Basic playlists: Difference between revisions

From Official Kodi Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
>Dankula
(Updated for v20)
 
(124 intermediate revisions by 20 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
A Playlist is a file that includes several media files (Audio or Video), and plays them in succession.
{{mininav|[[Playlists]] }}
You can either create your own or use existing playlists from other sources, e.g. Winamp m3u playlists.
Going to the Playlist item on the left side of the [[My Music]] page will take you to all playlists in your media library, same goes for the [[My Videos]] page.


==Working with Playlists==
{|
| valign="top" |
There are several ways to manipulate playlists in XBMC, one is the [[The Web Interface|the web interface]], another is using the "controller / remote"


Pressing the '''black''' button on the gamepad or '''"Title"''' button on the Remote control, brings up the context menu.  The playlist is accessible via the "Now Playing" item. If the playlist is currently empty, that option will not be visible in the context menu.
= Introduction =
<section begin="intro" />The Basic Playlist is a user created list of music or video that does not require a correctly scraped library as it uses the folder paths to the media files. As the playlist is based on paths, different classes of media can be mixed, like movies and episodes. The list can be created within {{kodi}} or transferred from another media player.<section end="intro" />


You can add songs or entire folders with the '''Y''' button on the gamepad, or '''0''' on the Remote Control.  Alternatively, the "Queue Item" option in the context menu can be used.
If your list of music or video has a common theme like genre, year, artist, studio, actor, etc, then you should consider using '''[[Smart playlists]]''' which will automatically generate the playlist based on rules. If the titles are random and there is no similarity between the items you want to group, then a manually created Basic Playlist is the best option.


Switching back to the playlist view with the '''black''' or '''Title''' button (gamepad/remote) and then pressing the '''A''' or the '''Play''' button  (gamepad/remote) will play your playlist.


Once in The Playlists view, you can save your playlist. Playlists are by default saved in the $HOME\albums\playlists folder (separate folder for music and video playlists).
'''Note:''' Depending on your setup, the m3u file may use relative paths to local content. If you then transfer a playlist file to another media player on different hardware, even though it has access to the same content, the paths may be different and {{kodi}} will be unable to find the media. Use Absolute paths where possible.


|


|}


==Winamp M3U Playlists==
= Playlist Files =
{|
The {{kodi}} generated basic playlist file is in the '''m3u''' format.
| valign="top" |
If you use Winamp m3u playlists to play files on a remote computer, make sure the contents of the m3u match the file structure relative to XBMC.---(ie, if your using samba, you'll need to use smb://fullpath/file.mp3).


'''Example:'''
You want to play several files located in C:\music\mp3\ on your PC with XBMC.


"C:\music\mp3s\" is shared out as mp3 on your PC using [[Configuring PC Shares|PC file sharing]]


for that to work each playlist item in your m3u file must be formatted thus:
== Supported Formats ==
smb://workgroup;someuser:somepass@computer/mp3/fileN.mp3
{{kodi}} supports the following playlist files:
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cue_sheet Cue Sheets for music]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M3U m3u] (default)
* m3u8 <small>(added in v21 Omega)</small><ref>https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/21992</ref>
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLS_%28file_format%29 PLS]
* [[Internet_video_and_audio_streams|Stream files (.strm)]]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Media_Player_Playlist| Windows Media Player .wpl files]
* [[Smart playlists|Smart playlist .xsp files]]


Alternatively, there are settings in [[AdvancedSettings.xml]] for path substitutions in playlists. For instance, by adding
<xml>
<pathsubstitution>
  <substitute>
    <from>C:\music\mp3s\</from>
    <to>smb://workgroup;someuser:somepass@computer/mp3/</to>
  </substitute>
</pathsubstitution>
</xml>
you could use the same playlist file on your PC and XBMC. That is, anywhere the path c:\music\mp3s\ is found in a playlist, XBMC would
substitute smb://workgroup;someuser:somepass@computer/mp3/.


|
== Location of Playlist Files ==
Playlist files are are located in the '''[[userdata]]/playlists''' folder. The location of this folder for each platform is shown in the table below.


|}
{{#lst:Userdata|location all}}


==Smart Playlists==
{|
| valign="top" |


XBMC now supports "Smart" playlists, which essentially use a set of rules to limit the songs from the music database.
== Editing m3u Files ==
If you choose to manually create your m3u playlists, then any text editor will suffice, but we recommend using an editor that can parse XML such as [https://code.visualstudio.com/Download Visual Studio Code] or [https://notepad-plus-plus.org/ Notepad++].


