PREVIEW: Library Collections and Virtual Channels (v2021.07.16.2141)

[tmm1]

@tsheley

if I set it for one channel it sets the sort for all of them

This bug is fixed.

[tmm1]

@Fofer

Hoping we'll eventually be able to do the same for Library Collections, too

This isn't planned, as currently collections are lists of movies or shows, not episodes.

Can you elaborate on your use case?

[racameron]

@tmm1

Can you elaborate on your use case?

I can think of one: cross-over episodes. Say I wanted to create a collection of paranormal TV shows, such as Sleepy Hollow. However, there was a cross-over episode where the characters appeared on Bones. One may wish to have that single episode present in the collection, but not every episode of Bones.

(Personally, I'd rather the ability to have movies and shows intermingled. This would allow for "universe" groupings that include both media types, such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or the Stargate franchise. Also playlists, to allow related shows to be interwoven in a "viewing order".)

[Fofer]

One example: I often enjoy revisiting TV pilots from classic TV shows (from the 70's through the 2000's) and Channels DVR has made it easy to accumulate them. I have them playing now as a Virtual Channel, but what I'd also like to be able to do is browse the list, and play any of them on demand. And now, if any additional episodes from those shows get recorded, they get added to the Library Collection, when I just wanted to limit it to S01E1 of each.

I was also thinking about gathering the very best "must see" episodes from many of my favorite series, into one Collection. For browsing, sharing with family, re-visiting whenever. But now it seems I can only add all the episodes I've recorded from that show, and not just the ones I manually choose to be included.

Maybe this is just me, and this isn't a popular enough use case to consider, but these were the first things I tried to do when this feature's preview dropped, and I felt stymied when I realized it was "all or nothing."

[tsheley]

That works perfect. Thanks!

[tmm1]

In the latest build you can now set a smart rule for a Virtual Channel.

For example you can set it to favorited=true to make a channel of your favorite episodes and movies.

See:

@tmm1

• Comedies but without kids and romance
  comedy movies genres!=[children, Romantic comedy]
• 90s movies
  releaseYear>=1990 releaseYear<2000
• 90s comedies without Jim Carrey
  releaseYear>=1990 releaseYear<2000 genres=Comedy cast!="Jim Carrey"
• Action or Comedy movies from the 2000s
  releaseYear>=2000 genres=[Action, Comedy]
• Multiple cast members together
  cast&=[John Candy, Mel Brooks]
• All series premiere episodes only
  seasonNumber=1 episodeNumber=1
• All favorited episodes and movies
  favorited=true

[tsheley]

This works great. Once you get the bug where it resets to Season 1 Episode 1 on the daily guide refresh when TV Shows are in order fixed I will be all set. Thanks for all the work!

[alai]

I might have missed this somewhere, but is there a way for a Virtual Channel to respect the order manually set in a Collection?

[Fofer]

@tmm1

In the latest build you can now set a smart rule for a Virtual Channel.

For example you can set it to favorited=true to make a channel of your favorite episodes and movies.

That’s super cool and really smart If this functionality could be added to Collections too, it would address my issue above. if I’m understanding it correctly, it would allow for the inclusion of individual favorites, without needing UI for us to add them each manually.

[Macnbaish]

What version is this in? I’m on 2021.08.07.1500 and I see the drop down for virtual channels to creat a smart rule. However, when I click it I still get the regular content picker. Have tried on safari on an iPad and edge on windows with the same results. Maybe I’m missing something?

[tmm1]

It looks similar but is not the same. You enter your rule and when you're happy with the results below, click Save.

[JFiti19]

Love this feature a ton. Brought me back to Channels from Plex.

Thinking about how the episodes are arranged -any thought to being able to arrange a set number "chunk" of episodes at a time, but the shows are still in random order? Ex: The Office - The Office - The Office - The Simpsons - The Simpsons - The Simpsons - Seinfeld - Seinfeld - Seinfeld

Don't know if that would have to wait for more granular show-based controls or not, but would be cool to have a balance between pure random shuffling of shows, and entire 24hr blocks of a long-running series for the season/episode option.

[Macnbaish]

Oh ok I was expecting a UI with a drop down of fields, condition operators, etc. I’ll give it a try.

[Naonak]

Will this automatically exclude strmlink content?

[tmm1]

Hmm it doesn't and probably should. I'll take a look.

You can add streamLink=false to the rule for now.

[psperry]

For me, it would be great if the series resets to a random episode every day and continues on sequentially from there. That way if you “tune in” at about the same time of day, it won’t always be in the same spot. Otherwise you will end up watching the same thing over and over again which would diminish the value.

[jpinilla712]

any way to do this for uhd movies only if i’m trying to make a 4k channel?

[maddox]

Tags=UHD Categories=Movie