I often played around with "Photoshopping"myself or friends into movies scenes, famous paints, etc. Usually I relied on being able to download images from the web to be able to do this. With VLC, it really easy to grab a screenshot yourself. Of course, you don't have to be into it for the Photoshop shenanigans, maybe you just want cool desktop wallpaper, or whatever. One of the readers over at How To Geek had a really clever use for movie screenshot from VLC. He used them to create a pattern for his wife's cross-stitch based on the intro to the British comedy "The IT Crowd."
Sidenote: Folks from the U.S. with a Netflix account who have never seen the IT Crowd, can check it out the first 3 seasons for free on Netflix Instant. It's worth a look, especially if you have ever worked in IT.
Taking a screenshot, or snapshot, in VLC is pretty easy. When playing a movie simply select Video from the menu and click Snapshot. By enabling the advanced controls you can also take a snapshot directly from the the main interface with just a button. You can even advance or reverse the video frame by frame to get the perfect shot.
Check out the full article for all the details.
I was completely convinced I would absolutely love this app when I first downloaded it. What RunKeeper Does (is supposed to do) is use the built-in GPS in your phone to track your fitness activities, including duration, distance, pace, speed, elevation, calories burned, and path traveled on a map. If you create a RunKeeper account, you can even store all of your historical activities on the RunKeeper website. It can chart activities like running, cycling, walking, hiking, skiing, wheelchair, and more.
If you found a movie or TV show on Netflix Instant that you really like, you can easily find related titles that you may also enjoy.
A few days ago, a friend of mine mentioned to me (very excitedly) that he heard there was an iPhone app that turns your phone into a level. Not being a "tool guy" the proper application of an app like this didn't interest me so much, but it did sound kinda cool. Really I was just fascinated to see how it works.
So off to the App store I went with my iPod Touch in search of such an app. I stumbled across the iHandy Level app. It had a decent rating and best of all it was free. (Otherwise my interest would have died right there...)
There are things that Windows Media Center can't do, but Boxee can. That's what makes the Boxee Integration for Windows 7 Media Center 1.0 plug-in so great. For those of us that run a Media Center HTPC, this little plug-in allows us to access all the content from Boxee right through our media center remote. It comes from the same developer that created the Hulu Integration for W7MC plugin and works basically the same way.
Boxee gives you access to Last.fm, Pandora, MLB.TV, YouTube and numerous other content providers that don't come with Windows 7 Media Center. Plus, it works great with a Media Center remote.
Downsides: It doesn't work with extenders, which is a big bummer to those that use them. It basically minimizes WMC and then opens Boxee when you launch it, then closes Boxee and reopens when you exit. So, the process isn't totally seemless. Some may not really care for this, but it really doesn't bother me at all. The bottom line for me is to be able to do it all with a remote, which is really what the Boxee integration software brings to the table.
Here is my original write up at How-To Geek on the Boxee Windows 7 Media Center Integration 1.0 app. If you're ready to download it and check it out yourself, you can grab it here.
Want to integrate Hulu with Windows 7 Media Center? Check out my article on the Hulu Integration plugin, or just grab the software and dive right in. You'll need to install the Hulu Desktop application first.
Some of you may be thinking, "what are VIDEO TS folders and VOB files and why would I want or need to play them in Media Center?" VIDEO TS is the folder on a DVD movie. It holds VOB files that contain the contents of a DVD, such as video, audio, menus, extras, and even subtitles. Think of them as the file and folder structure of a DVD movie. By ripping these files to your hard drive and playing them in Media Center, it's just like having your DVD collection loaded onto your system. But, you don't have to go through the hassle of swapping discs.
We're going to take a look at how to play them in both the WMC Movies Library, and Media Browser plugin for Windows 7 Media Center. One of the many great things about Media Browser is it's ability to recognize and play not only VIDEO TS folders, but to Mount and play ISO files as well. You may want to check out my post on Media Browser for Windows Media Center if you aren't familiar with Media Browser. Even if you don't plan on watching Video TS or ISO files, it is still a great way to manage and display your movies and TV shows in Windows 7 Media Center.
