Manually setting recording path per recording.

[Mbppg 3]

Plus one for me as well.

 

[GreatFlashMan 75]

I post this yesterday

The topic has been closed. But I was given a link to another topic started 4 years ago (that is also closed), and this topic links to another topic on the subject (also closed). The other links are for selectable recording directories (not what I was requesting), and some of these requests are 6 years old.

The link given was to here (closed)

and that leads to here (closed)

and that leads to where i am now, but this topic is not really about a per user recording directory.

I am sure there is a topic somewhere for a "Per user recording directory" that matches to my original post? All the topics i find are more about a custom recording directory rather than an automatic directory matching the users name and hidden from other users, that only the matching user (and admin accounts) can modify.

Sorry for the hijack on this, but I got lost in the rabbit hole of closed posts.

 

[ember1205 23]

It seems that what you're after is nothing more than a modified version of what's being discussed in this thread. You want to set a default location on disk (and, potentially, a specific library folder name) per user. That would mean that recordings requested by User 1 would go into location 1 while those requested by User 2 would go into location 2. The issue is that Emby supports -only- a defined location PER SERVER.

What's being discussed here is the ability to override that default on a show-by-show basis which ALSO isn't supported because the server only supports one location. Your ask is to override the default user-by-user, our ask is to go a step further and (also) allow overriding the default user-by-user.

 

I have resigned myself to running a dual system with Plex handling 100% of the OTA recording and controlling where the content lands (because it's much more flexible) and Emby handling the playback (because it tends to be significantly more reliable with its Android TV apps). Maybe someday Emby will straighten this out, or maybe someday Plex will get their collected head out of their a$$ and realize that they can't be building software to suit only their investors because the end users will all leave.

[ebr 14910]

2 hours ago, ember1205 said:

It seems that what you're after is nothing more than a modified version of what's being discussed in this thread.

Hi.  Correct - the end function seems different but the feature would actually be the same - recording to a custom location based on either input, user or whatever.

Thanks.

[GreatFlashMan 75]

4 hours ago, ember1205 said:

It seems that what you're after is nothing more than a modified version of what's being discussed in this thread. You want to set a default location on disk (and, potentially, a specific library folder name) per user. That would mean that recordings requested by User 1 would go into location 1 while those requested by User 2 would go into location 2. The issue is that Emby supports -only- a defined location PER SERVER.

What's being discussed here is the ability to override that default on a show-by-show basis which ALSO isn't supported because the server only supports one location. Your ask is to override the default user-by-user, our ask is to go a step further and (also) allow overriding the default user-by-user.

 

I have resigned myself to running a dual system with Plex handling 100% of the OTA recording and controlling where the content lands (because it's much more flexible) and Emby handling the playback (because it tends to be significantly more reliable with its Android TV apps). Maybe someday Emby will straighten this out, or maybe someday Plex will get their collected head out of their a$$ and realize that they can't be building software to suit only their investors because the end users will all leave.

Exactly.

So, we have a library for recordings, ie. "\\SERVER\Recordings\" and currently, everything goes in there. But, with the per-user option, it would still use the location as "root" but append a directory based on a (after validating user name to construct a valid directory name) as in "\\SERVER\Recordings\<NAME>\". This would be as an automatic function similar to how plex handles this.

But, the other point of my original post was that each user has control over their recordings. Currently a user can have the ability to delete files enabled - and i would expect 99% of us have that disabled? But, for recordings, this should always be allowed. It's the users media this time after all.

Custom paths is also a good idea as an extension of this, but i feel that per user libraries for recordings (and playlists for heavens sake!) is fundamental to a well organised setup.

but waiting 5 years plus for this or any headway is a little on the long side.

Edited February 17, 2023 by GreatFlashMan

[ember1205 23]

29 minutes ago, GreatFlashMan said:

Exactly.

So, we have a library for recordings, ie. "\\SERVER\Recordings\" and currently, everything goes in there. But, with the per-user option, it would still use the location as "root" but append a directory based on a (after validating user name to construct a valid directory name) as in "\\SERVER\Recordings\<NAME>\". This would be as an automatic function similar to how plex handles this.

But, the other point of my original post was that each user has control over their recordings. Currently a user can have the ability to delete files enabled - and i would expect 99% of us have that disabled? But, for recordings, this should always be allowed. It's the users media this time after all.

Custom paths is also a good idea as an extension of this, but i feel that per user libraries for recordings (and playlists for heavens sake!) is fundamental to a well organised setup.

but waiting 5 years plus for this or any headway is a little on the long side.

Plex does not assign a sub-directory per user, though. In fact, Plex does not even provide a default location for recording content at a server level. When recordings are scheduled, Plex will choose a library to store the recording into based on a number of factors including whether a user has access to any libraries, what kinds of content is being recorded versus libraries available, and whether the user has previously requested a similar recording (and will default to the library that was used).

