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[NickF]

There are many posts on this subject in the context of recorded TV Shows but I have many DVDs with TV show seasons and series and I need some advice on how to best organise them in my library.

Firstly, I have already ripped most of them to Video_TS folders as ifo and vob files.  I would prefer to have them as mkv files so that I can use madVR.  So the first question is about ripping or converting to mkv.  Do I create a single mkv file for each episode or is it better to create a single mkv for each disc and then use something like Particles to break out the episodes?

Whichever ripping method I choose, I assume I am going to lose the original menus.  So how do I now organise the files in the library to be able to navigate?  I know there are fields for Season and Series but I don't know what to put in them and I don't know how they are used to navigate.

Take an example: I have most of the Frasier Seasons.  So 10 seasons with 4 discs in each and 5 or 6 episodes on each disc.  How do I populate the library fields and, having done so, how does this work for navigation in TheaterView?

Any help much appreciated.

Nick.

[Hendrik]

Firstly, I have already ripped most of them to Video_TS folders as ifo and vob files.  I would prefer to have them as mkv files so that I can use madVR.  So the first question is about ripping or converting to mkv.  Do I create a single mkv file for each episode or is it better to create a single mkv for each disc and then use something like Particles to break out the episodes?

Use a single file per episode, everything else is going to be a pain.

Whichever ripping method I choose, I assume I am going to lose the original menus.  So how do I now organise the files in the library to be able to navigate?  I know there are fields for Season and Series but I don't know what to put in them and I don't know how they are used to navigate.

The numbers are pretty straight forward. Season is of course just the Season, and Episode the Episode. I don't know how you can go wrong there.
The "official" numbering/order of the episodes has to be used, of course. You can always check http://thetvdb.com/ for which episode has which number, but generally its just 1 to N for every season.
If you name the files like "Show.S01E01.mkv", then MC17 will be able to automatically fill Season and Episode, and gather all sorts of metadata from TVDB.

Once you have this setup, you can create a View in TheaterView that will show a list of your shows. Once you click on the show, it shows a list of Seasons, and once you click on the Season, you get a list of the Episodes in that Season. Perfect TV Show browsing experience, imho.

[NickF]

Thanks for the advice.  I had just had a try with MakeMKV and it defaults to one mkv per episode so that bit is easy enough!  I have done a new DVD and hopefully I can point it at my Video_TS rips to convert them.

I have made some progress with naming and fields and am now getting somewhere with TheaterView.

Thanks again,

Nick.

[CountryBumkin]

With DVDs, the Title numbers shown on the disc are not always the same as the episode number (meaning Title 1 on the DVD might be Episode 2, etc.).

I have not found an easy way with MKV to determine which Title corresponds to which Epsisode, so when I rip DVDs I use CloneDVD (from Slysoft) since CloneDVD has a mini-movie viewer built in which lets you see which episode is selected before you rip it. Once I determine which episode it is, I rip it and then convert it to MKV. Then I rename the MKV file (to SeriesName S01.E01 EpisodeName.mkv, and move on to the next one.

Is there an easier way?

[NickF]

With DVDs, the Title numbers shown on the disc are not always the same as the episode number (meaning Title 1 on the DVD might be Episode 2, etc.).

Oh dear!!  I had assumed that MakeMKV title numbers were in episode order.  So now I have to view them all to work out the correct titles.  I think I'll go back to Video_TS!!  When is madVR going to work with Video_TS files!  I thought it was too easy!

Nick.

[rick.ca]

Oh dear!!  I had assumed that MakeMKV title numbers were in episode order.

Generally, they are. But sometimes episodes are originally broadcast in an order different than that intended by the producers. When the DVD is published, it may be in that order, or some other order the producer of the DVD thinks is 'better'. Meta data sources (and TVDb in particular), on the other hand, generally number the episodes as they were originally broadcast.

In any case, even if it doesn't happen that often, it's still difficult to spot the differences and a PITA to correct. I don't know of any easy solutions. It pretty much requires you get a list of episode numbers and titles as they are on the DVD, and compare that to the season listing at TVDb. Rarely does it get this bad, but I thought Seinfeld Season 2 would drive me crazy, until I did this...

[NickF]

So just to be clear, is the numbering which MakeMKV produces for the episodes, e.g. title00.mkv, title01.mkv in the same order as on the DVD menu, albeit that the mkv's start at 00?  If so, I shouldn't need to play them.  I can just compare DVD order with tvdb.

