Topic: Feature Request: Showtime (auto play trailers/etc. before a movie) (Read 5112 times)

Moe · « **on:** November 20, 2019, 12:36:49 pm »

Objective: To display trailers, intros, etc. before playing a movie.

There's been a lot of talk about something like this in the past, I thought I'd try and come up with a cohesive/complete-ish idea.

What I am picturing is, if you have Showtime enabled, a new entry in the roller called "Showtime" (or whatever name people think is good) that would look like this.

You'd still have the Watch option which would simply play the selected movie. If you chose Showtime, it would play your pre-show selected files followed by your movie. I envision something like this in the settings.

When you click Customize Showtime you'd get a pop-up that looks something like this.

This would be where you can choose what you want to show before the movie.

Examples would be Playlists. Say you have your trailers in a playlist, you could choose your playlist and be good to go. After typing that and after making my images I realize that maybe a shuffle option would be nice as well. Another way to use Playlists would be to make a playlist of images. I have lots of images that are movie trivia, like you see at the theaters, they look like this Example 1, Example 2

Then there could be choices using the Media Subtype, or keywords, or whatever fields, where we could customize what gets played using rules/drop downs. Possibly even expressions.

I have lots and lots of fun pre-show stuff that I never really get to use that could be put to great use with a feature like this. I'd be happy to share as well, here are some of the kind of things I am talking about.

Example 1
Example 1
Example 1

Etc.

Anyway, thank you for your consideration and feedback welcome.

Matt · « **Reply #1 on:** November 20, 2019, 01:15:21 pm »

You can already create a view called "Showtime" that just shows the contents of a playlist. Wouldn't that be a pretty good start?

Moe · « **Reply #2 on:** November 20, 2019, 01:35:46 pm »

That's not really at all what I am asking for.

I'm essentially asking for two play buttons. One play button is the "Watch" function that we have currently. The second play button would be "Showtime" which could play an assortment of stuff before the movie plays. Stuff like a pre-movie slideshows, trailers, THX videos, etc. It would be configurable. It could be as simple as play 3 random trailers and then play the movie, or as complex as Play X slideshow for 20 minutes, then show 3 ads, then 3 trailers in X genre and then finally show a "Now our feature presentation video" and then your movie of choice starts playing.

Absinthe · « **Reply #3 on:** November 20, 2019, 02:03:46 pm »

Moe,
This is 'kitchy', but I like it. It reminds me of hot summer nights with the parents at the drive-in. I would be at the playground at the front of the drive-in until the marching condiments would signal that the movie was about to start and then head back to the car. My only suggestion(s) would be:

Provide the ability to play specific files prior to the start of the movie and then when the pause button is pressed. I like the idea of the trivia slideshow which could be the 'prior to start' option. When I pause a movie currently, the lights in the theater room come up to about 20% so you can migrate to the kitchen/bathroom or whatever. Perhaps provide the ability to macro commands so at movie pause, Engen would adjust the lights, a select video would begin playing, and at movie resume, the selected video would stop, Engen would dim the lights and the movie would resume a selectable time period prior to the pause point. You could also select fade-in's and out's between the video files. Also provide the capability to stack files (much as you can stack criteria in a smart list) to be played in order during each viewing event (Play/Pause...)

Love the Simpson's THX video

jondavis · « **Reply #4 on:** November 20, 2019, 06:35:40 pm »

I kinda like the idea.
Maybe an option to pull (insert number here) of videos before a movie.
Then we can add what fields to pull from.
So I would add Media Sub Type - Trailer.
I would think it would be random.
Could be based on Genre so it's not too random or maybe from a playlist we created.

JimH · « **Reply #5 on:** November 20, 2019, 06:58:05 pm »

I think that the video clips inserted before could just be a playlist. It's an interesting idea. Thanks, Moe.

