Access to IMDB

[netmask]

It would be great if some sort of limited access to IMDb http://www.imdb.com/ be possible to look up details of movies etc. May be too much bandwidth involved but it would be nice

[netmask]

Just realised it may not be that difficult as you can do it in a DVD catalog program called Ant Movie catalog http://www.antp.be/software/moviecatalog that runs a small script and returns just the text of the info that is fed into the database of the catalog and sometimes a small jpg thumbnail of the cover. Generally more info on the program than the stations EPG or IceTV for that matter

[Kermiac]

It would be great if some sort of limited access to IMDb http://www.imdb.com/ be possible to look up details of movies etc. May be too much bandwidth involved but it would be nice

I second netmask's suggestion - it is one of only a VERY few things that I miss from my old linux media centre PC i was using prior to purchasing my wiz.

It DEFINITELY up's the WAF a lot too & makes it easier for the kids to actually see what the movie is instead of trying to read the name!

[Kermiac]

It would be great if some sort of limited access to IMDb http://www.imdb.com/ be possible to look up details of movies etc. May be too much bandwidth involved but it would be nice

Here are a couple of pics to show how mythtv has incorporated imdb info into the mythvideo plugin. This is what I miss & would find VERY useful





Just basic info from imdb including cover, synopsis, year, etc. I am unsure if this is do-able, but I believe it would be a very nice feature.

[prl]

It would be great if some sort of limited access to IMDb http://www.imdb.com/ be possible to look up details of movies etc. May be too much bandwidth involved but it would be nice

Here are a couple of pics to show how mythtv has incorporated imdb info into the mythvideo plugin. This is what I miss & would find VERY useful
...
Just basic info from imdb including cover, synopsis, year, etc. I am unsure if this is do-able, but I believe it would be a very nice feature.

The operating environment inside the Beyonwiz (64MB main memory, 8MB storage for the OS and all applications, 300MHz clock, no memory management/VM) are all rather more limited than a typical mythtv box. It doesn't make it impossible, but it might be hard to do.

There may also be copyright issues.

[Kermiac]

The operating environment inside the Beyonwiz (64MB main memory, 8MB storage for the OS and all applications, 300MHz clock, no memory management/VM) are all rather more limited than a typical mythtv box. It doesn't make it impossible, but it might be hard to do.

There may also be copyright issues.

I understand the hardware limitations may make this hard to do, but I do not believe there are any copyright issues as all current media centre incarnations (e.g mythtv, vista mce, etc) get this data from imdb without any legal implications (so far, at least)

[dbareis]

As I've indicated in another post (somewhere) you can use XBMC Media Companion to prescrape/setup all the movie information which sites beside the file in an XML formatted ".nfo" file and supports graphics (so data maintained when firectories moved around etc).

It would take very little effort, code and cpu or memory for the BeyonWiz to display this data (particularly if it drops the graphics)..

See http://www.billyad2000.co.uk/ (for info, screenshots) but don't download from there (site is a bit screwed), get it from:
http://billyad2000.darkbb.com/announcem ... 5-t261.htm

Surely the BeyonWiz could at least the beyonwiz could display normal text formatted .nfo files...

[Raid]

As I've indicated in another post (somewhere) you can use XBMC Media Companion to prescrape/setup all the movie information which sites beside the file in an XML formatted ".nfo" file and supports graphics (so data maintained when firectories moved around etc).

It would take very little effort, code and cpu or memory for the BeyonWiz to display this data (particularly if it drops the graphics)..

See http://www.billyad2000.co.uk/ (for info, screenshots) but don't download from there (site is a bit screwed), get it from:
http://billyad2000.darkbb.com/announcem ... 5-t261.htm

Surely the BeyonWiz could at least the beyonwiz could display normal text formatted .nfo files...

dbareis

Love the idea on being in the EPG, selecting a movie etc and being able to look at IMDB. While it's technically possible is it legal, what about copywrite?

[DaveR]

I can't ever see IMDB info being available on the wiz either via firmware or wiztv mainly because of their licensing packages starting at US$15,000 per year. Pity though, because with their data being provided in whatever form you require, and already available as xml files from their ftp site, it'd be perfect for wiztv.

[netmask]

Surely some negotiation could result in a more token fee as it is to their marketing advantage as much as Beyonwiz users. There are other data bases like Rotten Tomatoes and hundreds of others, including a few university sites in the US, but none are as complete as IMdb. For me wizTV means nothing unless access to film and movie info is readily at hand. I'm a minority who has no interest in radar, sports of any kind or the weather.
Movies, modern ballet, symphonic and opera performance, science, mathematics and architecture are my shtick! Oh well I can always pull up the Internet next to the TV.

[mick_queensland]

Just keeping this alive, I like the idea of better movie info available on my wizzers. Has there been any interest or investigation from the wiz team?

cheers
Mick

[peteru]

Interested developers have been invited to participate in creating new features for WizTV.

So far, there has been no developer interest in an IMDb module. I can only guess that this is because of the licensing requirements. My understanding is, that the only legal way is to buy a copy of the database from Amazon (who own IMDb). It does not look like there are alternative licensing options that may end up being more cost effective. Their FAQ even tells you not to bother asking:

Q: What types of relationships will you *not* enter into?
A: At this time, we do not enter into barter, revenue-share, cost-per-acquisition, or cost-per-click relationships.

The copyright page also clearly states that screen scrapers or any other mechanism that republishes the content is not permitted.

[Raid]

Just an idea, (yes its not as good as IMDB) but what about the ABC and/or SBS? Being an old fart I like the movie reviews from Margaret & David. Some of the newer reviewers on the SBS are ok.

So long as we (the user) knows who the reviewer is we could at least get something.

[netmask]

Interested developers have been invited to participate in creating new features for WizTV.

So far, there has been no developer interest in an IMDb module. I can only guess that this is because of the licensing requirements. My understanding is, that the only legal way is to buy a copy of the database from Amazon (who own IMDb). It does not look like there are alternative licensing options that may end up being more cost effective. Their FAQ even tells you not to bother asking:

Q: What types of relationships will you *not* enter into?
A: At this time, we do not enter into barter, revenue-share, cost-per-acquisition, or cost-per-click relationships.

The copyright page also clearly states that screen scrapers or any other mechanism that republishes the content is not permitted.

I wonder what sort of deal Ant catalog have? http://www.antp.be/software/moviecatalog/features

Import information from Internet (using scripts); by default it includes scripts for IMDB (US), DVDFR (FR), Allocin? (FR), Culturalia (ES), and lots of others (about 50 or more sites)

And this program is free - it imports all the text from IMDB and a picture of the DVD cover of the movie.

and the author http://www.antp.be/perso

and the IMDB script here
http://update.antp.be/amc/scripts/IMDB.ifs