Video Preview Thumbnails - save with media option for chapter markers

[lastwraith 4]

Hi all,

 

I apologize if this was covered somewhere or there is a technical reason for this but I didn't see anything when searching the forums.

Would it be possible to get the "save video preview thumbnails into media folders" option when setting the preview image interval to "chapter markers"?

Currently you only get the save into media folders option if you choose the 10 sec interval.

I would like less thumbnails (chapter vs 10 sec can be a huge difference for some movies) but I would like them in with the media so it is all together and portable.

Finding them in the database is a bit of a challenge and I have much more room in my media storage areas.

(Setting up a Roku ultra for the in-laws and they are going to need some visual cues for seeking media. I probably should have just gotten them a Chromecast with Google TV since it doesn't need preview thumbs to be generated for it but I wanted them to have ethernet and also be able to direct attach storage via USB. Plus they are already used to the Roku interface on their TCL TV and that comfort counts for a lot. Playing with the Ultra has made me realize just how good the Chromecast with Google TV really is though....especially for $15 after Netflix rebate. Google really should have given it more storage, that's my only complaint.)

[GrimReaper 4740]

Hi there, 

While saving Chapter Markers with the media would certainly be a handy feature in case of a rebuild, I don't think that's what you're after. Storing 10-second bifs within media folders gives a considerable advantage during rebuild due to the huge number of images, as opposed to Chapter Marker thumbnails which can be 'relatively' easy re-extracted if such need arose. 

Anyway, why are you under the impression that any client app "needs" them (Roku vs Chromecast with Google TV)? No client app does, and not all client apps do make use of them. Emby eco-system is certainly going in that direction, to unify features within all apps but it ain't there yet. It is a server feture: you extract Chapter Thumbnails once, and any app that can use them will. Even if you don't extract them, same function can still be used with blank placeholders. 

So if you could explain the reason for which you think it is a necessity to have it in that structure maybe we can sort it out? 

[ebr 16184]

 

[lastwraith 4]

20 hours ago, GrimReaper said:

Hi there, 

While saving Chapter Markers with the media would certainly be a handy feature in case of a rebuild, I don't think that's what you're after. Storing 10-second bifs within media folders gives a considerable advantage during rebuild due to the huge number of images, as opposed to Chapter Marker thumbnails which can be 'relatively' easy re-extracted if such need arose. 

Anyway, why are you under the impression that any client app "needs" them (Roku vs Chromecast with Google TV)? No client app does, and not all client apps do make use of them. Emby eco-system is certainly going in that direction, to unify features within all apps but it ain't there yet. It is a server feture: you extract Chapter Thumbnails once, and any app that can use them will. Even if you don't extract them, same function can still be used with blank placeholders. 

So if you could explain the reason for which you think it is a necessity to have it in that structure maybe we can sort it out? 

I would like to be able to seek video on the Roku Emby client with visual cues, rather than just relying on the time and a still image of whatever was last on screen.

Our Chromecast with Google TV Emby client shows us video when seeking but Roku does not. I was under the impression that generating the video preview thumbs would allow at least those thumbnails to be shown while seeking video (RW or FF). Am I mistaken? If so, IS there a way to have Roku clients show video while seeking? That is what I am asking, as my in-laws are going to be lost if they have to rely solely on the time to seek video, since they are used to seeking video and using the images on-screen as a guide. If this is the wrong way to go about things, I would appreciate being pointed in the right direction.

I would love to extract images at every 1 minute increment or something like that but if I have to choose between 10 second intervals or chapter markers, I figured I would go with chapter markers as every 10 seconds is overkill for our use-case. Since the 10 second increments offer the ability to be stored with the media, I thought it would be nice to have that option for thumbs generated more sparsely at the chapter marker points. This would allow everything to be contained in one place and their media drives are already being backed up. I understand this might cause problems with other setups that parse those same media storage areas, but if they went into "chapters" folders or whatever (similar to how they end up in the Emby db), it's trivial to exclude those folders from being scanned if that is a problem for other media organizers.

 

Edited September 8, 2021 by lastwraith

[lastwraith 4]

15 hours ago, ebr said:

 

@ebrI'm not really sure what I should gather from this thread. Unless I misread it, this request has been outstanding since 2015 and has admittedly been fulfilled...but only if you are generating 10 sec images and not images at chapter markers. I understand this based on the settings I can see, but I was asking about having the option to save them with the media whether they are 10 sec or at chapter markers. Basically the last few posts in the thread you mentioned are asking for what I have asked for. If you are just letting me know I missed this one and you are aware of the request....ok, no problem.

If I have misunderstood your post I apologize. Regardless of the outcome, I appreciate your feedback and efforts as always. I'm sure there is a neverending list of requests.

*It would be nice to have some other options for TV Shows (and movies) besides just 10 seconds, but I'm not sure how annoying that is to code into things. The disparity between 10 seconds and at chapter markers can be very considerable.

Edited September 8, 2021 by lastwraith

[lastwraith 4]

I'm wrong about this and that may be part of the confusion for some of my request. Our Chromecast with Google TV doesn't seek with video, but it allows a 10 second skip forwards or backwards and the video loads so quickly that it feels like it is seeking with video feedback. The Roku client, on the other hand, requires that you press the center OK button after pressing forwards or back and takes a little longer to load video (showing the purple progress bar), even though the Roku is wired and the Chromecast is wireless. Weird. I guess I just don't love the Roku client. It also has more limited functionality for subtitles (I see no way to initiate subtitle downloads from the Roku client whereas the Chromecast Emby client can do this once a subtitle subscription is set up).

