Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[muzicman0]

I have a couple movies in my collection that are 2 files (IE: 2 DVD set), but one movie.  Is there a way to make MC see these as 1 movie, and also to specify which file plays first?

[ferday]

There was some talk about this awhile ago, do a forum search (I think it was MC20).  It had a bunch of different approaches to this

I store all my DVDs as mkv files and use mkv merge to put them together and not have the two files thing, AFAIK most of the people on that other thread do the same

Edit: I had it bookmarked

https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=96996.0

[muzicman0]

Thanks...I had used MKV Merge in the past, but didn't know if there was a better way. 

[blgentry]

It depends on your goals.  If you really want the movies to become a seamless whole (single piece) then an external editing/merging tool is the only way to go.  But that involves, time, effort, and intermediate files.

I personally think the best compromise is to use Stacks to stack the files up to make them appear as one, then use Links to make them play sequentially.  It's very quick; maybe 15 seconds per set of movies.  No extra storage or intermediate files to mess with.

Brian.

[ferday]

i'm under the impression from Glynor's response in the linked thread, that standard linking won't work for video files. 

i can't test as i've merged the few multipart movies i have and will continue to do so if i get more

[glynor]

That is correct. Unless it has changed, the Linking feature only works for audio files.

As I said in the above-linked thread, this might be cool, but honestly... It is so easy to just merge them, that it is somewhat pointless.

[glynor]

But that involves, time, effort, and intermediate files.

It doesn't take much time, and no intermediate files, to merge them with mkvmerge.

I had a little trouble figuring out the new mkvtoolnix GUI recently when I tried (and ended up just using the old mkvmerge GUI to accomplish my task), but I didn't try very hard.

[blgentry]

That is correct. Unless it has changed, the Linking feature only works for audio files.

It must have changed then, because it absolutely works now! 

I get a short flash in between the files, but that happens (on the Mac version of MC21) with any sequential video files in Playing Now.

Brian.

[blgentry]

It doesn't take much time, and no intermediate files, to merge them with mkvmerge.

Not to be pedantic but....

1.  Doesn't it take at least a minute or so to merge two (2) six (6) GB files?
2.  Don't you have 3 files when you're done?  The original 2 plus the newly merged one?  So you need to delete the old files from the library and import the new one.

That's what I meant about time, effort, and intermediate files.  A stack and a link takes something like 15 to 20 seconds and doesn't involve anything else. 

This is all personal taste kinda stuff though right?  If you prefer to have merged files, then more power to you!  I don't have a strong opinion either way just yet as I have so few cases where this applies.  I'm just giving my "not strong" opinion on why I've chosen to do what I've done so far. 

Brian.

[glynor]

It must have changed then, because it absolutely works now!  

Cool! If it isn't completely seamless, though, then I don't know that it is any different than just using a view that shows them sequentially (and "Play All"). I suppose it forces them to play sequentially even if you don't have a well-structured view.

1.  Doesn't it take at least a minute or so to merge two (2) six (6) GB files?
2.  Don't you have 3 files when you're done?  The original 2 plus the newly merged one?  So you need to delete the old files from the library and import the new one.

That's what I meant about time, effort, and intermediate files.  A stack and a link takes something like 15 to 20 seconds and doesn't involve anything else.  

Hah. I suppose it depends on your sense of scale. Doing the same thing "in the old days" (with other file types) usually involved re-encoding the output file and hours of work. To me, a drag-drop, click "go", and wait 5 minutes (especially since you can batch them) is very quick.

Also, you do have three files, but no intermediate files.  Just the sources and the output file.  An intermediate file (and codec) is a specific "thing" in video editing.  Typical professional digital video editing involves three file types:

1. The source format: whatever native format the camera uses (these are optimized for different purposes, either record time, or quick writing speed).
2. The intermediate format: the format used for editing (this is now typically Apple ProRes in FCP, DNxHD on Avid, and I don't know what Premiere uses - these are typically optimized for performance and high-quality).
3. The delivery format: now it is typically H.264 in MP4 or on a BluRay. In the past it was often MPEG-2 for DVD and various older online streaming formats (and these are typically optimized for streaming performance and, unfortunately, encryption).

So, when you said it requires "intermediate files", to a video editor, that would mean it requires a real intermediate editing format, like it would with a NLE application (in your example of merging two files, there would be at least four files, if not more, at the end).

[RoderickGI]

It must have changed then, because it absolutely works now!  

I just checked this on Windows as I have a few old movies that are in two parts. They are old AVIs and I don't really want to be processing them again.

It works fine. Quick and easy.

