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Author Topic: Theater View - Movies by Series  (Read 11093 times)

JustinChase

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Theater View - Movies by Series
« on: January 06, 2012, 08:08:32 pm »

When browsing Movies in Theater View, I want them sorted by name, mostly.  However, some movies are all part of a series, so I want the series sorted by name along with the single movies that are not part of a series.  So far, the only good way I've found to do this is to have a Series for all movies, with most just being the name of the movie as the Series.

Goodfellas, for example is both the name of the movie and the Series.

Where a Series has multiple movies "The Lord of the Rings" for example, there are 3 movies in that series.

I created a view in Theater View that groups by Series, which puts "The Lord of the Rings" between "Logan's Run" and "Love & Other Drugs" and clicking on "The Lord of the Rings" brings up the 3 movies to choose from; so far so good.  The 'problem' is that most Series don't have more than one movie in the Series, so I get a "list" of one movie.  So I have one extra click required for most movies I want to watch.  Not a big problem, I know, but a recurring annoyance I'd like to rectify.

So, how to get this view to ignore the extra step when there is only one option, but show all the movies when there are multiples?

I thought I may have seen a solution involving complex expressions, but I couldn't find it in a search, and hope there is a possibility to maybe add one more option to the setup for 'skip listing if only one file in list' or something similar, like the option to 'Show search at file level'.  Ideally, this could just be automatic.  Whenever a "list" only has one item, skip the "choice" view and continue.
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Castius

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #1 on: January 06, 2012, 08:31:10 pm »

I would think you could use sorting with Modify Results. To add some control how the files are displayed.

under:
Customize View/Settings/Included Files/Set rules for file display...

Inside there is Modify Results

I have not done this yet myself. But i would want the same thing and this i where i would start looking.
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JustinChase

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #2 on: January 06, 2012, 09:20:54 pm »

Sadly, no.  It lets me set what to include, and how to sort, and even to include 'Only duplicates of' or 'Remove Duplicates of' but this either shows only series with multiples, or excludes them.  There's no way I see to tell Theater View to not show me a "list" with only one item.

The thumbs below show better what I mean.  The first one shows the main screen with them sorted by name/series.

The next one shows the result of clicking "The Lord of the Rings" (It shows 5 movies because I haven't merged some of them together yet).

The next one shows the result of clicking "Logan's Run" and only showing the one movie in the series.  This is the step I wish to eliminate.  There is only one choice here, so I want this step to be skipped and go directly to what you see in the last thumb, which actually tells me about the movie and lets me play it.

I hope that makes more sense, and that someone has a clever solution :)
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MrC

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #3 on: January 06, 2012, 09:38:22 pm »

This thread seems like the same topic.
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JustinChase

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #4 on: January 06, 2012, 10:29:13 pm »

Yeah, thanks; it really does look like the same request (after a few posts).  However, after reading it, it is/was not really helpful. 

It seemed filled with a lot of 'create this expression and customize this view' and 'no one else complains, so this a silly request' sentiment but never really addressed the simple request.  Also, the oft repeated "press enter twice, it's easy" is not a solution I would like either.

The drawing presented there is pretty much the same thing I tried to show in my screenshots, and the point TMA-1 was trying to make with the drawing (not the original question actually) is that when navigating the current system, when the result of a selection only has one result, simply skip that result (because it's redundant) and go to the next step, which is my last thumb, and the last step in his beautiful drawing. 

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=67979.msg457412#msg457412

Yes, hitting enter again will work, but why should that be necessary?

If my car doesn't start on the first try and my mechanic said, just start it twice, I'd go elsewhere.

I know there are lots of irons in the development fire, and maybe this can't be 'fixed' internally, so I'll continue to deal with it, but maybe it's a simple 'fix' and can happen.

Here's to hoping :)
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Castius

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #5 on: January 07, 2012, 12:33:41 am »

Ahh sorry for the misunderstanding.

I saw that thread but have not really read over it much
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syndromeofadown

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #6 on: January 07, 2012, 12:39:10 am »

I'm kind of confused about what you are trying to accomplish but i can explain my view in case it may help.

I use series, and series images, for both movies and TV.
For TV i view by series-->season-->disc/episode (disc is for dvdrips, episode is for other-videos)
For movies i view by series-->name-->disc/part (disc is for dvdrips, part is for other-videos)

When a movie isn't part of a series i use "-" to fill its series field.
I suppose i could substitute this for "No series", "None", "Empty",etc
Its possible I could just leave it empty. Anyways....

When I Select movies in theater view, MC shows me all available series along with the option to select "All Series" as well as "-".

If i want to watch a series, i select one and MC shows me each movie contained in that series.

