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[bil1010105]

I apologise if this is an FAQ, but I didn't find it anywhere.

Is there a way in MC13 or MC15 (which I've just upgraded to... nice work  ) to force the video player to always start videos from the beginning?

I use it mainly to grab screenshots of movies to use as cover art, but then I don't want the movie to start at the same place again.

Hope someone can answer my question.

Thanks.

[Matt]

It's a per-file setting.

So select all your movies and edit the 'Use Bookmarking' field to 'No'.

[mojave]

TheaterTek has a Playback Control section with Auto Resume having the option of Off, On, or Prompt. When set to Prompt it asks, "Would you like to resume playback from the last scene?" It would be nice if a feature like this was implemented in MC.

[bil1010105]

Thank you, Matt. 

+1 for mojave's suggestion also!

[rick.ca]

TheaterTek has a Playback Control section with Auto Resume having the option of Off, On, or Prompt. When set to Prompt it asks, "Would you like to resume playback from the last scene?" It would be nice if a feature like this was implemented in MC.

MC's per-file implementation of this already considerably more advanced than this. It doesn't prompt because there should be no need to. If Use Bookmarking is set to No it won't auto resume. If you've left it set to Default/Yes and previously stopped the video before it has finished and did not stop twice to clear the bookmark, then surely you would want it to resume. A prompt would be an unnecessary irritation—especially considering it's not difficult to restart from the beginning anyway. Besides, if you don't know for sure that you do want to resume, it makes more sense to resume play (to see where/why the bookmark has been set) and then restart if that is preferred.

[bil1010105]

How do I "stop twice"?  ?

As soon as I click the 'Stop' button, it goes straight back into theatre view & the navigation model changes.

Also, I would say that I rarely (if ever) want a video file to resume from the last point. If not a prompt, then there should be an option to turn it off - or at least allow me to make the default 'No' instead of 'Yes'. That way I could enable it on a file-by-file basis, on the very rare occasions I might want to resume.

Yes, I can restart it after I start playing, but that completely kills the mood when watching a film and also acts as a 'spoiler'.

[rick.ca]

How do I "stop twice"?

Press the <stop> button on your remote twice.

If not a prompt, then there should be an option to turn it off - or at least allow me to make the default 'No' instead of 'Yes'.

Yes. I actually a little strange the possible values are DEFAULT, YES and NO. It suggests the original intent was to provide an option to set the default to YES or NO.

That way I could enable it on a file-by-file basis, on the very rare occasions I might want to resume.

You can still set the flag to NO for all videos, and change it to YES for those you want to bookmark. Although I don't see how you're going to decide which movies you not going to finish watching before hand.

Yes, I can restart it after I start playing, but that completely kills the mood when watching a film and also acts as a 'spoiler'.

How can it be a spoiler if you've already watched it up to that point? How's your mood affected when you want to finish watching something, and have no way of resuming? It's obviously designed this way so we'll always have a resume point if we need it. If your circumstances are such that unwanted bookmarks tend to accumulate, it only take a second to delete all the bookmarks in the library.

[bil1010105]

Press the <stop> button on your remote twice.

You assume I'm using a remote. I'm not. How do I do it with a keyboard or mouse?

Yes. I actually a little strange the possible values are DEFAULT, YES and NO. It suggests the original intent was to provide an option to set the default to YES or NO.

You can still set the flag to NO for all videos, and change it to YES for those you want to bookmark. Although I don't see how you're going to decide which movies you not going to finish watching before hand.

Because as I said, the reason these bookmarks exist on my system is because I've forwarded to a suitable point to get a decent screenshot to use as cover art. In virtually all cases, I will not want to resume at that point. It's also just another thing to remember when importing a new video, to turn off the 'bookmark' feature (the word 'bookmark' means something else entirely to me btw, which is why I missed it the first time).

How can it be a spoiler if you've already watched it up to that point? How's your mood affected when you want to finish watching something, and have no way of resuming?

Because I may not be watching it alone.   And the second part can be covered by a prompt. That's the point. It should be optional - but currently it's not. It's an all or nothing solution. 
 

It's obviously designed this way so we'll always have a resume point if we need it.
If your circumstances are such that unwanted bookmarks tend to accumulate, it only take a second to delete all the bookmarks in the library.

I'm not questioning the design, I'm just saying that it doesn't really go far enough.

The default is 'yes'. I think we should either be able to set as an option to default to 'No' on importing new videos, or have an on-screen prompt to resume or not. The latter I think is the better option, because as you say, how do you know ahead of time whether you really want to resume or not? If last known position is turned off for that file, or you've never played it, you wouldn't get the prompt anyway.

How do I delete bookmarks in my library? I don't see that option.  

[gappie]

The default is 'yes'. I think we should either be able to set as an option to default to 'No' on importing new videos, or have an on-screen prompt to resume or not. The latter I think is the better option, because as you say, how do you know ahead of time whether you really want to resume or not? If last known position is turned off for that file, or you've never played it, you wouldn't get the prompt anyway.

How do I delete bookmarks in my library? I don't see that option.  

i think it would be nice if there was a prompt asking if the video should be resumed.
for now i made a smartlist with this rule:

Code: [Select]

[Media Type]=[Video] -[Bookmark]=[]this gives all the video files with a bookmark. in the smart list i set the view to details, and added the bookmark column. i just click on one of the bookmark values and hit ctrl A to select all, then F2 to edit the value and choose the empty value. takes a few seconds.

 
gab

[rick.ca]

How do I do it with a keyboard or mouse?

