Xbox Video Question

[longcipher]

I loaded a bunch of television series onto my Surface 2 for my recent cross-country flight. I copied them all onto my micro-SD. Under 'personal video' I selected the SD card as a source where Xbox Video should check for new videos. When I actually click on "personal videos" it takes me a black screen that says "It's Lonely Here" and won't show thumbnails. From that screen, I can open a file from the SD card ---- why won't it show thumbnails?

Second question: Are there any media players on Win8.1 that will treat my video content like XBMC does -- that is, pull down a cool image from the web and make the presentation look really nice? XBMC/Plex look amazing, but I am looking for something for local files.

 

[michael1782]

This helped me.

 

[michael1782]

http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/01/junction-points-and-windows-8/

 

[longcipher]

Thanks, Michael. I remember reading that article back when I had a Surface RT. Do we really need to do that on the Surface 2??? Geez, MS -- I love you and all, but why can't you make the media experience smoother?

 

[HeyCori]

Did you right click and choose ''add to library?''

 

[toddpart]

You don't have to do this anymore with 8.1. All you need to do is open Windows Explorer in the desktop. Navigate to your 'personal videos' folder on your SD card. Right click that folder and select 'Include in library' and then select 'Videos.' Exit and restart Xbox Video if you still have it open and you should then see your videos under Personal Videos to the left.... complete with thumbnail and all. This works on my Surface 2, Surface Pro 2, and home desktop PC.

 

[longcipher]

You don't have to do this anymore with 8.1. All you need to do is open Windows Explorer in the desktop. Navigate to your 'personal videos' folder on your SD card. Right click that folder and select 'Include in library' and then select 'Videos.' Exit and restart Xbox Video if you still have it open and you should then see your videos under Personal Videos to the left.... complete with thumbnail and all. This works on my Surface 2, Surface Pro 2, and home desktop PC.

I'm happy it works for you because I didn't want to think MS had dropped the ball again on something this easy. With that being said, it still doesn't work for me. I can see the shortcut to my SD card in the Video library folder, but I still get the "It's lonely here" box.

 

[HeyCori]

What file format are your movies in?

 

[longcipher]

All are MP4 files. They all play perfectly in Xbox Video, I just wish they showed up in the app.

 

[toddpart]

Hmmm, when you are in Windows Explorer select the View tab. Then click the Navigation pane button and select 'Show libraries.' This should add the Libraries node to the nav pane in Windows Explorer. If you expand that node and look at the properties of the Videos library does it include the folder on your SD card? Maybe try making it the public and default location to get it reset and to show up in Xbox video?

 

[longcipher]

Still not working. Ultimately, it isn't a big deal -- it's really just my OCD to make everything look cool. I have gotten it to the point where I see thumbnails under personal videos -- I then click on Personal Videos and I get the "It's Lonely" box. Todd: any advice on getting the thumbnails to be a bit more attractive or display some message about the program? IS there a way to make xbox video grab some info about the file like on XBMC?

 

[toddpart]

Unfortunately, not that I know of. That's actually one of my pet peeves with Xbox Video. For the longest time all I got was a thumbnail and not even the file name or movie name. I had to actually start the movie to see the file name pop up. With one of the last Xbox Video updates I've noticed that now the movie name is superimposed on the thumbnail, so, with any hope, they'll continue to improve and expose more metadata in the app.

Of course, if anyone else knows something more that I'm missing on this subject, then I'm all ears.

EDIT...my current version of Xbox Video is 2.2.299.0

 

[kwill]

You need to add the folder from your SD card to be searched by Xbox video. While in the video app, swipe to get charm bar and choose settings. Choose preferences and then you'll see "Choose where we look for videos on this pc". Browse to the folder and then select done. You should also just consider setting the SD card as default storage for videos, pics, documents by going to settings, pc and devices, devices and scroll to the bottom. You'll see the setting "Default save locations".

 

[michael1782]

Think the problem here is the format of the sd card. Format it to ntfs not fat32. My sd card is ntfs and works a charm, my external is in Fat32 ( for PlayStation to pick it up ) and they don't show up regardless what I do. If your sd card is only going to be used by your surface then it should really be ntfs format. Also regarding metadata search the app store for "Mymeta" it fills all metadata in and adds cover art, costs tho, but worth it in my eyes

 

[longcipher]

You are 1000% correct! The SD card was formatted as FAT32. I reformatted to NTFS and everything shows up perfectly! Also, good call on MyMeta -- it's a really great app. It's so frustrating seeing a lone developer doing what MS should be doing.