[mythtv-users] Re: Managing multiple video archives & Watch Recordings vs. MythVideo

[J. Donavan Stanley]

comments in line

Jeff wrote:

> I think there is some benefit to keeping some separation between
> newly recorded shows and the "library". The current recording list
> serves as a work list of things to be edited before they are moved to
> the library.

All you're really talking about is categorizing content here.  There's 
no real need to shuffle *files* around unless you're changing the file 
itself.  Otherwise all you need to do change the library metadata to 
reflect where you want the file to show up.


> Perhaps a "keyboard" option to include the library in the
> "Watch Recording" list (or the other way around, include the "Watch 
> Recording"
> list in the library) would address both requirements. The library 
> could track
> video which is stored on the system, stored on other systems in the
> network (an archive server) and on removable media. OTOH I suppose a new
> attribute could be added which says whether a show has been 
> "archived". Then
> you could toggle whether you want to see all shows, just the archived 
> shows or
> just the not-yet-archived shows.


"archived" doesn't really make sense in this context.  Either it's 
available somewhere on the network for viewing or it's not (i.e. stored 
on DVD).  The library, at least as I envisioned it doesn't care where a 
given media is, only that it exists someplace and can be served to the 
frontend. 

>
> a) in the record show menu there should be a field for whether the 
> show should
>     be archived and if so, where the show is archived to. There should 
> be a default
>     structure so there is probably a selection box here to select the 
> archive location
>     "by show name" or "by category (eg. movie)" or "custom", etc.
> b) in the recording setup there should be an auto-archive section. This
>     would have several options such as:
>          script to use
>          root for archive
>          default for "delete original after archiving"
>          default for "wait for show to be marked as ready before 
> archiving"

Why would you want move the file around?  Just change where it appears 
in the library.

> My preference is to enter a cut-list before archiving so I'd want a 
> new attribute
> in the database where you can mark a show as ready for archiving. I 
> don't think
> keying off whether a cut-list has been stored is good enough because 
> you may
> start one but not finish it.

If you leave the file alone this isn't an issue.


> Additionally it might be nice to have something that lets you write 
> shows out
> to removable media. I'm not sure how much of a mess this is (DVD writing)
> so maybe this is just a facility to update the database to let you 
> enter information
> about where you've written things to (volume names, etc).

I'm working on DVD stuff now.  Things kept getting in the way and 
delaying me but as of today that's my #1 dev priority.  Here's my 
current plans for this:

0.01 - Creates video DVDs from PVRx50 (MPEG2 streams) must be run on 
backend machine (i.e. not from a remote frontend), does not eliminated 
commercials. Possibly create chapter based on the commercial / cut list 
(so you can hit "next chapter" and seek past the commercials).

0.02 - Adds the "backup" DVD allowing any recording to be saved with 
meta information and imported back in.

0.03 - Add the ability to remove commercials from video DVD content 
before burning.  Preferably via mythtranscode but might require 
rewriting portions of the dvb-mplex instead.

0.04 - Add support for remote frontends.

At this point I'm just starting on the first version.  I've taken 
dvb-mplex and broken it out of the dvbtools project but that's about it.

> This relates to the library because each user profile would have a 
> "level"
> similar to the parental control level (perhaps that's all it is). The 
> parental
> control level is not available on the Recorded Show menus though.  The 
> library
> would only list content that is viewable by the current user.  I was 
> thinking that
> the library would be organized as a tree by content where the level 
> would be put
> on the tree structure (directory level) rather than each individual file.
>
I agree parental controls needs to be a Myth wide thing, I'm not sure it 
needs to be all that elaborate though.  Wouldn't something as simple as 
assigning a parental control level to channels/shows as well as library 
categories do the trick?  Little Johnny could look at the recordings if 
he wanted he just wouldn't see anything he's not allowed to watch in the 
list.