Importing local content

[BSpan]

I’m trying to import TV shows (for use in Virtual Channels) that I currently have in Plex, both running on a Synology NAS. The folder/filename structure is like this (conforming to Plex naming requirements):

\volume1\Media\TV Shows\Show Name\Season ##\Show Name - S##E## - Episode Title.mkv

If I point Channels DVR (Settings > Local Content > TV Sources) to:
\volume1\Media\TV Shows
Then Channels DVR scans all the subfolders and successfully identifies/adds almost all the shows, including shows that I don’t want to add to Channels DVR.

However, if I instead point Channels DVR to an individual show folder:
\volume1\Media\TV Shows\Show Name
Then it either

1. Does not initiate a scan at all (and initiating a Local Content > Maintenance > Scan Sources does nothing)
2. Scans the show folder but always fails to identify the show and adds it to the Library as a new show with no metadata (which I can manually correct)
3. Worse of all, it sometimes adds the show folder to an existing show in the Library, creating duplicate episodes (one for the pre-existing show and one for the new show, both with the same metadata).

This seems to me like some sort of bug.

I thought about doing a scan of the entire \volume1\Media\TV Shows folder then manually deleting the unwanted shows from the Library, but then if I add another show folder in the future that I want to appear in Channels DVR I’ll have to do a full scan and I assume it will add back the unwanted shows that I manually deleted after the initial scan.

[maddox]

You can’t point to individual show directories. You have to point to a directory that contains shows.

If you don’t want a show to show up in your library, you can hide it using Library Visibility settings. You will still be able to use them in virtual channels.

[BSpan]

Thank you for the fast reply, I appreciate it!

It's good to know that "You can’t point to individual show directories" I don't think it's really spelled out here:

Import Your Own Movies and TV Shows

It also doesn't mention that the '2x4' or 'S02E04' can be anywhere in the filename, I assumed it has to be at the start of the filename so I was pleasantly surprised.

[BSpan]

Once I delete (move to Trash) an imported TV show from the Library, selecting Scan Sources under Settings > Local Content > Maintenance does not add the show back to the Library. It seems Channels DVR remembers the show had been delete previously and skips it during the Scan. Is there any way to re-import the show into the Library?

Update... It turns out when I deleted the imported show within Channels DVR, it actually deleted the files from the NAS (which are also used in Plex). That might explain why doing a Scan did not re-import the show! I thought that deleting imported local content in Channels DVR only removed it from the library and never deletes the actual files.

[chDVRuser]

@BSpan

I thought that deleting imported local content in Channels DVR only removed it from the library and never deletes the actual files.

I wish that was still true. That was the behavior when the local content import was in Beta, but they changed it to actually delete the files. We asked for an option to disable it, but they only have that option for clients.

You could do as I and others have done. Make your local contant import directories read-only to Channels DVR if you don't want it deleting them.

One other thing you may not be aware of.
When you import something, Channels DVR treats it like it recorded it and won't record it again.
I had it mis-match an episode on import and the wrong episode it mis-matched to was supposed to be recorded from a pass, but wouldn't record. Took a couple hours of troubleshooting to figure it out.

[BSpan]

Thank you for this info! I thought I read somewhere that Channels DVR does not delete imported content, maybe that was written while it was in beta and was never updated. Fortunately I use HyperBackup on my Synology NAS so I was able to restore the deleted files. Sigh... I also just changed the permissions for the Media folder so the System internal user 'channels' only has read access. I think I had given it read/write access while troubleshooting another import issue. I was very impressed with the Virtual Channels feature, but I'm starting to see that Local Content import/matching/management is very rough around the edges.

[chDVRuser]

Movie imports work much better than TV Shows since they use TMDB to match Movie titles.
If you're wondering, like I was, why they don't use TVDB or TMDB for matching TV Shows...

Local Content - TV matching source?

There’s no plans to add anything else for tv shows since other sources don’t use our 4:3 aspect ratio for tv show art.

[BSpan]

Some examples of issues I’ve run into...
Plex and Channels DVR handle 2-part episodes file differently. These are 2 episodes combined in a single file, with ‘S04E19E20” in the filename. Plex displays this as 2 episodes, numbered 19 and 20, whereas Channels DVR displays it as 2 episodes both numbered 19, which I could live with, except that the remaining episodes in the season are out sync, where the displayed episode number matches the filename but the episode name/description are for the next episode, and the last episode in the season has no name/description.
Also, for shows with a “Specials” or “Season 00” folder which is used for bonus features, that appears in Channels DVR with miss-matched metadata (which is understandable since these bonus features often don’t follow a standard naming convention such as thetvdb.com) but there is no way to hide/exclude just that “season” from Virtual Channels.

[chDVRuser]

For 2-part episodes, see this post and following answer

ALPHA: Import TV local content into DVR

Can I import files with multiple episodes in a single file or would I need to split into two files? Example: Modern Family\Season 11\Modern Family - S11E17-E18 - Finale.mp4

For excluding shows or seasons, I wish they would implement a keyword file.
Something like this.
If the filename .cdvrignore appears in a local content import directory, Channels DVR will ignore that directory and any under it when importing.
This would make it easier when you have lots of shows to import and want to import one show at a time, checking for and fixing un-matched and mis-matched episodes, before doing the next show.

[BSpan]

The keyword file for excluding shows OR just season is a great idea (or even better, add a show/season exclude option to the UI), but I wouldn't hold my breath. I did try renaming the episode from 'S04E19E20' to S04E19' (as per maddox’s reply in the link above), but the remaining episodes continue to be out of sync. If there was a way to make Channels DVR refresh the metadata that might do it, but I don’t see how to do that.

