Subject: Re: Improvement ideas

From: Sum Yung Guy <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 19 Mar 2011 06:50:44 -0700 (PDT)

FYI, you can use the free version of flip4mac to convert your wmv
files so that you only have to import them once, instead of every time
you play them with the usher player. open the wmv in quicktime player,
then save it as a .mov. you can save it as a "reference movie",
keeping the original intact. put the resulting .mov into usher. Note
that this type of .mov will only play on a mac.

Also, a better idea might be a global preference saying:
use movie player:  specified by usher OR specified by the finder
settings
...that way you could just use the finder to set the default opening
app for specific file types, or even specific individual files, rather
than duplicate that functionality in usher. to be honest, i never
understood why it didn't work that way already...

On Feb 2, 12:14 am, stuart w <[email-masked]> wrote:
> Might it be possible to set a rule so that by default all files of a
> certain type, e.g. all WMV files open with VLC? Usher seems to cope
> with most video very well, but like QuickTimes has to buffer WMV
> whereas going into VLC direct lets you jump ahead in most WMV files?
> Ideally, of course, it should simply replicate VLC's operation, but
> default settings for certain file types would also be good.
>
> The option to use Flip4Mac to convert WMV is interesting, but doubles
> the price of app and there are free alternatives such as Miro. It
> would be good to have some insight into how the team rate Flip4Mac.
> Overall, WMV is such a pain.

---

From: Rob Griffiths <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2011 11:17:37 -0800

Stuart: 

Thanks for the ideas; Peter and I are discussing them, and I'll post back some thoughts at some point -- maybe not in the next day or two, but sometime.

regards,
-rob.

---

From: stuart w <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2011 15:14:50 -0800 (PST)

Another good option would be a warning/filter if you ask Usher to scan
folders with a mixture of files in them. While you can individually
blacklist file types, newcomers might not realise this and pointing it
at poorly organised folders can easily result in thousands of non-
video files being pulled through, particularly when used over wifi for
a networked drive this can make the database unwieldy and almost
unusable.

I also think the app could really benefit from a couple of usage
scenarios to guide people on how to make best use of Usher. E.g. if
you've got a file system which is a mess, with mixed filetypes etc,
the best approach would be this. It took a while for me to understand
the power of the system, particularly for maintaining the database
over local and external wifi drives. Importing into the library gives
you much more direct control over the folder structure than I was used
to from systems like iTunes. When you realise this power, the app
becomes extremely usable and powerful, much more so than having it
index files in situ - particularly given that if you move a file, the
system loses it. It's a significant positive that the reorganisation
of folders is open, so if the demo doesn't appeal, the process doesn't
hide or obscure the content.

Being able to drag and drop out of search results would be good too,
but it doesn't seem able to cope with this at the moment.

Overall, a great app which I've bought. Look forward to the next
updates! ;)