[Implemented] DVD/Bluray-like Chapters support

Feature Suggestions
21

The way I understand it, most video formats do not support chapters (I think mkv is the only one), so any method of doing this would have to be done by the server itself storing bookmarks in the database for each individual video. This also means all chapters would have to be setup manually for each video that chapters are desired for, as normally you want those to start at the beginning of a scene, which is a random point in the video. So while I like the idea in theory, in practice it seems it would first need to be supported by the various video codecs, or it just seems like way too much work to implement if it all has to be done manually, one video at a time by the user.

I don't think this would be done, I think the best implementation would be simply to do this for formats that support it (mkv, m4v).

22

My take on this is the faster people let go of the past (those chapters) then they can move on. I used to love the chapter selection, but found out I think I used it one time in the entire time. The menu feature also required ISO which plex does not support. The ISO format also increases the size because of the extra languages etc. I find using seek/slider bar with the thumbnails generated is a much better experience AND it conforms to the newer digital age. You do not see those with Netflix or any streaming service. Also, they did not work well with mobile devices so a mobile device would just sit at that screen (If they added touch functionality it might of been better) but DVD's never were designed to do that. Then throw in that Bluray menus required java and it got even more complicated. You really get over this feature pretty quickly (I converted all ISO's to mkv).  Now a simple chapter menu support in plex would probably be enough even though in reality how many times do you find yourself having to use seek/slide vs how much time might that take to program and work around issues / formats of the media? I usually end up just using the resume feature.

23

This is not about menus, this is not about ISO files.

The plex player app can choose to build a menu out of chapters (see screenshot in post #9), but it does not have to.

The simplest way to support chapters is a 'Jump Forward/Backward' button.

Chapter markers are text files, basically just a list of timecodes. They are muxed into the header of mkv and mp4 files (and probably other media containers too).

When you say 'play chapter 3', all the player does is jump to the playtime position that is assigned to chapter 3 and play from there on. Simple as that.

Displaying the name of a chapter is simple: it is just text which the author of the chapter information can (not must) include. The plex client app determines if and how it is shown.

The thumbnails for the chapters (if they are implemented) are supposed to be generated by plex upon adding the movie to the library.

(The code for this is probably already there. I assume the mediaindex program code or the code for generating the 3 standard screenshots can be adapted easily.)

Once again, the plex client app determines if and how the chapter thumbnails are presented to the user.

The presentation part could even be completely dependent on the skin of the plex client app.

Look at the screenshot in post #17, how chapter markers can be implemented in a desktop video player app. (MPC-HC in this case).

The navigation menu is open to show how stacked chapters can look in the simplest implementation.

But there are also these little vertical lines in the scrobbler bar under the video window. These are indications, where on the time line the chapter markers are situated.

24

When chapters are available inside movie files Plex makes use of them but it depends on the client.

Browsing by chapters is available AFAIK only in PHT and only when PHT is in direct play mode.

In that case it can be performed using the upper and lower arrow keys (otherwise they trigger a "bigstep" forward or backward).

This suggests that chapter support is done on the player level and the chapter information doesn't make it through the transcoder either are stored anywhere in the database.

I don't think we are going to see this feature request fulfilled at anytime soon.

25

Oh boy this is getting overly misunderstood and overly complex fast.

I would urge the plex dev team to simply look at that other software like plex (mb3, i know they have a long road ahead to catch plex but they have done some things very well) which has had this since launch, its open source. When using that software you can set intervals to scan your media for chapters, the process extracts images  and displays the images and the time in various clients.

Maybe breezy you could also mention in the OP that its already been done in mb3 and has been included since launch. Its done on the server side task so people are not confused that this is some exotic complex unrealistic undertaking we are asking of plex.

26

I attached two screen shots simply showing how it works with mb3 on the server side as a hands free scheduled task on the server (just like updating your library is a scheduled task), and then how its displayed inside a client in the 2nd picture.

