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Better actor support


BAS

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  1. When clicking on actor I can see their bio info but I have no way to see any content I have with them in it. Is the client not able to display this?
  2. Searching currently only finds items by title, so I can't search by actor and get a results page for their movies.
  3. When looking at actors for tv series which is only available at the episode level i only see guest actors for that episode, no listing for regular cast and no place to find that info currently in this client.

Yes I'm aware of using the web client but I'm not bringing this stuff up for me but for the users who like the fact of using a real remote control with their device and client and would like this additional info.

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Remember when this community would actually respond to stuff, and I'm not talking to the limited developers we have. If you use the Roku client and you like the ideas brought up in the initial post, join the conversation, maybe like the initial post to gauge community interest for developers.. things of that nature. ;) In my opinion this is a big deal, if my dad wants to search for Harrison Ford movies he should be able to do that with the remote and the client, if the client software isn't capable of displaying content when clicking on their picture that is fine, but at least let someone who can only use a remote to be able to search for actors because telling my dad to go to a computer to search via the web client is just not going to work.

 

Of course not being able to find out the main actors for the tv series in anyway is a major downfall for a user like this as well, that's to say if actors search was implemented, because there is no way to discover the main actors names inside the client. I have several users of this remote only type, who use only this client.

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MrWebsmith

i think its a good idea... your dad sounds a lot like my dad...

 

 

another possible idea is maybe an "actor by letter" row where he could browse to the actor.. but still.. we'd need to be able to have a page for "Harrison Ford" with the same info that the current web client shows now

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[cough]Nexus Player[cough]...

 

I know the app isn't finished yet and you have an investment in these boxes but I really think Roku is going to have to do something to compete with ATV because we can do so much with this interface.

 

54db83bf60839_peoplesearch.png

54db83d0c8810_cast.png

54db83df321df_harrisonford.png

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73272d836e7c497333f220a496a01fec.jpgeb98e9204441b535855af5a8e50e6610.jpg

 

It should allow searching for cast/crew in the roku client. It wouldn't be a monumental task as much is already done as shown above.

 

@@ebr, good work on the ATV design, but it doesn't belong in this thread really. I understand why you've created the app. Just don't understand why its posted here?

Edited by speechles
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Call it a shameless plug.

 

Yes, we can probably improve the Roku design as well.  I just really think they are getting left behind by the new offerings and need to do something to get up to snuff.  Otherwise, a lot of people will be doing what I will and replacing their Roku's with ATV boxes.

 

Really, would more like to light a fire under the Roku folks than anyone out here.

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My family would need to replace 7 roku boxes, I'm hoping we can get some extra help on this client, maybe the user who created the new roku plugin could help out in some way. 

 

As far as ATV I'm glad its being developed and it looks good, but even Google recognized that these Roku boxes are everywhere and made a Google Play app for Roku which means Roku has amazon and google, while if you invest in either a ATV or Fire you only get either google or amazon not both. 

 

It's sad to say but the TWC TV app for Roku is pretty damn impressive.

Edited by BAS
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Yeah, sorry for the hijack.  I know everyone isn't going to dump their Rokus and jump to something brand new.

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My family would need to replace 7 roku boxes, I'm hoping we can get some extra help on this client, maybe the user who created the new roku plugin could help out in some way. 

 

As far as ATV I'm glad its being developed and it looks good, but even Google recognized that these Roku boxes are everywhere and made a Google Play app for Roku which means Roku has amazon and google, while if you invest in either a ATV or Fire you only get either google or amazon not both. 

 

It's sad to say but the TWC TV app for Roku is pretty damn impressive.

this^

as simple (and extremely limited design wise) as Roku is, it has amazon and google and it just works.  i very rarely have issues, i did see problems when i used fire tv and nexus.  hopefully roku is bringing their interface up to date so it can compete with the others.

also, TWC TV app is unbelievable, saves my family about 25/month in set-top box rentals.

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Yeah, sorry for the hijack.  I know everyone isn't going to dump their Rokus and jump to something brand new.

no need to apologize, i understood what you were getting at, pointing out that roku is falling behind in the ui department.  not sure why your post was bothersome to others.

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ginjaninja

+1 i would welcome the person view to include their content grouped by tv, movie, albums, other ...sorted chronologically...

