Mezzmo App wish list

[dhlee528]

Please make it so that I can connect to server over 3g/4g

then, can I get video stream with transcode so I won't see much lag?

like the airvdeo for IOS.

I can connect to server through VPN, but videos are not transcoded so file is large and has so much lag..

Thanks

[Paul]

You can decrease the video bitrate of your transcoded files using the following settings:


Edit your device in the Media Devices dialog. On the Device Settings dialog, set the Connection setting to the lowest bandwidth connection type (i.e. Wireless B). This tells Mezzmo the maximum permitted bandwidth when transcoding files.
Go to the Performance tab on the Device Settings dialog and move the Video bitrate slider to (say) halfway. This tells Mezzmo to further reduce the video bitrate when transcoding files. You can adjust this further by trial and error.
Go to the Advanced tab on the Device Settings dialog, and change the "Deliver media files supported by the device" to "Never Deliver". This tells Mezzmo to transcode natively supported files.

[dhlee528]

You can decrease the video bitrate of your transcoded files using the following settings:


Edit your device in the Media Devices dialog. On the Device Settings dialog, set the Connection setting to the lowest bandwidth connection type (i.e. Wireless B). This tells Mezzmo the maximum permitted bandwidth when transcoding files.
Go to the Performance tab on the Device Settings dialog and move the Video bitrate slider to (say) halfway. This tells Mezzmo to further reduce the video bitrate when transcoding files. You can adjust this further by trial and error.
Go to the Advanced tab on the Device Settings dialog, and change the "Deliver media files supported by the device" to "Never Deliver". This tells Mezzmo to transcode natively supported files.



Can you tell me how to connect to server via 3g/4g?

I don't want to connect to vpn everytime I want to watch video

That's more important than bit rate

[Paul]

Can you tell me how to connect to server via 3g/4g?

I don't want to connect to vpn everytime I want to watch video

That's more important than bit rate

Sorry - not sure how to do this without a VPN. Perhaps some other users can provide some advice.

[dhlee528]

Sorry - not sure how to do this without a VPN. Perhaps some other users can provide some advice.

That's where you come in.

as for the main mezzmo program create setting that allow external connection using some other ports

for the app create a setting on the app so user can find server by IP address and port.

[Paul]

Understand. We've discussed this here and we have a few ideas that could make this work. We'll add your suggestion to our development task list for a future version of Mezzmo Android.

[TeHaX]

Hello,
first i would like to say that Mezzmo is a great app.
But for further improvement i miss some features as follows:

- app should save last icon size when reloaded
- modern and coloured icons
- better optimisation for tablets
- jump direct to details view by clicking video file or other media types instead of long press and then to click more details
- when start playing a music title the app should go direct to now playing
- option to use app over Internet
- option to load backdrops (over mezzmo server) from music artists and from movies (from internet or from mymovies)
- option to change colour of the theme like light for example

So these points are my wishes after using the app since some weeks.
Thanks in advance
Christian

[Paul]

Hi Christian,

Thanks for the suggestions for our Mezzmo Android app. We'll add them to our development task list.


- jump direct to details view by clicking video file or other media types instead of long press and then to click more details

If you touch the file's artwork/icon, then it will go directly to DETAILS mode. If you touch the file's text it will play it.


- option to load backdrops (over mezzmo server) from music artists and from movies (from internet or from mymovies)

Mezzmo v4.x automatically collects backdrops for your music, movies and TV shows, so should see them in Mezzmo Android when you go to DETAILS mode. To check this, go to Mezzmo Windows and right-click on a file and click Properties. Scroll down to the bottom of the Properties dialog to check if you see backdrops. If no, then try running Maintain Library with the "Update artwork" checkbox selected and this will try to get backdrop artwork from the web for your files.

[TeHaX]

Hello Paul,
thanks for your answer. Mezzmo generate backdrops from music cover or from the artwork by movies. I mean mezzmo should load backrops from web like www.htbackdrops.org for music artists or should use the fanart.jpg from the program mymovies which is in the same folder as the mymovies.xml file.

[Paul]

Thanks for the feedback. We'll look into www.htbackdrops.org and fanart.jpg for a future version.

