We’ll get this in the docs once it goes out of beta.
This is great, thanks for the addition of "limits." Initially I was just using the "Late Night Talk" Collection I'd already created, as a source for the Virtual Channel of the same name. But with this new feature, does it makes more sense to add each of the same shows individually? Or will the limits be applied the same way regardless? I understand the limits aren't per-show, it's per virtual channel, so choosing the sort order determines the cut-off. But just to confirm, does that apply to Collections too?
Ok. So let me get this correct. So i have a Virtual news station. I keep it set to only keep 1 episode of each series. I can use the limit feature. Set limit to equal the total number of different series. My virtual channel will only play the most recent episode.
If so all i gota say is Hot Diggity Dog. Thats brilliant.
Yes but if you’re only keeping 1 episode of each series, you don’t necessarily need to use the limit feature. The virtual channel will already be limited, by the number of recordings that are being kept. The limit feature is great for me though because for news shows and talk shows we typically keep 3. But don’t necessarily want all of those recordings in the Virtual Channel.
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This.
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@Fofer
I want to keep more then 1. I had them set to only keep one because it was only way i could figure it out. This is awesome.
@maddox
Virtual channels are truly kick ass. Whoever idea it was deserves to wear a crown and be king for a day
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Just curious, do you have all these shows recorded and you created virtual channels for these? Or are you pulling them from live TV?
I’m still trying to grasp how some of this works. For example, if I wanted to create a “filter” that shows all channels currently showing King of Queens, would that be done under Virtual Channels or via Automatic Channel Collection?
I thought I could create it under Automatic Channel Collection, but I don’t see a way to filter by the name of the show.
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Virtual channels: Content you already have. For example you DVR/Local Cobtent all the King Of Queens episodes. You then set a virtual channel to play those stations. Itbwill be 1 channel in your guide that only plays your king of queens.
Smart Channels collections: A group of live tv stations whose content matches your rules criteria. Example. You set a rule to play Catagory=Comedy, source (varies person to person) type=tv shows. Would search all tv stations. If anybstations are playing anything that meets criteria. It will pull it into a channels collection. But it lacks specific search like title = king of queens
This would be a channels collection. But u can't make a rule that specific in channels collections. You can make more specific rules for virtual channels. Virtual channels are for content you have.
My most heavily watched virtual channel is king of queens
Cool, makes sense. Thanks!
Yes and a Pass that keeps recording new shows that fit whatever criteria you set, can be used to populate a Virtual Channel. So the Virtual Channel could be set to show only the newest dozen, for example, if you wish. It’s very cool.
Great explanation here, what makes this feature "different:" Channels — Virtual Channels
How-to page: Channels Support - Virtual Channels
Thanks, yes, I had read through those, but for some reason my brain was still connecting everything with live TV and not so much library content. I’ve used Channels for a while, but I’ve been a “record, watch and delete” kind of person. I need to start loading some of my own content and explore some more. Thanks!
Yep, it's kind of a marriage between those two. We get to be our own Director of Network Programming, our own Vice President of TV Entertainment, designing the channels WE want to watch 
Virtual Channels was precisely the nudge that got me loading much more of my own content. And even searching for other content to record, based on advanced searches, so those Virtual Channels could have more to work with. There are a few shows (like The Office) that I already had every episode of, that realistically speaking I wasn't actually watching. It was more of a manual process, to choose an episode. Once I set it up as a Virtual Channel though, I've found myself landing on this show for a few episodes every now and then. Or I just leave it on in the background while I work.
I've used Virtual Channels to setup different TV stations like a Western Channel, Movie Channel, series channels for long running series like Gunsmoke, and I setup channels that play shows like you'd see on stations like MeTV. I also brought in my security cameras in the first 8 channels, using xteve to produce guide information so that I can easily record from the cameras.
I'd like to thank the devs for this and so many other wonderful features, I truly have never seen a dev team so dedicated to their users. Thanks!
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I have been using another popular media playback program for years. I have shown my wife how to work it and stocked it with favorite movies and shows. She rarely used it, preferring to passively watch whatever was on cable. First, I introduced her to the HD Homerun phone app which she liked because it was live TV that would run on portable devices (even outdoors). When we wanted to put a television in a location where we had no coax. I installed a Tivo stream 4K and showed her Channels DVR explaining it was like HD Homerun but better. In the meantime, I setup a channel with some of her favorite TV series, another with my favorite TV shows. Then used smart filters to create separate movie channels for Comedy, Action-Adventure, Music & Dance, Thriller, and Romantic Comedies. I assigned the virtual channel into unused numbers in the cable layout rather than the upper numbers. One day she called and told me the cable company had put her favorite shows on channel 200 and she had watched it all day. I have since told her I did that with the help of Channels DVR and now she knows how to find her favorite Virtual Channels and rewind the beginning of a show in progress, Another feature she also loves.
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I initially had 1 limit per recording, but the Guide would still have the previous shows (say it's Wednesday, it would show Monday's show in the guide, not Tuesday). I am assuming the guide was populated before the Monday episode was deleted, so when I tuned the Virtual Channel, it would just give me a black screen. I modified to 3 recordings per pass, used the Reverse Order and used the limit in the Virtual Channel to 6 (6 different shows included under the Virtual Channels). I THINK that is how it's supposed to be setup, I'll report back once I have tested it tomorrow.
New Virtual channel
"Tv Pilot Episode".
Smart rule
Season number = 1
Episode number =1
It plays pilot episodes only. Most of my Library is stuff i have never watched. In the days of linear tv. I discovered new shows because the happened to be on. So now i can randonly discover shows i have.
Other smart rule
Jake = Data Hoarder
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I was just looking a feature to make the transition between movies/show episodes smooth - it kills the experience for me when the bar pops up
Issues with Virtual Channels
Virtual Channels is currently our most-used feature. However, we are having regular issues that we can reproduce:
When we tune into a virtual channel to watch the first show, it is typically already in progress. At the end of the first show, it will sometimes play the next show at the beginning - but many times, it will skip forward and play part-way into the second show. My guess is that Channels is trying to stagger the second show as well to align time slots (but I'm not sure). If so, I'd rather have it start the full show than try to align time. By the third show, it typically plays the full show.
I've not had Channels long, nor have I tried to watch past a third show to see what happens, but I'm curious to know what I should expect.
My Sort is set to Random, and Limit is None.
Thanks in advance
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If you do any rewinding while watching, when it played the next show, it will skip ahead to what is actually real time.
So, If you are behind “live” by 5 minutes or so, then when the next show plays, it will jump to the 5 minute mark to “be live”.