[AbMagFab]

why are playlists not manageable?  just queue the files up (press y on the folder), switch to the "now playing" screen, and play.

imo you are using the stack feature for something for which it was not designed - unless your home video is supposed to be played as a single file, whereby why isn't it a single file to begin with?

my home videos are a single "file" with lots of clips.  each clip is a single video camera on/off, usually 30 seconds to 2 minutes, max.  the collection of clips makes a single video.  for christmas, this can be 10-20 clips (like chapters on a dvd, but they're separate files).  for a regular event, like a party or swim class, this is usually 5-10 clips.  they are meant to be watched together as one unit.

it's not a playlist, it's a stacked video.  this is exactly what stacked videos mean - multiple parts to a single video, right?

i have a few hundred clips.  if i had to make playlists out of each of them in order to play them as a unit, it would be unweildy, and impractical.  and it wouldn't make sense from a viewing standpoint - they are single videos, not playlists.  videos are found by navigating the directory tree, not going to a playlist - "videos/home/daughter/2005/christmas day (stack)". right now it's like any other video - i copy the pieces into a directory, and they appear as a single video via xbmc in the proper place in the directory tree.

does this make sense?

the other people i've turned on to xbmc use it the same way for their home videos (granted, only 5 people, but it's everyone i know who uses xbmc, and we use it this way coincidentally, but mostly because it makes sense in xbmc).

that all being said, it would be nice to retain the feature of instant play of a stack without having to wait for the calculation of a combined video.  they are combined videos, and i would prefer that feature if the time could be kept to < 5 seconds for large stacks (up to 20 files), but it sounds like that isn't likely.

so is it a big deal to keep instant play, and combined play as separate options?  or a threshhold where combined play takes too long (say, more than 2-3 files it does instant play)?  it certainly makes sense to give folks options for either, or still support instant play where combined play is too slow.