[TeHaX]

Ok, great. May you have also a closer look at www.thetvdb.com for TV series.

[Paul]

Ok, great. May you have also a closer look at www.thetvdb.com for TV series.

FYI - we currently get movie information and artwork from www.themoviedb.org and TV show information and artwork from www.thetvdb.com :).

[Gripweed]

With regards to the Mezzmo app I currently have two thoughts.

1) There should be a new forum here just for app questions and comments. It is a separate product (meaning that it could be used with other servers besides the Mezzmo Server) and so it deserves its own discussion area.

2) Compared with the Skifta and BubbleUPNP apps the Mezzmo app is dog slow in finding and displaying the Library file lists. It possibly has something to do with displaying the thumbnails for each file. Let me just throw in that I use Mezzmo and the Android app for primarily TV and Movie files and so I haven't tested if this is a problem with photos or music. I turned off the folder artwork setting in the Mezzmo Server for my two Android devices (Nexus 7 <2012> and ASUS TF300T tablet) but the file-specific thumbnails still continue to appear (slowly) rather than the default plain Video and Movie thumbnails I thought should appear. It is a matter of waiting for them to complete appearing before I can scroll down the file list. Why are the individual thumbnails still loading instead of the default ones? If I want the individual thumbnails, why aren't they cached from prior use rather than pulling everything new from the server each time? All this file list waiting comes after usually a wait for the app to find the devices available and then to find the servers available. With Skifta and Bubble after I click on the app on my tablet it is literally just scroll and click and I'm watching my show. With the Mezzmo app it is usually a 2-3 minute ordeal until I get to watch my video. On the assumption that the Mezzmo app should work best with the Mezzmo server I'd like continue to use the Mezzmo app but it is very aggravating to do so compared to the other two apps.

[Paul]

Thanks for the feedback.

1) Agree and we'll create that forum soon.

2) We've actually found the opposite. Mezzmo Android is consistently faster than BubbleUPnP and other DMC apps when listing files from media servers. Are you listing files from media servers on your home network or from the local media server built into Mezzmo Android (i.e. listing files stored on your tablet/smartphone)?

[Gripweed]

2) We've actually found the opposite. Mezzmo Android is consistently faster than BubbleUPnP and other DMC apps when listing files from media servers. Are you listing files from media servers on your home network or from the local media server built into Mezzmo Android (i.e. listing files stored on your tablet/smartphone)?

I'm extremely surprised to hear that.
As best as I can determine the file listing is coming from the Mezzmo server on my Windows computer. The only storage used on my Android devices is a for a Mezzmo log file. The Mezzmo (Windows) server gets its Library entries from Video, Photo, and Music folders on one of my Synology NASes. The NAS in this case does not act as a server to the network directly. Mezzmo (Windows) is the server using the files on the NAS.

Reading between the lines are you saying that I should enable the Local Mezzmo Android Server? I have it disabled. It doesn't make any sense to me to have a server feeding itself after pulling the files from the Windows Mezzmo server. I thought the local Android server is only for if I have files on my Android device that I want to send out on the network to another device. My Skifta and Bubble local servers are disabled as well and I don't see any slowness at all with them.
Please explain because I am lost.

[Paul]

Sorry for the confusion.

Mezzmo Android's local server is for streaming files that are stored on your Android device. Mezzmo Windows server is for streaming files from your computer, NAS drives and other external sources on your home network.

The reason I asked what server was to understand which server (i.e. Mezzmo Windows server or Mezzmo Android app's server) you were listing files from when you say that Mezzmo Android app is slow to list the files.

Anyway, I can see you mean Mezzmo Windows server. When listing files or folder or playlists in Mezzmo Android, you don't need to wait for artwork to be displayed. You can scroll as you like and the artwork will display for the files that are in view on the Mezzmo Android app.

The "Deliver folder artwork" controls whether artwork for folders and playlists is delivered to devices. Artwork for files is always delivered to devices (depending on the device profile selected for the device).

[Gripweed]

You can scroll as you like and the artwork will display for the files that are in view on the Mezzmo Android app.