Nick.

[NickF]

I have made good progress with this and now have several series converted and organised in TheaterView.  One thing I would like is to have the episodes show whether they have been watched.  I looked at the file fields and found Episode Status.  That seemed a likely place but when I selected it for display, every video file was marked as Orphaned.  What does that mean?  Does it have other values and what causes it to change?

Nick.

[CountryBumkin]

I use "Watched" or "Last Played". You can add this to the Customize File Info Panel (in the Theater View options).
I prefer Watched and set it to always display.

[NickF]

I use "Watched" or "Last Played". You can add this to the Customize File Info Panel (in the Theater View options).
I prefer Watched and set it to always display.

Thanks CB.

It would be nice if the Watched was against the Episode name in the list, or even have the text in a different colour.  With the Watched in the details panel, you have to hover over each to find out whether it has been watched.  Not a big deal but a nice bit of polish!

I still don't understand Episode Status!

Nick.

[JustinChase]

I would like to see a little bar, maybe 3 or 4 pixels high along the bottom of all my episodes that moves to the right based on how much of the episode has been watched.  Sort of like the progress bar, but visually displayed on the episode cover art. It would allow you to see instantly how far into a show you are.

[rick.ca]

It would be nice if the Watched was against the Episode name in the list, or even have the text in a different colour.

You can add [Last Played] (or something based on it) to the top of the small info panel. If it's hidden when empty, it's visually obvious when there's a value present (i.e., the file has been watched). If you'd rather see such an indicator directly in the file list, add it to the file caption. There, you can also change the font (e.g., grey-out watched files).

[NickF]

You can add [Last Played] (or something based on it) to the top of the small info panel. If it's hidden when empty, it's visually obvious when there's a value present (i.e., the file has been watched). If you'd rather see such an indicator directly in the file list, add it to the file caption. There, you can also change the font (e.g., grey-out watched files).

Thanks Rick.  Greying out watched sounds perfect but I have no idea how.  I have found File Caption in the Advanced settings which currently contains [Name].  I assume this need replacing with an expression but I don't have any experience of expressions.  Can you help here?

Edit: I now have the date and time when watched showing after each file by adding TVInfo(WatchedDisplay) after [Name].  I would prefer not watched in Bold or Watched greyed.  I can envisage an expression testing for a null value for TVInfo(WatchedDisplay) or a value of "never played" for Last Played and use that to change the font of Name.  The detail is beyond me!!

Nick.

[rick.ca]

I assume this need replacing with an expression but I don't have any experience of expressions.

Time to start learning! Here's a simple start...

Code: [Select]

If(IsEqual([Media Type], Video),
If(IsEqual([Last Played], never played), [Name], <font color="999999">[Name]<//font>),
[Name])
...that 'greys' the captions of videos that have been played, and otherwise uses the default [Name]. You may want to do other things, like using 'SPadNumber([Season],2) EPadNumber([Episode],2) [Name]' for episodes, '[Name] /([Year]/)' for movies, etc.

[NickF]

Thanks Rick.  I'll have a play tomorrow.

Edit:  I couldn't wait!  It looks great.  Many thanks.  I'll try some of the other options tomorrow.

Nick.

[Jimbot]

TheTVDB has an option to display series in DVD Order that will match the actual order that you rip a series off a DVD/Blu Ray with TVDB.  XBMC has an option to scrape using DVD Order, however so far I have not been able to find a similar option in JRiver.  Does anybody know if JRiver can switch to using DVD Order instead of Aired order?

I would prefer to keep my TV shows in the DVD order, as it often tells the story better, eg Firefly. 

[Mr.6]

TheTVDB has an option to display series in DVD Order that will match the actual order that you rip a series off a DVD/Blu Ray with TVDB.  XBMC has an option to scrape using DVD Order, however so far I have not been able to find a similar option in JRiver.  Does anybody know if JRiver can switch to using DVD Order instead of Aired order?

I would prefer to keep my TV shows in the DVD order, as it often tells the story better, eg Firefly. 

I completely agree. I am currently working on transfering my media to JRiver from XBMC and this part is a pain.

Can this option be added to JRiver 18?

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[JimH]

I believe this has been be improved in MC18.

[Mr.6]

Thanks Jim!

I'll check it out tonight!

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