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[BenKenobi]

Theatre view (and library view) for that matter are driving me absolutely nuts.

I went to a lot of trouble to store my stuff both audio and video, each type has its own hard drive, each 'element' is stored in alphabetic folders

i.e I have folders 'A', 'B', 'C' ... through to 'Z'

In each folder is an artist or video i.e

A
    Afro Celt
    AC-DC
    ABBA

B
    Bon Jovi
    Blue Oyster Cult

etc etc

below each artist is a folder per album and in that folder is the tracks found on that album -

for Video we have the folders also

Documentaries

Shows
  'A', 'B', 'C' etc etc
Films
   'A', 'B', 'C' etc etc
       below which is a folder for each movie i.e
          Where Eagles Dare [1968]

            below which is a file named exactly as per the movie title as seen here in the UK i.e.
                    Where Eagles Dare.mkv

Music


I went to a lot of trouble to do all this and the JRiver refuses to present it in this manner -

I Don't want to
  View by Genre
  View by Artist
  View by 'image' or 'icon'
  View by 'Tag' or some other embedded text

I want to be able to search through the library EXACTLY as I have laid it out on the hard drive - but try doing that in theatre view - it is impossible - or is it ?

I also want to stop JRiver setting the WRONG title - I don't care what the movie was called in the USA or any other country - I want the UK title - how do I make JRiver play ball on this score too. i.e.

The movie 'Dark of the Sun' - a 1968 movie starring Rod Taylor was called 'The Mercenaries' in the US - is it possible where a movie has more than one title for it to prompt me and ask which one I want used ?

[mhwlng]

Do you mean like in attached pictures ?

[BenKenobi]

Kind of but and what you show is 'partly' what I seek for video but it is utterly useless for my music collection, plus JRiver has got the cover jpg wrong in many cases, I correct them and JRiver puts the wrong one back. I also have many audio books - try stopping JRiver bundling those in with the music ...

JRiver has also bundled everything together i.e. shows, documentaries and movies when I explicitly separated them on the drive - by adding them as a library source JRiver has disregarded my classification in favour of its own - and again in many cases got it wrong - and wrong means not how I want it shown.

I don't want to see TV series such as the X-Files appear under Shows, I don't want documentaries under there either, I don't want either of these under films.

I've tried playing with filters - correction I'm still playing with filters.

I'm looking for a way to fully customise both theatre and library views to display how 'I' want them but the options are pretty limited - I want to say 'this folder is a movie', this folder is a documentary, this is a TV Show and this is a 'concert' etc etc and have JRiver respect my wishes instead of applying whatever category it has identified in some far off lookup database.

[mhwlng]

see picture

when you auto import directories into media center, you can define a media sub type for each directory

[BenKenobi]

I'm just getting the hang of it I think. Only been using JRiver as a media centre since V19.

This is working for movies and documentaries etc, I can add new 'library' categories and filter appropriately but I am still failing to get music displayed how I require.

While I have tagged a lot of my mp3 (90%) I still want 'albums' to be identified by the folder name in which the final mp3, FLAC or wav file resides and NOT by the tag contained in the file. I don't want an alphabetic list that shows multiple seemingly identical tracks - in many cases they are NOT identical - the track can vary album to album i.e. live concert, studio, special edition etc etc - the track name is the same but that is all.

Take this example for AC-DC

The structure is

D:\Audio\Music\A\AC-DC\1976 - Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap\
D:\Audio\Music\A\AC-DC\1976 - Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (Australia Only)\

These albums have some 'matching' tracks but the cover art etc is totally different and there are track variations between them (even in identically named tracks)

[mhwlng]

I don't understand the problem?

I first see alphabet, then artist for the select letter, then albums for the selected artist, then tracks for the selected album

See attached pictures.

All of this does depend on correct tagging, not on directory layout.

So you will need two different album tags:
-Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
-Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (Australia Only)

But you can use the directory layout to automatically create the correct tags
(for example using http://www.softpointer.com/tr_help/0203_get_tags_from_file_names.htm)

[BenKenobi]

And this IS the problem - I do NOT want the file tags involved - it is stored on my hard drive how I want it displayed - the final folder name IS the album name.

Not all track types can be tagged i.e. FLAC / WAV

[glynor]

Not all track types can be tagged i.e. FLAC / WAV

Both FLAC and WAV can certainly contain in-file tags, first of all.

But MC doesn't use the in-file tags for display, it uses the contents of it's own database.  ALL files in MC can be tagged (it is a tagging database), including even EXE files and TXT files and whatnot, because the "tags" are just fields stored in MC's Library (the database back-end).  When you import files into MC, it reads the in-file tags (where they exist) and copies the data into the Library.  But for all future use, it uses the Library, not the in-file tags.  By default, it keeps these in sync where possible, but you can even globally disable in-file tagging if you want, and MC still works exactly the same (that's not a great idea because the in-file tags are needed for interchange with other applications, and it serves as a nice backup, but you can if desired).

