Thanks for the help. I went ahead and fixed Porky’s, although I don’t have the BlueRay version it doesn’t really matter. Hopefully when this is fully polished we would be able to pick our own scrapers, or at least have the option to upload our own DVD Artwork like Plex does for rare instances they can’t locate it. Either way, I like the direction Channels is going in! Can’t wait to see how all this pans out. The ONLY thing keeping me in the Plex ecosystem is the Media organization, iTunes plug in, and the Phillips Hue plugin that allows automation of entertainment areas during media playback. But, I do get to enjoy those without a premium plan, so no biggie there. Just wish I can have everything in one App/Ecosystem.
Has this "alpha" feature been removed? I imported in my test DVR but my Wife's DVR no longer shows Import Option:
Missing in new beta DVR
Local Content Import your existing media library into the DVR
Still in mine (new public release today) 2019.11.19.2312
Oops, guess that's only if you have already defined an import and imported, because it's missing on my other install that wasn't using it.
That's a good thing. Hopefully this will cut down on the feature requests until the feature is ready for beta testing.
Yes, the UI for adding import directories is hidden now. It only appears if you have already added a directory. This was specifically to remove it from the release version, which should be for obvious reasons 
1 Like
So any users that don't have it already should discuss it here until it's announced as a Beta and feedback is requested?
Feel free to discuss it as you were.
I’m just explaining that the feature was hidden on the release version, as the feature is not released.
Thought I'd compile some feedback in one place. This is just an FYI for the developers, I know it is in pre-alpha.
First off, I am a huge fan of this idea. Channels is probably my favorite media app because of how quickly I can get things done. I use it almost primarily for DVR recordings, and it is great. The speed at playback, seeking, etc and the developer response to issues has been outstanding.
So, I am currently using PLEX and Infuse depending on what I watch. I have to use Infuse for my full-size BDRips because it can play them direct without transcoding. PLEX transcodes and the quality suffers noticeably. I have to use PLEX to play all of my extras because Infuse doesn't support them. So I have three different media apps in regular rotation, Channels, Infuse, and PLEX. I would really love to do it all in Channels.
So here's my feedback (for dev awareness only):
- Seems to always select wrong audio track (commentary track)
- Commentary track is stereo, main audio is 5.1 (the 5.1 track is tagged as default)
- Extras (Featurettes, Trailers, Deleted scenes, etc) are included in scan
- Suggest ignoring extras folders that match PLEX (and other popular) naming conventions
- Web interface takes a very long time to load Imports section
- ~ 640 movies currently imported, channels thinks I have ~ 5200 movies due to extras
- Seeking quickly through my movies (full BDRip) results in large hang/lags
- Alternate movie versions are included in scan as another copy of the movie
- Good that I can play each version, bad I can't determine which version is which
- Would be awesome if it could determine alternate versions automatically along with matching alternate cover art. This is a big pain point for PLEX as it requires manual steps
- Example
- Terminator 2 (1991) - Theatrical.mkv
- Terminator 2 (1991) - Special Edition.mkv
- Movies with missing artwork/unmatched show as grey rectangle (ATV)
- Put name of movie inside the artwork box when no art?
- Scrolling through a ton of movies the right-hand scrollbar doesn't show indication (like alphabet position) so you know where you are
- Main channels search doesn't search recordings
- Need some way to find things with this much content
Sorry if this was already asked - (this thread is quite long)
When watching on Apple TV, there is a DELETE option. Does this delete the FILE from the NAS? Or does it only remove from Channels List?
Either way, can there be an option to have DELETE removed? I don’t trust my kids with the ability to delete anything in error.
Thanks again for the amazing service!
Do you still want to be able to delete recordings, or are you fine with the delete being hidden everywhere?
As was already stated, Delete does not delete anything. While it will remove the movie from the library, the original file will not be touched. Also, since the server scans for movies every 5 minutes, it will quickly be added back.
(If you're going to use a pre-alpha constantly changing unsupported feature, you really should read all of the posted information about it.)
Personally, I’d rather it be completely hidden.
I agree, completely hidden for imported media. Maybe there is an admin mode, or maybe admin is limited to web, where you could delete.
I’ve added a setting to the client app to hide delete buttons. It’ll be available once we push out a beta for the import stuff.
Agree
- Seems to always select wrong audio track (commentary track)
Let us select the audio track when playing multi-track recordings.
- Extras (Featurettes, Trailers, Deleted scenes, etc) are included in scan
Update the scraper to ignore directories that have a file named .chdvrignore or the like as most scrapers allow this simple exclusion.
- Movies with missing artwork/unmatched show as grey rectangle
Allow us to customize movie poster by picking up an existing poster.jpg or poster.png file in the movie directory, or manually specifying what to use.
- Main channels search doesn't search recordings
I'm pretty sure it was mentioned that searching recording is on their roadmap.
Thanks. But a Server Side Setting would be best. I have 8+ Apple TV Clients and a 1/2 dozen iPads and a few iPhones. So server side setting would be much better for me to control.
I agree the server side setting should be a default for every client/every setting if you're running Channels Plus. And a sync option on each client to sync same from the server. I understand the use case for a client to use a different setting, but the default should be sync to the server (Channels Plus).
Yeah, server-side would be best. I have several ATV's and phones.
Please never allow deleting of imported media, as only the media metadata is scaped and imported. Channels Plus didn't record it, so it should never be allowed to delete original media which was created outside of Channels Plus. If this happened I would most likely cancel my subscription after warning others.
If we want to move/rename/delete media created outside of Channels, we have a way to do that.
My imported movie media was created before I started using Channels Plus, and although Channels Plus is my go to source for Live TV and recordings from HDHR tuners and TVE, it is not yet my media manager as it's not even in Beta state yet. I would recommend anyone using it create a test directory somewhere and copy some of your movies there for testing, don't rely on it preserving your existing movies directory.
1 Like
I agree with your concerns but not your action. This is/will be a feature which no one is has to use. I would simply not use it if my grandkids have the same rights as me and could delete content.
I am a fan of Plex for this type of media that I keep indefinitely. Even Plex allows deletion of content BUT they also have the OWNER and Managed Users and Friends all with rights. I also have Emby which only has Users with rights.
I would be very conservative if you did not have Users with rights.
Example from Plex: Server Side Setting
Allow media deletion
The owner of the server will be allowed to delete media files from disk. Yes or No.
In this case only the owner has the option.