Moe · « **Reply #6 on:** November 20, 2019, 07:53:15 pm »

They could be a playlist, and that would be a decent starting place. But a playlist would get old really fast, unless it could be shuffled.

I'd like to have some logic built into it and some randomness. Also, it would be nice to have a queue of sorts.

Let's say this idea leads to a new field called [Pre-Show]. You could then tag that field with values like "Trailer", "THX", "PSA", "Ad" or "Feature Presentation intro"

You could then build a Showtime! playlist with something like.

Where the red text below would be the values of a dropdown menu. You could add as many different rows as you'd like, so you could first play some fun ads, then show a few trailers, followed by a THX intro and then a "Time for our feature presentation" and then your movie plays.

Absinthe · « **Reply #7 on:** November 20, 2019, 08:46:07 pm »

Moe · « **Reply #8 on:** November 21, 2019, 05:23:06 pm »

I mocked this up to give a better idea of what I am talking about.

https://moesrealm.com/MC/showtime/

Just imagine being able to add additional rows/rules using the same format. This way you could choose to show a THX intro, X amount of trailers, etc. Also, the third column would ask for a number or a value in seconds/minutes depending on what your choice was in column two.

This would be using a new field called [Pre-Show] (or whatever is decided on) and things would be tagged something like this.

I think this could be a really cool new feature for version 26 and could be marketed as brand new feature.

jachin99 · « **Reply #9 on:** November 21, 2019, 06:52:19 pm »

I'm on board with this also and manually building a static playlist wouldn't provide the same experience in my opinion. It needs to be easily accessible from the movie information screen and it should automated and random. I like what moe suggested. Most other media centers already have this and I know emby has an option to play codec intros based on the audio codec available in the video so a video with aac audio would get an aac intro and a video with a true hd audio track would get a true hd intro, etc. The ads or trivia bumpers on pause or intermissions would be icing on the cake. I know jrmc is practical in a lot of ways but a little bit of gimmick or dressing up can really help people love it

Matt · « **Reply #10 on:** November 22, 2019, 11:57:13 am »

Quote from: Moe on November 21, 2019, 05:23:06 pm

I mocked this up to give a better idea of what I am talking about.

Just imagine being able to add additional rows/rules using the same format. This way you could choose to show a THX intro, X amount of trailers, etc. Also, the third column would ask for a number or a value in seconds/minutes depending on what your choice was in column two.

This would be using a new field called [Pre-Show] (or whatever is decided on) and things would be tagged something like this.

I think this could be a really cool new feature for version 26 and could be marketed as brand new feature.

Help me understand this a little better.

So you would tag a video clip as "Trailer".

Then when we viewed videos, there would be a showtime button to play trailers and then the movie? It would just pick a few random trailers from the selection?

Is the idea of playing trailers to rigid so it would actually need to be a search?

Thanks for the help.

Moe · « **Reply #11 on:** November 22, 2019, 12:55:30 pm »

I'll do my best.

Lets say I want the following to happen when I press "Showtime!" to watch a movie.

Play a random THX intro video
Play a random DTS intro video
Play three random movie trailers
Play a random "And now our feature presentation" video

I have color coded the above that you can see how these files would be tagged as shown in this image.

Using my crude demo, the four rules would look something like this.

I hope that helps?

Quote

Is the idea of playing trailers to rigid so it would actually need to be a search?

I am not sure what you're asking here.

Matt · « **Reply #12 on:** November 22, 2019, 02:43:47 pm »

I've started mocking it up.

Interesting!

Moe · « **Reply #13 on:** November 22, 2019, 03:08:21 pm »

Super awesome, thanks Matt!

Absinthe · « **Reply #14 on:** November 22, 2019, 06:45:25 pm »

Quote from: Moe on November 22, 2019, 12:55:30 pm

I'll do my best.

Lets say I want the following to happen when I press "Showtime!" to watch a movie.

Why press any button, if a movie/show is "Showtime" enabled via the setup, it runs accordingly, otherwise, just the main feature plays?

