Advice Required: Building a new Freeview PC-PVR (1 Viewer)

[groovybaby]

I'm still having problems accessing other media.
Can anyone help with the following?
Perhaps @ge2301 may have some insight?

BBC Sound:
This is the radio program part of the BBC.
I think this used to be accessible via the BBC iPlayer, but now you have to go to the 'BBC Sound' website.
Q1: So how do I list these Radio programs in MP?

Also: Using the PC keyboard, I downloaded some radio programs from 'BBC Sound'
and put them in a folder on the desktop,
Q2: So how do I list and Play these Radio programs in MP?

My Videos:
Previously (at post 96) I said
'When I select the MP icon: Video's
I've managed (somehow) to get the videos that I currently have in a folder on my desktop to appear in MP, and Play them OK'

So using the PC keyboard, I added some more videos to that folder,
but they don't appear when I select the MP [Video's] icon.
Q3: So how do I get these additional videos to appear in this MP list?

TV Programs:
Is this possible in MP?...
My Bespoke PVR had some useful features, one of these was the ability to create other folders on the fly, and then move a TV program from its current [Recordings] list, to that other Folder.
So in my PVR I created a folder called [Saved]
Then, when I'd watched a program that I wanted to keep, I could move that program from its current [Recordings] list, to that [Saved] folder.

Many thanks

 

[ge2301]

Q1: So how do I list these Radio programs in MP?
I'm not really sure, what you wnat to do. Do you want to listen to a radio stream (1) or a radio program via SAT (2)?
In case of (1), you can use WebRadio plugin, but the is no EPG
In case of (2), you can tune them in the TVSettings and get as for TV populate the EPG via SAT or external tools. Please check here the wiki, the procedure is same as for MP1.

Q2: So how do I list and Play these Radio programs in MP?

I do not understand well. How do you download programs? Did you download audio files? This has nothing to do with radio program then, you can only import them to the audio library. But this is probably only meaningful, if you tag them beforethand, so the media information are also present.

Q3: So how do I get these additional videos to appear in this MP list?

It seems you are not familar with the concept itself, though it's not very different to MP1. You need to import files first to the libraries to see them there.
I advice to read the wiki first, everything is described there.

TV Programs:
Is this possible in MP?...
My Bespoke PVR had some useful features, one of these was the ability to create other folders on the fly, and then move a TV program from its current [Recordings] list, to that other Folder.
So in my PVR I created a folder called [Saved]
Then, when I'd watched a program that I wanted to keep, I could move that program from its current [Recordings] list, to that [Saved] folder.

Not possible I think, but I'm not 100% sure because I'm not recording anything myself.
The TVE3.0 engine is same for MP1 and MP2 and a plugin, also here please check the wiki first.

 

[CyberSimian]

I downloaded some radio programs from 'BBC Sound' and put them in a folder on the desktop,
Q2: So how do I list and Play these Radio programs in MP?

Files that you download from the "BBC Sounds" web site are MP3 files, with a choice of quality (64 kbits/sec or 128 kbits/sec). If you browse the MP3 file using a suitable editor, you will see that there are various character strings near the start of the file, and these include the programme description. These strings are the file's "metadata". However...

I downloaded a couple of files from the "BBC Sounds" web site (Laura Kuenssberg's acclaimed review of the Covid crisis), and tried them with MP1. Files of type MP3 do not show in the "Videos" section of MP1, but they do show in the "Music" section of MP1 (as you would expect). Although MP1 does extract some of the MP3 metadata from the file, it does not extract the programme description. My MP2 system is not working at present, so I don't know what it might show. It will probably list the MP3 file, but may not show the metadata. This is what I see using my customised skin in MP1:



The programme description that MP1 omits is this:

Laura Kuenssberg presents a special BBC News podcast looking back at the past 12 months of the Covid crisis in the UK and how decisions were made at the heart of government. Featuring exclusive interviews with the Labour leader Keir Starmer and the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock.

