My Template" folder will where you can change or add graphics files and font files. In the created "My Template" folder is a "Parts" folder containing graphical pieces that is not needed directly by the template, but can be used to create custom icons and similar based on the My Movies Default Template.
Important! You must start by editing the copied "My Template.xml" file and changing the name of the template in the "Name" node (first node) in the XML document.
Part 1: Index Categories
The index My Movies creates contains a set of categories such as "All titles", "Alfabetic", "Genres" and similar. The template holds options of creating additional categories that is not included in the "My Movies Default" template, which means you can choose to have more categories or fewer categories than in the "My Movies Default" template. Go to the "IncludedCategories" in the XML file, and set the node value to "True" to include a category, and to "False" to exclude a category. The different categories will be explained below:
"AllTitles" - Contains a complete list of all the titles in your collection.
"Alfabetic" - Contains an alfabetic index with #, A, B, C, ect. folders containing titles starting with the selected letter.
"Genres" - Contains a list of genres with titles in them. One title can be part of multiple genres.
"LastAdded" - Contains a list of the 50 titles that have been added last to your collection.
"Categories" - Contains a list of personal categories as created within the Collection Management program, with the assigned titles within each category.
"Decades" - Contains a list of decades with titles in them.
"Years" - Contains a list of years with titles in them.
"ParentalRating" - Contains a list of parental ratings with titles in them. The parental rating names is based on the current localization.
"RunningTime" - Contains a list of running times with 10 minute jumps, with titles in them.
"Trailers" - Contains a trailer section with different sub-entries.
"GenresAndCategories" - Containes a combined list of genres and categories.
"TopActors" - Contains a list of actors with titles they star in below them. Unless you create a positive list of specific actors to include, it is recommended that you set the "TitleRequirement" to a value of 3 or higher to not include all actors - this value specifies how many titles the actor must star in to be included in the index.
If you enable the "TopActors" category, be aware that you can either let the program decide which actors to include based on the "TitleRequirement" setting, or you can uncomment the "TopActors" section in the XML file, and create a list of specific actors to include in the index. If you create a specific list of actors, be sure to set the "TitleRequirement" setting back to 1 to include all the actors in your list.
Part 2: