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

[chDVRuser]

@Fofer

importing some of my previous content again, this time with just live concerts (as movies.) If there's no way to just assign "No match, please just use its filename" then obviously this isn't going to work for me, at least with those files.

Not sure if this will work for you given the directory structure you have those in.
But you could try copying a couple and see if it works for you.
I have all my one-off specials, live events and documentaries in my Specials folder.
So put in your TV Imports folder a folder names Specials.
TV_Imports/Specials
This feature was added in Sept last year

ALPHA: Import TV local content into DVR

New build v9.8.2218 NEW: Fix Incorrect Match UI will now show number of seasons/episodes for each matched show IMPROVED: .m2ts files are imported FIXED: top-level Specials directory in your tv import location will be imported in as separate shows FIXED: metadata for TV specials now imported correctly FIXED: changing show via Fix Incorrect Match was not removing old/incorrect episode information in some cases

I currently have 146 videos in that folder and after importing they show up under TV Shows.
If it's unmatched on import

It appears like this in Library>TV Shows with just the filename for the Ttitle

[maddox]

@maddox

As for bulk managing, use the DVR -> Manage section of the web admin and you can bulk edit things. (Hidden as an option for visibility for bulk editing isn't in there, i'll add it real quick for the next pre-release).

Ability to batch set things as hidden in the Manage UI is added to the next pre-release that will land in about 20 mins.

[NickBurns]

Using version: 2021.08.04.0548
In the webAdmin DVR, after searching for any movie and then selecting it I get the following error:

Cannot read property 'includes' of undefined
includes@components/CollectionInclusionDropdown.js:46
map@components/CollectionInclusionDropdown.js:44
c@react-dom/cjs/react-dom.production.min.js:153
oh@react-dom/cjs/react-dom.production.min.js:175
di@react-dom/cjs/react-dom.production.min.js:263
Rj@react-dom/cjs/react-dom.production.min.js:246
Qj@react-dom/cjs/react-dom.production.min.js:246
Kj@react-dom/cjs/react-dom.production.min.js:239
c@react-dom/cjs/react-dom.production.min.js:123

Logs have been submitted as 91d63312-fa14-4223-89c3-04972da77143

[CScott]

server version: 2021.08.04.0548
same here but for TV Shows only movies edit/open fine. Clicking on any SHOW in the LIBRARY\TV SHOWS gives a JavaScript error

A Javascript error has occurred!

Please refresh the browser after reporting this issue on Channels Community or to support@getchannels.com.

Cannot read property 'includes' of undefined

includes@components/CollectionInclusionDropdown.js:46
map@components/CollectionInclusionDropdown.js:44
c@react-dom/cjs/react-dom.production.min.js:153
oh@react-dom/cjs/react-dom.production.min.js:175
di@react-dom/cjs/react-dom.production.min.js:263
Rj@react-dom/cjs/react-dom.production.min.js:246
Qj@react-dom/cjs/react-dom.production.min.js:246
Kj@react-dom/cjs/react-dom.production.min.js:239
c@react-dom/cjs/react-dom.production.min.js:123

[maddox]

Good catch guys. Fix is up in the latest pre-release.

[Macnbaish]

Just wanted to update that the recent guide fix solved my issues! Despite only having 26.5 hours of unique content in the virtual channel, the guide data is now going out 48 hours as expected.

[Fofer]

I've been playing around, and getting the hang of Virtual Channels. This is really fun. Awhile back I was inspired by this idea, shared on this forum and eventually amassed recordings of very many TV Pilots from my childhood (the 80's and 90's.) The recording criteria checks for year and only records S01E01. There are plenty of classics, some silly stinkers, all fun nostalgia. Now those recordings have a virtual channel of their own, playing 24/7. Great for passive background entertainment while I'm working.

What other great ideas for Virtual Channels have y'all come up with?

[Macnbaish]

I think I’m about to make one for Disney animated features.

[NickBurns]

side note - Is it safe to update the DVR while things are recording, or is it better to do it when the server is idle? I'm thinking the latter is better.

[tmm1]

You can update any time. It won't restart until it is idle.

[Macnbaish]

It won’t do the update immediately if it’s not idle, even if you tell it to check. It will download and wait to be idle to do the upgrade. However, you can force the update even if it’s not idle. If you do that, any recordings in progress will be interrupted. They will restart immediately after the DVR comes back up, however, so it’s often maybe 10-15 seconds of lost recording.

[Fofer]

@Macnbaish

I think I’m about to make one for Disney animated features.

That's a good one. I just created another Virtual Channel, called "Earth Docs:"
Planet Earth, Planet Earth II, The Blue Planet, Life, Attenborough: Life in Color, etc.

I'm thinking these would work well as ambient entertainment too.

[Fofer]

@maddox

Ability to batch set things as hidden in the Manage UI is added to the next pre-release that will land in about 20 mins.

Thanks again for this and apologies for the basic question, but where? I'm not seeing how to select multiple things in the DVR > Manage section, and then set them all to Hidden. Under the "Actions," menu I see "Mark as Watched/Unwatched," "Refresh Metadata," and "Move to Trash." Nothing about Hiding.

Am I looking in the wrong place? I'm running pre-release 2021.08.05.0221. Thanks...

[maddox]

You can only do it for Movies. Episodes do not have visibility settings.

[daphatty]

Here's an interesting UI behavior that may not necessarily be an issue but something I felt I should mention.

In the screenshot below, we see a virtual channel that contains episodes of children's TV shows. Highlighted by the arrow is an episode that is seven minutes in length which, as you can see, is illegible unless you tap on the ellipses.

Children's TV shows, especially the shows targeted to younger ages, often have episodes of 12 minutes or less. The problem isn't so bad when the shorter episodes are mixed in with other episodes of traditional length. However, if you create a virtual channel containing only shows with short episodes, below is what the Guide looks like.

Is it possible to adjust the guide view for a given client such that the channel list can be made legible?

[maddox]

While the results aren't ideal, there's not much that can be done here outside of improving the presentation.

There's no good efficient way to detect short airings and adjusting the grid on the fly, and honestly it wouldn't be a good solution. Having the grid width normalized is important and would just get confusing, it would also make the rest of the airings look ridiculous and unusable.

[tmm1]

With v2021.08.06.2347, Virtual Channels can now be sorted in three modes: Random, Date, or Season/Episode.

You can also now add individual episodes directly to a Virtual Channel.

[AeroR1]

Awesome! Quick question… if one chooses season/episode and let’s say after a day or two the show is in season 2 ep14, if the server reboots, will it pick up where it stoped like a linear channel? Or will it restart again from the first episode?

[tmm1]

Server reboot has nothing to do with it. Whatever is shown on the guide data is what you tune into, and it always tunes in "live".

One known issue right now is every morning it will reset the guide data and start from episode one, so it might not get to the older episodes if you have a lot.

[tsheley]

Seems like if I set it for one channel it sets the sort for all of them. I have a Doctor Who channel I want in Episode order but I also have an 80’s movie channel I want random.