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2012-12-05, 10:03
(This post was last modified: 2012-12-05, 10:03 by DiMag.)
The necessity of mixed movies + tvshows playlists is most promounced in the realm of documentaries. Most documentarties are scrapable as tvshows (using TheTVDB scraper), but some are scrapable only as movies (using IMDB or Lovefilm scraper). As long as you can combine them in a single xsp, you cannot have them all as a separate home screen item.
The preferred solution to this problem is to create a new video files type, documentaries. By the same token the preferred solution to the problem discussed in this post is to create a new video files type, anime. We should be aware of the fact that smart playlists are an imperfect solution when the goal is to provide a library mode optimized for a specific type of video file other than movie or tvshow. Nonetheless, the ability to combine several media types in a smart playlist is useful, and XBMC's failure to provide therefor inexcusable.
Using skins: customized Xonfluence, Unity, Amber, Estuary.
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2012-12-05, 12:15
(This post was last modified: 2012-12-05, 12:45 by Ned Scott.)
(2012-12-05, 10:03)DiMag Wrote: The necessity of mixed movies + tvshows playlists is most promounced in the realm of documentaries. Most documentarties are scrapable as tvshows (using TheTVDB scraper), but some are scrapable only as movies (using IMDB or Lovefilm scraper). As long as you can combine them in a single xsp, you cannot have them all as a separate home screen item.
The preferred solution to this problem is to create a new video files type, documentaries. By the same token the preferred solution to the problem discussed in this post is to create a new video files type, anime. We should be aware of the fact that smart playlists are an imperfect solution when the goal is to provide a library mode optimized for a specific type of video file other than movie or tvshow. Nonetheless, the ability to combine several media types in a smart playlist is useful, and XBMC's failure to provide therefor inexcusable.
As much as I like people acting like dicks and declaring things to be inexcusable (it's a community project, buddy. you're basically bitching about someone not doing something for you for free), I must break it to you...
EDIT: I see from this thread that using the TV show/movie link isn't "acceptable", but in that case you can just use a file directory. As long as all the content is scanned in to the library, viewing in Files view will still present all the same meta data. It's also something that can be linked in the main menu of most skins.
If that somehow doesn't work for people, you can always make a manual playlist.
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My simple question to Ned Scott is, what is the reason a xsp can combine music and musicvideos, but not movies and tvshows? It may be an idiotic question, but it is still worth asking. (Or can it? There is another thread in this forum which says it can, and the documentation to the contrary is wrong.)
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As far as I know, it's simply because that's how the code is written. Music is totally different from the three video types, despite it often being described as being similar. Is it possible to rewrite that code? Sure, but it's a big job and no one either has the time or wants to work on it, or they have other things to work on first.
