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Would it be possible to generate a dummy DVD menu with nothing but an XBMC background and a text listing of the titles that are in the stack?
That way if you had, say "Blue Planet" from the BBC, Discs 1, 2, 3, and 4, when you enable the stacking functionality, it would generate a dummy menu with the choices:
Disc 1
Disc 2
Disc 3
Disc 4
or you could customize these names with an XML/nfo file.
When you clicked on the appropriate disc, it would then load the menu from that disc.
Feedback?
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kraqh3d
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No. I'd like to understand why do you want to stack multiple dvd's ? It seems pointless to me. Actually, I have been thinking about a way to implement the opposite feature to allow direct playback of a dvd title and chapter from a playlist-like file. This would allow tv show dvd's to be added to the library as singular episodes, and would bypass the disc menu when played.
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sho
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There are examples like the LOTR extended editions. But agree your approach would be better suited to TV shows like the Blue Planet.
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kraqh3d
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good example but it still doesnt apply to what waldo is looking for. i would say that in the LOTR example, you want the movie played back seemlessly when it hits the disc transition point. you really wouldnt want a menu asking which disc to play.
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kraqh,
You're right about the TV shows, and you're right about the LOTR example-- you would want seamless plaback.
It's not that I necessarily want a menu, but I don't want 4 copies of "The First World War" or "Blue Planet" in my library, either.
So when my wife's 19-disc Sex and the City extravaganza is in the library, I'd rather see it once, and then be able to select the season and episode I want, instead of seeing it 19 times.
The ideal way would be to have ONE icon show up in the library, and from there, you get a menu of episodes.
That's really what I meant.
But it really doesn't matter to me how it gets implemented.
As long as you could make a custom XML file to lable Season's and Episodes with custom names,
Maybe I'm not properly using the scraper for TV show episodes.
-Wes
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kraqh3d
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tv shows (and other serials like the first world war and blue planet) on dvd will scan correctly (with some work), but you wont get direct playback of an episode.
if you have iso files, name them like this: /tv shows/blue planet/disc1/s01e01.s01e02.s01e03.s01e04.iso
if they are dvd folders, you need to name the folder correctly, something like this: /tv shows/blue planet/disc1.s01e01.s01e02.s01e03.s01e04/video_ts.ifo (etc). and then you'll need to define a custom tvshow regexp to pick up the season and episode numbers from the folder name. (i have one at home for testing purposes that i can post later.)
and multi-disc movies will appear twice but you can edit the title for those few that do.
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Not wishing to be OT, but is there a reason you backup the entire DVD? Storing each episode as a separate iso is beneficial in by-passing these types of problems.
LOTR (or any 2-disc DVD's) can be easily joined into one iso - makes life nice for playback - and seamless.
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Thanks for the info, Kiwi.
Normally, I rip the entire disc because I enjoy the menu experience, but in the case of episodic TV shows and other series, I agree with you that the menu gets in the way.