If none of the series interest me i choose "All series" where i am presented with every movie i have, including the ones in series.
Here series are automatically grouped together because they are named correctly. ie. in a series

If i want to see all movies except the ones in series i select "-"

Hopefully helpful.
Good luck
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rick.ca

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #7 on: January 07, 2012, 12:51:27 am »

Yes, hitting enter again will work, but why should that be necessary?

It's perfectly obvious why it's necessary. You can't assume the file list is unnecessary just because you've decided to use a category with many values for which there is just one item—unless you also assume all the information included in the small info panel will be repeated in the large info panel. For most views, that would not be a sensible assumption. The purpose of the large panel is to provide additional and more detailed information, without necessarily repeating everything already displayed in the small panel. The file info panels are defined globally (i.e., you can have as many different templates as required, but each template applies to all views), so you still have a problem even if the requested behaviour is an option applied at the view level.

You're also implicitly rejecting a number of other ways of presenting movie series. It doesn't make much sense to be setting [Series] when a movie is, in fact, not part of a series. If it were left empty, the same view configuration would provide you with a category list of only movie series. That would still be quite versatile, as you would be able to choose "All Series" to get a file list of all movies or "Unassigned" to get a file list of just movies not part of a series (i.e., what syndromeofadown has pointed out).

The alternative I prefer is to simply use a separate view for displaying movies series. My small info panel indicates the series a movie is part of, serving as a reminder of that fact in other views. I just switch to my "Series" view when I'm interested in the details of the other members of a series (if they're not readily available in the current view). I find that no less convenient than switching views to browse my collection by an alternate set of categories or by date viewed. One of the great advantages of the Theatre View design is the ease of configuring alternate views, and the ability to rapidly switch between them.

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If my car doesn't start on the first try and my mechanic said, just start it twice, I'd go elsewhere.

I wouldn't last long as your mechanic. When you complain your car is too slow and difficult to steer, I'd tell you to drive it forward—as it was designed for—instead of in reverse all the time. ;D
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Daydream

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #8 on: January 07, 2012, 04:57:36 am »

Rick, it's not the first time I saw you arguing this line and I don't doubt that in your universe (and other's on this forum, I don't think you're alone) this somehow works. However I choose to believe it is also flawed at a human level and that somehow you - all of you who think this works - had enough exchanges to the point that you convinced yourselves this is it.

It is flawed, you are bending what comes natural when navigating to your tech perceptions. That is why you have to explain the world how great MC it is. We don't see it like you guys do. We understand it's a complex and marvelous piece of software but we also expect to make sense the simple way. I may design some intricate way to present my movies. But when I got to the movie I wanna play I want click-GO! Some arbitrary decision taken by others - be them the devs - about how and where and in what sequence the metadata should be presented just doesn't make sense. Making even more convoluted solutions - "the other alternatives" one may also refuse - doesn't make it any better.

And to the original point, the feature in question should be called by the name it exists in many other places in the world - the Boxset feature.
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MrHaugen

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #9 on: January 07, 2012, 09:26:56 am »

Even though the Big info panel discussion is a bit of topic, I'll have to say I support Daydream. The navigation and metadata presentation in Theater View is NOT perfect. The reason for it not being perfect, is that each and one of us have different preferences. Some like much metadata, some don't. Some want it on some media types, and others would like the opposite media types. There is just none of you who can say that this and that is the correct way of doing it. Because, there is no right or wrong.

I've said it quite a few times, but I'll say it again. We need more control of what info panels is shown in each view. Not globally. Some want to show the small info pane on certain items. Some want only the big info pane. Some people don't care for the extra click that the big info pane gives at ALL.

At the bottom level, for each view, there should be an option to include small info pane and/or large info pane, or drop it all together. That should be able to satisfy everyone I think. Todays default is FINE. But those that does not support this model, would be eternally grateful to be able to choose this them self!

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JustinChase

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #10 on: January 07, 2012, 09:27:53 am »

I'll try to clarify what I want.

I want to see all of my movies in Theater View, in some sort of order, preferably by name.  However, Lord of the Rings is really 3 movies.  I normally don't want the 3 (or 6 if you don't combine them) movies taking up space in the list when I'm trying to figure out what I may want to watch.  The first screen shot I included above is ideal.  One place holder in the list representing several movies.  I have several movies from the Avengers comics (Thor, Green Lantern, Iron Man, etc).  I have all 3 Bourne movies.

If I want to see something from that "Series" of movies, clicking on it to show what is in that series works great.  It opens a new view with all the items in the Series.

I don't want The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King all included in the long list of movies, especially since I'm ignoring "The" so they don't even stay together in the list.