You can set up views that are based off of filesystem location if needed, but you'd be better off importing this data into the MC Library and assigning it properly.  Review this thread for details:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=78206.msg531763#msg531763

[BenKenobi]

I'll have a read and see how I can apply this but I just played with the views and still it puts all episodes of 24 for instance at one layer under shows - I don't want this but I don't want to be forced to create a separate view for each and every show i.e. 24 season 1, 24 Season 2, 24 Season 3 ..... they ARE in separate folders and although you can do a 'file list' this is too small for use in a home theatre scenario where you are sitting 4 metres away - and any new 'view' doesn't seem available in theatre view.

[mhwlng]

You can have seasons (including separate artwork per season)

but you need proper tags for series, season, episode

[mhwlng]

configured like

[glynor]

Standard Views aren't connected to Theater Views, they're configured separately.

To have a Series/Season view, you have to add [Season] as a category to the View (in Theater View) that you want to modify.  Here's mine, for example:

[BenKenobi]

'but you need proper tags'

That's just the point - I don't.

The folder name IS the tag if I can get JRiver to use it somehow - this extra tagging method adds a lot of 'work' - I have 72,000 audio tracks and in excess of 7000 video files, all of which are already categorised and identified by the folders that they are in. A task that took a very long time and one that I don't plan on repeating.

[mhwlng]

have a look at the option tools \ library tools \ 'fill properties from filename'

[BenKenobi]

Working on it ...

[glynor]

Review this thread for details:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=78206.msg531763#msg531763

As I said... Review that thread.  I explain how to use Fill Properties from Filename in great detail.

If your file/folder structure really is as strict as you suggest, it should take only minutes to pull the data out of the existing filename structure.

[BenKenobi]

It's strict but not structured how JRiver seems to be expecting it i.e.

Star Trek\Original\Season 1 [1966-67]

the first episode named

01 - The Man Trap.avi

So the Category is Star Trek, the sub category is Original, the sub sub category is Season 1 [1966-1967] ... the episode number is the 01 -

NOTE : this is not the order in which the episodes were made but the broadcast order.

and I haven't got to audio yet  ...

[glynor]

If you want to preserve all of that information like that, you'll need some additional fields to use.  I'm just going to dump the extra data into the [Keyword] field, as a place to stash it.

Directories:
[Series]\[Keywords]\Season [Season] []

Filename:
[Episode] - [Name]

The extra bracket at the end of the Directories entry is just there so it throws away anything in the brackets.  You could omit that if you want the years to be included as part of the Season tag, though I would not (because it will interfere with the automatic metadata lookup, which expects [Season] to contain just a digit).

It would then end up with:

Series = Star Trek
Keywords = Original
Season = 1
Episode = 1
Name = The Man Trap

But, part of the beauty is that you don't ever have to do this anymore.  For any TV Show episode, all you need to have filled is:
[Media Sub Type] = TV Show
[Series] = the series title
[Season] = the season number
[Episode] = the episode number

And MC will automatically look up all the rest for you, including the original airing date, episode title, and all of that.  You don't need to manually tag the Season years like you've done, because it will look that up for you, and knows all of the original air dates of the individual episodes.

Now, assuming you also have other files that follow a similar naming pattern, you can select them all at once and apply them to the whole set.  Here's an example I made:

[glynor]

You can then, later, easily select all files with the Series set to "Star Trek" and the Keyword "Original" and change Series to something like: "Star Trek - Original Series" or however you want to categorize them.

You could, if you prefer, make your own [Sub Series] field in MC, and import that "tier" directly into that tag.  Again, though, for TV Show episodes, I'd use the [Series], [Season], and [Episode] tags as they are designed, so that the automatic metadata lookup system can work and get you nice descriptions and art and stuff.

[BenKenobi]

Impressive and many thanks - you just filled in some of the 'blanks' that I was missing - looks like you have a similar structure.

[fitbrit]

Impressive and many thanks - you just filled in some of the 'blanks' that I was missing - looks like you have a similar structure.

Knowing glynor, he probably set everything up like this just so it would aid you in understanding what to do.

[glynor]

Knowing glynor, he probably set everything up like this just so it would aid you in understanding what to do.

Yep.

The files in my example were just copies of an MP4 that I happened to have lying around on my laptop.  This video, actually:
https://vimeo.com/81947255

I have all of those files, and looked at my Library for examples, but I'm not at home so I had to make-do. 

[BenKenobi]

I'm kind of getting the hang of this but it is really really complicated to do.

