English > Support

Scan folders/file scanner confusion

<< < (11/13) > >>

patch:

--- Quote from: rick.ca on June 14, 2009, 08:11:36 pm ---
--- Quote ---You do of course realise there is a certain amount of similarity between what you are doing with your file manager and what I (& I assume others) are trying to do with PVD file scanner.
--- End quote ---

Yes, I thought about that and concluded that just because a similar function is required at two different stages of my workflow does it mean it has to be restricted to one or the other.
--- End quote ---

mmm
PVD already has regex, it already stores user defined regex expressions for the file scanner.
As a wish list item I would like to combine the essential features of rick.ca file renamer into PVD. To explain:-
The "Scan results" dialogue should show the fields it will potentially use to search the online databases & set up the record. For movies these are
Title
Original title
Year
url
Path

To that I would like added the ability to run user defined regex (via buttons or menu selection). Typically they would take the "path" as the input string & output to the above fields as appropriate. To be general it maybe worth having tha ability to start from other fields. I imagine some may prefer to run a regex on the existing Title to clean it.
It would also be useful to make the url active so the linked page could be viewed in the users default browser.

For series a similar thing could be done, but more fields are required
Season
Episode
Episode title

The user needs also to be able to correct the scanner if it gets it wrong. A possible solution is to have a series check box, which when ticked indicates the video is part of a series and the extra fields are shown (Unless it is felt the scanner would always be correct). I have not thought through how to incorporate the add to series functionality, but that too would be applicable here.

The reason I would prefer it as part of PVD is I like the way PVD file scanner just shows me the new or changed files when I point it a at directory trees. I also think a dedicated tool like PVD could do a better job of managing video files.

The actual file name updating could then be done as a second step, useful for those who look at the file names or want to ensure subsequent accurate re-scanning.


--- Quote from: rick.ca on June 14, 2009, 08:11:36 pm ---
--- Quote ---I would like at least the option to append the old file name ending to the new cleaned name, maybe Title (Year) IMDb# [old descriptors].ext as I'm not sure I would really like to loose some of that information (CAM, TS, dvdrip, HDTV, BluRay)
--- End quote ---

Just specify the regex that will do so. Instead of skipping over them (or, for example, dropping everything after finding the title and year), put those parts in variables and append them as [old descriptors].
--- End quote ---

Sorry I didn't explain myself, I was thinking how I would like a PVD file renamer to work, not how Directory Opus works


--- Quote from: rick.ca on June 14, 2009, 08:11:36 pm ---
--- Quote ---Not sure if it would cope with graphics data but given the often reasonable image PVD can pull from imdb I still think it is a good approach.
--- End quote ---

Don't forget it's now very easy to export posters to images "beside" the media file. So if a lot of effort has gone into getting better quality posters from elsewhere, this is a reasonable thing to do—to make those available to other PVD databases and/or just to be a visual reference in the file system.

A nice companion to a file renaming feature would be the option to save the poster beside the file at the same time.

--- End quote ---

Good ideas

rick.ca:

--- Quote ---The reason I would prefer it as part of PVD is I like the way PVD file scanner just shows me the new or changed files when I point it a at directory trees. I also think a dedicated tool like PVD could do a better job of managing video files.
--- End quote ---

I don't think there's any advantage in trying to turn PVD into a file manager. Don't be mislead by the fact I use regex in my file manager. Those regex can do no more or less than those in the scanner configuration. The difference is, if there anything that needs to be done manually, the file manager is the appropriate environment in which to do it. If I had a good eye and didn't care about the file names, I could just make the bare minimum of changes necessary so the scanner regex would work. As a practical matter, renaming the files in the file manager not only "cleans" them, but makes it obvious which ones need manual adjustment so that the scanner regex will work.

The function of the scan results dialog should be restricted to correcting associations for movies already in the database, or enabling a more accurate search. In other words, it's for moving forward to the next step, not for fixing errors from the previous step. In a well designed work flow, this dialog should more often than not just be a simple confirmation.


--- Quote ---Sorry I didn't explain myself, I was thinking how I would like a PVD file renamer to work, not how Directory Opus works
--- End quote ---

A PVD renamer would be rename files based on user-configurable database variables like Title, Year, IMDb#, etc. To use such "other information," an additional regex variable would have to be provided that you could use to save the data in a custom field. Then, of course, the renamer would have to allow variables for custom fields. But allowing any custom field to be used in a file name doesn't seem like a good idea. Maybe the Features field could be used for this purpose.

nostra:
OK, I will be laconic:

1. I do not think there will be some built-in support for tagging. I only think of realizing this functionality with scripts/plugins

2. There will be file rename feature, but only to organize files for existing movies in database

3. I am very curious about your 1.0 feature suggestions, Rick

rick.ca:

--- Quote ---3. I am very curious about your 1.0 feature suggestions, Rick
--- End quote ---

I haven't thought about it much, other than in this conversation. But to summarize:

1. The scan results dialog should allow the user to make changes...

a) For records already in the database, forcing the match in cases where the scanner "missed" and thinks a file is new. This would include forcing a match of an episode to an existing series when the scanner has failed to recognize it as an episode.

b) For records not in the database, changes to title and year, to increase the likelihood of a successful web search.

2. As noted here, the scanner should not identify files as series unless a season and episode is determined by the regex.

3. The introduction of a regex variable for storing an online database code from which a URL can be constructed from base URL mask saved in the user's configuration. For example, an IMDb mask could be http://www.imdb.com/title/tt[URL code]/, where [URL code] is the 7-digit IMDb title code.

4. A file path renaming utility which uses relevant database fields as variables. This sort of thing can be rather dangerous unless the user can see the results before committing—it needs some kind of "old path ~ new path" preview, or perhaps some kind of integration with a reintroduced Gridview (where a preview can be shown in a column beside the existing file path). Examples of what should be possible:

[parent]\[title] ([year]) [rating] [url code].[ext]
[parent]\[title] ([year])\{DVD rip files}
[parent]\[series] S[s#] E[e#].[ext]
[parent]\[series]\Season [s#]\[e#] [episode title].[ext]

5. Since some (like patch) will use a renaming utility to ensure other users/databases will be able to get online information with 100% accuracy, it would be nice to also save the current poster using the same name—at the same time the renaming is done (i.e., as an option, "Save poster with same pathname?").

I think a file renamer should have the effect of making users much more accepting of the scanning process. They only need to change new filenames to get results that are "good enough" (that depends on the user—how good their regex are and how willing they are to make corrections in the results dialog). Once the "processing" is done, they will be able to use the renamer to make the file pathnames "perfect."

Nebol:

--- Quote from: rick.ca on June 13, 2008, 12:22:27 am ---In the case of episodes, there are so many different ways they may be organized and named, it's probably easier for all if you decided how it should be done. I like Dadeo's ..\Title\Title.S02E01.episodename.avi, especially if, with that format, your routine could consistently identify titles—whether the episode files are in a separate sub-folders or not.

--- End quote ---

Problem is, that would not work at all for me, since, in my system, I definitely can not have periods in the file names, only before the suffix. I use underscores. Title_S02E01_whatever.suffix
Also, using periods like that is damn ugly.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page