The only way I've found to get what I'm trying to describe above is to put the related movies into a series.

Once I do this, I have to create a view by series to see them listed and sorted by series.  If I don't put all the rest of the movies in a series, then I get weird sorting.  All my movies that don't have a series sorted, then all the movies that are part of a series sorted at the end of that list.  They are not all sorted together.  This is not what I wish to see.

So, assuming there isn't a better way to sort series movies in line with regular movies (please tell me if there is another way), I have to create a view that shows Series as a second roller, so that it will show the individual movies in a series.  The problem is that 80% of the time this "list" only contains one movie. (see thumb #3 above) I don't need/want to see a list of one.  There is nothing to "choose" from, so I would prefer it be skipped.

I don't think this is too much to ask.  The point of clicking on items (to me) is to narrow down a list.  Once it's down to one item, I should not have to keep choosing.

I hope that makes more sense.
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rick.ca

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #11 on: January 07, 2012, 02:26:48 pm »

It is flawed, you are bending what comes natural when navigating to your tech perceptions...

Nonsense! I'm not some lunatic from another universe. I enjoy, apparently to a fault, musing how "problems" others find themselves in might be "solved." I don't really care whether the "solution" is characterized as an explanation of how to use the program the way it was designed, or a workaround for an unforgivable flaw in the design. Any honest, intelligent discussion will be potentially helpful to users and in identifying possible improvements to the program.

The premise the current design is flawed and others are too brainwashed to be able to see it is dishonest to the point of being silly. The design is what it is. It's perfectly sensible and logical. That doesn't mean there can't be a valid argument for something better or an improvement. Intentionally using it contrary to it's design and then suggesting the result suggests the whole design is flawed is spurious and unproductive.

I pointed out the simplistic solution of skipping the file list would lead to further conflicts with how the info panels are designed. This was ignored, then apparently taken as further evidence the design is fundamentally flawed. I explained several ways in which movie series can be effectively handled using the program as designed. These suggestions are also being ignored in order to cling to the original false premise. You've hinted there might be something added to the current design that would handle things like this, but failed described what that is.

So let me try. Although I apparently lack experience with "many other places in the world," I suppose a "Box set" feature is one that allows files to be grouped in the file list, eliminating the need to so with a category. It would be potentially useful for movie series, box sets (which can be things other than series) or different versions of the same movie. (Music CD's are also sold as box sets, but that's a different situation. I'm not sure if there's any need for a separate or more complex feature for those.) This might be something that works automatically for files with a value in a special [Box Set] field. Those would appear in the file list as one item (somehow identified as box sets, e.g., with some sort of '+' graphic). When selected, the program could attempt to summarize data for the fields configured for the info panel. Users would also have the option of creating custom fields for box set (e.g., [Box Set Description]) and displaying those. Selecting a box set and pressing Enter/OK would display a normal file list of the contents of the set.

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It is flawed, you are bending what comes natural when navigating to your tech perceptions.

More nonsense. In fact, there's more truth in the exact opposite view. The current design embodies a simple elegance that makes it powerful, flexible and easy to use. Unfortunately, it's so much so it's easy for those who don't have a clear idea of what they want to get into trouble. The feature I just described would be straightforward, useful and perfectly consistent with the existing design. If it weren't for discussions like this, I'd say it's obvious such features should be added. Sadly, many users—even some with considerable experience with the program—struggle with what is already a straightforward and supremely natural design. So even though a feature like this is straightforward and potentially useful, it has to be weighed against the negative consequences. It will add a little more complexity to a design already unfairly criticized as "flawed" and "unnatural."

I know this will fall on deaf ears, but I'll say it again. JRiver has explicitly stated there is no chance of a redesign or radical overhaul of Theatre View any time soon. At the same time, they've asked for concrete suggestions for incremental improvements or features that might be added. So why the persistent complaining the design is flawed—without any concrete suggestions for improvements?
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JustinChase

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #12 on: January 07, 2012, 06:36:45 pm »

I don't see how any of the last few posts actually relate to my issue, or my suggestion for resolution. (starting with "It's perfectly obvious why it's necessary."; but it isn't perfectly obvious why showing a list of only one item is necessary.  It's obvious why it happens, but it's necessity is HIGHLY debatable)

I suggested that a list containing one item should be skipped.  I don't think it's that hard to understand or implement.  The only part that seemed to directly deal with this issue was "skipping the file list would lead to further conflicts with how the info panels are designed", but was not expanded on, and I disagree with it.  Skipping the display of the one movie 'list' and just continuing to the final screen which shows the movie on the right with the info on the left is perfectly logical.  I don't suggest this intermediary list screen should ALWAYS be skipped, ONLY if it's a "list of one". 

