Multiple movies under one heading?

[Fernandez21]

Hi, I just started ripping all my DVD's to load in itunes and use home share to watch on my apple tvs. My question is if there is any way to have multiple movies under one heading?

As an example, I have Beauty and the Beast Special edition that includes the theatrical release and an extended version, any to include both under the heading "Beauty and the Beast" and then let you chose which version to watch? Another thought would be for a series of movies, like lets say harry potter, so instead of having each harry potter movie listed, it would just say "Harry Potter" and then let you chose which one.

Thanks.

[peeaanuut]

the only effective way I can think to do this through the aTV is to tag them as a TV show. Then the Show name would be the movie name and then the title (episode name) would be as you see fit.

[Fernandez21]

Originally Posted by peeaanuut

the only effective way I can think to do this through the aTV is to tag them as a TV show. Then the Show name would be the movie name and then the title (episode name) would be as you see fit.

Thought about that, but I would like to keep my t.v. shows and movies in their proper sections, makes it easier to find.

[Pyromonkey83]

There isn't a way to do it with something like an extended/theatrical version. The only way to have them under one heading is if you have 2 of the same movie in different qualities (say one in 720p and one in 1080p).

[peeaanuut]

how do you get 2 rips to be under one heading if at different qualities? I know on the movies you get from Apple it will do it, but I have tried with my own rips and couldnt get it to do that. I would love to get that to be able to work.

[DP812]

Doesn't seem like it's possible. I tried entering a show title but leaving the media kind as movie, and then I tried to give both movies the same album title. But neither one worked, iTunes didn't recognize anything different and still displayed the movies as normal.

[OsloBergen]

Maybe I don't understand exactly what you want, but I save the contents of my discs under the same genre and then tell the Apple TV to sort/display by genre. For example under the genre of Jaws is the movie, the making of documentary, deleted scenes and so on. My Beauty and the Beast houses both versions as well as the special features under the genre of Beauty and the Beast. Both the Apple TV and iTunes will sort/display by genre.

Is that what you were looking for?

[DP812]

But wouldn't you lose genre support completely if you do that? You'd have to make every movie its own genre, rendering the title field superfluous.

[peeaanuut]

I think a hybrid of that idea would work. Most movies wouldnt have this issue right? I sort of do the same thing for music. I love buckethead, but he was in so many bands, groups, projects as well as solo stuff that I ended up labling everying of his buckethead. So most stuff would still have regular genre like Action or Comedy, etc, but for the few that you want in this manor you could use the field for that. I cant believe I never thought to apply the idea to movies.

[DP812]

If you don't mind the movies listed separately in the library, you could also set up a playlist.

[Omne666]

Used to be able to do this...Rocky 1 -> 5 all under one heading. Not anymore. Playlist your only option.

[Pyromonkey83]

Originally Posted by peeaanuut

how do you get 2 rips to be under one heading if at different qualities? I know on the movies you get from Apple it will do it, but I have tried with my own rips and couldnt get it to do that. I would love to get that to be able to work.

If you ware on a mac, the easiest way is to add metadata with Subler, have one set at 720p one at 1080p or whatever the qualities are. Make sure both files are in the same folder and add them. This should put them under the same file in iTunes.

[slothrob]

This won't help on the aTV, but you can group movies in iTunes by filling in the Album field in Get Info with something like "James Bond", for example, which will still leave the movies with their appropriate titles.

If you want to set their display order, you can use either Sort Name, with something like "James Bond 1, etc., or by filling in the Track Number fields.

Note: If you use the Artist field for films, it has to be identical for any movies that you group by this method.

[rayward]

Originally Posted by slothrob

If you want to set their display order, you can use either Sort Name, with something like "James Bond 1, etc., or by filling in the Track Number fields.

This is how I do it now. Use the sort name to force ATV to cluster movies that were previously (as Omne666 mentioned above) grouped under a sub-folder which ATV will no longer recognise.

