[gamaru]

Great to see that !
I'm willing to try that new version then !
Do you post it there when there is a new version available ? Or do we need to keep an eye on the GitHub page ?

I will post the update here but since the update of the add-on will also be published on the repository it should automatically be detected by your Kodi installation.

Thank you for letting us know. I eagerly look forward to seeing the update and using it!

[xexe]

Backlink to original: https://emby.media/community/index.php?/...ent=918659

I have just successfully installed Media Importer on a VM using `LibreELEC (community): devel-20200826165948-d8a7611 (Generic.x86_64)` and `Emby Media Importer 0.0.9`.

The entire setup process was quite elegant once I understood the new workflow for adding sources and realised it is best to avoid HTTPS for now.

I really dont have anything but positive feedback to report other than trivialities like the icon in Kodi settings for Media Sources is missing.
 
I can see though that the FanArt cache is built on demand. I would like to request an option for all cover art to be pre-cached. In my experience on lower end devices lack of pre caching just results in an extended bad user experience until it is populated. In cases like this it is better to get this out the way once in advance. Obviously some consideration would need to be given to how remote the artwork is (i.e. internet vs local LAN) and if only covers vs actor etc are pre cached.

I havent tested it yet but it looks like we also follow the standard Kodi practice of a separate `/userdata/Thumbnails` cache per user. As stated previously this isnt viable for me on AML since the available device storage space is less than the space needed to hold 6 copies of the cache (one for each user). This forces me to use path substitution which immediately makes all my installs officially not supported.

Is there any option being considered to work around this?

[Montellese]

Backlink to original: https://emby.media/community/index.php?/...ent=918659

I have just successfully installed Media Importer on a VM using `LibreELEC (community): devel-20200826165948-d8a7611 (Generic.x86_64)` and `Emby Media Importer 0.0.9`.

The entire setup process was quite elegant once I understood the new workflow for adding sources and realised it is best to avoid HTTPS for now.

I really dont have anything but positive feedback to report other than trivialities like the icon in Kodi settings for Media Sources is missing.

Thanks for your feedback and taking the time to test this. I very much appreciate it.
The missing icon for media sources in settings is because I'm not a designer / skinner and the location of the entry point will probably change in the final version.
 

I can see though that the FanArt cache is built on demand. I would like to request an option for all cover art to be pre-cached. In my experience on lower end devices lack of pre caching just results in an extended bad user experience until it is populated. In cases like this it is better to get this out the way once in advance. Obviously some consideration would need to be given to how remote the artwork is (i.e. internet vs local LAN) and if only covers vs actor etc are pre cached.

I havent tested it yet but it looks like we also follow the standard Kodi practice of a separate `/userdata/Thumbnails` cache per user. As stated previously this isnt viable for me on AML since the available device storage space is less than the space needed to hold 6 copies of the cache (one for each user). This forces me to use path substitution which immediately makes all my installs officially not supported.

Is there any option being considered to work around this?

TBH I haven't considered pre-caching artwork because I only tested this on my dev machine so far which is powerful enough to do this on-the-fly. But I can see this being an issue on a Raspberry Pi or similar platforms. I'll think about how this could best be achieved. Concerning the location media import doesn't have any custom / special handling for artwork. It simply gets the information from Emby (or any other source) and stores it in the database / library exactly the same as artwork provided by scrapers. So if you have a working solution for standard library items it should also work for media importing.

[xexe]

Thanks for the reply and thanks for the work, I will certainly eventually rely on this feature.

I will endeavor (since this is a VM) to keep it running for extended periods. This should test how well this and future versions work with large data churn.

I will also report back once I add multi user profiles.

