Posts: 7
Joined: Nov 2017
Reputation:
0
Hi guys, I am brand new and I am trying to stack files for a TV show. I read on another forum, dated over 7 years ago that someone else was trying to do the same thing and that the feature would be added in eventually but it doesn't seem to be possible. Let me give you the why so no one asks why I am trying to stack video files for TV episodes. I am using a recorder and trying to edit commercials out of a broadcast for my own use. If I try to just cut the commercial part out, I end up in a no win situation. When the file is encoded (using mp4 just for the sake of being able to quickly check it on my computer) I face an impossible question of either poor quality from a low bit rate or a huge file size from a high bit rate. However, trimming the video into parts allows me to keep the high quality of the original recording and small file size. I tried using a, b, c, d... and "part 1" "part 2" etc. it always came up as separate episodes. I have the option checked for combining separate files in settings. So, is it possible to stack TV episode files? and if so, what I missing?
Posts: 19,982
Joined: May 2009
Reputation:
451
nickr
Retired Team-Kodi Member
Posts: 19,982
No I do not think it is possible to use stacking in TV episodes. You stacking is only needed for movies because people used to cut their pirated movies into lengths taht were suitable for their storage medium like CD's. Not really relevant now, so why extend the functionality?
Why not stitch your parts back together with mkvmerge, which will not change the encoding, merely stitch them one after the other into an mkv file.
Another approach is to use cutfiles, which simply mark the portions to be skipped, leaving the original file intact.
However I have found that the effort in watching a file over and over to find the cut points ruins any ability to enjoy the episode and setting the right click button to skip the number of minutes that our TV stations usually devote to commercials is good enough.
If I have helped you or increased your knowledge, click the 'thumbs up' button to give thanks :) (People with less than 20 posts won't see the "thumbs up" button.)
Posts: 19,982
Joined: May 2009
Reputation:
451
nickr
Retired Team-Kodi Member
Posts: 19,982
Yes it is simply a text file.
If I have helped you or increased your knowledge, click the 'thumbs up' button to give thanks :) (People with less than 20 posts won't see the "thumbs up" button.)