With MP1 it is not necessary to "import" files into the database -- MP1 simply finds them when you first enter the folder that contains the new files. But perhaps MP2 does require you to import them before you can see them listed in MP2? I don't know.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[CyberSimian]

So in my PVR I created a folder called [Saved]. Then, when I'd watched a program that I wanted to keep, I could move that program from its current [Recordings] list, to that [Saved] folder.

MP1 does have a file dialogue, but only in the "Videos" section. This means that in MP1 you cannot move a file from the "Recorded TV" folder to a folder called "Saved" in the "Videos" section. To do that you would need to use Windows "Explorer" or a similar tool. However, you can move files around within the "Videos" section using the file dialogue. This is what I see using my customised MP1 skin:



The "Recorded TV" folder is controlled by "TV Server", and there is less flexibility with it. Sorry, but I don't know whether MP2 has a file dialogue.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[joecrow]

I thought I could help here from a try with BBC radio programs on MP2 but I just can't seem to find a way to download a radio program. They have changed things you always used to have an option to download but I'm not seeing that any more just a play option. How do you get a download?

 

[CyberSimian]

you always used to have an option to download but I'm not seeing that any more just a play option. How do you get a download?

On the first "BBC Sounds" web page, I used the search box to search for (in this case) "Kuenssberg", which displayed a web page listing programmes featuring that person. I then selected the programme that I wanted, and the following page was displayed. Notice the "Download" button (marked with the green ellipse):



If you see something different, perhaps it is related to your location? The first "BBC Sounds" web page invited me to register, but I did not do that.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[joecrow]

Thanks for that, found it and others, the key is to click on "Program Website" then the download button is shown.

 

[joecrow]

BBC Sound:
This is the radio program part of the BBC.
I think this used to be accessible via the BBC iPlayer, but now you have to go to the 'BBC Sound' website.
Q1: So how do I list these Radio programs in MP?

Also: Using the PC keyboard, I downloaded some radio programs from 'BBC Sound'
and put them in a folder on the desktop,
Q2: So how do I list and Play these Radio programs in MP?

Q1: as far as I am aware it is not possible to get a list of live and catchup radio content via Online Videos (I asked some years back and was told politely its called Online VIDEOS) and the WebRadio plugin only offers live internet radio playback which I assume you don't need as you get live BBC radio over DVBT.

Q2: Having finally managed to download a BBC radio program it looks like MP2 does a very nice job of handling it.
I added a downloaded program to a new folder I set up called BBC Sounds, I then opened MP2 selected Settings/Media Sources/Media Sources Configuration/Add Media Source then selected the folder BBC Sounds as an Audio source, see overview in first screenshot. I then navigated to the Audio section in the home screen selected Genre and up popped a section called "Podcast", see 2nd screenshot, clicking on that brought up the downloaded program and selecting it starts the playback.

 

[ge2301]

Having finally managed to download a BBC radio program it looks like MP2 does a very nice job of handling it.
I added a downloaded program to a new folder I set up called BBC Sounds, I then opened MP2 selected Settings/Media Sources/Media Sources Configuration/Add Media Source then selected the folder BBC Sounds as an Audio source, see overview in first screenshot. I then navigated to the Audio section in the home screen selected Genre and up popped a section called "Podcast", see 2nd screenshot, clicking on that brought up the downloaded program and selecting it starts the playback.
View attachment 208583 View attachment 208581 View attachment 208582

Then it seems the files are already tagged, which I didn't expect. Also I understood the complete story meanwhile, the download was done from the BBC website and not within MP2, for me the clear story was missing

 

[CyberSimian]

it looks like MP2 does a very nice job of handling it.

Do you know if the podcast that you downloaded has a programme description and a thumbnail as part of the metadata?

For the Kuenssberg podcast that I tried with MP1:

• The file does contain the programme title, and MP1 displays that (the title is different from the file name).
• The file does contain a thumbnail, and MP1 displays that (I did not download the thumbnail manually).
• The file does contain the programme description, but MP1 does not display that.

As far as I can see from your screen shots, MP2 is not displaying the programme description or a thumbnail. I was just wondering whether that is because the file does not contain them, or because MP2 does not use them?

-- from CyberSimian in the UK