For context my current Emby for Kodi advancedsettings.xml to cater for the Thumbnail size problem (and a couple of personal preferences) is.

xml:
<advancedsettings>

        <pathsubstitution>

          <substitute>

                <from>special://masterprofile/Thumbnails/</from>

                <to>nfs://server/.kodi-emby/Thumbnails/</to>

          </substitute>

          <substitute>

                <from>special://profile/Thumbnails/</from>

                <to>nfs://server/.kodi-emby/Thumbnails/</to>

          </substitute>

        </pathsubstitution>

        <videolibrary>

                <recentlyaddeditems>300</recentlyaddeditems> <!-- Increase number of recently added items from default 25 -->

                <flattentvshows>0</flattentvshows> <!-- Never flatten TV show seasons, 0=never 1=if one season (default) 2=all -->

        </videolibrary>

</advancedsettings>

This is multi-user aware but as mentioned this makes my install unsupported since it use path sub for art and art sharing.

[RockerC]

@Montellese Google stole your concept for Google TV! (Or was it Apple TV who stole it first)? Checkout the new "Google TV" UI which is all about content aggregation and curation -> https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid...id=2979067

Full article based on some real experience of Google's new content aggregation concept in https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/29/21494...d-features

Instead of letting you customize the home screen (Android TV gives some apps like Netflix and YouTube their own dedicated rows that you can move around or get rid of), Google TV is all about aggregation. It brings together content from all the streaming services you’re subscribed to and lists them all side by side in Netflix-like rows of recommendations.

There are dedicated tabs for movies and TV shows (along with a personalized “For You” section that mixes them together), but Google is clearly trying to break down the walls between streaming platforms. It’s the same thing Apple has attempted with the Apple TV app. In the screenshot above, notice how in the active row, Google TV shows artwork for each show — but almost puts more importance on making it clear what service they’re all coming from.

You can toggle which apps you pay for, and which you don’t, to influence what content Google pushes on you. But even then, sometimes you’ll see items from HBO Max regardless of whether the service is unchecked. If a recommendation is from an app you’re not currently subscribed to (or if a rental or purchase is required to watch it), you’ll see a small lock icon next to that title as a visual cue that it’ll take more than a couple clicks to start streaming; you’re gonna have to pay something.

So yes, the home screen has seen a dramatic overhaul, but there’s still plenty of Android TV here. You can do voice searches by holding down the Google Assistant button on the remote and speaking. The universal search brings back results from all the big streaming services, and here you’ll helpfully still see those dedicated rows for apps like Netflix. As before, Google Assistant can control your smart home gadgets or check the weather.

If you can download an app on Android TV, you can download it onto the new Chromecast. It remains possible to sideload software (I just successfully did that with Stadia), and power users still have the freedom to futz with developer options and see how far they can push Google’s new $50 dongle. But there’s no way to completely disable Google TV and get back the regular Android TV experience, at least not one I could find. And yes, you’re still very much able to cast movies, shows, and audio from other devices to the Chromecast. So it retains that core part of the appeal from its predecessors.

I’ll have much more to say about the new Chromecast with Google TV very soon. But there’s been a lot of confusion over just what exactly this thing is and what it does. It’s a Chromecast that actually runs Android TV, with an all-new “Google TV” software interface that’s exclusive to this device, at least for now.

[Montellese]

@Montellese Google stole your concept for Google TV! (Or was it Apple TV who stole it first)? Checkout the new "Google TV" UI which is all about content aggregation and curation -> https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid...id=2979067

Best article about their new content aggregation concept in https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/29/21494...d-features

Instead of letting you customize the home screen (Android TV gives some apps like Netflix and YouTube their own dedicated rows that you can move around or get rid of), Google TV is all about aggregation. It brings together content from all the streaming services you’re subscribed to and lists them all side by side in Netflix-like rows of recommendations.

There are dedicated tabs for movies and TV shows (along with a personalized “For You” section that mixes them together), but Google is clearly trying to break down the walls between streaming platforms. It’s the same thing Apple has attempted with the Apple TV app. In the screenshot above, notice how in the active row, Google TV shows artwork for each show — but almost puts more importance on making it clear what service they’re all coming from.

You can toggle which apps you pay for, and which you don’t, to influence what content Google pushes on you. But even then, sometimes you’ll see items from HBO Max regardless of whether the service is unchecked. If a recommendation is from an app you’re not currently subscribed to (or if a rental or purchase is required to watch it), you’ll see a small lock icon next to that title as a visual cue that it’ll take more than a couple clicks to start streaming; you’re gonna have to pay something.

