How to organize large volume of TV recordings?

[t4uecker]

hello everyone -

i'm at the point where the number of recordings is becoming unwieldy. i'm wondering if there's a way to use the "filter" capability to help with that, or some other option that i haven't thought about.

i have some shows that are of interest only to me, some that are of interest only to my wife, and some that are for the kids. is there a way to specify a keyword/tag with each show (ideally on a per series basis) and then filter the "recorded tv" view based on those keywords? the idea would be that a filter by the keyword "kids" would display only the tv shows having that keyword/tag

thanks!

[DigitalMan]

I had the same problem a while back. The sage metadata for each recording was not my main concern, so I found the easiest solution was to move everything into a hierarchy with reasonable directory and filenames.

Also, it allows me to have separate locations to store HD / SD or other content with separate import directories for each and allow Sage to overlay them into one hierarchy available through the "media center-->videos" menu.

Really though, this is a big area where sage could be improved to provide a much better user experience.

[t4uecker]

Originally Posted by DigitalMan

I had the same problem a while back. The sage metadata for each recording was not my main concern, so I found the easiest solution was to move everything into a hierarchy with reasonable directory and
filenames.

thanks for the response. i assume you're talking about moving them out of the default "recorded tv" area into a folder structure and then viewing that through the "my videos" area, right? if so, that seems pretty cumbersome...you have to move each item separately after it records. and that's an ongoing process.

i was hoping to use the ability to specify a keyword tag when you first set up a series recording...my thought was that would be a one-time thing and then hopefully you could just filter based on that keyword.

it seems there are pre-defined filters of "watched" and "all" (and another one i'm forgetting) so i was wondering if there was a way to add more filter options...namely one that would filter by keyword.

thanks again.

[Opus4]

You can change the settings for the 4 views on the default recordings menu, or you can use the malore recordings style of the hidden features, which can use more than 4 views.

You can filter by categories (I set up one for all the show with Children type categories) & some otehr settings, but you can't set your own keywords to filter by.

- Andy

[t4uecker]

Originally Posted by Opus4

You can change the settings for the 4 views on the default recordings menu, or you can use the malore recordings style of the hidden features, which can use more than 4 views.

You can filter by categories (I set up one for all the show with Children type categories) & some otehr settings, but you can't set your own keywords to filter by.

- Andy

hmmm...okay. a few follow-up questions:

1. where/how do i change the settings for the 4 views on the default recordings menu?

2. can you explain how to filter by categories -- which it sounds like you're doing?

3. if keywords aren't used to enable filters (seems strange since it seems like an obvious use and many apps use keywords exactly for that purpose but okay), then what are they used for?

thanks again.

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by t4uecker

1. where/how do i change the settings for the 4 views on the default recordings menu?

2. can you explain how to filter by categories -- which it sounds like you're doing?

Unless you are using an older version that doesn't have this option, simply use the icons on the left-hand vertical icon bar. For more info, see the PDF manual section for that menu, starting on p. 34 of the 6.3-B version of the manual. (Found in your SageTV directory.)

3. if keywords aren't used to enable filters (seems strange since it seems like an obvious use and many apps use keywords exactly for that purpose but okay), then what are they used for?

There are no user-assigned keywords for recordings, so I don't know what keywords you are referring to. If you mean the category names, they are assigned by the EPG data.

- Andy

[t4uecker]

Originally Posted by Opus4

There are no user-assigned keywords for recordings, so I don't know what keywords you are referring to. If you mean the category names, they are assigned by the EPG data.
- Andy

thanks, andy. the keywords i'm referring to are in the "advanced recording options" when you create a series. they're in the same place where you can specify the channel on which it records and there's even a place to specify the title (for the series, i assume).

[Opus4]

From your terminology, it sounds like you are using SageMC... if so, you should be asking in the SageMC forum section.

- Andy

[t4uecker]

Originally Posted by Opus4

From your terminology, it sounds like you are using SageMC... if so, you should be asking in the SageMC forum section.
- Andy

yup, i am, and so i'll ask in that forum. apologies...didn't realize it was specific to that. thanks again!

[CollinR]

Malore menus kick butt!

Everyone should use them IMHO. Props to Malore and Opus4 for their works!!!

If you have a big library this is a must do thing, you can have way way more information on the screen at one time and the filtering makes it that much better.

[dvd_maniac]

I remember having the same issue a while back and I solved it by using a program called Dirmon2.
It monitors folders for specific criteria and then performs tasks based on the results.
Example:
My favorite is Battlestar Galactica
My wifes is all the CSI's
My kids like Spongebob
I would setup 3 monitors, one for each keyword.
The program will monitor the recording folder for filenames with the previous names and move them into the appropriate imported video folder automatically.
It will wait until the file stops growing and is not in use before moving it too. You can also use the RW metadata stvi to create a metadata file which will be moved with the video since it has the same filename, so the episode info follows the video.