Last week Microsoft pushed out an update to Media Center that brought with it the ability to play 720p HD content from Netflix Instant. The list, according to the release, includes 1,800 HD titles. Among that list of 1,800 titles are past seasons of hit show like Lost, 30 Rock, The Office (US version), and many titles from Discovery Channel. You can find the full list of title here on the Netflix website.
Media Center Studio really is a pretty amazing, albeit somewhat buggy, Beta application that really allows you to transform and customize Windows Media Center to your liking. I previously looked at how you can customize the main start menu by moving around tiles and strips and even adding new ones. But, that was really only half the thrill. You can also add themes and background images to Windows Media Center. Here is my full write up on the topic over at How-To Geek.
Note: If you are having any issues editing WMC with Media Center Studio after a recent update (around May 20, 2010), check out this workaround.
Shout out to the group at the Australian Media Center Community forum for figuring this one out. After Microsoft pushed out an Update last week, those of us that have customized our WMC menu's with Media Center Studio saw many of our customizations revert back to Media Center defaults. If you open Media Center Studio you should see that all your customizations are still there, they just don't appear in WMC anymore.
My native Movies tile, which I had removed and replaced with Media Browser, was back. Hulu which I had placed in the TV strip was also gone. Although I custom "Add-In's" tile I had created with tiles for Boxee and a few other items was still intact.
I found a fix at the Australian Media Center Community forum. The developer chimed in and said that a fix in Media Center Studio would be forthcoming eventually, but here is a fix for the time being.
It's annoying. You're out somewhere and you snap a photo with your Droid and "Click!" goes that shutter noise. You'd think it would simply be a matter of a setting somewhere to silence it, but there isn't... So how the heck do silence that annoying shutter noise? Well, here are a couple of ways to do it.
I was pretty anxious to try out the Miro Video Converter when I first heard about it. Being a new Droid owner I'm constantly on the prowl for new and cool ways to use my Droid. Especially ways to convert video for the Droid.
The appeal of the Miro Video converter is, besides being free, is its insanely easy user interface. You can simply drag and drop your video file on the the application, select your device from the drop-down list, and click Convert. That's it. There aren't any advance settings to muck with. That won't appeal to the more advanced users, but this app isn't targeted at them.
Ever wish to remove some the the junk in the Extras Library that you never use? If you've installed a plug-in and want it gone, you should be able to remove it completely through the Control Panel's Add/Remove programs. If you just want to hide any plug-ins for the time being or hide any of the built-in Extras, it's easily done. And if you ever want it back, it just as easy to bring it back.
This is a really nice feature if you listen to music on your Media Center HTPC. You'll need to initially setup rip settings in Windows Media Player (not WMC), but after you do that you can rip CDs to your Media Center library with nothing more than your MCE remote. Now if only you could train your pet to swap the CDs for you...
Read my full post on how to rip a music CD in Windows 7 Media Center at How-To Geek.
One feature missing from Windows 7 Media Center is the ability to customize the start menu by moving the tiles and strips around to better suit If your media habits. The only real way to do any of this type of customizing is being able to add Extras Library applications to the Main Extras strip. Enter Media Center Studio.This powerful application allows you to move around Media Center tiles and Menu Strips to your heart's content, and even add additional applications to Windows Media Center.
It should be noted right up front that this is a Beta application that does include some bugs. Another downside is that it includes zero documentation whatsoever and it isn't the least bit intuitive. However, it really is a great tool once you figure out how to use it.
Check out my full post at How-to Geek for a detailed look at how to use Media Center Studio to edit and customize your Windows Media Center menu. It should get you pointed in the right direction and hopefully save you a lot of time learning to use this program. Ready to dive right in? You can download Media Center Studio from the website.
Note: Media Center Studio can also be used to add Themes to Media Center, but I choose to attack that one in a separate post.
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