So yes, the home screen has seen a dramatic overhaul, but there’s still plenty of Android TV here. You can do voice searches by holding down the Google Assistant button on the remote and speaking. The universal search brings back results from all the big streaming services, and here you’ll helpfully still see those dedicated rows for apps like Netflix. As before, Google Assistant can control your smart home gadgets or check the weather.

If you can download an app on Android TV, you can download it onto the new Chromecast. It remains possible to sideload software (I just successfully did that with Stadia), and power users still have the freedom to futz with developer options and see how far they can push Google’s new $50 dongle. But there’s no way to completely disable Google TV and get back the regular Android TV experience, at least not one I could find. And yes, you’re still very much able to cast movies, shows, and audio from other devices to the Chromecast. So it retains that core part of the appeal from its predecessors.

I’ll have much more to say about the new Chromecast with Google TV very soon. But there’s been a lot of confusion over just what exactly this thing is and what it does. It’s a Chromecast that actually runs Android TV, with an all-new “Google TV” software interface that’s exclusive to this device, at least for now.

Outrageous! How dare they steal an idea that I originally formulated as a Google Summer of Code project for an open source project?  And unfortunately they beat me to it because they have a few more resources available 

[RockerC]

@Montellese Google stole your concept for Google TV! (Or was it Apple TV who stole it first)? Checkout the new "Google TV" UI which is all about content aggregation and curation -> https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid...id=2979067

Best article about their new content aggregation concept in https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/29/21494...d-features

Outrageous! How dare they steal an idea that I originally formulated as a Google Summer of Code project for an open source project?  And unfortunately they beat me to it because they have a few more resources available 

Indeed! Pablo Picasso is widely quoted as having said "good artists borrow, great artists steal"   

More news their 'new' concept: https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/10/01...s-for-now/

"Despite sharing the same icon as the Android TV Home app, the Google TV homescreen is much different. It's built around the idea that people want to spend less time bouncing between different streaming service apps and more time actually watching stuff. In order to accomplish this goal, Google mixes in content from all your favorite apps and services together on the homescreen — although you can disable this if you prefer the old way of doing things."

And another review here: https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/09/30...tv-review/

"GTV interface still has large tiles like Android TV, but the focus is more on content than the apps that contain the content. The new home screen is called For You, which aggregates streaming video from all the apps you have installed. The idea is to show you all the things you could be watching at that moment without paying anything extra—although, I have noticed a few paid and disabled items sneaking in, which I will chalk up to pre-launch bugs. There are suggestions based on trends, as well as various genres that will come and go if you scroll down farther. I feel like this screen is better at surfacing things I might want to watch than Android TV, and I like that it can more reliably recognize what content I've already paid for. Google also added a watchlist feature to help you queue up anything you might come across for future consumption.

Google TV also has TV integration—there's a dedicated tab for live TV, and some live programming will appear on the For You screen. At launch, this only works with YouTube TV. If you don't have a subscription, the Live tab won't appear on your screen at all. Google says more TV providers will work in the future. In the meantime, you can still launch apps like Sling and Hulu to watch live TV without all the home screen integrations. The TV interface is very similar to the YouTube TV app (which you can still launch and use if you prefer), but it's quicker to access. You can see your recordings, record content, and flip around the channels without opening the YTTV app. However, you need to make sure your YouTube TV app is logged in with the same primary account on the dongle. Otherwise, the home screen integrations won't work. That's an ongoing issue here—most features are locked to the dongle's primary user."

It seems Google or Apple no longer want you to think about content coming from different apps, instead, they want to directly present all content themselves from all streaming services that you subscribe from, apps will take a backseat as backend media providers.

One frontend inerface to rule them all! 

[Skank]

@Montellese  Maybe you're not gonna like my question, but you know +_ when this will go live?
Plans to get it into next kodi?
Or do you talk about months/ or years?