For example, if I click "Logan's Run" from the main list, why show me ONLY "Logan's Run" again with info about the movie on the right, forcing me to click "Logan's Run" again, which then shows me "Logan's Run" again, but on the right side of the screen, with the description on the left this time before I can finally click "Watch"?  It's redundant, and silly and unnecessary; in this particular case.

The change I request may not happen, okay.  I just wanted to make what I thought was a simple request.

If you all wish to continue the philosophical debate of overall design methodology and user ability/necessity to circumvent, or the need to do so, please move it to another thread.  I really just want feedback on this particular issue here.  Mainly to see if others think this would benefit them also.  If so, maybe it can make the list for change.

Thanks for any help with the specific issue I'm discussing here.
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rick.ca

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #13 on: January 07, 2012, 07:10:11 pm »

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but it isn't perfectly obvious why showing a list of only one item is necessary.  It's obvious why it happens, but it's necessity is HIGHLY debatable

In the context of the fundamental design, it's obvious. It could be debated in the context of a completely different design, but that would be pointless. A fundamental redesign will not be considered. You're choosing to ignore what I've already explained in order to continue a pointless discussion. I've suggested different ways to handle the situation which are possible using the current design. It's understandable you might prefer something different, so I've also commented on an additional feature that would help, but you're choosing to ignore that as well. This is why constructive suggestions rarely go anywhere. They're usually overwhelmed with persistent complaints the program should work in a way that avoids the trouble the user brought on themselves by ignoring the perfectly sensible way it was designed to work.

If you don't like groups of one, don't define categories that result in them. Or create an alternate view. Or participate in a positive discussion about a possible new feature that would eliminate the issue. There might even be a solution along the lines you suggest, but it will likely never happen because you unwilling to discuss how it might work.
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JustinChase

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #14 on: January 07, 2012, 11:07:57 pm »

As I said before...
If you all wish to continue the philosophical debate of overall design methodology and user ability/necessity to circumvent, or the need to do so, please move it to another thread.  I really just want feedback on this particular issue here.

Yet, you insist upon ignoring me, and responding with inaccurate and unhelpful information  >:(

In the context of the fundamental design, it's obvious.

No, it is NOT "perfectly obvious why showing a list of only one item is necessary".  In fact, it's bad behavior to ask the same question over and over, which is what this really is.  I picked a movie, then MC presents me with a screen requiring me to make a choice, with the only option being the exact same thing I just chose.  It's absurd, not 'perfectly obviously necessary'.  I understand WHY this currently happens, but that doesn't make it necessary.  Nor does it require a "complete redesign" of Theater View.  Considering Matt just wrote an internal convolution mechanism that manages any number of inputs, in any number of formats, converting to any number of outputs, in under a week, with little/no prior knowledge about the topic 10 days ago, I'm pretty sure he can figure out [if list of options in screen to be presented]=1 or [same item just selected], skip display of item, and instead just display the result of that unnecessary selection of the one and only option from the to-be-skipped screen.  He's a pretty smart guy, I'm sure he could do that without redesigning the entire Theater View system.

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It could be debated in the context of a completely different design, but that would be pointless.

You're not even reading and understanding what I'm writing.  I don't want any "redesign" of anything.  It's not necessary, or desired.  If you care to start paying attention, what I said is
I suggested that a list containing one item should be skipped.  I don't think it's that hard to understand or implement.

Apparently I overestimated you're ability or willingness to understand this.  I'll try again for you...

If a view needs a selection made, but contains only one item, I don't need to be asked, the decision can be made for me.  One option=no choice.  i.e. skip it!  If you actually try to follow along, the screen I'm suggesting be sometimes skipped only has 2 possible ways out of it, select the exact same thing I just selected, or go back to the screen from where I just made the choice, thereby reversing the choice I just made to get here.  There is NO other possibility of doing anything else here.  Since it makes no sense to go back to the screen I just left, the only logical thing that can be done is to chose the only item available here.  I simply suggest that MC make this obvious/only/logical choice for me, i.e. continue to the result of that inevitable choice.

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A fundamental redesign will not be considered.

Not only was one not requested, it's unnecessary.  But more importantly, I was unaware that you were in charge of decisions as to what will or will not be considered regarding a business you neither own, nor work for.  When did this wonderful power get bestowed upon you?  Your sense of self-worth is astounding!

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You're choosing to ignore what I've already explained in order to continue a pointless discussion.


No, I have not ignored it "in order to continue a pointless discussion".  Instead, I specifically asked you to take it elsewhere because I don't want to "continue a pointless discussion" with you.  You clearly don't understand the topic, and are therefore not discussing it.  The only thing pointless about any of this is your input here.