It's particularly annoying for movie series with long names. For example, under the old (pre-ATV2) interface, I had a single entry for "Lord of the RIngs", under which the three movies were listed with their full names, appearing in running order (not alphabetical). It was long suspected that this was a happy accident - the ATV treating a movie series like a TV series - which seems to have been confirmed by the fact that it was "fixed" in the new interface, despite being wildly popular.

FWIW, the technique was simple: enter the movie name as normal; set your media type as "Movie"; set the "Show Name" to be the group name you want and set the "Sort Name" to the movie's episode number (e.g. "LOTR 1", "Bourne 2" etc.).

I had numerous movie series filed this way, and I hate it being gone. I keep hoping that it will magically reappear following a software update but, so far, no such luck.

[peeaanuut]

Originally Posted by Pyromonkey83

If you ware on a mac, the easiest way is to add metadata with Subler, have one set at 720p one at 1080p or whatever the qualities are. Make sure both files are in the same folder and add them. This should put them under the same file in iTunes.

Ill have to give that a shot. I know I had tried at least one other method I found and it didnt work but it has been a while. Thanks for the tip!

[slothrob]

Originally Posted by rayward

This is how I do it now. Use the sort name to force ATV to cluster movies that were previously (as Omne666 mentioned above) grouped under a sub-folder which ATV will no longer recognise.

One difference in using the Album technique over just the Sort Name technique is that Album will place your related movies in a single folder in iTunes, while Sort Name will change the order but not group the movies under a folder.

The aTV will still just order them by the Sort Name, though.

[rayward]

Originally Posted by slothrob

One difference in using the Album technique over just the Sort Name technique is that Album will place your related movies in a single folder in iTunes, while Sort Name will change the order but not group the movies under a folder.

The aTV will still just order them by the Sort Name, though.

Thanks for the tip, but I'm not worried about how it looks in iTunes.

[OsloBergen]

Originally Posted by DP812

But wouldn't you lose genre support completely if you do that? You'd have to make every movie its own genre, rendering the title field superfluous.

Although I don't, I imagine you could continue using genres with the exception of the collections of movie series you wanted to make. Put the Indy movies under Indiana Jones instead of Action Adventure. While keeping any single movies under the traditional genres. In my case the title field is still needed because I don't have any movie collections with only one file in it. At the very least it will be the movie and a trailer, so I still need a way to differentiate the two.

In the end "genre" grouping works best for my situation and what I want out of iTunes and my Apple TV. I wish Apple would include more options for categorizing, but until they do this is what I've found to work for me.

[Fernandez21]

Thanks for all your suggestions. It a shame this type of featured isn't possible at this time. I will just use the sorting information to group them together and make sure they in the right order. Thanks.

[From A Buick 8]

For what it is worth i use a playlist folder and a smart playlist. Create a folder for different grouping types (comic book, Series, etc...)and in those folders i create a smart list for the different items.

So on the ATV i click computer, movies, playlist then click the comic book folder and in that folder i have all the comic book folders. Even have some nested folders to group DC vs Marvel.

[rayward]

Originally Posted by From A Buick 8

For what it is worth i use a playlist folder and a smart playlist. Create a folder for different grouping types (comic book, Series, etc...)and in those folders i create a smart list for the different items.

So on the ATV i click computer, movies, playlist then click the comic book folder and in that folder i have all the comic book folders. Even have some nested folders to group DC vs Marvel.

My frustration with the loss of grouping for movies is because I already know what movie series I have. It's more about shortening the list so that three movies (or 4, 5, or 6) get put into one entry in the main list.

For example (going from memory here - there may be more), I have the following 12 groups that expanded to 40 movies once the grouping mechanism went away:

Alien (4)
Austin Powers (3)
Batman (2, soon to be 3)
Iron Man (2)
James Bond (2 and growing)
Jason Bourne (3, soon to be 4)
Lord of the Rings (3)
Pirates of the Caribbean (4)
Rocky (3)
Star Wars (6)
Terminator (4)
Vacation (4)


Playlists don't shorten the menu, they just offer another way of finding the groups. As I have renamed the movies (and/or added a sort name) so that they appear in the right place/order on the list, the playlist becomes moot. I'd still like to cut out 28 lines of unnecessary movie titles in my list, and playlists don't do that.