Thumbnail generation support

[bammac]

I wanted to get your opinions on the video thumbnails I am testing through PS3MS. Feedback both positive and negative is welcome.

I really like this feature through PS3MS, as it adds a bit of visual sparkle to the drab XMB. However as the icons are in 320x240 (widescreen) typical portrait box art looks tiny trying to fit into the out-of-proportion space allocated.

Some great work has been done particularly here:
http://www.worldinhidef.com/ps3ms/thumbnailgenerator/

But I still find the artwork on these icons still too small. SO I decided to mock up a design that makes better use of the 320x240 dimensions but also allows for space of some other info.

For me the lack of meta data is a big issue, things like classification, release year, audio etc leaves a lot to be desired and I have tried to address that some what...

300 Thumbnail:


Mad Men Season 2 Thumbnail:


Snatch Thumbnail:


Return of the Jedi Thumbnail:


Finding Nemo Thumbnail:


Zipped PNG Templates:
http://files.me.com/bammac/vrgoeh

Let me know what you think. Obviously the classifications are Australian and could be modified for each country or deleted all together....

[ottoman1384]

bammac,

That is awesome! Is there anyway we can contact the thumbnail generator guy and ask him to incorporate that into his website?

I agree with you that his version is a little small, but still easy to do and awesome.

[Ferrerave]

I have an issue with my files showing the wrong thumbnail.

I have a mixed folder containing both movie files and music files. When browsing in this folder on my PS3 the movie files generate the same thumbnail as the music files. Which I find very strange, since when I browse in a sub-folder, which contains only movie file, within this mixed folder I can see the correct thumbnail.
I can ofc solve this problem by some file managing but I would like to know if there is some other way of solving this issue.

Anyone else having the same issue? Would really love some help with this rather annoying issue.

Thanks for an excellent program!

[MajorWoody]

Hey bammac,

I really like the look of those thumbnails and more importantly the wife likes them too...

I have been trying to create my own 'template' using gimp but can't get them to look near as good as yours, I am not that proficient with editing pictures.

Any chance you could post the 'template' file? If it is a psd file gimp should still be able to open it.


Thanks in advance,
Major

[devildog93]

Great to see people taking the initiative like this.

2 great contributions.

If the process for finding, editing and applying the thumbnails is as easy as it is with PS3Thumbnail Generator, I can see bammac's contribution becoming popular.

Looks good man.

If there was any way, like someone said, to incorporate this with PS3Thumbnail Generator, not to replace, but as another option. Have the two different templates to choose from

How easy will this idea be to do per movie? Would it be along the lines of the PS3TG? Go to a site, and get the pictures, edit values, then save to HDD.

Or would it involve external program to create these thumbnails.

Or , are you creating these thumbnails, and people can download and edit them as needed?

They look great just curious about the details.

[bammac]

Any chance you could post the 'template' file? If it is a psd file gimp should still be able to open it.

Yeah I had a bit of a play around and have added some links below. I usually only work with .PNG's as I prefer Fireworks over Photoshop etc. But there is an option to 'save as' a .PSD in Fireworks whilst maintaining layers etc. I think the .PSD templates look ok, the only thing missing is a drop shadow around the Studio/Year/Audio info. Not sure why they were omitted.

So anyway I have a few links below containing a zip archive for the templates (both HD & standard):

PNG Versions
Generic Template (No film rating classifications) http://files.me.com/bammac/6z8ik3
USA Template http://files.me.com/bammac/p8x5g7
UK Template http://files.me.com/bammac/q32fsg
Australian Template http://files.me.com/bammac/gd16lq

PSD Version
Generic Template (No film rating classifications) http://files.me.com/bammac/7cpq3s

I will try and work on more country templates (Euro, NZ etc) as well as creating more .PSD templates, but I'm under the pump over the next 2 weeks finishing up an eLearn project. I'm not sure what the likelihood of getting these templates into the Thumbnail generator will be, as I think he is pretty busy last I had heard. I haven't requested him to consider the design yet anyway.

Perhaps the best interim solution would be to set up an account on Flckr or something to share designs/creations based on the templates? I'll leave that up to someone else who is more knowledgeable to these things.

I have had a couple of PM's (sorry I didn't get a chance to respond promptly) regarding folder thumbnails etc. The thumbnails in the shots above are all for individual files/episodes/films, so even though I have created thumbnails for 'Mad Men'. They aren't for the folder but rather for each episode. Folder thumbnails can't be changed until the DLNA spec is changed and Sony support the updated spec.

In terms of the designs themselves I generally do the following:
1. Lock the layers (to prevent nudges, deletions etc)
2. use a 'widescreen' proportioned image to represent the film/tv show I'm creating (http://www.themoviedb.org is a great source for landscape orientated images)
3. reduce the film/tv image to fit within the gray rounded frame on the template
4. send the image to the back so that it falls behind the template, if square edges are still present I just use the eraser tool to nip off the corners

TIP: Keep the designs simple, you can get intricate and they may look great on your PC. But many finer touches don't translate well on a TV screen (if at all).

Hope this helps guys, will try and get further updates out sooner rather than later!

[MajorWoody]

bammac,

That's outstanding, thank you!

Never used fireworks before, can it save it in xcf (for Gimp) too?

I like using pictures from http://www.entertainmentwallpaper.com.


Thanks again,
Major

[cdirty]

Hello.

Been using PS3Mediaserver for a while now. Great program.

Finally starting to build quite a digital movie collection on my external drive.

Want to find a good way to make it look more appealing. Found this thread about thumbnails. Got it to work by renaming the cover to match the movie name and file extension. But is it not possible to make the folder its in show the cover? so i can have each film inside my Movies file show the cover, and have each film have its own folder to organize the various files that come with it? (subs, movies with split files). at least for a cleaner look

[bammac]

But is it not possible to make the folder its in show the cover? so i can have each film inside my Movies file show the cover, and have each film have its own folder to organize the various files that come with it? (subs, movies with split files). at least for a cleaner look

No it's not possible. It's not supported in the DLNA spec, and there is no indication that I can see of when the spec will be updated to address these UX limitations. Only storing files directly on the PS3 into folders (aka 'Albums') will enable the folder to have an image on it. Even then it will only be a screen cap of the movie file and not a cover you have created.

You can organise your movies into individual folders as you would like (restricted to 6 folder levels I think via a media server) to keep the content in the structure of your choosing.

[cdirty]

thanks. i didnt think it was. tried a bunch of different things.


(also, thanks for understanding that post. i was running on like 0 hours of sleep. kinda didnt make any sense)