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I've suggested different ways to handle the situation which are possible using the current design. It's understandable you might prefer something different, so I've also commented on an additional feature that would help, but you're choosing to ignore that as well.


As I've said in response to many of your suggestions, I have no real desire to create numerous complicated views with complicated expressions to do simple things.  I also said that if the very specific request I have made cannot be done, then that's fine also.  I'll live with the small little annoyance.  I will not spend hours circumventing things because you insist that's the only way to fix this.

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This is why constructive suggestions rarely go anywhere. They're usually overwhelmed with persistent complaints the program should work in a way that avoids the trouble the user brought on themselves by ignoring the perfectly sensible way it was designed to work.

Nothing you've typed thus far, in this thread, or the one referred to earlier, is constructive to me, or my request.  It's convoluted, condescending, arrogant, insulting and completely misses the point of the thread(s).  Your only suggestion, from what I can see is "to simply use a separate view for displaying movies series." as a solution to my very first sentences in this thread, which read
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When browsing Movies in Theater View, I want them sorted by name, mostly.  However, some movies are all part of a series, so I want the series sorted by name along with the single movies that are not part of a series.

Are you really suggesting the solution to 'sort them all together' is 'to have separate views'?  Wow!

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If you don't like groups of one, don't define categories that result in them. Or create an alternate view.

So, to restate, you're constructive suggestions are 1) don't do the thing you want to do, or 2) create the thing that you've already tried unsuccessfully to create.  Genius!

As I've already said, I don't know any other way to get the results I want without having some view that results in a category of one.  I'm not willing to dedicate hours to creating convoluted views, based on complex expressions so that's not an option either.

The other option you're not considering there, is "request that the developers of the program make a simple change that has no downside, no adverse effects, makes perfect logical sense, and is likely easy to implement".  Which is all I'm trying to do.

It's clear you think it's a dumb request.  That's fine, I don't care what you think.  I wasn't asking you.  I've even asked you not to respond, yet here you are again, clogging up what could have been a simple request thread, that might have led to me and others getting a change that would benefit us.  By this point, anyone that can make the change I request, or might comment on the usefulness of my request in their personal usage of MC has long since stopped reading the drivel words you've dumped all over this thread now too.

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Or participate in a positive discussion about a possible new feature that would eliminate the issue. There might even be a solution along the lines you suggest, but it will likely never happen because you unwilling to discuss how it might work.

Just more proof you don't even read anything that I've written.  This is EXACTLY what I've tried to do.  You, on the other hand, have written this...

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The premise the current design is flawed and others are too brainwashed to be able to see it is dishonest to the point of being silly.

How do you really think that is helpful?  If you see that as anything other than a condescending, unhelpful, holier-than-thou, insult to me and Daydream who's comments you are replying to, and pretty much everyone else that you call "brainwashed", you need some serious help.

Your aggressive, 'I'm the only one that gets it and you're all idiots' tone is not what ANYONE would call "positive discussion"

If you insist on continuing trolling here (I'd prefer you don't), it had better start off with an explanation of what you think I want (so I can see if you've finally understood), then a possible solution.  Anything else is unnecessary, and unwanted.
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syndromeofadown

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #15 on: January 08, 2012, 01:58:58 am »

JustinChase I now understand what you are doing, and trying to do.

I agree with rick.ca's advice when he said
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It doesn't make much sense to be setting [Series] when a movie is, in fact, not part of a series. If it were left empty, the same view configuration would provide you with a category list of only movie series. That would still be quite versatile, as you would be able to choose "All Series" to get a file list of all movies or "Unassigned" to get a file list of just movies not part of a series

Here is something you can try that is close to what you want.
It will however come with the cost of loosing series art.

Here is what to do:
(I'm assuming you use the name field for your movie names. If not, substitute in the field you use)
1)when movies are in a series enter a series name, if no series then blank.
2)instead of viewing by library fields 'Series' then 'Name', use an expression to combine the the two.
 
Code: [Select]
listbuild(1,; ,[Series],[Name])&datatype=[list]
With this done you should see series thumbnails along side movie thumbnails.
If you choose a series thumbnail MC will present you with all movies in that series.
If you choose one of the movies instead of the series thumbnail MC will present you with the movie.
In this view you will see movies contained in series alongside their series thumbnails.
I assume you don't want this, but I can't think of a solution as the moment.


Another thing that might be useful to you...

