I’d like to request a change to the Download Configuration Dialog to allow us to select in real-time which template to use for this specific download request. This wouldn’t change how templates are defined and set as default in Settings, but would allow for greater flexibility in specifying how each recording will be captured/stored/named.
I mocked up some UI changes showing the Template selector in place in a Movie and TV download configuration dialog - see attachments for all.
In these two mock-up dialogs, my default Template for a 1080p download is pre-selected, but since I'm choosing to download at 4K quality, I'd change it on the fly to my 4K template. This gives me flexibility for each title I download to name it according to whatever templates I've defined, without needing to go back to settings, and without needing to wait for each recording to complete:
CURRENT PROCESS:
I’ve observed that when you add multiple items to the queue, you can change the default template in Settings and the next recording that begins will use the newly selected template. This confirms that the template is read from settings on each new recording.
NEW PROCESS:
The change to queuing/recording process is to allow pre-selection of a template will hopefully not be that much different: select a title, view the configuration dialog and select your config, and use the new drop-down template field to select which template would be associated with the title. When it’s time to record that title, the template is pre-selected.
AS also knows when it’s recording movies versus TV, so it should be able to provide the proper template choice based on the content.
HOW IT COULD WORK:
If each template in Settings has a unique ID, it could be as “simple” as storing the unique-template-ID with the rest of the configuration information for the queued titles, and when the recording for that title begins, retrieve the template associated with that unique-ID (rather than the default template in the current process.)
There's one special use-case I can think of, regarding extras for TV series. I've seen that Extras from Amazon TV series are recorded using Movie templates. In this case, if the user selects a TV series and selects a TV template on-they-fly in the Configuration dialog, any extras would simply be recorded using the default Movie template from settings.
BENEFITS:
One of the big benefits is that it allows users to tailor on the fly what their captures will be named. It also allows titles of multiple resolution to be enqueued simultaneously: I can select a movie, specify 1080p quality, select my “1080p” template, queue it - then select the same movie, select 4K quality, select my “4K” template, queue it … and I can let it go about capturing both with the applicable resolution stored in the title, and without me needing to go to Settings and change a default value.
I hope this is achievable and appreciate thoughts on this, especially if others find this would be useful!
ATTACHMENTS
0-Settings Dialog - no changes
1-Current Download Configuration Dialog (how it works now)
2-Future Movie Download Configuration Dialog
3-Future Movie Download Dialog (open dropdown)
4-Future TV Download Configuration Dialog
5-Future TV Download Configuration Dialog (open dropdown)
Note: I haven’t integrated the new YEAR field into my movie templates. That’s what the parentheses are for in my template - I manually enter the year there after it's captured. Extra work for me, but I've found the year supplied by streamers doesn't always match what Plex expects, so I manually enter them.
I mocked up some UI changes showing the Template selector in place in a Movie and TV download configuration dialog - see attachments for all.
In these two mock-up dialogs, my default Template for a 1080p download is pre-selected, but since I'm choosing to download at 4K quality, I'd change it on the fly to my 4K template. This gives me flexibility for each title I download to name it according to whatever templates I've defined, without needing to go back to settings, and without needing to wait for each recording to complete:
CURRENT PROCESS:
I’ve observed that when you add multiple items to the queue, you can change the default template in Settings and the next recording that begins will use the newly selected template. This confirms that the template is read from settings on each new recording.
NEW PROCESS:
The change to queuing/recording process is to allow pre-selection of a template will hopefully not be that much different: select a title, view the configuration dialog and select your config, and use the new drop-down template field to select which template would be associated with the title. When it’s time to record that title, the template is pre-selected.
AS also knows when it’s recording movies versus TV, so it should be able to provide the proper template choice based on the content.
HOW IT COULD WORK:
If each template in Settings has a unique ID, it could be as “simple” as storing the unique-template-ID with the rest of the configuration information for the queued titles, and when the recording for that title begins, retrieve the template associated with that unique-ID (rather than the default template in the current process.)
There's one special use-case I can think of, regarding extras for TV series. I've seen that Extras from Amazon TV series are recorded using Movie templates. In this case, if the user selects a TV series and selects a TV template on-they-fly in the Configuration dialog, any extras would simply be recorded using the default Movie template from settings.
BENEFITS:
One of the big benefits is that it allows users to tailor on the fly what their captures will be named. It also allows titles of multiple resolution to be enqueued simultaneously: I can select a movie, specify 1080p quality, select my “1080p” template, queue it - then select the same movie, select 4K quality, select my “4K” template, queue it … and I can let it go about capturing both with the applicable resolution stored in the title, and without me needing to go to Settings and change a default value.
I hope this is achievable and appreciate thoughts on this, especially if others find this would be useful!
ATTACHMENTS
0-Settings Dialog - no changes
1-Current Download Configuration Dialog (how it works now)
2-Future Movie Download Configuration Dialog
3-Future Movie Download Dialog (open dropdown)
4-Future TV Download Configuration Dialog
5-Future TV Download Configuration Dialog (open dropdown)
Note: I haven’t integrated the new YEAR field into my movie templates. That’s what the parentheses are for in my template - I manually enter the year there after it's captured. Extra work for me, but I've found the year supplied by streamers doesn't always match what Plex expects, so I manually enter them.
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