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Koleckai Silvestri

[cough]Nexus Player[cough]...

 

I know the app isn't finished yet and you have an investment in these boxes but I really think Roku is going to have to do something to compete with ATV because we can do so much with this interface.

 

But no HBOGo as far as I am aware. Makes the Nexus Player a non-starter currently. I don't even see how it can succeed in the marketplace with giving access to the 114 Million HBO subscribers worldwide.

 

Would be nice if the information can be exposed on the Roku, even if MediaBrowser doesn't qualify for some of the nicer UI enhancements they have made available to other companies.

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@@Bluebull32 not sure how much time you have and if you are up to this but still would like to hear your thoughts on this. It really is one of the only things missing for my remote control only users.

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Bluebull32

I have a working prototype of this, but I need to get some feedback, so I can make sure this works as everyone wanted.

 

Using Search Feature To Find Actors:

   By default, inclusion of actors in search results is turned off, to prevent the results from getting cluttered with a ton of names unnecessarily.

54e8675d18698_sMBRsearchphillip_personOF

 

Here is a search for "phillip" leaving the default option to not include people in results.

 

Press the * button to bring up the options:

 

54e867ba19bfe_sMBRsearchtogglepeople.jpg

 

Now I can select to include actors in my search results.  Now the screen changes to reflect my choice:

54e8684d19824_sMBRsearchphillip_personON

 

Modifying my search to "Philip Seymour", then select the search button on the screen:

 

54e868aeabfd8_sMBRfindresultsPSH.jpg

 

So I am given a list of actors that match in the second row.  These actors can be selected, and so on.

 

 

Viewing all Movies and TV Shows From A Given Actor:

  So now I am viewing the synopsis of one of Hoffman's movies here:

54e8699f9545d_sMBRLebowskicastdialog.jpg

 

I select the option to view cast and crew:

54e869d563b38_sMBRLebowskicastSteve.jpg

 

I select an Actor:

54e86a0576177_sMBRStevebio.jpg

 

There is a new option in the actor's bio, "Films".  I select that:

54e86a3e9dc87_sMBRSteveFilmography.jpg

 

Now I am shown a screen with all of the actor's movies on the top row and all of that actor's television work in the second row.  Titles can be selected from here, and then more cast members selected from that title, and then more movies featuring the next actor we selected, and the user can go on and on... a la "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" if they really want.  Although, at some point, the channel might run out of memory while keeping all of the screens on the stack.  I haven't seen any problems with that workflow though.

 

With television series, the process is slightly different.  I bring up the screen where I choose seasons/episodes for a series:

54e86bca822db_sMBRThewireseasons.jpg

 

Hit the * button on the remote, and I am shown new options:

54e86c028b4ae_sMBRThewireoptions.jpg

 

Select "Cast and Crew" and now I see the cast of the TV series:

54e86c4ad4e9d_sMBRThewirecast.jpg

 

From here, it works just like the movie titles: We could continue by viewing the movies of this actor, and the cast of those movies, and so on.

54e86c7251592_sMBRThewireIdris.jpg

 

So if anyone can think of something else I should add, please let me know so I can try to implement it before submitting the code for approval.

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ginjaninja

Looking good...

 

my preferences would be...

that people are included in searches by default, with option to turn off..

with this in mind....it would be great if search could also include albums and tracks...(theres a feature request for that...)

 

 

on the actor bio screen where you have 1st row movies, 2nd row tv...ie grouped by media type...

what do people think to have * option to toggle....by type eg Actor, Director, Screenwriter, Composer etc.

 

On the actor bio screen the titles should be sorted chronologically by release date imo.

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OMG thank you so much you have covered all 3 things I was after in my main post. I would agree with ginjaninja that I would like actors to be part of the built in search with the toggle to actual not include actors instead just so I dont have to tell people to turn it on. I guess if * for options would appear anywhere a user has that option in the client would at least make it bit more obvious on all those screens. Either way I'm happy with hows it implemented and I just want to get my hands on it. *The more i thought about this perhaps the actor search off by default is the best option from search, cause my people folder is huuuuugggeee so I can imagine in my head already that having that on would destroy the current speed of search most likely but having a toggle once again is awesome there. 