Bookmarks don't work though if you are already into the second part of the movie. Stopping and playing the movie again takes you back to the start of the first movie, just as it would normally would if a full movie was played. Then when it gets to the second part of the movie MC jumps to the bookmark in that part. Not ideal, but not impossible to live with.

If you do stop watching the movie during part 2 though, and then play it again, the Skip Forward >>| button on the remote jumps to the second part of the movie, which plays from the bookmarked location. Cool.

[RoderickGI]

Ahhhhh!!!!

I may have spoken too soon . . . or rushed setting these up and did something that I shouldn't have.

I set up five of these and now every time I play a movie to the end, instead of just stopping playback, the next movie is played. Each time I start to play any movie, all movies are put into Playing Now. If I clear Playing Now, then play a movie, all movies are added back to Playing Now.

I can't stop Playing Now being populated with all movies! Same if I play a TV Episode. All Episodes in a series are added to Playing Now.

Now I sort of expect that with audio when I am using Play Doctor, but not with video!

I tried breaking all Track Links, then clearing all Stacks and breaking all Track Links.

What have I turned on that I can't turn off now? (Help!)

EDIT: Note that this happens in Standard View, but not in Theatre View. Also I am on the latest Beta, but assuming this is not a Beta issue.

[RoderickGI]

Okay, I think I found an obscure bug. I'll move this discussion to the build thread.

[blgentry]

Roderick: What you're describing sounds like the "play all visible files" behavior.  This is engaged when you press the Play button at the upper left of MC.  Look at the setting that controls it:

Tools > Options > General > Behavior > Play Button

It's set to Play all visible files by default.

Brian.

[glynor]

They are old AVIs and I don't really want to be processing them again.

Just FYI, remuxing them does not alter the audio or video data, simply wraps them in a new container (this is what mkvmerge does).  It is lossless.  Comparable to putting them in a different folder.

It wasn't clear from this comment if you were aware of this or not.

[RoderickGI]

Roderick: What you're describing sounds like the "play all visible files" behavior.  This is engaged when you press the Play button at the upper left of MC.  Look at the setting that controls it:

I have been looking at and playing with all those settings, and yes, I have it set to "play all visible files". I have just never noticed before that MC behaved this way with videos. It is entirely possible that I have never actually used the media control play or remote buttons to play video when in Standard View, but it seems unlikely. It looked like a behaviour change to me. I have nearly always used the mouse and a double click to play something when in Standard View.

But if that is the way everybody expects it to work, then I guess it has always been that way. 

It wasn't clear from this comment if you were aware of this or not.

Yep, I knew that. I just wasn't sure if MKV containers could hold the AVI format these files are in. I thought it likely, but was too lazy to check.

Besides, I wanted to check out Brian's neat solution. 

[blgentry]

But if that is the way everybody expects it to work, then I guess it has always been that way. 

Just to be clear:  This "all files play" behavior only happens when pressing the big play button on top?  ...and it does not happen when you double click a file? 

I ask because the later has been happening to me, on and off, for weeks and I can't figure out what I'm doing to make it happen.  I think it might be something like going into a fresh view that I haven't been in before, and immediately double clicking on something, as opposed to single clicking to select, and then double clicking to add to playing now.

Every time I test after this happens, I can't figure out how to make it "add all" again with just double clicks.  Maybe I'll do some more formal testing and see.

Brian.

[glynor]

Tools > Options > General > Behavior is documented here:
http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/General_Settings#Behavior

There are Separate settings, Double-click and Play button that impact these two user actions.

The defaults are correctly labeled in the wiki and are: Replace Playing Now (all) for Double-click behavior, and Play visible files for Play button behavior.

I just tested all of the variations I could think of (except File Properties mode) and it worked correctly in all ways I could tell. With Play button behavior set to Play visible files (the default) then if you select a file and click the Play button, it plays all files visible in the current view (the equivalent of Replace Playing Now (all) double-click setting). If you set it to Playing Now, then it plays your current Playing Now track and list.

[RoderickGI]

Just to be clear:  This "all files play" behavior only happens when pressing the big play button on top?  ...and it does not happen when you double click a file? 

Yes to both questions.

I got caught out a couple of times when I used the play button once, which loaded up Playing Now, hit stop and then double clicked on a file to play just it later using the setting "Replace Playing Now (single):", and then I thought I got multiple videos playing . . . but I tried so many options I can't say I was scientific about it. On a Client just now a double click replaces Playing Now with just one file correctly, but I was using the Server to test yesterday.

Maybe I'll test on the Server again later. If you are seeing some strange results as well. I thought all this started when I mis-clicked something, but I could work out what.

But for now, I think this was user error, or misunderstanding.