equinux MediaCentral 2.8.10 User Manual
MediaCentral 2
Version 2.8
© 2012 equinux AG and equinux USA, Inc.
Under the copyright laws, this manual may not be copied, in whole or in part, without
the written consent of equinux AG or equinux USA, Inc. Your rights to the software are
governed by the accompanying software license agreement.
The equinux logo is a trademark of equinux AG and equinux USA, Inc., registered in
the U.S. and other countries.
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this manual is accurate.
equinux is not responsible for printing or clerical errors.
Manual Revision 2.8.7
Created using Apple Pages.
www.equinux.com
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products.
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Content
Welcome to MediaCentral 5
.....................................................................Slick and Streamlined Interface 5
...............................................................................................................................TV 5
..........................................................................................................................IP TV 5
.............................................................................Browse Your Movie Archive 5
.......................................................................................DVDs in Your Network 5
......................................................................................................Not Just iTunes 5
....................................................................................Tune In and Get Rockin' 6
..............................................................................Pictures on the Big Screen 6
Install MediaCentral 7
.....................................................................................................Getting Started 7
............................................................................................Install MediaCentral 7
.......................................................................................Register MediaCentral 8
....................................................................................Uninstall MediaCentral 10
Application Overview 11
......................................................Explore the Interface of MediaCentral 11
............................................................................................“My MediaCentral” 12
.....................................................................Auto-sorting of Optical Media 12
......“MediaCentral Online Content” – Be Informed With One Click 12
.............................Full Screen or Window Mode – Whatever You Like 13
............................................................................................................Sound Sets 14
IP TV 15
..............................................Take Part in the Next Internet Revolution 15
..........................................Create Your Own IP TV Library in “My IP TV” 15
.......................................................................................IP TV Online Content 15
...................................................................................Define “My Languages” 16
............................................................................................All Key Commands 16
...........................................Contribute to MediaCentral’s IP TV Section 16
TV 17
......................................................................................................Requirements 17
....................................................................Initial Setup of a DVB-T Device 17
..............................................................................Managing DVB-T Regions 17
..................................................................................Managing Your Sources 18
.............................................................................Watch TV in MediaCentral 18
.........................................................................Watch The Tube Recordings 23
............................................................................................All Key Commands 23
Movies 24
...................................Create Your Own Movie Library in “My Movies” 24
......................................See the Movies You Downloaded With iTunes 25
.........................................................................................Watch Movie Trailers 25
................................................................................Show Status Information 25
.......................................................................................Change Aspect Ratio 25
............................................................................................All Key Commands 26
Music 27
........................................................Activate MediaCentral for Music CDs 27
.....................................................................Listen to Music CDs and iPods 27
...........................................................................Listen to Your iTunes Music 27
......................................................Watch Music Videos (Online Content) 27
.....................................................Build Your Own Library Based on Files 28
...........................................................................................Supported Formats 28
............................................................................................All Key Commands 28
Radio 29
...................................................................................................It‘s Your Choice 29
........................................................................Add Your Own Radio Station 29
...................................................................................Playing a Radio Station 29
DVD 30
..................................................................Activate MediaCentral for DVDs 30
................................................Play DVDs Inserted in Your Optical Drive 30
............................................................................................Browsing Chapters 30
........................................................................................................Stop and Go 30
3
..........................................................................................DVD Options Menu 31
.............................................................................................................Eject DVD 32
.....................................................................Create Your Own DVD Library 32
............................................................................................All Key Commands 33
Pictures 34
....................................................................................Viewing Photo Albums 34
.........................................................................Viewing Your iPhoto Library 34
..............................................................................Setting Up Local Galleries 34
..................................................................................Adding Online Galleries 35
............................................................................................All Key Commands 36
Appendix: Key Commands 37
.....................................................................................................................Global 37
...............................................................................................Navigation Mode 37
......................................................................................................................IP TV† 38
.............................................................................................................................TV 38
.................................................................................................................Movies† 39
.........................................................................................................................DVD 39
.......................................................................................................................Radio 40
...................................................................................................................Pictures 41
Appendix: Remote Controls 42
.....................................................................................................Apple Remote 42
.................................................................................ATI Remote Wonder I / II 42
....................................................................................DVB-T Device Remotes 42
Appendix: Including Custom Streams 43
.......................................................................................QuickTime (SDP files) 43
..............................................................................................Real Player (RAM) 43
.....................................................................................Windows Media (ASX) 43
Appendix: How to Create Your Own Sound Sets 46
....................................................................................Sound Sets Made Easy 46
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Welcome to MediaCentral
MediaCentral is the ultimate entertainment center
for your Mac. With an all-in-one interface and
support for numerous audio and video formats, IP
and standard TV, radio channels, slide show
functions and an integrated Games module,
MediaCentral turns your Mac into the ultimate
home theater system.