In any event, sorry for the confusion on seeking with video. It would still be nice to be able to store chapter marker incremented previews with the media, but none of that is going to affect seeking media.

I appreciate the responses, thanks everyone!

*I may just go with another Chromecast with Google TV and grab a USB-C hub that has ethernet and USB. They are still running the 6 months Netflix credit and the device is basically free after the credits. Plus the Emby client is superior vs Roku IMO. Too bad they didn't give it a wee bit more storage onboard!

[GrimReaper 4740]

Glad you sorted it out. IIRC that 10-second visual seeking aid interval was chosen specifically because Rokus had issues with other intervals (2-3-5 seconds), but that was some time ago and I'm only vaguely remembering it, so I might be mistaken, as well. Anyway, either of those (Chapter Markers or bifs extraction) is purely server-side operation and client apps are only utilising it, as stated in the above post, each in its own way.

And yes, Emby for Android TV client app (the one Chromecast with Google TV uses, along with number of Android boxes and streaming sticks - Shields, Fire devices - and Android Smart TVs) is IMHO THE most polished and feature-rich client. Roku app has surely come a long way and is constantly being improved with @speechles doing a great job there, but it still has some way to go. Then again, it's highly subjective, I'm positive some would disagree and prefer some other client. To each his own, I suppose. 

One thing to keep in mind, though: for full playback on Android TV app, you need either one-time-payment unlock or Premiere subscription, whereas Roku full playback is free. Check out Feature matrix and decide what works best in your case. 

https://support.emby.media/support/solutions/articles/44001173099-emby-premiere-feature-matrix

Cheers

Edited September 8, 2021 by GrimReaper
Typo

[ebr 16184]

Hi.  If you want visual seeking in Roku, then you want to generate the 10 second thumbnails.  That is what the Roku is expecting.

[ebr 16184]

6 hours ago, lastwraith said:

I'm not really sure what I should gather from this thread.

I was just pointing you to an existing feature request for exactly what you asked for so you could lend your support to it.

Thanks.

[lastwraith 4]

15 hours ago, ebr said:

I was just pointing you to an existing feature request for exactly what you asked for so you could lend your support to it.

Thanks.

Gotcha, thanks. I just didn't want to pile on. I know there are a finite number of devs and probably more important things to fix.

[lastwraith 4]

20 hours ago, GrimReaper said:

Glad you sorted it out. IIRC that 10-second visual seeking aid interval was chosen specifically because Rokus had issues with other intervals (2-3-5 seconds), but that was some time ago and I'm only vaguely remembering it, so I might be mistaken, as well. Anyway, either of those (Chapter Markers or bifs extraction) is purely server-side operation and client apps are only utilising it, as stated in the above post, each in its own way.

And yes, Emby for Android TV client app (the one Chromecast with Google TV uses, along with number of Android boxes and streaming sticks - Shields, Fire devices - and Android Smart TVs) is IMHO THE most polished and feature-rich client. Roku app has surely come a long way and is constantly being improved with @speechles doing a great job there, but it still has some way to go. Then again, it's highly subjective, I'm positive some would disagree and prefer some other client. To each his own, I suppose. 

One thing to keep in mind, though: for full playback on Android TV app, you need either one-time-payment unlock or Premiere subscription, whereas Roku full playback is free. Check out Feature matrix and decide what works best in your case. 

https://support.emby.media/support/solutions/articles/44001173099-emby-premiere-feature-matrix

Cheers

Thanks for the thorough responses, sorry for being confusing before. The android client was too good and fooled my memory.

Yep, I like the Roku devices themselves but the Emby client definitely isn't quite as nice there as it is on the CCWGTV (Chromecast with Google TV). I noticed some episodes where the media details (Video/Audio/Subtitle selections) overlayed or butted up against the episode description. Not a huge deal but every little awkward thing is an impediment to getting the older generation used to it. The seeking on the Roku is definitely not as fast either, which I find annoying now that I'm used to the android client but the in-laws might not have, who knows. In addition, I noticed that the subtitle menu is more flexible on the android offering, which is nice when I want to grab subs for eps where I don't have any yet. I don't think my in-laws would ever use this but it's nice to have.

It is great that the Roku clients are free, but I have a lifetime premium subscription for us and we don't use many devices. Once I saw on the forums that it was an acceptable practice to register multiple Emby servers (since it's ultimately a device limit on the subscription) with the same premiere key, I popped my key into the in-laws Emby instance. That's super handy for us being able to split the license like that. I paid for the lifetime license immediately after trying Emby and seeing how active the devs were in the forum. That alone is worth the donation even if we only use it for a year or whatever. I hope we have many years to come with Emby though, you all do excellent work!

[ebr 16184]

On 9/8/2021 at 10:33 PM, lastwraith said:

I noticed some episodes where the media details (Video/Audio/Subtitle selections) overlayed or butted up against the episode description

Hi.  Can you test this with the beta version of the app?  If it is still a problem, can you show a screenshot?

Thanks.