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Author Topic: confused about views...  (Read 2581 times)

HTPC4ME

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confused about views...
« on: November 09, 2009, 11:21:26 am »

hi i'm confused about theaterview views.. when i chose tvshows, it shows then in genres, then keywords, and then it will show for example all of the files for comedy tv shows... so the list is HUGE.. is there a way for me once there to just have it sort them all into series\folders on the last view screen?

meaning, comedy shows, it shows all of the all in the family episodes, then cheers then married with children etc... so the list is long, how do i make it so once i chose comedy tv shows it just shows one folder for each title? all in the family, cheers, married with children, and then when i see the one i want i could click on that folder, then it would show me all of the files for that show?

TY

I will upload a pic to show what i mean in better detail, if someone can point me  in the direction of viewing theaterview in a windows type mode, so i can capture the screen for you.
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struct

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Re: confused about views...
« Reply #1 on: November 10, 2009, 02:35:32 am »


i too am interested in something similar.  something like an intelligent stacking, i.e. all of my kid's transformers cartoons would preferably show as a single entity until expanded and then upon re-entering similar/same view at a later date it would again be collapsed. this behaviour would be similar to what wmc does for recorded tv shows, similar shows are grouped.

from what i understand stacking is not exactly what is required? or maybe i haven't figured it out yet.

thanks
craig
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MrHaugen

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Re: confused about views...
« Reply #2 on: November 10, 2009, 06:55:09 am »

Make your own views based on custom tags? It works really good for me at least. Gives me all the granularity I wish. If the tagging part is to much work, there is plugins that can fix this I believe.

The standard video type field is of no use to me. At least not when you can't add categories. For huge lists in general, a thing called filtering would be very useful, but I've been shot down every time I've mentioned it. Will not go deeper in this subject until I have the time to work on screenshots of a total Theater View rewamp suggestion.
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HTPC4ME

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Re: confused about views...
« Reply #3 on: November 10, 2009, 11:08:38 am »

is there an answer to this? or once i am at the last screen does it just show all the files? if so that takes scrolling to a whole new level. :(
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MrHaugen

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Re: confused about views...
« Reply #4 on: November 11, 2009, 01:59:29 am »

I gave you an answer. It's still custom fields. Make one called Series Type for instance, or Video Type, if you want different categories for more video content. You can make a view based on this Video Type field, and then you have categories for Comedy shows, Action shows etc. You might want to set the Media Sub type to Series, or just use one Custom field for different series categories, home movies, music videos etc, movies, and bind it all to corresponding Theater View views.

For series you'd then have something like:
Video - Series (Media Subtype) - Show Type (Video Type) - Series Name - Seasons

I'm just using Video Type my self, and I have this values )among others): Series, Movies (HD & DVD), Movies (Divx), Conserts, Music Videos. This is Views under the Video root item, and have the Series name as categories under Series, and I have Seasons under there. Gives me quick access to what ever I want to watch.


I can't think of a cleaner way to browse TV Shows and getting a handful of results. You could also accomplish similar results with Keywords or genre, but I don't like that approach. It's better suited for music and images imo.

The only things you'll see at the bottom level in TV is the media it self, I believe. Don't really know why you want a sort of directory structure at the last level. Can't see any benefits. If this is a way that you want to play all episodes of a TV Show, then you allways have the Play all option.
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struct

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Re: confused about views...
« Reply #5 on: November 11, 2009, 05:33:32 am »


thanks mrhaugen, I just played a bit more and it does just what I want.  Haven't added the correct "Series" tag to everything just yet.

You mentioned some plugins that may do this automatically.  Do you have any specifics?

Thanks

Craig
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MrHaugen

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Re: confused about views...
« Reply #6 on: November 11, 2009, 06:11:27 am »

thanks mrhaugen, I just played a bit more and it does just what I want.  Haven't added the correct "Series" tag to everything just yet.

You mentioned some plugins that may do this automatically.  Do you have any specifics?

Thanks

Craig

I re-wrote some of the info in my last post. It was a bit messy, and some pointers could be taken the wrong way.