Be entertained.
Slick and Streamlined Interface
Keep control wired or wireless: MediaCentral's streamlined
interface lets you forget about mouse and keyboard. Your Apple
Remote or any of the other supported remotes offer you the
ability to smoothly navigate and control your MediaCentral
experience. You can even customize MediaCentral by disabling/
reordering modules or choosing your own color theme!
TV
Using a supported DVB-T device, you can tune into digital TV
channels (depending on local availability). Or connect any DV
device supported by QuickTime to stream any media to your
Mac via USB or FireWire.
IP TV
MediaCentral incorporates state-of-the-art IP TV technology.
Select IP TV and enjoy the variety of TV channels offered by
stations around the world. MediaCentral redefines your TV
experience on the Internet.
Browse Your Movie Archive
DVDs are great - but what about all your movie files?
MediaCentral takes care of these files and makes them easily
accessible. Supported formats include AVI, DivX, Xvid, MPEG1,
MPEG2, MPEG4 and DV files.
DVDs in Your Network
Whether you have physical DVDs or extracted DVD content
(VIDEO_TS) stored on your local hard-drive or anywhere else in
your network - MediaCentral pulls it all together for you quickly
and efficiently.
Not Just iTunes
MediaCentral tunes into your iTunes library without even
launching iTunes. What's more, you can also build a second
library by copying your favorite music and other audio content
to MediaCentral's music folder. MediaCentral supports MP3,
AAC, ALC, M4A, M4P, AIFF, WAV, ASF and much more.
5
Tune In and Get Rockin'
From Jazz to Rock, Funk to Hip-Hop or whatever your favorite
music genre may be, MediaCentral will tune you in to some of
the best radio streams on the Internet
. For additional
enjoyment, you can add any of your favorite audio into the “My
Radio” folder to customize your experience.
Pictures on the Big Screen
Your iPhoto galleries have never looked better. Start slideshows
by simply selecting an image, then tapping the return key.
MediaCentral enriches your digital gallery with music
preselected in iPhoto. And if you‘re favorite gallery is available
online at flickr – let MediaCentral fetch it from the web!
6
Install MediaCentral
Getting Started
Before you turn your Mac into a media center, MediaCentral
must be installed on your hard drive. Additional third party
software, like Real Player and Windows Media Support (both
available for free) will also need to be installed in order to take
full advantage of what MediaCentral has to offer.
Install MediaCentral
If you bought the retail version of MediaCentral:
‣
Insert the MediaCentral CD into your computer
‣
Double click the MediaCentral CD icon that appears on your
desktop.
‣
Double click “Install MediaCentral” and follow the onscreen
instructions.
If you downloaded MediaCentral from equinux.com:
‣
Double click the downloaded dmg file.
‣
Double click “Install MediaCentral” and follow the onscreen
instructions.
Install Real Player (Needed for IP TV Feature)
MediaCentral‘s own video core supports a lot of digital video
formats. For support of Real Streams, you will need to install
Real Player, a free application that can be downloaded from
the Internet.
To install the Real Player, complete the following steps:
‣
Go to: http://www.equinux.com/Go to/mediacentral/
getrealplayer
‣
After downloading , drag the Application “Real Player” to your
Applications folder
7
‣
Start Real Player by double clicking. This first start will install
all the necessary components on your system.
Install Windows Media Plug-in (Needed for IP
TV Feature)
To enable streams that use Windows Media Player technology,
you need to install a Windows Media Plug-in for QuickTime,
called Flip4Mac.
To install the Windows Media Plug-In, complete the
following steps:
‣
Go to: http://www.equinux.com/Go to/mediacentral/
getwindowsmedia
‣
After downloading, install the components by doubleclicking the installer
‣
Choose ““ > “System Preferences“
‣
Choose “Flip4Mac WMV“
‣
Choose the “Movie“ tab
‣
Enable the option “Create streaming movies“
Check If All Components Are Installed Correctly
You can easily verify if all the components needed for IP TV
have been installed. See “Appendix: MediaCentral Preferences”:
Tab “Extensions”: “IP TV Extension” for more information.
