TVTonic - Using TVTonic with Windows® Media Center in Windows Vista

What's New in TVTonic 3.3?

Upgrading from TVTonic 3.2? Download the installer to perform an automatic upgrade.

Here's a quick run-down of what's new in TVTonic 3.3. If you're new to TVTonic, skip down to the Quick Start section.

TVTonic's new design makes it easier to watch Internet TV (enlarge screenshot)

Redesigned interface
- navigation menu — quickly jump to the My Channels menu, details on the currently playing clip, the Channel Guide or full screen-mode.
- revamped Channel Guide — makes it easier to find, preview and subscribe new channels.
- expanded Channel Settings — easily delete videos, disable downloads on a per channel basis, refresh channels manually & more!
- centralized Cache Settings menu — you no longer need to open each channel to set it's cache size. Do it all in one place.
New Features
- mark all items in a channel as viewed at once
- support for HD QuickTime channels, such as Revision3's HD feeds
- channel icons under My Channels
TVTonic Control Panel — new streamlined, tabbed design.
- more detailed download monitor
- schedule download times
- restrict bandwidth usage and more
Under-the-hood improvements
- much better stability and performance
- smarter bandwidth management
- more robust and efficient download engine
- better cache management
- improved channel subscription
- mRSS support

Quick Start

If you need instructions on how to install, launch or find your way around the software, see the detailed instructions below.

If you want to get started quickly, follow these steps:

Step 1:

Select the Browse Guide button in the upper right to open the Channel Guide. Then browse the guide to add your favorite channels. See Adding Channels below for detailed instructions on adding channels.

the “download now” button is found in each clip's Item Menu

Step 2:

Once you've added channels, open the My Channels menu and left-arrow into a channel. Then, left-arrow into a clip you'd like to watch to show that clip's Item Menu. Select the download now button to start downloading clips right away.

Step 3: Enjoy!

Once a few clips have downloaded, start enjoying a whole new world of Internet TV!

Note: You won't need to worry about manually downloading videos again. As new content becomes available in your subscribed channels it downloads automatically.

Install TVTonic

Download the installer

The TVTonic installer is available on the web. Download it now.

Note: TVTonic 3.3 requires Windows Vista Home Premium or Ultimate.

Launch the installer

Once the installer is downloaded, select 'Run' or double-click the installer to start the installation process.

Once the installer launches, follow the on-screen instructions. The installer gives you several options to configure:

TVTonic will launch automatically at the end of installation.

Choose where the program is installed. The default is the Program Files directory.
Choose where the application data is stored. This is where the software will store the video content that it downloads. Accept the default location if you're not sure where you would like to store the video files.
Choose shortcut icons to install. There are 2 options (uncheck the checkboxes to not install the shortcuts):
- desktop shortcut icon and
- a Quick Launch shortcut icon.
Once installation is complete, select 'Finish" and TVTonic should launch automatically in Windows Media Center. Uncheck the 'Launch TVTonic' checkbox if you do not want to launch Windows Media Center at the end of installation.

Launch TVTonic

You can launch TVTonic within Windows Media Center in two ways:

Online Media > Program Library
Online Media > Explore > tv + movies

TVTonic activation screen

The first time you launch TVTonic, you'll need to go through activation. This is a quick process and no personal information is required.

The TVTonic Interface

After activation, you'll enter TVTonic for the first time. You'll see the navigation menu in the upper right, the now playing area at the bottom left and User Tips in the lower left.

The TVTonic interface is unique in that it's full screen, full time. All interactive elements overlay the currently playing video.

Full screen, full time — all interactive elements overlay the current video. In this example, video from Rocketboom is playing while the My Channels menu is displayed in the sidebar.

There are 3 main sections to the interface:

top overlay — This area contains the navigation menu, the sponsor area and the title.
bottom overlay or now playing area — Always displays the title of the current video.
sidebar — This is the main menu area where most of the action takes place.
- When you select a navigation button in the upper right (other than Go Full Screen) a menu will display in the sidebar.
- The My Channels menu, the Item Menu and the Channel Guide are 3 important menus that are displayed in this overlay.

user tips overlay — When you first launch TVTonic, you'll notice the User Tip overlay in the lower left of the screen. This area displays contextual help info as you move focus around the screen. Close this at anytime by selecting the 'close' button. You can also turn the tips off in Show Settings > Help With TVTonic > Turn Off User Tips.