[Absenm]

@chDVRuser

I wish that was still true. That was the behavior when the local content import was in Beta, but they changed it to actually delete the files. We asked for an option to disable it, but they only have that option for clients.

Wow. Are you sure about this? I just deleted a local source directory from ChannelsDVR settings page (after making a backup) and it left my source files alone. Only the references in Channels were removed.

@chDVRuser

You could do as I and others have done. Make your local contant import directories read-only to Channels DVR if you don't want it deleting them.

This is good advice even though in my test Channels didn’t delete the source files. Definitely could help advert disaster. After running my test, I have now set permissions on all my media sources (except the DVR itself) as Channels read-only. Better safe than sorry.

[chDVRuser]

@Absenm

@chDVRuser

I wish that was still true. That was the behavior when the local content import was in Beta, but they changed it to actually delete the files. We asked for an option to disable it, but they only have that option for clients.

Wow. Are you sure about this? I just deleted a local source directory from ChannelsDVR settings page (after making a backup) and it left my source files alone. Only the references in Channels were removed.

Removing the import source in Channels DVR settings doesn't delete the files. Only Trashing them does.

[Absenm]

Oh ok, I see the difference now. Scared me. Thanks for the clarification. Still gonna leave my source media as channels read-only.

[chDVRuser]

@BSpan

I did try renaming the episode from 'S04E19E20' to S04E19' (as per maddox’s reply in the link above), but the remaining episodes continue to be out of sync. If there was a way to make Channels DVR refresh the metadata that might do it, but I don’t see how to do that.

Not sure what you mean by that.
If Channels imports them incorrectly you can fix match.
You could also temporarily move those mis-identified files out of their folder, prune deleted, then move them back and have them re-imported.

[BSpan]

I’ve attached a screen shot showing the “remaining episodes continue to be out of sync” issue.

@chDVRuser

You could also temporarily move those mis-identified files out of their folder, prune deleted, then move them back and have them re-imported

I tried this (thank you for the suggestion!) unfortunately it didn’t fix the issue. The episode in the screen shot with “S04E19” in the filename used to be named “S04E19E20” before I did the move folder/prune deleted/move folder back.

[chDVRuser]

Yah, it's a pain because Channels DVR is matching the S##E## to Gracenote listings.
You can correct match and just use the Episode Title in the search box.
That's why I quit importing. Too much work.
See the Episode Guide tab here Frasier at zap2it.com which uses the same Gracenote EPG data that Channels DVR uses for listings and local content TV Show imports.

Would be nice if they used Gracenote for their 4:3 Show artwork and use TVDB or TMDB for the episode matching, but match Episode Title instead of S##E##, which hardly anyone agrees on.

A couple examples here

Fix Incorrect Match Not working DVR to DVR import

I had given up on importing TV Series. Just tried a few Nova SE47's and was able to correctly match an episode. [Capture1] Trimming the search string down to just the episode title the match shows without pressing enter in the search box [Capture2]

Content not matched to Library Listing

I've run across that on many imported shows. It happens because Channels is trying to match on the S##E## instead of the Episode Title. That's why removing the S##E## and using the Episode Title in Fix match window works as @tmm1 says. Your PlayOn download filenames are using the correct (per PBS) Season and Episode numbers, but when Channels imports them, it uses Gracenote guide data which numbers the episodes differently. 'Secret Mind of Slime' is S47E12 per PBS, but Gracenote has it as S4…

[BSpan]

I suspect this is partly a bug in Channels DVR Local Content import – I tried splitting the 2-part episode into 2 separate files, named S04E19 and S04E20 (as Gracenote expects it) and I did the “move the folder out/prune deleted/move the folder back in/scan” routine and Channels DVR still got confused with the remaining episodes as shown in my previous screen shot.

I’m hoping Maddox will chime in here at some point.

[chDVRuser]

I think you missed my previous post?

Did you look here and see what Channels DVR is using to match to?

@chDVRuser

See the Episode Guide tab here Frasier at zap2it.com which uses the same Gracenote EPG data that Channels DVR uses for listings and local content TV Show imports.

I think once you see it, you'll understand. Look at Season 4, Episode 21

If your filenames don't match the S##E## at zap2it/Gracenote for the Episode Title they show, you have to either rename your files or fix incorrect match at the episode level by searching just the Episode Title.

Not sure how else to explain it.

[BSpan]

I did look at zap2it.com/Gracenote (thank you for pointing me to that resource) but somehow I missed that they misnumber all the episodes following the S04E19 2-part episode. Now I feel bad that I wrongly claimed Channels DVR has a bug in the local content import!

I checked some other Frasier 2-part episodes on Gracenote, and in all cases they incorrectly number the following episodes in that season.

I also checked 2-part episodes on Gracenote for some other shows (Seinfeld, Wings, WKRP) and fortunately for all those shows Gracenote does not mess up the numbering following a 2-part episode. So it appears to be an isolated issue with specific shows.

Thanks for explaining (again) what’s going on. I’m not clear on how to fix the match at the episode level by doing a search, but I see I can manually edit the episode name/description by clicking on Options > Edit Metadata for that episode. In any case its probably not worth the effort.

I assume I have to live with this issue and there’s nothing we can do except hope that Channels DVR switches to a better database.

[chDVRuser]

@BSpan

I’m not clear on how to fix the match at the episode level by doing a search

You find the episode and select Options > Fix incorrect match.
See my first example here

@chDVRuser

A couple examples here

Fix Incorrect Match Not working DVR to DVR import - #11 by chDVRuser