Register MediaCentral
Registering MediaCentral is a simple and straightforward
process. Described below are three different scenarios: Buy a
new license online, register a retail version and transfer a
license.
Note Your equinux ID will be used to store and manage all
your licenses. Whenever you purchase additional
licenses or other products, please specify your
equinux ID.
Buy a License
Obtaining a license for MediaCentral and activating it on your
Mac is a simple process.
To buy a license, please complete the following steps:
‣
Choose “MediaCentral“ > “Buy MediaCentral...“
‣
Click “Buy MediaCentral“
‣
If you are a new customer, choose your country and click
“Next“.
or
‣
If you already registered with equinux, login with your
equinux ID
‣
Choose the desired license
8
‣
Click “Check Out“
‣
Continue shopping for other equinux products
or
‣
Click “Continue Check Out“
‣
If you are a new customer, register a new equinux ID
‣
Select either “Bank Transfer“"or “Credit Card“ as your
preferred payment option
‣
Enter your credit card data, if necessary
‣
Review your order and click “Complete Order“
If you paid by credit card, MediaCentral will automatically be
activated as soon as the order process is completed. Your
license will be stored on your Mac.
Otherwise, we will send you an “Activation Code“ as soon as we
receive your payment. Please refer to the section below for
instructions on how to use the “Activation Code“.
Register a Retail Version
If you bought a retail version of MediaCentral at your local
software store or paid a license via bank transfer, you received
an “Activation Code“. This code can be used to create a license.
To register a retail version, please complete the following
steps:
‣
Choose “MediaCentral“ > “Activate MediaCentral...“
‣
Click “Activate MediaCentral“
‣
Register a new equinux ID (if this is your first equinux
product)
or
‣
Login with your equinux ID
‣
Enter your Activation Code
Your license will be created and stored on your Mac
automatically.
Transfer a License
All licenses for equinux products are hardware bound. When
registering our software on your computer, the license is
created for this machine. This means that a license can only be
used on a single computer.
However, transferring a license to a different computer is easy.
To transfer a license, please complete the following steps:
‣
On your old Mac, choose “MediaCentral“ > “Deactivate
MediaCentral...“
The license will now be available for registering the software
on your new Mac.
‣
Install MediaCentral on your new Mac
‣
On your new Mac, choose “MediaCentral“ > “Activate
MediaCentral“
MediaCentral will automatically fetch the free license.
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Note From now on, the software cannot be used on the
old machine. To transfer the license again, just repeat
the process described above.
Uninstall MediaCentral
MediaCentral consists of 3 components: The MediaCentral
main application, the system preferences pane and the
MediaCentral Launcher that handles updates and hot key
activation.
To uninstall the software completely, please complete the
following steps:
‣
Move the main application into the trash
‣
Move the MediaCentral system preference pane located in ~/
Library/PreferencePanes into the trash
‣
Move the "MediaCentral2" application support directory
located in ~Library/Application Support into the trash
‣
If you are familiar with the terminal, you can enter the
command killall "MediaCentral Launcher". If
you are not familiar with the terminal, you will need to
restart your Mac
‣
Empty the trash
‣
Open the "Accounts" system preference pane and select the
tab "Login Items". Delete the "MediaCentral Launcher" login
item
10
Application Overview
equinux has developed MediaCentral with a
simple idea in mind. We wanted to create one
central user interface that integrates all types of
media: IP TV, Broadcast TV, Digital Movies, DVDs,
Music, Radio and Pictures. MediaCentral does all
this and more with Mac-styled focus on
simplicity. You are going to love it.
Explore the Interface of MediaCentral
Once started, MediaCentral will present a list of categories from
which to start your experience.
To navigate through MediaCentral:
‣
Use the Up and Down arrow keys on your keyboard or
remote control to select a category.
‣
Use the Right arrow or “Return” key on your keyboard or
remote control to dive into the selected category and
explore its contents.
‣
Use the left arrow or “Escape” key to return to the top-level
menu.
Navigation in sub-categories works just like the top-level
navigation.
Note The navigation in the TV category works differently,
please see “TV“ for details.
