2016-02-05, 21:36
This may end up being migrated to be a feature request, but I am trying to clarify that there isn't a way to accomplish this behavior currently first.
The issue I am trying to solve has been brought up several times over the years, but the gist of it is this:
- DVD/Bluray's to ISO files where single ISO's may often contain multiple episodes of TV Shows/Special Features or otherwise map to separate distinct entries in the library
+ Kodi supports this currently with the concept of episode bookmarks, however there are a few downsides to this usage (from most to least relevant to me)
Much of the above is noted in the Wiki, and I'm not intending to say these are bugs, just a less than optimal implementation for my use cases. I am also aware that many at this point would suggest encoding to split MKV files or something similar, which I may end up doing down the road, but I have my entire collection of DVDs/Blurays ripped to my home server as ISOs, and have used it this way for years without issue, aside from the above mentioned cases.
My question is, is there a way to reference video files in the library by pointing to a DVD or Bluray title/chapter? This would solve the first main issue, and possible the 3rd and 4th in the list, depending on how watch tracking is implemented.
I found this pull request ( https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/1736 ), but it wasn't accepted and merged. It was back in 2012, but it looks like it contains exactly what I am looking for, however, in the discussion of the pull request, there are references to using Bluray URL paths to accomplish the same, but I can't find any documentation on it. When I dig into my shared MySQL database used for Kodi, I do see some entries in the path table that look like this for some of my bluray ISO's:
bluray://udf%3a%2f%2fS%253a%255cMedia%255cVideo%255cGame%2520of%2520Thrones%255cSeason%25204%255cGame_of_Thrones.s04e01-02.iso%2f/BDMV/PLAYLIST/
So I'm assuming some url logic must be used there - is it possible to utilize this to point to a specific title or chapter using Kodi's current code?
Using titles/chapters for ISOs would also open up the possibility of solving point #3, as it would facilitate the possibility of using a public chapter repository (if one were to be created in the future - along the lines of this thread discussion: http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=229027)
I wanted to check if there is any functionality that would meet my requirements, and also check if there is something like this in the works. If not, I could look into possibly implementing it, and creating a PR for it if there is any interest in it. However, that's a big if currently; I am an experienced software developer, but am short on time and unmanaged code isn't my forte.
Thanks in advance for any help or guidance
The issue I am trying to solve has been brought up several times over the years, but the gist of it is this:
- DVD/Bluray's to ISO files where single ISO's may often contain multiple episodes of TV Shows/Special Features or otherwise map to separate distinct entries in the library
+ Kodi supports this currently with the concept of episode bookmarks, however there are a few downsides to this usage (from most to least relevant to me)
- Individual video segments/episodes are not clipped to their boundaries, so will keep playing until the end of the title where the episode bookmark resides (which is usually the remainder of the episodes on the disc if not starting from the last). This prevents any sort of playlist functionality, since if I want to play a shuffled or queued list, it will be playing all episodes within a title from that point, and not skip to the next when the episode is over
- Setting each individual episode bookmark can be cumbersome and time consuming
- Resume points are not tracked for each episode on a multi-episode ISO, and playing the next episode after watching another on the same disc first prompts to resume from the last played point (which is a different episode)
- Watching any episode on a multi-episode ISO causes all episodes to be toggled as watched
Much of the above is noted in the Wiki, and I'm not intending to say these are bugs, just a less than optimal implementation for my use cases. I am also aware that many at this point would suggest encoding to split MKV files or something similar, which I may end up doing down the road, but I have my entire collection of DVDs/Blurays ripped to my home server as ISOs, and have used it this way for years without issue, aside from the above mentioned cases.
My question is, is there a way to reference video files in the library by pointing to a DVD or Bluray title/chapter? This would solve the first main issue, and possible the 3rd and 4th in the list, depending on how watch tracking is implemented.
I found this pull request ( https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/1736 ), but it wasn't accepted and merged. It was back in 2012, but it looks like it contains exactly what I am looking for, however, in the discussion of the pull request, there are references to using Bluray URL paths to accomplish the same, but I can't find any documentation on it. When I dig into my shared MySQL database used for Kodi, I do see some entries in the path table that look like this for some of my bluray ISO's:
bluray://udf%3a%2f%2fS%253a%255cMedia%255cVideo%255cGame%2520of%2520Thrones%255cSeason%25204%255cGame_of_Thrones.s04e01-02.iso%2f/BDMV/PLAYLIST/
So I'm assuming some url logic must be used there - is it possible to utilize this to point to a specific title or chapter using Kodi's current code?
Using titles/chapters for ISOs would also open up the possibility of solving point #3, as it would facilitate the possibility of using a public chapter repository (if one were to be created in the future - along the lines of this thread discussion: http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=229027)
I wanted to check if there is any functionality that would meet my requirements, and also check if there is something like this in the works. If not, I could look into possibly implementing it, and creating a PR for it if there is any interest in it. However, that's a big if currently; I am an experienced software developer, but am short on time and unmanaged code isn't my forte.
Thanks in advance for any help or guidance