Regardless, Emby currently only supports specifying a location for recordings with no ability to override that location. Once Emby is able to add support for overriding a default, it can then be made available for specifying what default a user would use and how to specify a non-default location on a per-recording basis.

[GreatFlashMan 75]

39 minutes ago, ember1205 said:

Plex does not assign a sub-directory per user, though. In fact, Plex does not even provide a default location for recording content at a server level. When recordings are scheduled, Plex will choose a library to store the recording into based on a number of factors including whether a user has access to any libraries, what kinds of content is being recorded versus libraries available, and whether the user has previously requested a similar recording (and will default to the library that was used).

Regardless, Emby currently only supports specifying a location for recordings with no ability to override that location. Once Emby is able to add support for overriding a default, it can then be made available for specifying what default a user would use and how to specify a non-default location on a per-recording basis.

It's been a while since i used Plex, and also since i used a tuner with it. It was a bit of a failure. I was using the winHD Duo, and playing tv was hit and miss for the most part so i gave up. Though, we did record a few things, and i recall that (though it was not per user) we could specify the directory in a selection on the record ui, or advanced? Something like that. That's why i said "similar to".

Emby is a far better product than Plex, and deserves a better solution. That I heartily agree with. Being able to set the directory per user would be fine, as long as recordings of other users were not available globally (other than the admin account(s) to enable management of them of course).

[MBSki 1014]

7 minutes ago, GreatFlashMan said:

Though, we did record a few things, and i recall that (though it was not per user) we could specify the directory in a selection on the record ui, or advanced?

Yes, that's what I recall too. For every recording there's an option to pick the library that the recording should save to. and if there are multiple folders in a library, then it prompts to select the specific folder the recording should save to. It actually works really well, and it's exactly what I wish Emby had. In the interim, I just use MCEBuddy to move things where I need them to be after the recording is completed.

[ember1205 23]

2 minutes ago, MBSki said:

Yes, that's what I recall too. For every recording there's an option to pick the library that the recording should save to. and if there are multiple folders in a library, then it prompts to select the specific folder the recording should save to. It actually works really well, and it's exactly what I wish Emby had. In the interim, I just use MCEBuddy to move things where I need them to be after the recording is completed.

My underlying filesystem is on a flavor of Linux and is NFS-mounted by both my Plex and Emby instances which allows them to use the exact same structure and files. I use Plex to handle the recording because it's more adept and sorting the content directly into the correct folders for me and Emby is able to pick up the recorded content shortly afterward as well.

 

While there are couple of areas where the Android TV client works differently on two of my Sony TV's, it's a subtle thing and not something that would prevent me from moving 100% to Emby. What -IS- stopping me, however, is the lack of ability to choose a library when setting recordings. I would much prefer using Emby to record because the EPG is significantly more reliable overall where Plex seems to need me to go back and set up my recurring recordings every 4-6 months because they're screwing around with something having to do with which EPG they're using.

[GreatFlashMan 75]

I junked the WinHD in favor of the HomeRun Quad after i left Plex behind. So far on Emby its been  mostly awesome (though there are still times when Tv just stops for no reason). But, as you say, management of recordings is a big issue in Emby. I only use mine for family and a couple of friends, but even then, i don't want my recordings exposed to all. They are mine and should remain so. The only solution for now is to disable TV for my 2 friends really. I can see no alternative.

But, on a larger scale, per-user stuff could really do with being enhanced and expanded. As mentioned before, playlists is another one. I create a personal playlist, and anyone can add to it. That's not how it should be exposed.

[ember1205 23]

33 minutes ago, GreatFlashMan said:

I junked the WinHD in favor of the HomeRun Quad after i left Plex behind. So far on Emby its been  mostly awesome (though there are still times when Tv just stops for no reason). But, as you say, management of recordings is a big issue in Emby. I only use mine for family and a couple of friends, but even then, i don't want my recordings exposed to all. They are mine and should remain so. The only solution for now is to disable TV for my 2 friends really. I can see no alternative.

But, on a larger scale, per-user stuff could really do with being enhanced and expanded. As mentioned before, playlists is another one. I create a personal playlist, and anyone can add to it. That's not how it should be exposed.

How are you "disabling TV"? While I do know how to control which libraries a user can access, including the default one called "Recordings", I'm not aware of a way to block a user having access to the Live TV function itself (seems like another gap)...

[GreatFlashMan 75]

10 minutes ago, ember1205 said:

How are you "disabling TV"? While I do know how to control which libraries a user can access, including the default one called "Recordings", I'm not aware of a way to block a user having access to the Live TV function itself (seems like another gap)...

There in user settings. Disable access and also disable the recording library. 

[ember1205 23]

Interesting... I guess I really haven't been looking into user management very much and definitely missed that.