Best practice

[mdsh]

Hi all, still playing with VC and learning heaps thanks to all of you answering my silly questions... So thank you before I ask one more

What is best practice with VC with regards to number of instances running. I've been reading a lot about how a full license will count for all running instances for VC so in that I can gather that it's best to run one for XBMC, one for iTunes.... and so on

Is this the best way to run it or is this purely on a keeping things a bit tidier within the VC tree?

thanks

[jitterjames]

Whatever works best for you.  Licensing is not an issue.  Once a machine is licensed you may use 1 or 100 VC, it doesn't matter.

You can combine commands for many different programs into a single configuration if you want, but it is up to you to avoid "overlapping" commands.

[jitterjames]

The only time you really NEED to use two separate configurations is when you want to use different languages for the speech recognition engine.

[mdsh]

Ah yes didnt think about multi language setup as my first language isnt an option i believe 

 

[Kalle]

Normally the best practice is to work with enable/disable groups action (but you really need to know what you are doing to set this up - it is not recommended for newbs). Take a look in the VC command builder, the are a enable/ disable group action available.

Kalle

[mdsh]

Thanks Kalle, I am currently playing with something similar. EG if xbmc isnt running an event disables all XBMC groups. This seems to work really well for me
Also still playing with mics trying to find one that works well on my very tight budget

[Kalle]

Thanks Kalle, I am currently playing with something similar. EG if xbmc isnt running an event disables all XBMC groups. This seems to work really well for me
Also still playing with mics trying to find one that works well on my very tight budget

For what kind of mic looking for? Wireless, USB, cable - headset or only mic? What is your max. budget for a mic solution?
By the way, you can disable/enable groups with events very easy, as example: If you start XBMC it generate a event and disable all other groups which you doesn't need and also backwards.

[mdsh]

Hi Kalle,

on the mic front I have three items within my house already that I am playing with. One is a logitec webcam with built in mic (this was my starting point) Then i realized i had a USB EA\Logitec singstar mic for my Wii. So testing that out with a bit better results that the webcam but still struggling to have it "hear me" over music or movies. Then I have a logitec wireless headset that i still need to play with. Haven't done this yet as I want my girlfriend to be able to walk in and use the system as well. Guess i could have the headset laying on the table or something hey

Budget wise I have non but will hopefully soon as I got a job again  starting monday so pay one will have to go towards supporting VOX and then maybe if i am still not happy with any of my mic setups i might buy one. But really any advice or tips re what to buy or even just placement will be great.

By the way, you can disable/enable groups with events very easy

So with this I have a rule that disables\enables xbmc on voice command LAUNCH XBMC as well as CLOSE XBMC \FOCUS\UnFocus XBMC and it does work really well. Still playing with more ideas but really great But need to have it like yours to disable ALL others when not needed. Just think that makes for a cleaner system maybe just me

[Kalle]

Budget wise I have non but will hopefully soon as I got a job again  Grin starting monday so pay one will have to go towards supporting VOX and then maybe if i am still not happy with any of my mic setups i might buy one. But really any advice or tips re what to buy or even just placement will be great.

My first advice and if more than one person will use the mic is the amulet remote. It is not the cheapest invest, but you can save money if you have a VC license (up to 40$) so you can buy it for ~100$ if you live in USA.
We have also a list with some information about microphones: http://voxcommando.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Microphones and here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AvOHRgLlzw1rdEM0c2tpTjdGTkhPaXBTWENjc3JMNEE#gid=0

Which mic is the best for you depends on how you want to use it - did you need a high range or a handsfree solution or both? Forget your cam mic and also the Wii mic, I'm sure you waste your time with it - to many false positives.

So with this I have a rule that disables\enables xbmc on voice command LAUNCH XBMC as well as CLOSE XBMC \FOCUS\UnFocus XBMC and it does work really well. Still playing with more ideas but really great Smiley But need to have it like yours to disable ALL others when not needed. Just think that makes for a cleaner system Tongue maybe just me

If you have a well organized command group structur - all groups to use with XBMC beginning with XBMC or for iTunes with iT or similar, so it is easy to use enable/disable group command with the wildcard(*) setting in a program start command.

the a attached pic is a example, but there are much more opportunities to do this  

[mdsh]

Thanks for the above pics and explanation helping heaps!! Will implement really soon