[Dumyat]

Hi Martin,
Earlier this week I saw I had an update available for the NextPVR addon to version 7.0.0. However, every time I've tried to install it I keep getting this same dependency error message:-
'The dependency on Kodi.binary.global.gui version 5.15.0 could not be satisfied'.

I'm not overly eager to update, unless this version does something radically different. Just letting you know for info purposes in case nobody else has reported it or perhaps my set-up is unique...

[pkscout]

I think that binary dependency update is in a nightly build of Matrix. If you're on Alpha1, you can either update to the latest nightly (which may be unstable) or wait for Alpha2.

[emveepee]

I believe the Kodi nightly is better than the alpha in general but you might need to set back every once in a while   7.0.0 although a major version bump wasn't a major feature bump that is just the way the backend guys like to do it so if you are on 6.2.1 you can wait.  I'd prefer reserving major numbers for truly major changes.  v8 is coming and equally inconsequential.  I  figure we should be on 5. something right now.

7.0.1 which is in the PR builds now is pretty close to feature final for Matrix for what I want unless sub adds cast/crew or I get any feature request ideas for users.

Martin

[Dumyat]

Thanks guys.
In that case, I will just hold back if there is no real need to update just now.
Cast/Crew would be a very welcome addition. Would that include Director/Writer as well? I presume those details would be presented on the PVR Info Dialog?
Would be really nice to capture the IMDB star rating as well. It's something I do miss from Kodi 18, when I was able to fetch that info using the SHS.
As for other feature requests, have also thought this would make a nice addition to the PVR Channel window so users could quickly see what's coming up later, but I guess that would require changes to Kodi core and not achievable with any changes made with NextPVR:-
https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid...pid2825971
Cheers

[emveepee]

Everything is dependent on what @sub3 wants to add to the backend, size was a concern but know the backend is using compression so that is less.   A concern is the time loading the ridiculous lists that IPTV users have that.  I figure it would have to be option.

I can only speak for Schedules Direct but director and writer are part of crew.  I  don't know how/if @sub3  parses <credits/> in XMLTV.  I also don't know how they are  skinned in Kodi but they will appear where they are skinned  I am not sure what happens if I add the roll name with the cast, I will need to wait and see if I get data.

Star rating are certainly possible if @sub3 adds them but they aren't necessarily IMDB ratings and there is no guarantee they are consistent with multiple EPG source.

Parental ratings aren't possible because Kodi uses the DVB integer and Schedules Direct and XMLTV can use text and it is hard to map them IMO

I don't know what "the SHS" is

Not sure what skin you use but on Estuary, Next shows up on the bottom right of the channel list, during playback on the I key  Info button and of course on the mini guide.  I wouldn't want it on the player control window it is busy enough but you might be able to custom skin it.

Martin

[Dumyat]

I know what you mean. My blood often starts to boil when I see posts from users complaining about slow loading times for their 6000 IPTV Channels on a Raspberry Pi!
Any additional info for the PVR side is always going to be welcomed. For instance, I particularly like to the way NextPVR handles the 'New', 'Premiere' and 'Live' flags in Matrix.
I've just signed up for a 2 month trial with Schedules Direct and like the way it handles the artwork with my initial observations. Not sure if it's going to be any easier to edit mis-matches and get them to appear in Kodi. I haven't actually tried as yet.
SHS is the 'Skin Helper Script'. AFAIK, this is not compatible with Kodi Matrix. There are a couple of Skin Helper addons available for Matrix (Embuary and TMDB). I know they don't work for PVR artwork as I checked a few months ago, but not sure if the same applies for metadata like Director, Writer, Star Ratings.
Yeah, I generally use Estuary and know the Next-Up programme is available on the bottom right of the channel list. I actually think the right side of the screen has a alot of vacant/wasted space and not very busy at all. But horses for courses, peoples opinions often differ on such things.

[emveepee]

Typically there won't be mismatches from Schedules Direct because each show is linked to specific landscape and poster art for the show.  The issues is if two show share an SD name for a rerun.

@sub3 did add cast and crew support from the backend.   https://imgur.com/a/N9nGRJV 

@ronie  is this the way the cast is supposed to be presented one line per cast member?  It seems pretty cramped and truncated to just 3 full names with all the space on the screen.  Also is the EPG image supposed to be portrait or landscape?  I default to landscape because I figure the guide (second image) is spaced for landscape but on this screen the poster might be better.

Martin

[ronie]

one cast member per line is indeed correct. note that the whole text area will scroll (unless disabled in skin settings).
from a skin point of view, it does not matter if you use a poster or landscape thumb.
estuary reserves a square area for the icon.

[emveepee]

Thank @ronie scrolling did the trick.   

@Dumyat  how many cast member do you think you would want to see?   I captured this https://i.imgur.com/YhI911t.mp4 and that was minute of over two minutes of cast.

Martin

[Dumyat]

@Dumyat  how many cast member do you think you would want to see?   I captured this https://i.imgur.com/YhI911t.mp4 and that was minute of over two minutes of cast.

Hi Martin,
Apologies, I missed your reply.
I personally think that a long scrolling list as shown in your example is maybe too much. I couldn't ever see myself opening the info screen and watch a scrolling list of cast members like this. If it works similar to cast scraped for movies and TV shows, the main cast members always seem to be shown at the beginning, so maybe limit the cast for PVR items to half a dozen or so? What do you think?
Were you able to establish how these details are parsed? Would be good to know if these details are an extension to the plot or if they use the credit tags?
Because I wanted to keep the same continuity going for the info screen in Estuary, my own PVR Info screen does not look too dis-similar to that of that used for Movies and TV Shows. The image on the left is my own PVR Info Screen and the right side is the Movie Info Screen for the same title. If the Director, Writer and Cast for NextPVR do use the credit tags, I could maybe present the cast in same way as movies (Without the thumbnail images) and place the director/writer in their correct place on right-hand side:-

When I was using Kodi 17 and 18, I never bothered adding Cast to this screen when using the Skin Helper script, as fetching the artwork could sometimes be a bit on the slow side, so opted to show the banner instead, with the title label as a fallback.
Edit:- Just checked out the default Estuary Skin and it uses Director, Writer and Cast info labels for this screen. I'll have a play around later and see what I can come up with myself....
Edit 2: Seems these new details are not appearing on my current set-up, so I'm guessing they've not actually been added as yet?

[emveepee]

The change requires the next version of NextPVR that is coming soon, two new fields from the database will be optionally send which will require space in the database.  You will also need a 7.0.x client (to keep this on topic) and the PR is already but probably it will be 7.0.2

The data in my example comes from Schedules Direct, unfortunately their data doesn't include the role name.  SD do offfer an API to get cast art but that isn't supported by NextPVR.

The issue with truncating the long list is missing out on Guest Stars.  The Big Band Theory has 6 common cast members which isn't very useful.

Martin

[emveepee]

@Dumyat   The NextPVR backend update with cast & crew is now available with addon 7.1.0.  7.1.1 will be also be making its way soon with drive space information.  Let me know how it works out.

Martin