 ![post-239119-0-77353200-1413784837.png|690x388](upload://uvlzE1ipk0p2TBl0UMuGeVoFiaJ.png)

![post-239119-0-39926600-1413784875.png|690x388](upload://czQdjmvWZdUdII9KeF8gv3naD1q.png)

Also they have chapter images included in their ipad app, this would not need to be just a PHT feature. You need to click on the image below to see the gif of it working on the ipad.

27

@Ghostm 

I totally agree. I do think this is being blown out of proportion. But this a forum where everyone is welcome to give their input/opinion. Those who wants it can like the OP and those who doesn't can always choose not to. 

"mb3, i know they have a long road ahead to catch plex" - I apologize to say but I disagree. But we can agree to disagree since we each have our own opinion :)

28

Throwing in my vote.  We use Plex for rehearsal, and this makes it a lot easier to jump between sections of a performance.

29

My last post on this. Sounds like xbmc is looking to put chapter selection into testing shortly with an official release in the future after enough requests were made by users.

Really as someone who used mb3 chapter extraction task on the server it worked beautifully, simply using ffmpeg to extract images at chapter points and then rolling out support for clients, i know plex is in the business of innovating not copying, but this basic functionality works so well from a user stand point, its difficult going without it now. 

The other night the wife fell asleep during a movie and asked me to go back to a crucial scene in the movie and i had to blindly seek to locate it. 

30

@Ghostm - Now that I have this thing I can't imagine ever watching movies or tv series without it. Specially now that I have a new born. Sometimes I am in the middle of something and I have to attend to him for extended period of time and totally forgot where I left off if I didn't stop or pause. Thanks to chapters I can now navigate to the nearest scene using the extracted images. The girlfriend loves it as well. Very handy. 

Doesn't have to be your last post man. Let's keep bumping this up until it happens :D

31

+1 You have my vote on this.

Chater-skipping support would be great and having a chapters menu would be awesome!

32

My last post on this. Sounds like xbmc is looking to put chapter selection into testing shortly with an official release in the future after enough requests were made by users.

Really as someone who used mb3 chapter extraction task on the server it worked beautifully, simply using ffmpeg to extract images at chapter points and then rolling out support for clients, i know plex is in the business of innovating not copying, but this basic functionality works so well from a user stand point, its difficult going without it now. 

The other night the wife fell asleep during a movie and asked me to go back to a crucial scene in the movie and i had to blindly seek to locate it. 

And this is where people misunderstand so badly.  XBMC is an all-in-one solution, not client and server.  XBMC is touching the file itself the whole time.  Plex has the server stream the content.  This means that skipping to chapters means stopping the stream, losing the buffered content and starting over at a different spot.  Chapters are convenient when you have the whole file.  

I think it is completely ok to ask for more gradation in fast forward or skip forward, but chapters really don't match how these files are stored or streamed.  We need to not put ourselves in the position to make Plex perform poorly just to match an old paradigm.

33

@agregjones have you ever tried MediaBrowser. If you haven't, go give it a try and come back and let us know how chapters worked out for ya. And yes, their server\client architecture model is identical to plex. 

34

We need to not put ourselves in the position to make Plex perform poorly just to match an old paradigm.

Is it an old paradigm? I think the paradigm is more modern than you think: people used to listen to albums and watch video's from begin to end. With the introduction of the CD, about 25 years ago, people were able to skip tracks, which they massively did. About 5 years ago a guy called Steve Jobs even let you buy the tracks you liked and dump the boring tracks altogether. So it definitely isn't an old paradigm.

Especially in movies I am inclined to think it is one of the most underutilized capabilities of Metadata on the planet. Nowadays I feel more inclined to watch "just the good bits" of movies/video's, not the whole darn thing from begin to end. And to be honest, some movies/video's the intro is waaaaay to long and boring, so I like to skip ahead to the point where the plot starts to unfold. YouTube has recognized this, adding chapter support since beginning 2013. I have seen video interviews (long ones, over an hour) that had chapter markers for each individual question. This enabled me to skip the questions I wasn't interested in making a rather lengthy interview more interesting and much more accessible. I think this rather the future of Video than the past: people become more impatient by the minute....