Currently there is no way to generate a Smart Playlist from within the XBMC GUI, but you can easily setup some by creating an xml file with the extension .xsp.


===Format of a Smart Playlist File===


Smart playlists are xml files using the extension .xsp (Xbmc Smart Playlist).  These are just text files that can be parsed by an xml reader.  Any text editor can be used to create them.  The format is as follows:
= Use External Playlists =
If you have a playlist that you manually created, or one that was created by another media player that:
# Is in a format supported by {{kodi}} as detailed above, and
# The file paths are valid as described in the Introduction note, and
# Is saved in the correct playlist subfolder


<xml>
Then you can use {{kodi}} to play it.
  <smartplaylist>
    <name>All U2 from after 1990</name>
    <match>all</match>
    <rule field="artist" operator="is">U2</rule>
    <rule field="year" operator="greaterthan">1990</rule>
    <limit>50</limit>
    <order direction="descending">playcount</order>
  </smartplaylist>
</xml>


Basically there are 2 header tags, <name> and <match> and then a set of <rule> tags that define the rules to use, along with an <order> tag to allow sorting and a <limit> tag to limit the returned results.  Note that the tags and attributes are all case-sensitive.  The <name> tag is the name of the playlist (currently unused) and the <match> tag indicates how the <rule> tags should be matched.  If <match>all</match> like in the above example, then only songs which satisfy all the <rule>'s will be included.  If <match>one</match> is specified, then songs that satisfy any one (or more) of the <rule>'s will be included.


The <rule> tags, of which there can be as many as you wish, have 2 attributes (field and operator) and a value (the parameter). The allowed fields are
= Playlist Editor =
{{kodi}} has a built in Playlist Editor where playlists can be created and edited.


{|
| '''album'''
| Album the song appears on
|-
| '''artist'''
| Artist of the song
|-
| '''genre'''
| Genre of the song
|-
| '''title'''
| Title of the song
|-
| '''year'''
| Year of the song
|-
| '''tracknumber'''
| Track number of the song
|-
| '''time'''
| Duration of the song
|-
| '''playcount'''
| Number of times the song has been played
|-
| '''filename'''
| Filename of the song (excluding path)
|-
| '''lastplayed'''
| Date/time of last time the song was played
|-
| '''playlist'''
| Whether the song is in the given playlist
|}


The operator attribute specifies the rule that should be used to match the parameter to the field.  All matching is done case-insensitive.  The allowed operators are
== Playlist Editor Location ==
The Playlist Managers are located as follows:


{|
; Music library
| '''contains'''
: From the '''[[Basic_controls#Introduction|Main Menu]]''' navigate to {{highlight|Music > Playlists}}
| True if the field contains the parameter as a substring
:* Select ''New Playlist...'' to create a new playlist
|-
:* Highlight an existing Playlist and from the '''[[Basic_controls#Context_Menu|Context menu]]''' select ''Edit playlist'' to edit an existing playlist
| '''doesnotcontain'''
| True if the field does not contain the parameter as a substring
|-
| '''is'''
| True if the field matches the parameter exactly (case insensitive)
|-
| '''isnot'''  
| True if the field does not match the parameter exactly (case insensitive)
|-
| '''startswith'''
| True if the start of the field matches the parameter
|-
| '''endswith'''  
| True if the end of the field matches the parameter
|-
| '''lessthan'''
| True if the content of the field is is less than the parameter
|-
| '''greaterthan'''
| True if the content of the field is is greater than the parameter
|-
| '''inthelast'''
| True if the field falls in the last range specified by the parameter. Only applicable for a date field.
|-
| '''notinthelast'''
| True if the field does not fall in the last range specified by the parameter.  Only applicable for a date field.
|}


The <limit> tag simply takes a number of songs as it's limit.  A missing limit tag, or <limit>0</limit> will retrieve all matching songs.  The <order> tag has a direction attribute, the values of which can be "ascending" or "descending", and it's value is a field as above, or can be <order>random</order> if you want a random ordering returned.  Note that random should be used with care - it is quite slow if the returned results from the <rule> sets is large (> 500 items).