Choose Your Colors
You can choose between various pre-defined color themes or
even define your own. Please refer to “Appendix: Preferences“
for details.
Additional Text Information
Whenever possible, MediaCentral will provide additional
information – iPhoto label, plot outline etc –"about the media
currently displayed.
To display or hide additional text information:
‣
Please type “i“ on your keyboard
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While the information is displayed, all other keyoard controls
are disabled.
“My MediaCentral”
MediaCentral creates a folder called “My MediaCentral” within
your home directory. You can easily store your personal media
data in this location. You will also be able to store your own
links to IP TV stations, movies, pictures, DVDs, games, music
and radio stations to personalize your experience.
Customize MediaCentral
It's not just your media – it's your application. You can
customize MediaCentral's main menu using the system
preferences. Please see “Appendix: MediaCentral Preferences“
for more information.
Auto-sorting of Optical Media
This is a great feature if someone brings over media on a CD/
DVD. Just insert the disc into you drive, and MediaCentral takes
care of the rest. All the media on the disc – be it movies, music
files or picture files – will get sorted automatically and
displayed in the appropriate categories.
“MediaCentral Online Content” – Be
Informed With One Click
MediaCentral features Online Content that is periodically
updated over the Internet. You can check out the latest IP TV
channels, movie files, flash games, music videos, radio streams
and picture slide shows simply by browsing through the
integrated content feeds in each category.
You can even submit content and content feeds (like IP TV
channels in your home town) you are missing using the
equinux Content feedback form. After your submitted content
has been reviewed and approved, it will be made available to
all MediaCentral users. See “Appendix: How to submit
additional content” for further information.
If the is no Online Content available, please do the following:
‣
Check if your Internet connection is up and running
‣
Open ““ > “System Preferences“ > “MediaCentral“ > “Online
Content“"and make sure that the Online Content checkbox is
activated
‣
Quit MediaCentral
‣
Open a Finder window and navigate to “~/Library/
Application Support/MediaCentral2“
‣
Delete the folder “Caches“
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Full Screen or Window Mode – Whatever
You Like
If you are using a Mac Mini with MediaCentral as the core of
your home theater, you will love the clear and crisp full screen
mode. If you are looking to use MediaCentral with your
MacBook on the road, “MediaCentral-in-a-window” is probably
the right mode for you. You can toggle between full screen
and “MediaCentral-in-a-window” at any time.
To toggle between the full screen and “MediaCentral-in-awindow” modes:
‣
Use the MediaCentral “Window” menu or the following
keystrokes:
✦
Small Size (⌘ 1)
✦
Medium Size (⌘ 2)
✦
Large Size (⌘ 3)
✦
Full Screen (⌘ 0)
The menu bar can be displayed even in full screen mode.
To display the menu bar in full screen mode:
‣
Move the mouse cursor to the top of the screen
MediaCentral on Multiple Displays
MediaCentral is perfectly suited for systems with multiple
displays. You can even use the full screen mode on any of the
attached displays.
MediaCentral 2 does not require a dialog box for switching
displays anymore. Changing the display works now the same
way as in the QuickTime Player.
To switch between different displays, complete the following
steps:
‣
If in full screen mode, switch to one of the window modes
‣
Move the MediaCentral main window to a different display
‣
Switch back to full screen, if desired
Choose Your Aspect Ratio - 4:3 or 16:9
MediaCentral‘s main window can easily switch between a 4:3
or 16:9 aspect ratio.
Complete the following steps to set the aspect ratio:
‣
Use the MediaCentral “Window” menu or the following
keystrokes
✦
4:3 Ratio (⌥⌘ 1)
✦
16:9 Ratio (⌥⌘ 2)
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Sound Sets
To make navigation easier, you can enable sound tones for
every action taken, like click sounds for Up Arrow and Down
Arrow. You can also enable background sound loops. All these
sounds are stored in so-called “Sound Sets”
Complete the following steps to change the Sound Set:
‣
In MediaCentral choose “MediaCentral > Preferences”
‣
Click on the “Sound Sets” tab.
‣
Select one of the available “Sound Sets”
For an explanation of all “Sound Set” settings, please check out
“Appendix: MediaCentral Preferences”
TIP You may create your own customized Sound Set. See
“Appendix: How to create your own Sound Sets” for
more information.
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