Unfortunately I can't scroll as I like because the screen scrolls in spurts. I use my finger to scroll up and a second or two passes and it moves a bit. I gesture up again and a few seconds pass and it moves up a little more. Sometimes it will crash the app within one of the seconds wait. This happens on my ASUS TF300T tablet , Nexus 7 (2012) tablet, and Motorola Razr HD Maxx phone. All have the latest firmware 4.4.4. The Nexus and the HD Maxx are stock Android and the TF300T is the latest CyanogenMod Snapshot version. When all the thumbnails are filled then it will scroll freely.
That's just when I get to the sub-folder that has the file list. Prior to that it takes a long time to determine what Devices there are and which should "Stream to this device". The same with Server then. Then in Media it will show the three folders, Music, Video, Photos from the Windows Mezzmo. When I press Video it will take a minimum of 5 seconds of "browsing server" spinning wheel. Then on my setup I have 3 sub-folders next - Archived Video's, my wife's videos and my videos. Again a minimum of 5 seconds of "browsing server". If we choose my wife's video she has a whole bunch of sub-folders and so we go do the 5 second minimum for each until we get down to the filelist. For my videos I have them all lumped into one folder and so that is when I have the filelist scroll problem.


The "Deliver folder artwork" controls whether artwork for folders and playlists is delivered to devices. Artwork for files is always delivered to devices (depending on the device profile selected for the device).

I have the "Deliver folder artwork" unchecked for each of my 3 Android devices (Performance tab in Device Setting) and the artwork still appears and slows everything down until it is fully displayed. All 3 Android devices are using the Conceiva Mezzmo (Android) profile. My media player on all 3 devices is MX Media Pro using the HW+ setting.
Again, although I previously used the Mezzmo/Skifta/MX Player combination and was very happy with it and had equal success with Mezzmo/BubbleUPnP/MX Player (I don't really like the Bubble UI) I feel it probably will be in my best interest to end up with Mezzmo/Mezzmo/MX Player. I really want to get this worked out and I'll be happy to help you with whatever info you need.

[Paul]

Thanks for the explanation. My first thought is that it feels like your home network is sluggish. The devices on the DEVICES tab and servers on the SERVERS tab should appear very quickly. If they are taking a long time to appear, then either your home network is congested or something on your home network is slowing down DLNA / UPnP communication. I'd suggest you check your home network and devices attached to it. One simple check you can do is start turning devices connected to your home network off. Each time you turn one off, touch the Refresh icon on the DEVICES or SERVERS tab on the Mezzmo Android app and see if the response is faster. This may help isolate any problem device(s) on your home network. Also, I suggest you reboot your router - it's quite common for routers' firmware to get "stuck" form time-to-time and a reboot usually clears up the problem.

Regarding thumbnails/artwork and scrolling in the Mezzmo Android app, the next Mezzmo Android app version has a few nice improvements in this area so you should see a noticeable speed improvement and not have to wait for thumbnails/artwork to be displayed before scrolling.

Another possible reason for the sluggish response you are getting is that it sounds like your Mezzmo library is based on folders that are stored on your NAS. We're currently making some speed improvements in this area for Mezzmo server. If you are interested, email us at support [at] conceiva [dot] com and we can provide a patch for your to try that should improve server response when browsing folders.

[Gripweed]

Thank you for your comments but my setup is far from sluggish. I have no problem live streaming 720p live video from a cablecard tuner to my Android devices at the same time that my wife is streaming a video via Windows CIFS/Samba/SMB (pick the term you want to use) directly from the NAS to a WDTV settop box.
Again, I don't have the filelist slowness problem with Skifta or BubbleUPNP.
Nevermind, I'm not going to worry about it. It'll probably all work out in time.

[Paul]

Understand. Hopefully the upcoming Mezzmo Windows and Mezzmo Android versions will improved things for you.

