Hi All,

If you're looking for a way to view YouTube videos from within Media Center then you might like to give this plug-in a go.  

It's fresh off the compiler, so any feedback (epecially constuctive criticism) is very welcome.

The functionality is pretty straight forward, so I'm hoping instructions won't be necessary.

Download the 32-bit version here.
Download the 64-bit version here.

A kind user suggested I include a donate button, so please find one above. 

Version 0.8.1

• Changed the functioning of the OK remote control button on extenders and remote controls that simulate keyboard input to allow the search function to work correctly
• No longer attempts to search for blank search criteria
• Installs to Media Center start menu
• Added an option in the Appearance section of Settings to add/remove from Media Center start menu
• Hides the search option if searching is not available for a provider (e.g. the "SearchUrl" attribute is blank or missing).
• Minor cosmetic changes

Here's a couple of screenshots so you know what you're getting.

I'm going to have try this one...I kind of miss some of these things in MC....and the interface looks like it will look flawless in Media Center.

Hmmm...is Lady Gaga really that ugly ? hehe

 Played with it for a few....AWSOME (Put right in my TV strip next to Hulu desktop). Love the easy simple MC interface, things play back pretty quick and easy. Search works pretty welll. As others said, I would love to be able to logon and

Want Requests ?

Revision3 (HDnation in HD, please ?) http://revision3.com

The Escapist (Zero Punctuation PLEASE ??) http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation

Fox on Demand (if possable it would be cool) http://www.fox.com/fod/index.htm

There are others but, these I really want in MC (I can get HDnation but, in SD only in the new MS InternetTV>Zunecasts).

Add a few more providers and I'll do an entry about it on my blog to help promote it.... So far great app and I am really looking forward to the next version.

nxsfan:

I just installed this. It's very slick. I like the on screen keyboard and the transition animations.

jp1911:

Gotta say i love it, nice and easy just how an app should be,...

TheWorkz:

Really like the app... Great work!

Thanks very much!

jp1911:

...just wondered if it would be possible to add other streaming sites?

It is, and they will be. My intention is for other people to be able to add and maintain new feed sources. If you look in the C:\ProgramData\Jasmio\MacroTube\Providers folder on the computer you installed the plug-in on, you'll see that providers are configured as an xml file. They may not be configurable by anyone without some skills, however there is the opportunity for other people to add them.

Right now it's pretty rough, and there's no nice UI for adding additional feeds. If enough people seem interested, I'll expand on this, create the UI, and document it.

TheWorkz:

...My only suggestion would be the ability to enter our username and view our own Favorites...

I'll see what I can do about this.

DavidinCT:

...Played with it for a few....AWSOME (Put right in my TV strip next to Hulu desktop). Love the easy simple MC interface, things play back pretty quick and easy. Search works pretty welll...

Thanks!

DavidinCT:

Want Requests ?

Sure do!

DavidinCT:

Revision3 (HDnation in HD, please ?) http://revision3.com

The Escapist (Zero Punctuation PLEASE ??) http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation

Fox on Demand (if possable it would be cool) http://www.fox.com/fod/index.htm

There are others but, these I really want in MC (I can get HDnation but, in SD only in the new MS InternetTV>Zunecasts).

I hadn't seen Revision3 before - some good stuff there, and it would be fairly easy to create a provider for. They use embedded advertising pre-rolls, so integrating it is guilt-free, too.

Zero Punctuation is an old favourite of mine, and can be done easily enough. I wish they had a way of providing advertising pre-rolls though. It'd make it feel more like helping them out than ripping them off. I'll think about it.

Fox on Demand looks doable, however it's not available in Australia (where I live), so maintaining it would be painful. I might leave this one to someone else to do (and take the heat for).

ShadowTD:

Before I give this a whirl, does it work on extenders (360)?

Yes, all the current sources work on an XBOX 360 used as an extender. I don't have any of the other extender devices, so can't comment on them.

MCExtended:

[Zero Punctuation is an old favourite of mine, and can be done easily enough. I wish they had a way of providing advertising pre-rolls though. It'd make it feel more like helping them out than ripping them off. I'll think about it.

 

I was on their site last night (of course after writing that I had to catch up on some reviews from him), when ever a video starts now, and advertisement starts before the video, it was never like that before. Is that what you mean ?

I gave it a good shot last night (over an hour when I should of gotten to bed), I was doing searches, viewing lots of videos...pretty much stress testing it. I got a few videos to give me a "not found" message and I was able to crash it once but, I could not repo it. The only problem I see and not sure if anything can be done, when I click on a video to play, there is a 2-4 second delay before it starts doing anything (just black screen for a few seconds). Otherwise that, works great.

I agree, I like this a lot better than the other options that were out there. What ever you do on upgrading/adding content, do not change the simple look and use of it, that is what makes it perfect.

Is there any directions on how we can create our own providers ?

nxsfan:

They keyboard doesnt work, whenever you press OK to select a character it closes the keyboard.

I knew I'd seen that behaviour somewhere, however each time I checked it it worked. I didn't realize the extender was the issue. Will fix it for the next release, and thanks for pointing it out.

So does this transcode the flash on the HTPC?

Just built an HTPC to replace the MCX as I couldn't play DVD / flash content!

DavidinCT:

I was on their site last night (of course after writing that I had to catch up on some reviews from him), when ever a video starts now, and advertisement starts before the video, it was never like that before. Is that what you mean ?

Yep, it sure is. Having looked in to how it's being done, it looks like they don't have any ads to serve for my region, so that's why I thought there weren't any. Unfortunately they haven't just prepended the ads to the video stream, but have done something a bit trickier. They're making it hard work for me to include their ads... Anyway, it's do-able, however I think I'll leave podcasts for another plug-in as discussed below.

DavidinCT:

I gave it a good shot last night (over an hour when I should of gotten to bed), I was doing searches, viewing lots of videos...pretty much stress testing it. I got a few videos to give me a "not found" message and I was able to crash it once but, I could not repo it. The only problem I see and not sure if anything can be done, when I click on a video to play, there is a 2-4 second delay before it starts doing anything (just black screen for a few seconds).

Thanks for all the testing - it's much appreciated! The "not found" message is unavoidable, unfortunately. It occurs when a video has been deleted or had it's privacy settings changed, and the feed has yet to be updated.

I'm working on something to make the 2-4 (or longer) second delay less annoying. It'll still be there (it's technically unavoidable), however hopefully it'll be less noticable.

DavidinCT:

Is there any directions on how we can create our own providers ?

Nope, no documentation yet, sorry, and there probably won't be any until the 1.0 release so that I have more freedom in what I change in the spec.

With regard to the podcast content you have requested, I've been putting a bit of thought in to it and have decided that it is better handled by another application. MacroTube is really about the user-generated video content sites out there, and has a Provider->Category->Sort Order interface, with video thumbnails playing a big role. Podcasts tend to be better represented with a different model, and are 'timely' in that they don't generally include a full item list, but rather only the most recent items. Given this, you would ideally want to incorporate a way to persist all the items ever encountered so that you can always go back to older content, and this isn't a feature I want to work on for this project right now.

Having said all of that, you can include the podcasts easily enough if you really want to by configuring another provider, it's just something I think can be done better in a different framework, so I'm not investing time in it right now.