Need help playing DVD (.vob) files for the un-tech savvy

[nzdreamer55]

I just set up a Windows XP HTPC from an old Dell 260 Optiplex. I wanted to run Media center as that is what my wife currently uses on our other computer, however I cannot get MCE to work on this machine. So I stumbled upon VLC player and so far have been blown away. The problem is that it isn't point and click for my wife. So I am looking for some advice on how to set this up so she can watch stuff on our TV without too much effort. We have a LAN in our house and our DVD's are stored in a folder system on our office computer. Media center 2005 was on this and when she should go to the video section she could click on the movie she wanted and it would start just as if you had dropped in a DVD (menus, extras, etc. were all available). She also would watch recorded TV shows that the computer had stored. Just so you know, we have a lot of videos such as all the South Park, X-files, Friends, Seinfeld, and LOTR, and Starwars on our computer, so I am hoping to not have to convert them all to DIVX or other format.

Now the HTPC is hooked up to the LAN and if I navigate to the folder where the movie is (usually just the top folder, but sometimes the VIDEO folder) on our office computer I can open it using the open disc, it acts just like media center did. It looks and plays just as if you were using a stand along DVD player with the DVD.

The hard part is the navigation to where the files are and the not so easy initial interface for the un-tech savvy compared to MCE 2005 XP. Can I create some sort of short cuts that when clicked on will launch the movie?
Also is there a way to do the same thing with recorded TV shows (I'm using MCE 2005 XP to record them from my cable provider)?

Thanks for any help you can provide. If this question has been answered before and I missed it in a search, I would be happy if someone could just point me to the topic link.

Steve

[VLC_help]

Yes, you can create shortcuts that will open video files or VIDEO_TS folders with VLC.

[Ludrax]

maybe this is a feature request for fullscreen media library + IR

The problem is that it isn't point and click for my wife.

I just updated and i counted the number of click: 13. I could not believe it

[nzdreamer55]

Yes, you can create shortcuts that will open video files or VIDEO_TS folders with VLC.

Could you step me through how you would create these? When I launch the movie I am using the open disc function and browsing to the folder that contains the VIDEO folder is in and sometimes there is also the AUDIO. So the structure is Movie titled folder (Starwars-Empire strikes back) with VIDEO and AUDIO folders. In the VIDEO folder are the .VOB files.

Whould I create a shortcut to this movie titled folder and if she clicked it would it launch the movie or only open the movie folder? Are there shortcuts just windows short cuts or VLC specific shortcuts (like playlist maybe)?

Thanks again

Steve

[cybmole]

two vlc solutions below, also you can try mediaportal as a freeware alternative to microsoft media center software.


1. right click method.
naviagate to the folder containing the movie yyou want to watch, right click the folder, slectplay with VLC. ( if that option is not present you'll ahve to reinstall VLC & select shell extensions duting the install).

2. create shortcuts.
this will take a while to set up if you have lots of movies...
in each movie folder you'll have subfolders video_Ts and audio_Ts.( you can delete all of the audio_TS folders). within video_TS there will alwys be a file called VIdeo_TS.ifo. right click that & select create shortcut.
now drag that shortcut to wherever you plan to store them e.g. desktop or to a movie shortcuts folder and rename that shortcut to "movie-title". repeat for every movie in your collection

now you can play any movie by simply double clicking the( renamed) shortcut. it will play in whatever software is set to be the default player for .ifo files so you can use vlc, powerdvd7, WMP...

you may also want to download cover art for each movie ( from amazon or IMDB). put cover art into the movie folder with name folder.jpg. then you can view your movie collection folder in XP as thumbnails/large icons & see all of the movies.

I've used this set up in XP ( I now have WIn 7) with a cyberlink remote, to select & control movie playback.
you can control vlc with the remote, either via some creative hotkey definitions or with an extra shareware program called intelliremote.

[nzdreamer55]

Thanks for all the help. I'll give those things a try. I really like VLC so I'm thinking that I might just do the short cut thing, but will keep mediaportal in my back pocket. I have tried to set up a remote with media center and the XP and I cannot get it to work. Maybe mediaportal will work. Maybe I'll set up mediaportal for the wife and keep VLC for myself.

Once again, thanks for all the great help! Will let you know if I run into problems or have success.

Steve

[cybmole]

FYI - with Xp, you have to have the MMC version of XP installed., you can't add MMC to other flavours of xp , like home or PRo.

but you can add the microsoft remote + IR receiver & get basic functionality - like using direction keys & OK button to navigate folders, and using play/pause etc within WMP

if you upgrade to win 7, then media centre option is built in.

there's one more solution to consider, though it would be time consuming to set up for lots fo movies:- some people rip/convert their DVD movies to a single large VOB file, which preserves all of the original quality. then it's just a case of navigating to that single file & playing it in VLC. others rip the entire DVD in .ISO format as some players can play directly from that and once again it's just a single file. Not sure of VLC can play a .ISO though. DVDFAB is what I use for DVD rip & conversion.

[nzdreamer55]

FYI - with Xp, you have to have the MMC version of XP installed., you can't add MMC to other flavours of xp , like home or PRo.

Thanks for the help. This computer that I have has windows MCE XP. I think that is is 2002, but it has the service pack 3 installed.

but you can add the microsoft remote + IR receiver & get basic functionality - like using direction keys & OK button to navigate folders, and using play/pause etc within WMP

I purchased a generic remote for MCE and it came with an IR usb port, but for some reason it will not control MCE. The IR will flash when a button is pressed, but nothing happens. I've got roll up 2 installed, but nothing seemed to work. I plugged it into a vista computer of mine that has MCE on it and the remote worked fine. I could not find drivers for the remote for XP and the manufacture / distributer only spoke spanish when I called the phone number located in southern california. So I think that I am SOL with this remote.

if you upgrade to win 7, then media centre option is built in.

This machine has a celeron processor with a 1.6 gHz speed. I'm not sure that windows 7 will be apporiate for this type of machine.

there's one more solution to consider, though it would be time consuming to set up for lots fo movies:- some people rip/convert their DVD movies to a single large VOB file, which preserves all of the original quality. then it's just a case of navigating to that single file & playing it in VLC. others rip the entire DVD in .ISO format as some players can play directly from that and once again it's just a single file. Not sure of VLC can play a .ISO though. DVDFAB is what I use for DVD rip & conversion.

This is a good idea for simplicity, but I think that at this point I'll stick with other things as we have a lot of files. Thanks for the help

Steve