[mythtv-users] What is being worked on for 0.26?

[Tom Lichti]

On Fri, Jun 8, 2012 at 11:00 AM, Michael T. Dean
<mtdean at thirdcontact.com> wrote:
> On 06/08/2012 10:17 AM, Tom Lichti wrote:
>>
>> On Fri, Jun 8, 2012 at 8:26 AM, Michael T. Dean wrote:
>>>
>>> On 05/31/2012 10:27 AM, Tom Lichti wrote:
>>>>
>>>> No, you don't get it, I was not happy with that solution. We hate the
>>>> interface to Videos,
>>>
>>>
>>> FWIW, I felt the exact same way--until I was taught how to properly
>>> configure Video Library (which I had been doing wrong--primarily because
>>> the
>>> proper configuration, today, is different from the default configuration
>>> of
>>> the past).  Now, I have an appreciation for what Video Library brings
>>>
>>> Specifically, you want to go into each of the 3 "views" available in
>>> Video
>>> Library (Gallery, Browse, and List) and "Show Directory Structure"
>>> (meaning
>>> the MENU should offer, "Hide Directory Structure," to allow you to change
>>> the setting) and enable "Browse Library (recommended)" (meaning the MENU
>>> should say, "Browse Filesystem (slow)," to allow you to change the
>>> setting).
>>>  Then, once you've configured all 3 views appropriately, choose the one
>>> whose interface looks best to you/works best for you.
>>>
>>> (Note that in 0.24 and below, these settings were "Enable/Disable Flat
>>> view"
>>> and "File Browse Mode"--where you wanted both disabled.)
>>>
>>> A friend of mine who uses MythTV had a similar change of heart when I
>>> helped
>>> him reconfigure Video Library when he wanted to organize his kids' videos
>>> (which he has to keep so the kids can watch them hundreds of times, each
>>> :)--some of which were recorded, some from DVD rips, etc.  Once we set up
>>> Video Library properly, the interface was /much/ easier for the kids than
>>> it
>>> would have been if everything were in Watch Recordings.  And in Video
>>> Library, he can set a default filter on each frontend, so the kids'
>>> frontend
>>> opens right up to their videos.
>>>
>>>
>>>>  so I have hacked a system that makes Videos show
>>>> up in the Recordings screen, as it's more intuitive to use, and better
>>>> organized for our usage, and works well enough, with the occasional
>>>> manual tweaking required.
>>>
>>>
>>> And, now that I've configured Video Library properly, I feel it's /much/
>>> more intuitive to use and better organized--especially for large
>>> collections
>>> of video.
>>>
>>> The difference is that in Watch Recordings, I get a single recording
>>> group
>>> for each recording, and I can show a list of titles, recording groups,
>>> categories and/or filter by recording group or category--but changing
>>> view
>>> requires MENU (once or twice, as required)|Change Group Filter, then
>>> selecting a filter.  In Video Library, I can create folders to organize
>>> my
>>> videos however I like, and can browse between folders as simply as
>>> hitting
>>> left/right--but I /still/ have the ability to apply filters based on
>>> everything from category to genre to year to user rating to watched
>>> status
>>> to date the video was added to the library...  Also, in Video Library,
>>> all
>>> my videos can be given useful file names--such that even if I lose the
>>> MythTV database, I know what each video is (and Video Library can pull
>>> the
>>> metadata automatically).  There are other benefits, too, but these are
>>> the
>>> main ones.
>>>
>>> IMHO, anyone who archives any recordings--as opposed to simply watching
>>> and
>>> deleting the recordings--should consider moving those recordings to Video
>>> Library.  Watch Recordings is great for "ephemeral" recordings that
>>> appear/disappear, but Video Library is great for "permanent" storage of
>>> (even large numbers of) videos you actually want to keep.
>>>
>>> Anyway, the point of this post is that those who have written off Video
>>> Library should take a new look at today's Video Library (when properly
>>> configured).  It's not your grandfather's Video Library...  ;)
>>
>> Thanks Mike, I'll give that a go. I've never really gone back and
>>
>> played with the Video Library since setting it up originally, at least
>> 6 years ago.
>
>
> Thank you for keeping an open mind and for taking another look.  And, as I'm
> a pretty strong believer in this approach, I'd appreciate any feedback you
> (or others) have on it--and anything you find lacking--as you look at Video
> Library, again, with fresh eyes.
>
> As we move toward a more unified recordings and video schema, some of the
> differences disappear, but I want to ensure that there's absolutely no
> reason that someone would need to hack together an approach to "fake" a
> recording to allow them to stick non-recording (or at least,
> not-recorded-by-*this*-MythTV-system--i.e. if you lose the database from an
> old system in some catastrophe or something) video into recording schema.
>  Any user-provided/user-managed/user-named video should go in Video Library.
>  (For the purposes of this thought exercise, just pretend that it's
> irrelevant whether you use Watch Recordings or Video Library.)

If it makes my life easier, I'm all for it. If the side benefit is
that it helps someone else, even better!

Tom