[Gripweed]

Thanks for the explanation. My first thought is that it feels like your home network is sluggish. The devices on the DEVICES tab and servers on the SERVERS tab should appear very quickly. If they are taking a long time to appear, then either your home network is congested or something on your home network is slowing down DLNA / UPnP communication. I'd suggest you check your home network and devices attached to it. One simple check you can do is start turning devices connected to your home network off. Each time you turn one off, touch the Refresh icon on the DEVICES or SERVERS tab on the Mezzmo Android app and see if the response is faster. This may help isolate any problem device(s) on your home network. Also, I suggest you reboot your router - it's quite common for routers' firmware to get "stuck" form time-to-time and a reboot usually clears up the problem.

Regarding thumbnails/artwork and scrolling in the Mezzmo Android app, the next Mezzmo Android app version has a few nice improvements in this area so you should see a noticeable speed improvement and not have to wait for thumbnails/artwork to be displayed before scrolling.

Another possible reason for the sluggish response you are getting is that it sounds like your Mezzmo library is based on folders that are stored on your NAS. We're currently making some speed improvements in this area for Mezzmo server. If you are interested, email us at support [at] conceiva [dot] com and we can provide a patch for your to try that should improve server response when browsing folders.

I broke down and tried your suggestions and there was absolutely no improvement after that. But I have good news. I decided to start from scratch. I deleted the database, playlists, etc. I then reloaded folder by folder my media files into the Library. Mezzmo then got fresh all the artwork, metadata and etc for each of the files. NOW the filelists load about as fast as with Skifta and BubbleUPNP. I have no problem with scrolling now either. I'm a happy camper.

[Paul]

Excellent result, Gripweed :). That does sound much better and matches what we (and other users) experience. If the slow response problem ever comes back, please let us know and we'll get a set of logs from you to what maybe going wrong.

[Dion]

Have you guys considered porting this app to the PC? Would be sooooo awesome if I could feed movies to my PC to MPC-HC or MPC-BE.

There is currently no app that does this on PC well... VLC is always broken in UPnP and no one wants to use WMP.

[Paul]

The upcoming Mezzmo v4.1 will have "Play to" features, so that will allow you to push files to devices in your home from Mezzmo Windows and control playback :).

[Dion]

The upcoming Mezzmo v4.1 will have "Play to" features, so that will allow you to push files to devices in your home from Mezzmo Windows and control playback :).

This will allow me to push to media from the my Server PC ( one with mezzmo ) to my desktop PC ( one without mezzmo ) ? While using MPC?

[Paul]

This will allow me to push to media from the my Server PC ( one with mezzmo ) to my desktop PC ( one without mezzmo ) ? While using MPC?

This will allow you to use the upcoming Mezzmo Windows v4.1 to push media from your Mezzmo library to any DLNA device or DLNA-enabled software media player (renderer) on your home network. If you can push files to your DLNA device or software media player right now using our Mezzmo Android app, then you will also be able to with the upcoming Mezzmo Windows 4.1.

[Dion]

This will allow you to use the upcoming Mezzmo Windows v4.1 to push media from your Mezzmo library to any DLNA device or DLNA-enabled software media player (renderer) on your home network. If you can push files to your DLNA device or software media player right now using our Mezzmo Android app, then you will also be able to with the upcoming Mezzmo Windows 4.1.

I can't push media to MPC from Mezzmo Android App. However it can open UDP streaming links if I mainly add them. This is why a Mezzmo PC app would be awesome.

[Paul]

I can't push media to MPC from Mezzmo Android App. However it can open UDP streaming links if I mainly add them. This is why a Mezzmo PC app would be awesome.

Understand. We'll be adding an external web presentation interface into the next major Mezzmo version so that will allow you to browse and play media from Mezzmo server on non-DLNA devices/players that support URL media streaming.

[Dion]

Understand. We'll be adding an external web presentation interface into the next major Mezzmo version so that will allow you to browse and play media from Mezzmo server on non-DLNA devices/players that support URL media streaming.

Might work. Although id rather have the android app ported over.. It's very nice :-)

[dhlee528]

Understand. We've discussed this here and we have a few ideas that could make this work. We'll add your suggestion to our development task list for a future version of Mezzmo Android.

Hi

Can I get update on this??

Thank you

[Paul]

We're working on external web streaming at the moment. Hopefully it will be included in the next major version - Mezzmo v5.0.