For movies that are part of a series, try including the series name in their 'name' field as well.
Examples:
Series\Name
Hellboy\Hellboy 1
Hellboy\Hellboy 2 - The Golden Army
Lord Of The Rings\Lord Of The Rings 1 - The Fellowship of the Ring
Lord Of The Rings\Lord Of The Rings 2 - The Two Towers
Lord Of The Rings\Lord Of The Rings 3 - The Return of the King

With this done they will always be shown together and consecutively.
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JustinChase

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #16 on: January 08, 2012, 02:19:44 am »

Thanks for the tips.  I also agree that...
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It doesn't make much sense to be setting [Series] when a movie is, in fact, not part of a series.

However, I have not found any better way to get what I have described.  The downsides are the extra navigation I'm trying to eliminate with this request, and having to manually add the "Series" to my Movies.  Neither is too much trouble, nor too bothersome, but I was/am hoping to eliminate the extra clicking if possible.  It's pretty easy to copy Name to Series, so I'm not too worried about that.

As for the expression, it sounds close, but it also sounds like I'll see the series AND the movies all in the main view, if I understand this correctly.

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In this view you will see movies contained in series alongside their series thumbnails.
I assume you don't want this, but I can't think of a solution as the moment.

You would be correct, it sounds like this really just adds the Series to the list of Names, so I still get the Movies of a Series in line with the non-Series Movies, which actually seems like more clutter.  I'll try the expression later/tomorrow to be sure I understand, and hope to be pleasantly surprised. :)

I also tried this for a while...
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Lord Of The Rings\Lord Of The Rings 1 - The Fellowship of the Ring
Lord Of The Rings\Lord Of The Rings 2 - The Two Towers
Lord Of The Rings\Lord Of The Rings 3 - The Return of the King

But, as with many things in life, the lesser of two evils annoyances is the extra click method I currently use.

The downsides with this method for me are the extra movies in the list, and the fact that the names like this don't pull metadata properly with 'Get Movie & TV Info...'  Neither is a big deal, but more of a "pick your poison" situation.  I pick the extra click, as it's the least bothersome to me.

Hopefully, when Matt has some free time he can just implement the automatic choice/skip request and all will be well with The Force again  :D

Thanks again for the suggestions.
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BartMan01

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #17 on: January 08, 2012, 07:23:20 pm »

I use the [Series] tag to mark these, then I use a separate entry in Theater View for these:
[Media Sub Type]=[Movie] -[Series]=[] ~sort=[Series],[Episode Order],[Date],[Episode],[Name]
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JustinChase

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #18 on: January 08, 2012, 07:50:26 pm »

I use the [Series] tag to mark these, then I use a separate entry in Theater View for these:
[Media Sub Type]=[Movie] -[Series]=[] ~sort=[Series],[Episode Order],[Date],[Episode],[Name]


I'm sorry, but I don't quite follow.

You fill in the [Series] tags on the Series movies, but not on the other Movies, correct?

Then you do something with that expression in Theater View I assume, but I'm not sure where you're putting it.

I'm also not clear if this give the result I'm looking for, which it to show the series in line with the "regular" movies, and clicking a regular movie goes right to the final screen, where you can Play it, but the Series movies stop at the intermediate list showing all the movies in the series.

If so; Fantastic!  Where exactly are you putting the expression you're showing there?
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BartMan01

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #19 on: January 08, 2012, 08:19:43 pm »

Doesn't do exactly what you want, but I haven't taken the time to get that fancy with it yet.  In my regular 'movies' view, series movies appear in alphabetical order mixed in with the others.  For now I have a separate 'Movie Series' section in Theater View right next to the regular 'Movies' one (the expression above was exported from it) that only shows movies that have the 'series' field filled out.  If I know I want to watch one (or all) of a series, I go to the 'Movie Series' instead of the regular 'Movies' section. 

The sort order includes a custom 'episode order' tag that I use for series (TV or Movie) where I want to control the sort order.
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marko

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #20 on: January 27, 2012, 01:48:33 am »

Justin, I have not read all of this, so am not sure if you're sorted here or not yet, you're last post suggests not...

If you set a view like so:


Where "Name" is derived from an expression, like so:


You get what you say you are after. I use "Album" for mine rather than series, and I only fill the Album field for movies that are part of a series. For this to work for you, you would need to clear your series field for movies that are not in a series. The expression for you would be:
Code: [Select]
if(isempty([series]),[name],[series]\[name])&datatype=[list]
Now, this really does work exactly the way you're asking... All the movies are in the list, if it's not part of a series, a single click takes you to the end, if it is part of a series, a single click takes you to a list of movies in the series. Movies that are part of a series are not shown in the main list of movie names.