Moe · « **Reply #15 on:** November 22, 2019, 07:25:07 pm »

Because, the way I envision it anyway, it’s not set on a movie per movie basis.

You choose your Showtime settings and they are global. Using my above config, any movie that I play with the Showtime button will get one random THX video, one random DTS video, three random trailers and a random “now our feature presentation” video and then your movie plays. Sometimes you’re not going to want all that so you can just choose “Watch” like we have now.

Absinthe · « **Reply #16 on:** November 22, 2019, 07:52:34 pm »

Hmmmmm, ok, Lets see what Matt comes up with

mojave · « **Reply #17 on:** November 22, 2019, 08:38:54 pm »

There has been some discussion on this before that might be helpful. I requested this back in 2012.

"At The Movies" feature suggestion

It was also requested earlier this year: Feature Request: Movie Theater Experience / Intermission

I have a playlist called "Movie Night." It has several Smartlists that automatically change the trivia, demo's, etc. each time. I think if JRiver added a feature like it that was built in it would be very cool. It would be nice to have countdown timers and ability to set an intermission time.

I can add the night's movie to Feature Movie prior to playing back the entire playlist.

Sequential trivia question/answers can be linked using JRiver's Link Tracks feature. I attached an example of what comes up in my Trivia Smartlist.

Matt · « **Reply #18 on:** November 25, 2019, 08:41:56 am »

Help me figure out the acceptable values for the new Pre-Show field.

Here's what I have so far:
Trailer;Concessions;Ads;DTS;THX Intro;Coming Attractions

You'll fill that in for files, then set the Showtime! rules to include files based on the values you set.

Thanks.

Moe · « **Reply #19 on:** November 25, 2019, 10:16:45 am »

Is there any reason it has to be a predetermined list and not just user selected values?

Anyway, if we must select from a predetermined list, these are the values I use. I've been collecting these kind of files for years.

Ads
After Show
Coming Attractions
Concessions
Dolby
DTS
Intermissions
On With the Show
PSAs
Theater Stuff
THX
Trailers
Trivia

Hendrik · « **Reply #20 on:** November 25, 2019, 10:27:24 am »

Matt, please make sure the entry from the Roller can be disabled, or preferably is so by default. If you have no files in your library with such tags (and no interest), then it would have no particular function. Thanks

(Ads and stuff are the worst part about the cinema, not sure why so many people ask about this, but oh well)

Matt · « **Reply #21 on:** November 25, 2019, 10:58:30 am »

Quote from: Hendrik on November 25, 2019, 10:27:24 am

Matt, please make sure the entry from the Roller can be disabled, or preferably is so by default. If you have no files in your library with such tags (and no interest), then it would have no particular function. Thanks

Made it optional. It'll default to on for now because we need glitz for v26!

jondavis · « **Reply #22 on:** November 25, 2019, 04:21:05 pm »

Yea I would want the fields to be optional and able to add as few or as many as we want.
So for fields like Intermissions or Commercials...
I guess you would have to set timers to interrupt your movie?

Moe · « **Reply #23 on:** November 25, 2019, 04:58:14 pm »

Matt, if we can't choose our own values, can you add "Short" to the list? I'd like to be able to show a Pixar short before a Pixar movie, like they always do in the theaters.

Also, I was thinking it would be cool if this had a similar functionality as "Customize File Info Panel" where we could define templates and the template used would be dependent on certain conditions. Using my above example, I could have a template called "Pixar" and my search value would be something like "[Studios]=[Pixar]".

Absinthe · « **Reply #24 on:** November 25, 2019, 09:52:01 pm »

Quote from: jondavis on November 25, 2019, 04:21:05 pm

Yea I would want the fields to be optional and able to add as few or as many as we want.
So for fields like Intermissions or Commercials...
I guess you would have to set timers to interrupt your movie?

