Thoughts on the perfect HTPC

Introduction

Technologies make our lives more comfortable and this is good news. I would like to share my thoughts on the organization of comfortable viewing of films, inspired by the post. Automatic downloading of movies .
The article is theoretical, although many of the presented paragraphs have practically realized analogues in the real world. But, unfortunately, they are all scattered, and not integrated with each other in the form in which it is described in the article.
The main focus of the article is on the software-logical component of the HTPC.

And so, what is the perfect movie viewing? This is when you sit on the couch, and in front of you the screensaver of the film begins, corresponding to your preferences, mood, mood, and time of day.

Although there is nothing perfect in this world, I am sure that it is realistic to create an HTPC as close to the ideal as possible. I propose to consider the components of such a HTPC with possible ways of implementation.
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Stage 1: Movie Selection

The choice of the film should be available to the user through:

1. Normal viewing of the movie catalog
2. Voice search (actors, title. Ideally, even by key plot components)
3. Recommendations based on previously viewed films + rating. Perhaps even with the analysis of how many times the film was stopped during the viewing and how often it was rewound. Every stop or rewind is a small minus to the movie.
4. Social component - recommendations of friends or people with similar tastes
5. Fresh releases in cinemas (to add to the expected)
6. Latest DVD releases (for viewing or download right now)
7. Watch Queue

For any selected movie should be available:

1. Description, cast
2. Trailer (s)
3. Reviews

All these functions are fully implemented through the close integration of XMBC, Kinopoisk, Youtube, Facebook, Google Voice Service.

The selection of films is based on the preferences of the current user. Those. versatility must be maintained. Profiles must support online synchronization, to work on different devices. But to be able to work locally with limited functionality.

A guest profile should also be provided. Those. profile for 1 time. The system begins to “grope” guest preferences from scratch. In the future, the guest profile can be automatically deleted or transferred to a permanent one.

The social component can also be great to help with the choice of the film. If the system analyzes and finds people with similar preferences and browsing history, it is likely to make a good recommendation.

Stage 2: Movie Cataloging

Well, the movie is selected. Further, the user can choose one of the options:

1. Ask for availability if the film has not yet been released.
2. Add to watch queue
3. Add to download
4. View online

The last 2 points can be implemented on the basis of P2P, with support for plug-ins for popular resources.
The quality of online viewing depends on the number of seeders, so it is quite suitable for viewing a one-time Hollywood novelty, but for a rare or old movie, option number 2 will most likely be preferable.

When added to a download, the system automatically selects the available bitrate that matches the user's preferences; calls the file in accordance with the adopted policy, and adds the download to the queue on a schedule.

After the download is completed, if the movie has not yet been viewed online, it will be added to the Catalog and to the Queue for viewing.

You can configure the automatic download of the series.

The functionality is implemented by close integration of XBMC, Transmission, Python scripts, Kinopoisk.

Stage 4: Watching a Movie

I think there is no point in mentioning support for all popular codecs and picture quality. But what can be added on top of this?

1. As mentioned above, tracking the progress of viewing. Those. the more the movie is paused, and the more often the rewind is applied, the lower the rating gets the movie
2. Upon completion of viewing, when the viewer is overwhelmed with emotions, it is proposed to rate the film, as well as write your own review. Perhaps even with voice dialing.
3. It is also proposed to relate the film to one of the categories: Disposable or Collectible. The user is prompted to indicate if he would like to see it in the future? And if so, then the minimum time to reminder.
   In the case of a one-time film, it disappears from the issue in the recommendations after viewing.
   In the case of a collectible film, it appears in recommendations after a specified period.
4. Based on points 1 and 2, recommendations are made for the following films to watch.

Stage 4: Standby

In standby mode, the server goes into low power mode and occupies itself with the fact that:

1. Distributes and downloads torrents
2. Updates DVD release database
3. Scans Directories
4. Checks the availability of expected movies.
5. Checks the availability of new episodes for serials.

Conclusion

All the presented functionality today is fully implementable and partially already implemented by enthusiasts in home HTPC, various players, services, social networks. But there is no single and comfortable solution. And how it would be great.

What was the purpose of this article? I would like to know your thoughts and views about this decision. And who knows, maybe this article will even inspire someone to create an Ideal HTPC for themselves, and in the future we will see an article devoted to this topic, but already with practical implementation, and our world will become a little more comfortable.