The plugin I'm talking about is made by Confishy, and can be found here: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=51193.0

Looks like it was never really finished, but it should do the trick. I hope it at least will fill out my Series tag in the Video Type field for all my TV Shows/Series automatically.
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HTPC4ME

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Re: confused about views...
« Reply #7 on: November 11, 2009, 01:25:34 pm »

sorry been busy...

is there a way for me to open theaterview on pc monitor in a winodwed mode?  then i can show you what i mean... and why i would want it set up the way i explained.

 i think like you said it has to do with something with customized views. but im not sure of the rules i need to make to accomplish it...  last night i noticed when people were over what i'm asking here was working default for music videos.  when i went to music videos genre\ keywords all artists it showed all the artists, abcdefg... then i could choose one of those artists then i would see all there music videos. now when i went to tv shows say action... then there is like 75 all in the family thumbnails, then it shows the next alphabetical tv show and those 25-30 movie clips.. i'd like it so when i chose a tv show genre (where there are many episodes) that it will show all the tv shows in that genre alphabetically so it's nice and neat nd THEN once i chose say the one all in the family thumbnail it opens it up and would show all the episodes for all in the family.

Ty You For Your time.
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MrHaugen

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Re: confused about views...
« Reply #8 on: November 12, 2009, 04:39:05 am »

This is what I would do:

Custom field:
1. Make a custom field called "Video Type". You can enter values similar to this: "Series;Music Videos;Movies;Home Movies" etc. You CAN also use the default Video subtype field, but you can't add or rename items here.
2. Tag your video collection based on this values.

Setting up the Views and "categories":
3. Enter Options - Theater View. Find the Video root view.
4. Make a new View called Series or TV Shows under Video. Set Rules for Display to the "Series" field with Series as the Value.
5. Add the Genre and Series field to the Details in that order

6. You can start adding other Views under the Video root view now. Add Movies, Home Videos, Music Videos etc, with corresponding Value under Rules for Display.

You can easily switch between the different views on the roller (Series, Movies etc), and you'll get the levels based on your library fields.
For Series this will now become Video (root) - Series (View) - Genre (category), and Series (category). The number of media in the last level depends on what you select in Genre and Series. In other words: things will be filtered away as you go deeper. You can also add Season in the Details option to get another level if you want to.

Once you know the difference between Views (roller selection), and the categories (Details fields), you'll have no problem setting up a complicated view setup.

I use this setup my self, with the exception of the Genre category. Don't have that much series anyway.
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raldo

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Re: confused about views...
« Reply #9 on: November 12, 2009, 06:56:06 am »

You could also make some mc fields IsTv, IsVideo, IsSeries, etc.

Create those fields in tools\options\library\manageLibraryFields (I believe) as expression type fields.

Then the expression for each field tests if the FileName field contains the the topmost folder where you've put the various media. This of course requires that the various types of videos are put in different folders. For example, if you put your Tv series in \\Server\Videos\TvSeries, the IsTv field contains an expression for testing FileName for that particular folder.

Furthermore, you could tag the various series with the name of the series and filter for series in theater view (or use one of the metadata plugins to automatically tag this field)
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MrHaugen

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Re: confused about views...
« Reply #10 on: November 12, 2009, 07:22:16 am »

That might simplify further importing, yes. You know if it's possible to fill a tag with a given value depending on the directory structure? I've wanted to play with expressions for some time now, but haven't gotten to it yet.
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raldo

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Re: confused about views...
« Reply #11 on: November 12, 2009, 10:46:41 am »

That might simplify further importing, yes. You know if it's possible to fill a tag with a given value depending on the directory structure? I've wanted to play with expressions for some time now, but haven't gotten to it yet.

Yup, I've created a field called .IsMovie . It's ticked off as "Calculated Data" in the library field manager. In the "Expression:" edit box, I have entered the expression: If(IsEqual([Filename],Videos\Movie,7),Yes,) . This means that whenever the Filename contains "Videos\Movie", the .IsMovie field will contain "Yes", otherwise it will be empty.
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HTPC4ME

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Re: confused about views...
« Reply #12 on: November 12, 2009, 04:40:31 pm »

great info guys thank you, i iwll play around with your suggestions... again i didnt recieve post replies.. not sure whats going on?
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MrHaugen

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Re: confused about views...
« Reply #13 on: November 13, 2009, 09:10:00 am »

Yup, I've created a field called .IsMovie . It's ticked off as "Calculated Data" in the library field manager. In the "Expression:" edit box, I have entered the expression: If(IsEqual([Filename],Videos\Movie,7),Yes,) . This means that whenever the Filename contains "Videos\Movie", the .IsMovie field will contain "Yes", otherwise it will be empty.

Great. That will do fine! At least I'll get the series and movies directly in my View Schemes after import now. Even though my file names and other tags might be a bit messed up.
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