This WIP is indeed in contrast with google's new google tv ui on their new chromecast, but its exactly what i want !!!! Although i prefer a better mediaplayer box :p

[Dumyat]

@Montellese
I have the latest Windows build installed, but I'm having an issue with the PVR clients available in the Kodi repo.
The only appears to be following two PVR clients available:-
1) Digital Devices Octopus NET Client
2) PVR Freebox TV

I was hoping to test the new PseudoTV Addon with the Plex Importer, but the addon requires the IPTV Simple PVR client. I downloaded the latest version of it from the GitHub, but I keep getting an error that the addon could not be installed from the current location.
Is there anyway I can add the official Kodi repo to this build that will include all the current PVR clients?

[LongMan]

@Dumyat,
The latest Media import builds are a few months old (April 11), pre Alpha 1. That is probably the source of the errors because there was been many commits to master since then. Montellese was trying to rebase to master, as well as refactor some early code. Unfortunately he hasn't been able to find the time.

Hopefully he can find some time or get some help or both to bring it up to date.

Cheers,
LongMan

[Montellese]

@Dumyat,
The latest Media import builds are a few months old (April 11), pre Alpha 1. That is probably the source of the errors because there was been many commits to master since then. Montellese was trying to rebase to master, as well as refactor some early code. Unfortunately he hasn't been able to find the time.

Hopefully he can find some time or get some help or both to bring it up to date.

Cheers,
LongMan

That pretty much sums it up, thanks @LongMan. Since my wife recently gave birth to our second child my "free" time has become even more limited than it already was. I have a version of my media import work rebased on Matrix Alpha 1 but I haven't been able to properly test it yet. But I can let Jenkins create some test builds if other people are willing to give it a spin and report back whether it works or not. Let me know if I should create those test builds and for which platform(s)?

I have also just released all new features and improvements available for the Plex Media Importer add-on because they have been sitting there for a while now. Please see https://github.com/Montellese/mediaimpor.../tag/0.0.7 for the changelog.

[Dumyat]

Thanks for the update guys. Much appreciated.
It had been quite a few months since I first tried out this build, so wasn't entirely sure if the version I downloaded recently was same or something newer, hence why queried it.
Of course 'Real Life' should come first. Kodi development is a hobby and not bound by any timeframe. I'm highly appreciative of your work and efforts with this project. 
As such, I would be more than happy to supply feedback on any test builds now or in the future. The current build I have installed is on my old Windows 7 64 bit machine and that's all it has installed.....

[Montellese]

Here are the test builds based on Matrix Alpha 1. The first time I started it I had some issues with the add-on migration and I had to completely delete the media importer add-ons and their dependencies from the hard disk to resolve this. So best just start with a clean install. As mentioned before I have not tested this extensively.

• Windows x64: http://mirrors.kodi.tv/test-builds/windo...ix-x64.exe
  
• Android
  • ARM: http://mirrors.kodi.tv/test-builds/andro...bi-v7a.apk
    
  • ARM64: http://mirrors.kodi.tv/test-builds/andro...64-v8a.apk
    
• IOS ARM64: http://mirrors.kodi.tv/test-builds/darwi...-ios64.deb
  
• TVOS: http://mirrors.kodi.tv/test-builds/darwi...x-tvos.deb
  

Thanks for your feedback.

I have also rebased my work onto (almost) latest master but since I haven't kept up with Kodi master development I have no idea what has been changed / added / removed since Matrix Alpha 1 and whether it is already worth moving to (apart from keeping up with the source code to avoid major conflicts).

[Supersilver]

Hey @Montellese I have the latest test build you posted for Windows and Android but can't seem to import my movie library. Think I posted a log if it helps

https://paste.kodi.tv/izuyugagaw.kodi

[Montellese]

Hey @Montellese I have the latest test build you posted for Windows and Android but can't seem to import my movie library. Think I posted a log if it helps

https://paste.kodi.tv/izuyugagaw.kodi

Thanks for the feedback and the log. Importing movies seems to work but there's an exception when importing movie sets / collections which results in the whole process being aborted. I'll try to look into it ASAP. I have created an "official" bug report so this is not forgotten: https://github.com/Montellese/mediaimpor.../issues/25.