The only issue I see you might be left with is that I cannot get the "Series" movies (once a series has been entered) to sort by date. They always sort by name. To get date sorting, the whole list needs to be sorted by date. I think there might be a bug in there as I keep my "Box Sets" in separate view of their own, and there, the "Albums" sort by name, and the "Films within" sort by date, (oldest first) as I have set them to using the "rules for file display" tool. I have also noticed in testing this for you, that the file caption rules I have set are not being honoured, but they are in my own "Box Sets" view. For example, I have a rule for file caption that says if the [name] contains "Harry Potter", to drop the "Harry Potter and the " from the name.

See how you get on with that for the time being though...

-marko

MrHaugen

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #21 on: January 27, 2012, 04:47:09 am »

I've been looking for ways to handle Movie series my self. I'll test this later on. I think I'll create a custom field for Movie Series though. Hope that will work as well as with Albums.
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MrHaugen

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #22 on: January 27, 2012, 01:45:22 pm »

I'm disappointed in you Marko :P This did not work like we expected. I created a String field for SeriesTitle and followed this instructions. There was a few problems.

The problem is that each single movie is displayed in a list with just one item. That means two things.
1. You have to enter or click one more time to enter a view with single movies.
2. No Small info pane when browsing through the videos. Only when you look at single items in list or the boxset items.
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marko

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #23 on: January 28, 2012, 12:43:23 am »

Hmm... apologies...

This means that I didn't immediately understand...

Are you saying that you want to be able to be in a file list, like so...


and want to be able to have one entry there for "Aliens" that when clicked upon, takes you to a secondary file list that has just the four "Alien" movies showing? If that's right, then I'm out. As far as I am aware that cannot be done at the moment.

My suggestion is probably as close as you're going to get with what we have at our disposal at the moment. Hope I didn't waste too much of your time.

Personally, my Theater View wish is to be in a "Big Info" view for a file, and be able to move on to the next file from there, rather than go back to the file list, select the next file, press enter, press back, select next file, press enter, press back, select next file, press enter....

-marko

AVTechMan

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #24 on: January 28, 2012, 02:02:22 am »

I'm sure there is a way somehow, it just hasn't have been found yet. If Mediabrowser can do it then I am sure eventually it can be done in MC. That's how I did my movie series in MB.
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rick.ca

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #25 on: January 28, 2012, 05:23:15 am »

Personally, my Theater View wish is to be in a "Big Info" view for a file, and be able to move on to the next file from there, rather than go back to the file list, select the next file, press enter, press back, select next file, press enter, press back, select next file, press enter....

Can you program those keystrokes to your remote? I find that works nicely.
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MrHaugen

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #26 on: January 28, 2012, 06:42:24 am »

Hmm... apologies...

This means that I didn't immediately understand...

Are you saying that you want to be able to be in a file list, like so...
and want to be able to have one entry there for "Aliens" that when clicked upon, takes you to a secondary file list that has just the four "Alien" movies showing? If that's right, then I'm out. As far as I am aware that cannot be done at the moment.

My suggestion is probably as close as you're going to get with what we have at our disposal at the moment. Hope I didn't waste too much of your time.

Personally, my Theater View wish is to be in a "Big Info" view for a file, and be able to move on to the next file from there, rather than go back to the file list, select the next file, press enter, press back, select next file, press enter, press back, select next file, press enter....

-marko

I was just kidding Marko..... :) Yes, that is the way I want it to work. I think this is impossible as well with todays methods. A little change in the logic of Theater View might fix this though. I would like an option to have single files in categories to be presented as files at the same level a other categories with more items. Or something similar to that. I do not know the consequences though.

I'm also wishing for a Bing info pane that we can brows next and previous items in. I would prefer if we had this kind of cover flow at the bottom though. Just much smaller. At least the middle image. But simple key presses would also work. IF this cover flow project Matt is working on is just focusing on enabling more meta data on screen, I do think that would work for many of us as well. But the image focus have to be taken down a notch I think.
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darichman

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #27 on: January 28, 2012, 07:27:00 am »

Justin, I have often found myself wanting to do something similar. I also tag movies into the [Series] field, but not for collections of movies but rather to accommodate extras, trailers and special features.
  - So Avatar, the making of Avatar, the trailer etc all get tagged as [Series]=Avatar

I previously used a custom [Movies] field but switched to using series not long ago (I had to do this to take advantage of Series art and because I wanted to have the names of video releases across a range of formats within the one field for consistency.)

Naturally, not all my movies have special features. So when using views with [Series] as a category I run into the same issue as you. I never found a workaround.
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glynor

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #28 on: January 28, 2012, 09:52:21 am »

This is why I'd like better handling of Stacked files in Theater View.  I, personally, stack my "specials" and "extras" with their movies.  I very rarely actually want to use them, so this isn't a huge hardship.