Ctrl+S².

Because as I said, the reason these bookmarks exist on my system is because I've forwarded to a suitable point to get a decent screenshot to use as cover art.

As I said, stop twice if you don't want a bookmark saved.

I'm not questioning the design, I'm just saying that it doesn't really go far enough.

But you are questioning the design. I've already explained why it's a very good design for the majority of us who accept it. (And I don't know the history, but it may very well be a feature that evolved from user demand.) I've already agreed the default should be optional—so you can opt-out. I've explained the importance of the bookmarks being saved automatically, and being used without an annoying prompt.

For such a minor feature, providing the option a completely different method is going too far. Sure, it would work fine if everyone had a perfect knowledge of both methods, understood which one would work best for them, and was aware of the option settings. This is clearly not the case (e.g., "How do I delete bookmarks in my library? I don't see that option.", "How do I "stop twice"?"). Adding such an option would result in increased confusion and frustration for all, for little benefit. The better policy is to provide the design the works best for the most of users, with the option to use it or not. This is not a "the majority always wins" rule. But a minority option should only be provided if there is compelling need (e.g., the program would be unusable in the circumstances of the minority), not because some are unwilling to adapt to what is already a good design.

[bil1010105]

Ctrl+S².

Great, thanks. 

But you are questioning the design. I've already explained why it's a very good design for the majority of us who accept it. (And I don't know the history, but it may very well be a feature that evolved from user demand.) I've already agreed the default should be optional—so you can opt-out. I've explained the importance of the bookmarks being saved automatically, and being used without an annoying prompt.

For such a minor feature, providing the option a completely different method is going too far. Sure, it would work fine if everyone had a perfect knowledge of both methods, understood which one would work best for them, and was aware of the option settings. This is clearly not the case (e.g., "How do I delete bookmarks in my library? I don't see that option.", "How do I "stop twice"?"). Adding such an option would result in increased confusion and frustration for all, for little benefit. The better policy is to provide the design the works best for the most of users, with the option to use it or not. This is not a "the majority always wins" rule. But a minority option should only be provided if there is compelling need (e.g., the program would be unusable in the circumstances of the minority), not because some are unwilling to adapt to what is already a good design.

The design is, as I see it, to handle resume functionality on a per-file basis, which I'm not questioning at all. You might think it's a minor feature, but it's stuff like that which stopped me upgrading to 14 from 13, because the usefulness as a front-room media software is severely diminished as a result. The Wiki scraping and video file info panel in theatre view is the reason I'm giving it another chance with version 15.

I'm of the opinion that where there is anything which could cause problems for any users, is to make it an option, and default to the most common setting for the majority of users. So at the moment, it's half right.  Swings and roundabouts I guess. Like you say, the fact that there is a 'default' option implies that there was a plan at one point to make this optional.

And if I (or any user) have to adapt to a piece of software's idiosyncrasies, then there's a warning light right there that something might need looking at. The software should adapt to me, not the other way around. 

Anyway, thanks for your help.

[rick.ca]

And if I (or any user) have to adapt to a piece of software's idiosyncrasies, then there's a warning light right there that something might need looking at. The software should adapt to me, not the other way around.

That sounds sensible, but it's incorrect. If bookmarking is a "feature," then MC had thousands of features. For most of those, the developers have taken a stand (after listening to us, of course) and implemented the function so it works one particular way. If they had been guided by the principal software should adapt to each user, there would be thousands of options and the software would be hopelessly unusable. One of the most important aspects of software design is determining how to balance making things so they just work "out-of-the-box," and providing users with options. Clearly, MC already gives the latter far more consideration than any of it's competitors. And I'm sure many users wonder, "Why does it have to be so complicated?"

[rick.ca]

Afterthought: It occurred to me it would be helpful if bookmarks, when they exist, be shown in Theatre View's File Info Panel. So I added this "expression field"...

If(IsEqual([Bookmark],),,FormatDuration(Math([Bookmark]/1000)) // [Duration])

While I don't mind my movies resuming at a bookmark, this might explain why a Last Played date is showing when I don't recall watching the movie. And although I haven't lost my mind completely, it may even help me remember I have something to finish watching.

[Mr ChriZ]

I'd love a prompt.  I'm forever finding videos that have resumed at the end because i didn't let it complete last time.  It's like going back to video cassette ;-)

I also occasionally flick in to the middle of stuff if watching series.  However if I then watch it with a friend I don't want to watch from the middle.

I'd still ideally like the ability to store multiple bookmarks, and even name them with a bookmark management system.

[gappie]

If(IsEqual([Bookmark],),,FormatDuration(Math([Bookmark]/1000)) // [Duration])

that is a nice one, rick. works good with mith my mkvs and avi's. not sure what happens with dvd files, but i only have a few anyway..

 
gab

[rick.ca]

not sure what happens with dvd files

Bookmarking is not working for them. I don't have many either, so I'm not sure it ever did. A search here suggests it did (for MC14, at least), and that it has been broken at times. My bookmark fields are being filled with a long string of random characters. I'm not sure that's wrong, as I suppose bookmarking might work differently for these.

Maybe someone more familiar with this can confirm if there's a bug.