Rather than have MC "interrupt" my movie based on a timer, Id propose to have an "Intermission" when I pause playback. I could care less about commercials, they have no place in a movie

lepa · « **Reply #25 on:** November 26, 2019, 03:45:17 am »

Quote from: Absinthe on November 25, 2019, 09:52:01 pm

Rather than have MC "interrupt" my movie based on a timer, Id propose to have an "Intermission" when I pause playback. I could care less about commercials, they have no place in a movie

personally i probably opt out this feature but maybe it could be cool to play e.g. theme song / soundtrack on low volume with slideshow of movie images (spoilers though..) while paused. It should also indicate pause state with text or icon on top of the picture

jondavis · « **Reply #26 on:** November 26, 2019, 04:52:30 pm »

Quote from: Absinthe on November 25, 2019, 09:52:01 pm

Rather than have MC "interrupt" my movie based on a timer, Id propose to have an "Intermission" when I pause playback. I could care less about commercials, they have no place in a movie

Yea sounds good, maybe the user should be able to select either way.

Matt · « **Reply #27 on:** December 03, 2019, 08:31:30 am »

Today I added a search to specify what files show the Showtime! roller item. It was showing up for my TV recording of the game last night, and I didn't think that was too neat.

TP1964 · « **Reply #28 on:** December 03, 2019, 09:22:41 am »

There is actually a fairly large community that this could be marketed to. Many folks (myself included) use an add-on with Kodi to accomplish this (theirs is a little more extensive than what is being discussed here, allowing for the inclusion of external controls, such as lighting cues for smart lighting, etc.) - check this out if you'd like an example of what the possibilities are:

http://cinemavision.tv

They lost their developer some time ago - and the community there have been working piecemeal to keep the solution functioning at all. For many (again, including myself), it's the only reason they are on Kodi as a video solution. If they could find a supported alternative, I'd bet you would have a lot of converts. I, for one, would love to consolidate all of my media in one place, but because I have a "formal" home theater, including projector and Atmos surround, I want to have they whole "cinema" experience.

JimH · « **Reply #29 on:** December 03, 2019, 06:58:02 pm »

We renamed it Showtime because, well, we're from the Midwest and we don't get too excited about anything. We try to save exclamation points for big events, like a new pair of socks!

TP1964,
Thanks for the encouragement. We'll do our best to continue to improve it.

TP1964 · « **Reply #30 on:** December 04, 2019, 12:31:28 pm »

Quote from: JimH on December 03, 2019, 06:58:02 pm

We renamed it Showtime because, well, we're from the Midwest and we don't get too excited about anything. We try to save exclamation points for big events, like a new pair of socks!

TP1964,
Thanks for the encouragement. We'll do our best to continue to improve it.

My pleasure Jim - I can't wait to test this out. Thanks for always listening to your customer base, I left iTunes well before Apple gave up on it for JRiver - and I've never looked back. For folks that demand high-end, high-definition sound WITH fantastic cataloging and user interface - I don't believe you have an equal. Keep up the good work!

wolffe · « **Reply #31 on:** December 16, 2019, 07:46:57 pm »

*I* am extremely excited about this!

I'm looking forward to setting this up and giving it a go.

Has anyone suggested an Intermission button on JRemote2 that would hop to the intermission sequence, and do something like play the trivia slides and offer a countdown timer if a time was set.

I made a thread about this for the previous version, and was extremely happy it got any attention at all, and now here it is! This girl can't stop smiling

I'm super happy I already purchased JRiver 26, and will be sliding it to my theater playback machine as soon as I finish the hardware upgrade shuffle.

Oh, as a humorous aside, the spell check button suggests JRiver and JRemote are misspellings of Grover and JR emote, respectively.

INTERACT FORUM

Author Topic: Feature Request: Showtime (auto play trailers/etc. before a movie) (Read 5112 times)

Absinthe

Absinthe

Absinthe

Absinthe

Absinthe