Jaap
35

And this is where people misunderstand so badly.  XBMC is an all-in-one solution, not client and server.  XBMC is touching the file itself the whole time.  Plex has the server stream the content.  This means that skipping to chapters means stopping the stream, losing the buffered content and starting over at a different spot.  Chapters are convenient when you have the whole file.  

I think it is completely ok to ask for more gradation in fast forward or skip forward, but chapters really don't match how these files are stored or streamed.  We need to not put ourselves in the position to make Plex perform poorly just to match an old paradigm.

No offense but this where you dont understand and are complicating this thread by not understanding. 

Look at my post a few above. MB3 does this which is a plex alternative and its all done on a server, the fact were requesting this is because myself and breezy have used mb3 and understand how amazingly it works on the server as a scheduled task and the benefits we see as it pertains to end users/clients and their ability to navigate content in a much nicer fashion then the archaic seek method. 

Honestly the fact xbmc is looking into this and is an all in one (non server) solution is more of a reach. Plex can do this easily because it uses ffmpeg and is built just like mb3 as a server client model and this function can be done on the server as a task, just like the tasks they have right now to update your library. The server does the task on mb3 whenever you want it to, i have it set to run every 8 hours. Then the ipad, and home theater client can both use it and its a perfect way to navigate movie content and the reason why chapter timelines come built into a blu ray. And again just to clarify mb3 which had this on launch, is basically a plex alternative and i have little issue with any buffering or starting at chapter points even with transcoded content and i use 1:1 blu ray mkv rips and have a slow server build from 2009. Its just like starting any other movie from a resume point that needs to be transcoded, it takes a few seconds to buffer and then plays from the chapter point you selected. Its practically seamless even transcoded. 

Try it out on mb3, it could not be more painless because i dont think your understanding the use case. I believe so strongly in this one feature as something that can benefit every plex user that this will be the only feature i will be supporting and voting on in this forum from now on ( realizing the plex team is limited in numbers and can only look at supporting a few new features, I believe this should be that new feature). 

36

What J_v_Ekris and Ghostm said :D

I notice some people tend to say things even if they don't really know what they are saying. Please read the ffmpeg doc before drawing any conclusions. Thanks.

37

I too would very much like to see Plex support chapter metadata. Many other playback solutions support chapter marker metadata on multiple platforms  (VLC, QuickTime, iTunes). More information about this (simple) metadata format is here:

Chapter information

https://trac.handbrake.fr/wiki/Containers
https://trac.handbrake.fr/wiki/ChapterMarkers
https://code.google.com/p/subler/wiki/ChapterTextFormat
 
Apple OS X utility to edit chapters – Sublr
https://code.google.com/p/subler/wiki/ChapterTextFormat
 
Microsoft Windows utility to edit chapters – Drax
https://drax.codeplex.com
 
When Handbrake rips DVD media to MP4 format it can embed chapter information into the file using this simple format.
38

I would also like the option to have both "true chapter points as defined in the material" and "random thumbs generated at minor intervals". Now that would be awesome. 

If you guys don't know what I mean by "random thumbs generated at minor intervals", take a look at Netflix. That's what it uses. At an interval of approximately 30 to 40 seconds there is a thumbs. Which is what most rewind and fast forward intervals are. I find it to be very helpful when I want to skip through shows with long themes like GOT. 

39

Don't forget to like the original post guys. That's the only way we'll get this implemented. Thank you. 

40

The original post in this thread is calling for two features:

1. Basic chapter marker support.

2. Preview image for each chapter marker. 

While I would really like to see "basic chapter marker support" I have no interest or need for "preview image for each chapter marker".

I imagine implementing the "preview image for each chapter marker" might delay "basic chapter marker support".

Is there a "half like" button for the original post?  ;)