SageMC Gets Awesome Movie Screen Add-on

SageMC has been getting some major UI improvements over the past year and with the introduction of FanArt in this latest version of SageMC, Ben (known as Jaminben on the SageTV forums) has created an alternative Movie Info Screen for SageMC that looks simply fantastic.

Above is a screen-shot of the new Movie Screen for the movie "300."  This is an alternative to the standard Movie Info Screen. It works largely the same as the normal Program Info Screen but with FanArt support and dynamic cover art reflections.

Features:
Redesigned Movie/Video screen layout with a focus on the FanArt background, dynamic coverart reflections and a little animation thrown in for good measure.  I love the look and design of this - especially for a first try at SageTV add-ons by Ben.

Screen-Cast:
To get a feel for how it works with the animations, check out this very-short screen-cast:


Requirements:

• SageTV
• SageMC Replacement UI version 6.3.8a or higher
  
• Enabled FanArt in SageMC settings
• FanArt image files in the appropriate folders
  

Installation Process:

1. Shut down the SageTV User Interface
2. Extract all files in the "Movie_Info_Screen_V.1.0a.zip" into your SageTV folder (eg. C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV). Making certain to extract while preserving the directory structure.
3. Re-start the SageTV User Interface
4. In SageMC, goto My Menu > Settings, and select "Import STVi" and import "Movie_Info_Screen_1.0.xml
5. Browse to My Menu > Settings > SageMC > Main > Screen Specific Options > Video Library > Custom Program Info Screen.  Browse to "Movie Info Screen" in the list and select it. Be sure the setting for "Screen Specific Options" shows "Movie Info Screen" on it now.

Now for any movie that you have a fanart image file, you'll see the new movie layout.  Here are a few more examples:

For more information about this version of Movie Info Screen and the download, head to the SageTV forum thread for Movie Info Screen

What's In Store For The Next Version?
Want to know what Ben has up his sleeves for the next version of this add-on?  He's begun working on a similar, but slightly different movie screen for the next version.  The screen-shots below show the beginnings of the next version:

This is the screen you see when you first enter a movie's details screen:

This is the screen you see when you browse the details screen:

Stay tuned for more HTPC news including SageTV and other programs as well.


Want to learn more about the many add-ons and inner workings of SageTV?  Check out the GeekTonic Ultimate Guide to SageTV which is updated continually.