Episode Artwork Options

Channels DVR Server Feature Requests
#1

I love the ability to manually update series/episode artwork but are there ways to automate it further beyond generating a thumbnail from the first few moments of a video? I recently migrated a bunch of content into channels and editing each episode artwork is a bit time consuming. I see Channels relies on data provided by Gracenote. If a match is available, can the individual artwork auto-update from Gracenote's media cloud API or even TMDB's API? If no match is available, then the generated image would be used instead.

Also, instead of using the series artwork, is it possible to use the episode artwork (regardless of where it comes from) when on the individual episode page (see attached)?

Screen Shot 2023-01-31 at 7.10.30 PM
Screen Shot 2023-01-31 at 7.10.30 PM1920×1080 111 KB

I know there are some who prefer the series artwork on the episode pages and don't want any potential spoilers based on the image shown. Perhaps there is a spoiler-lite mode that would allow for each episode page to show the actual ep image instead of just the series artwork?

#2

I actually came here to post it as a feature request, but since you referenced it:

I know there are some who prefer the series artwork on the episode pages and don't want any potential spoilers based on the image shown.

Is this already a feature? If not, I would very much like to see it incorporated as part of your requested change.

My real-life example:

I missed last night's Jeopardy episode, and went to Channels to catch up and, lo and behold, the episode art for tonight's episode showed the current champion, spoiling that they must have won last night's episode.

I've checked settings and don't see anything.

1 Like
#3

There isn't currently a setting for that either but maybe the devs will consider it as well.

#4

This was a major reason I left Plex and am disappointed to see that such a feature is not implemented in Channels DVR.

Nothing is perfect when it comes to such products unfortunately. The holy grail of such a user configureable product still seems some way off to me, even though Kodi, going back to the XBMC days, has long allowed you to turn off thumbnails...

#5

In my up next I just hit play on my remote that way I do not even have to go into the show itself.

#6

I like this idea. I was thinking this should be a show setting, rather than a global setting. Does that sound better or worse?

2 Likes
#7

Global Setting ... too many Shows to go 1 by 1.... and Global will also handle future passes and shows,

1 Like
#8

These are all the things I was thinking of.

#9

Global, for sure.

#10

OK, this has been added to tvOS/iOS in the latest test flight beta. The release coming up behind it will only blur out episodes that are unwatched, while showing watched.

Simulator Screen Shot - Apple TV - 2023-02-01 at 12.52.57
Simulator Screen Shot - Apple TV - 2023-02-01 at 12.52.571920×1080 136 KB

1 Like
#11

Awesome! Thanks! Any thoughts about my initial request... automating the episode images using gracenote or TMDB; is this possible?

1 Like
#12

I don't know what you mean. If Channels DVR Server can match the show, it fills all that info in for you. Have you tried using the "Fix Incorrect Match" on the show?

What's the name of the show that isn't indexing for you. Also, please submit diagnostics from your Channels DVR Server.

#13

@maddox It indexes everything fine. I'm wondering if there's a way to pull in the "official" episode artwork as opposed to just generating a thumbnail from the first few seconds of the recording. I believe this is available via the gracenote API similarly to how Channels pulls guide data and series/episode details from it. If this can't be done, fine. I was just curious. My other request was replacing any episode artwork to the individual episode page. Currently, it just shows the series artwork on all of the episodes (see the attachment/reference in my original post).

#14

No, Gracenote does not have official episode snaps like TMDB or TVDB has. We're working on unifying things this year. Once we've done that, we'll have more freedom to be able to pull different assets from different indexers.

1 Like
#15

Got it. Thanks!

#16

Where can I enable this?

#17

image

1 Like
#18

Thanks!

@maddox, if this becomes a permanent feature, it would be nice if it could be toggled by series. It’s going to be great for shows that have spoilers (some game and competition reality shows, serial dramas, etc.) but the thumbnails are helpful for other shows that have a lot of episodes, such as The Simpsons.

2 Likes
#19

@maddox the spoiler free mode has been saying loading since I added bit a while ago. I haven’t restarted the server yet because of recordings but I wouldn’t believe that a restart after an update is needed.

image
image1290×421 79.2 KB

Diagnostics: a60056d7-f536-4c32-b457-8e6696e9ae07

Thanks.

#20

+1 for the option to set the "spoiler free" mode by show/series. That way it could be done for things like game shows/sports but not shows that are less prone to spoiling.

Love to see that it's already in the pipes - thanks @maddox!

1 Like