Navigating the Software

If you're using a remote, use the arrow keys to move focus around the screen. Press the OK key to select elements on the screen. (You can also select elements on the screen with your mouse.)

Sidebar

Selecting the right-arrow or mousing over the right area of the screen reveals the sidebar.
Initially, the My Channels menu is displayed in the sidebar. Selecting navigation buttons changes the contents of the sidebar (except the Go Full Screen button, which launches the current video into Windows Media Center's full screen-mode).

My Channels (1) — Selecting this button displays the My Channels menu which lists all your currently subscribed channels.
Item Menu (2) — Select this button to see details about the currently playing video.
Browse Guide (3) — Opens the channel guide. This guide allows you to browse, add and delete channels from the My Channels menu.
Show Settings (4) — Provides links to global settings and links to Help.
Go Full Screen (5) — Opens the currently playing video in Windows Media Center's full screen mode. Hit Back to exit full screen mode.

You can also use the number pad on your remote to quickly load the different menus: number 1 for My Channels, 2 for the Item Menu, etc.

Show/Hide menus & overlays

To show all interactive overlays

select the right-arrow key or mouse over the right area of the screen to show all menus
to hide: hit the left arrow a few times until they all disappear or mouse over the middle of the screen

To hide all interactive overlays

Hit the left arrow a few times until they all disappear or mouse over the middle of the screen.

You can also show just certain parts of the interface.

To show just the top and bottom overlays:

Hit the up arrow or mouse over the top part of the screen. To hide those interface elements, hit the down arrow or mouse over the middle of the screen.

Add Channels

Now that you know your way around the software, let's add some channels!

To add channels, follow these steps:

The Channel Guide lists hundreds of channels. Select a channel's Add To My Channels button to subscribe for automatic delivery. Select the Channel Items button to list videos in the channel and preview them without subscribing.

Show the top overlay and select Browse Guide from the navigation menu.
Select a channel that you're interested in and the menu will slide to the left.
Highlight the Add To My Channels button and select it.
- the button will change to Remove From My Channels
- a small checkmark appears on the channel button
- You have now subscribed to this channel!
TVTonic will immediately start downloading videos in that channel and when new content becomes available, it will download automatically.

To download individual videos, follow these steps:

Highlight the Open My Channels navigation button and select it to show the My Channels menu.
Highlight a channel button and select the right arrow to reveal the channel's video items.
Highlight a video item button and right arrow into the Item Menu.
Select the download now button to start downloading the video right away.

Sit Back and Enjoy!

Once you've added a few channels, it's time to watch and enjoy.
Note: There may be a bit of a lag as videos are downloaded. The amount of time depends on your Internet connection.

Play videos

Open the My Channels menu by selecting the Open My Channels navigation button.
The My Channels menu lists all your subscribed channels.
To play all videos in a channel
- Highlight a channel button and select it to play all the videos in that channel.
Play single videos
- While a channel button is highlighted, select the right arrow to list all the video items in the channel.
- Select a video item button to play that video. You can also right arrow into the item menu for a particular item for more options, including deleting the item.

A world of Internet TV! TVTonic's Channel Guide has a bit of everything: quirky & independent Internet TV shows; breaking news from the Associated Press; classic & new cartoons from Channel Frederator; technology news from the likes of Diggnation & Tekzilla; plus up-to-the-minute game trailers & reviews provided by GameTrailers.com.

Subscribe Other Internet Video Feeds

TVTonic's Channel Guide is very comprehensive and contains only the best Internet TV channels that the web has to offer. But, if you can't find particular content that you're interested in, TVTonic allows you to subscribe to almost any Internet TV feed. Just select the 'Add an Unlisted Channel' button in the Settings section of TVTonic. This action requires a keyboard and mouse as it will open your web browser.

Note that you can't currently subscribe feeds that require HTTP authentication (password-protected feeds).

TVTonic.com

Using TVTonic With Windows Media Center in Windows Vista

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