Centerstage

Infobox Software
name = CenterStage

CenterStage logo and dock icon


caption = CenterStage Main Screen
developer = CenterStage Project
source_model = Free software / Open source software
latest_release_version = 0.6.2
latest_release_date = 2007-08-20
operating_system = Mac OS X
genre = Media Center
license = GNU GPL
website = [http://centerstageproject.com/ centerstageproject.com]

CenterStage is a Media Center Application that allows digital content stored on an Apple Macintosh computer to be played on a standard television set.

The program relies upon the existing iLife software suite, notably iPhoto and iTunes, as well as Elgato's EyeTV [ [http://www.elgato.com/index.php?file=products_whatiseyetv Elgato Home ] ] software for Television show recordings by reading the media files organised in those applications. CenterStage also reads and plays back file types not supported by Apple in their suite of applications, either by reading the files found in your Home directory folders, or by organising them in the accompanying BackStage application.

The user can then browse the Photo, Music, Movie and Television collections that have been stored, managed, and categorized then present them fullscreen on a Television set.

History & Project Information

The CenterStage project was founded in January 2005 by Neil Curry. Curry was seeking help to build a Mac based media centre after the release of Apple's Mac Mini. The project began it's life without a name and existed as a large, online forum of users who put forward ideas and even visual concepts for what a Mac based media centre should be.

David McLeod then came on board, offering help with the forum and graphic design. McLeod was joined by Adrian Quan, another graphic designer. They both set about creating a CenterStage logo and icons for the user interface. Quan later moved on to other things with McLeod taking full control of graphic design, in regards to the software and the CenterStage website.

Belgian developer, Antoine Duchateau took up the challenge of developing the code for the application. Shortly after this, Fabien Lydoire joined development team.

In recent events it has been publicly announced that CenterStage and Plex (OSXBMC) are joining forces, with Plex developers focusing on backend development and the CenterStage developers working on the GUI.

Licensing & Release Details

CenterStage is released under the GNU General Public License (version 2) [ [http://www.gnu.org/gnu/ About the GNU Operating System - GNU project - Free Software Foundation (FSF) ] ] and the continuing development of the application and concept continues under this license. For nearly two years now the project has seen sporadic releases, it has produced an adequate and fully usable media centre with a 'place holder user interface' currently in Alpha status. Developers are currently working towards the much anticipated Beta version, detailed below.

BackStage

What is BackStage?

BackStage is used to organise different kinds of media that Apple's iLife applications do not support. Therefore, BackStage is a supporting application and is not a replacement for iTunes or any of the other iLife applications. BackStage aids or provides an additional solution for organising and playing file types that Apple's iLife range of applicatios do not cater for.

BackStage assists in adding the synopsis, actors, directors and so on (the meta-data) by performing a web based lookup of that Movie. The user can add a poster or DVD cover. This information is then stored, and can be used in CenterStage. BackStage also supports Movies and TV shows in Xvid, Avi or VIDEO TS.

How CenterStage & BackStage Work Together

CenterStage and BackStage work together, with BackStage acting as the host. CenterStage is the Front End or a means to access your media from various sources which are then presented on your Television set. BackStage is one of the sources that provides media content for CenterStage to access and read from.

The Future Beta

Overview

Some of the features which are to be included in the beta release.

* Bonjour support.
* VLC Integration.
* Live TV viewing.
* Live and scheduled TV recording.
* Game support. [ [http://www.tuaw.com/2007/06/11/centerstage-open-source-media-center-updates-offers-preview-of/ CenterStage open source media center updates, offers preview of future interface - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) ] ]

New User Interface for CenterStage

tage View

Stage View is a way of viewing your media, be it Music albums or DVD Movies. The covers of the given media type will move across a mock 'stage' thus the name.

Fan Art

Fan Art is a is still in concept stages. Fan Art is a large, widescreen only, styled page with a large background that displays artwork for the currently viewed Movie, Music album, Music Video, Television show, Audio Book or Game.

Improved BackStage Functionality

VLC Integration

CenterStage has had VLC integrated into its framework in the run up to the beta release. VLC supports a large number of multimedia formats, without the need for additional codecs. It can also be used as a streaming server, with extended features (video on demand, on the fly transcoding... etc). [ [http://www.videolan.org/ VideoLAN - Free Software and Open Source video streaming solution for every OS! ] ] VLC will be used as the default 'streamer' for everything but DRM protected media.

Bonjour Support

Bonjour support is being integrated into CenterStage. Bonjour will enable multiple users with CentreStage to share media with seamless integration. For example, if there are multiple Apple Mac computers, all connected to the same network domain (wired or wireless), CenterStage, with the help of bonjour, will automatically discover them and the media they hold. This media will then appear to the user, as if it is on their Apple Mac computer. [Bonjour network discovery]

Known problems

CenterStage

* No preferences yet, except for resolution and skin
* The On Screen Display (OSD) is only implemented in a basic version, a full usable dynamic OSD will be implemented in a later version of CenterStage
* mkv playback might stutter in the beginning of a movie. Unfortunately this is caused by Perian's implementation of the mkv file format (the movie gets completely analyzed after opening). This behaviour is the same as in Apple's Quicktime player.
* Advanced WMV (also known as VC1) files may take a long time to load. HD resolution files might take up to 5 minutes until they can be played. This behaviour is the same as in Apple's Quicktime player.

BackStage

* With lots of files in your User's Movies Folder startup can take very long because of the initial database build process - Dock symbol might even stop jumping. BackStage will start up after the process is finished. You might open Console if you want to see the process log.
* No multiple edits of info data
* Cover does not show up after initial adding and switching back and forth, restart necessary
* Optical glitch when adding a folder in the source tree. Correct names occur after a restart
* Smart Folders might behave strange
* Changing the title of a movie requires a completing select in another tag field to be saved
* Changing of some tag fields requires a completing select of another tag field to be saved
* mkv playback might stutter in the beginning of a movie. Unfortunately this is caused by Perian's implementation of the mkv file format (the movie gets completely analyzed after opening). This behaviour is the same as in Apple's Quicktime player.
* Advanced WMV (also known as VC1) files may take a long time to load. HD resolution files might take up to 5 minutes until they can be played. This behaviour is the same as in Apple's Quicktime player.

References

External links

* [http://www.telematicsfreedom.org/en/flossmediacenter CenterStage against other FLOSS Media Centers in Comparison Chart]