It would be real nice to have a tool that allowed you to load a file  and then highlight each part of the path and name and allocate tags to them - then have something else build the 'expressions' etc. Tagging from file properties also seems to get applied globally even though I select only specific file groups to 'tag'.

It is also a pain having the theatre view settings completely separate.  I can't find a way to add new primary categories - as in custom ones. I did add new top level items but I don't seem able to use custom fields in the display expressions - any custom fields or sub categories that I add don't appear in the list of those available.

Boy does this process make me feel thick ...

[BenKenobi]

Can somebody tell me how to stop album tracks displaying in theatre view unless I select an album, I've tried all sorts of things including various expressions.

I want to list by artist, then by album, then list tracks by track number order, but ONLY when I select the album (how XBMC works - well mine did).

I don't want tracks appearing that aren't in dedicated albums i.e tracks on compilation albums that I want to handle differently.

As an example I have a lot of compilation albums such as ministry of sound but I also have albums belonging to artists on those 'compilations' and the single tracks from the compilation albums are appearing below the artist - this is messy. I was going to group compilations alphabetically by album name only - they have more than one artist.

Looks like I need another custom 'view' for compilation albums containing more than one artist.

Open to ideas.

[6233638]

Can somebody tell me how to stop album tracks displaying in theatre view unless I select an album, I've tried all sorts of things including various expressions.

I want to list by artist, then by album, then list tracks by track number order, but ONLY when I select the album (how XBMC works - well mine did).

I don't want tracks appearing that aren't in dedicated albums i.e tracks on compilation albums that I want to handle differently.

As an example I have a lot of compilation albums such as ministry of sound but I also have albums belonging to artists on those 'compilations' and the single tracks from the compilation albums are appearing below the artist - this is messy. I was going to group compilations alphabetically by album name only - they have more than one artist.

Looks like I need another custom 'view' for compilation albums containing more than one artist.

Open to ideas.

That's funny, I've just started importing a lot of my Ministry of Sound discs.
 
Here's the way I tag things:

Album Artist:   Ministry of Sound
Artist:         Track Artist
Album:          Album Name
Description:    Album Version or Disc Name

If you leave Album Artist empty, the album will automatically show up under (Multiple Artists) if there is more than one artist listed on the disc. In most cases that is fine, but with the Ministry of Sound discs, I want them to specifically show up under "Ministry of Sound" in the library.
 
Watch out though, as this may also impact other albums. For example, Daft Punk's Random Access Memories has a lot of collaborations on it, so it will show up under "Multiple Artists" by default unless you set the Album Artist to "Daft Punk" yourself.
 
For the disc name, I use the DJ Name, e.g. Boy George, Pete Tong, Judge Jules etc.
I also use the Description field when I have multiple versions of an album, e.g. the original CD (where it gets left blank) and "HDtracks" or "2010 Remaster" etc.
 
 
In Theater View, things get quite complex though - I wish there was a way to export my current view to a file I could post here.
 
For my "Albums" view, I have:
 

• Album Artist (auto)
• [Year] Album
• Channels
• Description

#1 is exactly as it seems, the library field is Album Artist (auto)

#2 is an expression:

Code: (Expression to group by) [Select]

formatdate([Date,0],yyyyMMdd) [Album]

Code: (Expression to display) [Select]

<font alpha="50">delimit([Year],/],/[)<//font>
[Album]Sorting is set to Date (oldest first)
 
#3 is another expression, though you can probably skip this if you don't have multichannel albums in your library:

Code: (Expression to group by) [Select]

[Channels]

Code: (Expression to display) [Select]

<font alpha="50">[Album]<//font>
if(compare([Channels],<=,2),Stereo,Multichannel)
#4 is yet another expression:
 

Code: (Expression to group by) [Select]

formatdate([Date,0],yyyyMMdd) Delimit([Description])

Code: (Expression to display) [Select]

if(isempty([Description]),[Album],[Description])
I've modified that last one a little bit, as it was including some custom tags that I use in my library, but I think that should still work correctly.
 
 
In most cases, this view only results in me selecting Artist → Album.
However, if I have multiple versions of an Album, it will show up as Artist → Album → Album Version (or disc name)

[BenKenobi]

Seems as though you have encountered similar issues to me.

I will have a play with your suggestions - I've currently added a new library field that I can put specific types in i.e. Comp - Generic;Comp - Themed;Comp - Series etc etc

This seems to work although there seems no way to derive it automatically - you need an understanding of the material that simply can't be written as an expression.

[6233638]

If your files are tagged correctly, Album Artist (auto) should be all that's necessary, and your compilations will either show up under "Multiple Artists" or a specific name such as "Ministry of Sound" if you have manually set one.
 
The view I have is still not perfect, but it seems to cover most test-cases now.