However, if Theater View was able to treat stacked files like another view level when you open them at the "file level" in a view (almost as if they were a "folder" of files), then you'd be able to accomplish what you'd like.

The big problem with this issue is that you wouldn't want this to happen for everything.  For Audio and Image files you probably would not want to ever see the individual files in a stack (because they are likely going to be different versions of the same file).  So, we'd need either:

1. A fast way to enable/disable displaying of stacked files globally in Theater View, so that you could toggle modes.
2. An option to "show stacked files" in the Theater View configuration system on a per-view basis (so that you could pre-set Audio to not show stacks, and movies to show them).

I've posted about this before.

For the multiple movies in a series thing (like The Godfather or Back to the Future), I just number them in the [Name] tag.  Another option would be to use the [Series] or [Episode] tag and use sorting to just make sure they all sort together.  I don't do this because of the sorting difficulties.
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MrHaugen

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #29 on: January 28, 2012, 10:56:55 am »

2. An option to "show stacked files" in the Theater View configuration system on a per-view basis (so that you could pre-set Audio to not show stacks, and movies to show them).
That would be sweet. We have options per-view already, so it would not complicate much from a user perspective. Only thing I'm concerned about is the naming. What would the actual name be on this stacks?
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JustinChase

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #30 on: January 28, 2012, 11:28:37 am »

Hmm... apologies...

Are you saying that you want to be able to be in a file list, and want to be able to have one entry there for "Aliens" that when clicked upon, takes you to a secondary file list that has just the four "Alien" movies showing?
No apology necessary, I appreciate your efforts to help!  To confirm, yes, that's what I am wanting.

It is actually possible, and it's how I do it now, but the negative of it is that All movies go to a second roller, and those that don't have multiples in a Series/Boxset/whatever just show the one movie listed a second time.  I just want to skip that step, for those movies that aren't part of a Series/Boxset.

Well, since no one else has discovered a method to do this, I'm just going to re-iterate my request for a fix, since it's gotten buried  :)

In Theater view, if I click on an item that takes me to a list view, and that list contains only one item, can that one item be selected automatically, i.e. can screen be skipped?  Since there are only 2 possible choices available

1. go back to the screen where I was when I clicked the item to get here (which you wouldn't do)
2. select the only item available

This would need to work in both directions (drilling down, and backing out), which might make it a bit more difficult, but otherwise, I think this seems a pretty easy 'fix'.

Thanks for all the help/suggestions everyone
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glynor

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #31 on: January 28, 2012, 11:29:19 am »

That would be sweet. We have options per-view already, so it would not complicate much from a user perspective. Only thing I'm concerned about is the naming. What would the actual name be on this stacks?

You can already have different [Name] tags for stacked files.

It does make management more difficult though.  You have to remember to expand the stack before you tag any file where you want the items "underneath" it in the stack to have unique properties.  When a stack is "expanded", the component members work like (and are) completely separate entries in the MC database.  They show up separately in Theater View, and you can tag them independently just like you would any other two files.

When the stacks are collapsed, any tagging change you make to the files applies to all of them in the Stack equally, and only the "top member" shows up in Theater Views.

So, this means if you want to apply the same [Genre] to all of the files in a stack, you have to make sure the stack is collapsed, and then tag [Genre].  If you accidentally tag [Name] while the stack is collapsed, then it'll happily rename them all to the same exact thing.  I've done this once or twice, but the filenames always saved me quickly.

I don't have very many of these that I like to keep, and they're already well tagged before I stack them, so this isn't a huge issue to me (though it was a little meddlesome to update these with the new metadata lookup system, which is how I screwed up a few of my name tags).  So, if you have a lot of these, and your collection is constantly growing, the current workflow is probably not the best solution.  For a handful of "important movies" that you want to keep extras for, it isn't too difficult to manage.
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MrHaugen

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Re: Theater View - Movies by Series
« Reply #32 on: January 28, 2012, 06:32:03 pm »

I see. Thanks for the introduction to stacks. I have not used it much, as you might have guessed. With this possible user errors I think it might be better for the average users to have another system for this.

If the previous and upcoming title tags was downloaded and stored from TMDB, this could be done rather automatic. If one of the movies in this series had a series name, the associated movies that is imported would end up with the same series name and treated at a box set. This is a possibility. But it WOULD create a bit manual work if there was a gap between the movies. You have for instance the first movie in the series, that has the title of the second movie in the series. But you download the third movie instead, and the movies is linked. No Series name is applied. Would it not be convenient if TMDB also had tags of all titles in the Box set? I'm not 100% sure if they do or not.

I think most of us would manage grouping up this movies and series manually. The biggest problem today is how they are presented. A choice of allowing box sets another view level is a must. In some way or another.
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