 

I don't currently have music in my library so I have no comment on searching for those items or using the roku client with music.

 

on the actor bio screen where you have 1st row movies, 2nd row tv...ie grouped by media type...

what do people think to have * option to toggle....by type eg Actor, Director, Screenwriter, Composer etc.

 

On the actor bio screen the titles should be sorted chronologically by release date imo.

 

I would think since the system is searching by people, Director would be an option, type Steven Spielberg you will get him as results don't think categories of types of persons are needed. As far as the movies or items being in chronologically order I would agree that would be nice but not a show stopper.

Edited by BAS
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Great stuff. 

 

For search, you can go ahead and search people by default and remove the * menu. Since the search api doesn't offer any person type separation (actor/director), let's not try to do it client-side so let's wait on that.

 

Make sure to change the text from Films to Movies. If you'd like to help with localization afterwards, I think that'd be great. Then it can be called Films when appropriate.

 

Also let's leave actor titles sorted by SortName as that's what the other apps do and that is the most natural default presentation.

 

These changes look fantastic and I think will be very well received.

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ginjaninja

 

Also let's leave actor titles sorted by SortName as that's what the other apps do and that is the most natural default presentation.

 

 

to me its seems a slam dunk that in a person bio, work should be by release date...to see their career with most meaning..

 

By Sort name ....makes most sense when the views intention has no other meaning and you just need well...a default sort...

...but a persons biography definitely has meaning beyond sortname imo...

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Great stuff. 

 

For search, you can go ahead and search people by default and remove the * menu. Since the search api doesn't offer any person type separation (actor/director), let's not try to do it client-side so let's wait on that.

 

Make sure to change the text from Films to Movies. If you'd like to help with localization afterwards, I think that'd be great. Then it can be called Films when appropriate.

 

Also let's leave actor titles sorted by SortName as that's what the other apps do and that is the most natural default presentation.

 

These changes look fantastic and I think will be very well received.

 

Well the only thing I noticed via his screenshots when he clicked films for steve buscemi the display screen actually had it broken nicely with two rows Movies and Television.. So perhaps instead of Movies in place of Films it should be Filmography since that is what appears in the top right breadcrumb via his steve buscemi screenshot. Either way can't wait to get a hold of a beta with this stuff. Awesome work Bluebull32!

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Bluebull32

Thanks for the feedback, guys.  It looks like we have three main topics:

- Sort order of movies by person:  The way that this works now, it will invoke the same sorting order as selected for other movie screens.  So if you have been using "Sort by Release Date" then your movies per person will be sorted by release date.  By default for the app, this is sorted by name, so that's how they will be displayed unless changed by the user.  Also, this can be changed "on the fly", so if you have movies for an actor displayed alphabetically, you can hit * and change the sorting right there.

- Display some indication that * has more options: In the two screens where this would be applicable (Series episodes, and Search) I couldn't really find a good place to put it.  I experimented with using the breadcrumbs for this, but this just further clutters the already limited breadcrumb space we are given, often making the end result a truncated mess.  Furthermore, changing the breadcrumb text will persist onto child screens where it would not make sense to have a "(* for Options)", and just gets confusing.  I could probably do this by adding a bunch of special case checking into the code, but it seems like it would do more harm than good in the end.

 

- Label for titles associated with a person:  It looks like we don't want to label this "Films", but as BAS pointed out, this includes movies and television.  So, simply "Movies & TV" might be an option.  "Filmography" to match the title of the results screen is another way to go.  We could change that title too, I was just using Filmography to mimic the IMDB convention, and I couldn't think of anything better.  I'll just put it in as "Movies & TV" for now, and it will be an easy change to make if we find that another label makes more sense.

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by the way, if you could submit this on a different fork that would be great. i'd like to have it separate from the video player changes for now, thanks.

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I was also thinking when this is ready to test and if it's possible Cast & Crew should be removed from the more menu and be a direct choice. 

 

Play

Play from scene

Trailer

Cast & Crew

More...

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ginjaninja

I was also thinking when this is ready to test and if it's possible Cast & Crew should be removed from the more menu and be a direct choice. 

 

Play

Play from scene

Trailer

Cast & Crew

More...

+1, after play/resume....cast & crew is my next most frequently used.

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