[grat]

I've been encoding a number of DVD's recently, and like everyone else, it occurred to me that it would be nice to be able to rip the special features, and somehow associate them to the main video.

I know very little about XBMC's internals (or I'd try to code it myself), but it seems that it wouldn't be too tough to add a field to the "Videos" table called something like "related_id" that points to the index of the "parent" movie.

So assuming I have a video called "Some Movie" with an id of "4353", then if I had a feature called "The Making of Some Movie", it could have a related_id of "4353".

Then there could be an API to return "all videos with a related_id of <X>" where X is the id of the currently selected movie.

For bonus points, such features could be tagged as genre "Bonus Material" and not show up in normal library mode... unless it seems reasonable to "relate" a movie to another movie... but I really don't think this sort of thing should be (ab)used that way.

[jmarshall]

How many times do you watch the special features?

[grat]

How many times do you watch the special features?

I suppose I could as easily ask "How many times do you watch the movie?"

My goal is to move my DVD collection from a cluttered shelf onto the HTPC, and eliminate the need to go through a rack of DVD's to find what I'm looking for. Ideally, I'd like to "archive" the physical copies off to a box.

Being able to watch the "Making of" or outtakes from a movie is entertaining, and extra value-- having to find the DVD, throw it in, having to wait through previews for movies from 5 years ago, 3 three warnings that I don't actually own the movie in question, and a slick, but ultimately pointless animated menu-- is less so. The whole process seems to be an archaic way of doing things, and counter to what XBMC aims to be.

Obviously, XBMC is a community project, and I should either put up or shut up-- but as I don't have the kind of time I'd like to delve into the mysteries of XBMC coding, I thought I'd put out the suggestion, along with a possible method of implementation, and see what the response is.

[jmarshall]

Sure, I can see some argument for that, but I personally find that there's very few movies that I bother with extras at all.

My wife, on the other hand, is obsessed with watching movie trailers - often for the movie we've just watched - most strange!

If this was to be added, I suggest the following would be done:

1. Add the extras as separate files, named appropriately (eg <moviename>-extras1.mkv etc.)
2. A new table in the db for the extras - obviously they wouldn't go into the main movie table.
3. Table would have filename and idmovie linking back to the movie they're associated with. A description field may be useful as well (eg "Trailer", "Making of" etc.)
4. The movie info dialog would have to be updated to support showing the extras and allowing playback.

This could effectively be an extension to the trailers that we currently support.

Cheers,
Jonathan

[Magic815]

I figured I'd bump up this thread as opposed to again just suggesting the same thing.

I would like to have some sort of ability to link separate files that are special features as well. While I realize I am not like most, I am an aspiring director who will routinely rewatch special features on films.

- Sometimes it's just the commentaries (which can be included on the main movie itself).
- Sometimes it's the "making of" featurettes or other small clips that dvds/blurays contain.
- Sometimes the special features utilize the navigational menu of the disc (PiP, etc) and cant be easily separated into multiple streams.


I've been trying to figure out the best way to implement this into XBMC, and I think I've found it. We would basically take Jmarshall's idea of extending how trailers are supported. This way, if a person has a few "making of" features on separate streams, they can throw em in the folder and be able to select them while on the movie page. However, I would like to be able to add in any filetype. For instance, I could keep a Bluray ISO/Folder structure (which has the main movie removed) and select that to play from XBMC (through an external player, of course). This would make it so I don't have to separate each special feature onto it's own stream, but have an altered ISO/Folder structure that can be selected as well.

Think of the possibilities! This wouldn't just help with special features! Imagine having a movie with a theatrical and extended cut. Where if you hit play on the movie page, it will default to the theatrical cut, but if you right click you can select the extended cut!

I'm essentially proposing the addition of "linked" video files on the movie page. And have the title of each link be user editable. This way, you could select trailers, alternate cuts, special features, related fan made videos, or anything else you can imagine.

I know the desire is there. In my short time searching, I've found many people requesting this same type of feature. I'm no coder, or else I would start chugging away on this myself. I am willing to donate to the cause, however, but would like to know that people are actually intending to one day go down this road.

I'd love to hear input from you guys!

[Flomaster]

would it be possible to treat the extras as "tv shows" and link the movie with the "tv show" ?

I have not tried out that feature yet so im not exactly sure how it would work.

but each movie would have a its extras and each extras would be like an episode


-=Jason=-

[Magic815]

That could be a potential idea.

I've also been thinking that worst case I could just add the special features in the "video" section as a set or something.

However, I found this picture in another thread. I think this is ultimately what we should be shooting for:



That is the perfect integration in my eyes, where all those extra features are separate video files in the movie folder. I got that picture from this thread: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=60579

They have some ideas on how it might be achieved.

I'll be away this weekend, but I definitely think we should create an official feature request in the trac. I've now seen this feature suggested in over half a dozen places over the past year. We already have this feature working with trailers, so we just need to add an "Extras" section too. This would make XBMC truly great!

[Nitroburner77]

I would like this feature as well

[da-anda]

it's been worked on as an addon -> http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=125024