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

Channels DVR Server
#235

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".)

1 Like
#236

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."

#237

That works perfect. Thanks!

#238

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:

3 Likes
#239

3 posts were split to a new topic: Feature Road Map?

#240

A post was merged into an existing topic: Feature Road Map?

#241

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!

#242

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

1 Like
#243

That’s super cool and really smart :slight_smile: 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.

#244

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?

#245

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

#246

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.

#247

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

#248

Will this automatically exclude strmlink content?

1 Like
#249

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

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

1 Like
#250

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.

3 Likes
#251

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

#252

Tags=UHD Categories=Movie

2 Likes
#253

I'm really enjoying creating virtual channels, set up a few childrens channels and guilty pleasures (DS9 Dominion Wars eps) - thanks devs! Very good to dip into.

A bit of a feature request....

What I would like to do is to create timeshift channels, i.e. BBC 1 HD +1. I was thinking one way to do this by creating an Advanced Series Pass, i.e. everything off BBC1 HD but keep only last 2 recordings and then have a Library Collection which points to that particular Series Pass, and then for the Virtual Channel to point to that Library Collection. The epg for the Virtual Channel would need to be updated more frequently for it to pick up the latest show.

Food for thought!

#254

Sorry if this has already been posted about, but I didn't see it as I looked through the post. I love the virtual channels feature; however, I'm noticing that on my android TV it finishes an episode/show and does not advance to the next item scheduled... anyone else having this issue? I'm running version 2021.08.08.2140 on the server side...