I want to point Local Content in ChannelsDVR, however have alll local content hidden from Client Apps when browsing media.
Why I want to do this. Virtual channels is why. Duh.
Why do I not want it visible? There is a shit ton of local content, and it clutters up Channels and then I get overwhelmed trying to navigate DVR content.
For the sake of "why?", what is the purpose of your post?
In the past when I imported all my local media into channels. It created more headaches. I could never find the shows I wanted. It just became to cluttered. ChannelsDVR does a ok job with imported media. But not a great job with huge collections.
However the ability to make a virtual channels that will pull from my local content with smart rules would be awesome. My local content library grows by about 30-50 items most days. I just added yet another 14 TB drive to my plex server and plan on having it filled soon-ish. (side note, i dont know why I horde media, i just do. I might have a addicction)
But imagine the possibility of what I could do with virtual channels with all that content and smart rules.
So its niche use. Its to niche to make it a feature request. But wasnt sure if maybe it was somehow possible to do. Similar in reason to how you can hide "Sources" from individual clients. You dont want everything on every tv.
You make no sense, so thank you
If you don't have kids you can set the imported media to be in the kids library and then set the clients to not view/use the kids library. I think virtual channels will still pull from that kind of setup.
You can set all that content to Hidden with the Library Visibility feature. It won’t show in your library, but you can use it to drive virtual channels.
You can do the same with Library Collections.
I also have a large content library like the original poster. Setting content to Hidden is a solution but it comes with trade offs.
Every time you add a new series to your library, you may have to hide that series.
DVR maintenance may become cumbersome for hidden series which record new shows because Channels treats everything as just content. I record, edit out commercials, move shows to library, & delete recorded content. The last step becomes cumbersome when series are hidden.
Finally, I see long startup times (>30 seconds) on clients (all Firestick 4Ks) with my large imported library.
I'm considering either completely removing my imported content from Channels or reorganizing my library to aggregate ended TV series which I want in virtual channels into a single import for Channels.
It sounds like you want something like Disquetv.
I can’t say that we optimize for making content hidden because the app’s job is to record/add shows and movies and let you watch them.
If that’s not what you want, then you might want to check out that project that lets you add your content directly and provides linear fake channels that you can add to Channels directly after the fact.
I've got Dizqueztv installed. Trade-offs either way I go.
Sweet. I forgot about that festure.
This might be mostly what I'm looking for. Yall should NOT be expected to optimize hidden content. Its a very niche feature. Im actually surprised it exist at all.
I brought my entire content library to channels about 6-7months ago. I didn't have slow load times (Nvidia Shield). However trying to organize it and find shows in channels was cumbersome. So i removed it. Sometimes i have to remind myself ChannelsDVR(Awesomeness) and plex (bloatware) have different benefits.
I have experimented with this over the last few years.
I am also importing Media into the server in order to create virtual channels.
I currently have 3 imports:
Old CDVR shows/movies that got orphaned when updating/changing hardware...Would like these to continue to be viewable
Media Server Movies...Would like to be hidden (Used to create Virtual Channels)
Media Server TVShows...Would like to be hidden (Used to create Virtual Channels)
I understand that this can be accomplished manually in the library but it is very difficult to use since you can't pick the individual import locations separately. Especially since there are well over a thousand entries.
Also it is an issue because new content from the imports are marked as viewable.
I am wondering if there is a way to run an api script/request that would allow me to update all programs located at say..."Pool/Media/Movies" to be hidden.
Another even better option would be if on the source page there was a drop down that would allow all content to be automatically put in one of the groups (Library/Kids/Hidden) during import/scan.
I am experimenting with the ErsatzTV/Dizquetv options. IMO...they are more complicated than I want to deal with when CDVR already does a fantasic job with the Virtual channels.
I gave up on hiding imports. I found it to be to much work/maintenance. I originally did it because I did not want a cluttered library. But Channel collections have helped. I just dont look at main library any longer. I just let everything show.
I still think being able to set an entire source as hidden would be a useful feature.
You should make this a feature request. I will vote for it.
"Ability to mark entire source as Visible or Hidden"