The above example, therefore selects all songs whose artist field is U2 and whose year field is greater than 1990, orders them by the number of times they've been played (most played first) then limits it to just 50.  Thus, the top 50 songs you've played from all U2 songs published after 1990.
; Video library
: There is no playlist editor for the Video library. Use the Queue Method (next section) or create the playlist externally.


Smart playlists should be placed in your albums/music folder on the xbox harddisk.  They cannot be read off of remote shares at present.


===Smart Playlist Examples===
== Using Playlist Editor ==
<gallery mode="packed" widths="600px" heights="337px">
File:Music-Playlist02.jpg|Image 1- Starting a new playlist in Music
File:Music-Playlist03.jpg|Image 2- Adding music items to the playlist
</gallery>


'''Recently played songs'''
; Editor Layout
<xml>
:* '''Left panel''' contains the Action buttons
<smartplaylist>
:* '''Middle panel''' used to navigate to your music
  <name>Recently Played Songs</name>
:* '''Right panel''' contains the songs in the  playlist
  <match>all</match>
  <rule field="lastplayed" operator="inthelast">2 weeks</rule>
  <order direction="descending">lastplayed</order>
</smartplaylist>
</xml>


'''Top 100 songs'''
; Create New Playlist
<xml>
: Decide how to locate your music files to add to the playlist-
<smartplaylist>
:* '''Files'''- Navigate the folder structure of your files
  <name>Top 100 Songs</name>
:* '''Library'''- Navigate the library nodes
  <match>all</match>
:* '''Music Videos'''- Also add music videos to the playlist
  <rule field="playcount" operator="greaterthan">0</rule>
: Whichever method you choose, the file paths are stored in the playlist.
  <order direction="descending">playcount</order>
  <limit>100</limit>
</smartplaylist>
</xml>


'''Rock music from the 1970s'''
; What can be added to the Playlist
<xml>
:* '''Artist'''- Selecting an Artist will add all songs attributed to the Artist
<smartplaylist>
:* '''Album'''- Adding an Album will add all songs in the album
  <name>Rock Music from the 1970s</name>
:* '''Song'''- Add an individual song
  <match>all</match>
  <rule field="genre" operator="is">Rock</rule>
  <rule field="year" operator="greaterthan">1969</rule>
  <rule field="year" operator="lessthan">1980</rule>
</smartplaylist>
</xml>


===Combining Playlists===
; Adding Items
: Highlight the item to be added then using one of the following two methods
:* Press {{keypress|Q}} on your keyboard, or
:* From the ''[[Basic_controls#Context_Menu|Context Menu]]'' select '''Add'''
: The items will appear in the right panel in the order they are added.


The "playlist" field can be used to combine several playlists together. When playlists are combined, the <limit> and <order> tags of the included playlists are ignored; only the <order> and <limit> of the final playlist are used.
; Reorganise Items
: To reorganise the order of the playlist items, move across to the right panel and on a [[Keyboard_controls|keyboard]] select
:* {{keypress|U}} - Move selected up
:* {{keypress|D}} - Move selected down
:* {{keypress|DEL}} - Remove from playlist.
: Alternatively, use the ''[[Basic_controls#Context_Menu|Context Menu]]'' which contains the same action options.
: A remote control with the proper [[keymap]] additions can also use those actions.


As a simple example, lets create a new playlist combining the "Rock Music from the 1970s" and "Recently Played Songs" playlists above, to produce a playlist with the recently played rock songs from the 1970s.
; Save the Playlist
: Select '''Save''' from the left panel and enter a playlist name when prompted. The playlist will be accessible from {{highlight|Music > Playlists}}
: A music m3u playlist is always saved in \playlists\music\ even if it contains music videos.


'''Recently played rock tracks from the 1970s'''
; Edit Existing Playlist
<xml>
: To open and edit an existing playlist, use one of the following methods
<smartplaylist>
:* From the left panel, select '''Open''' and navigate to your playlist
  <name>Recently played  Rock Tracks from the 1970s</name>
:* In your list of Playlists, highlight the playlist and select '''Edit playlist''' from the ''[[Basic_controls#Context_Menu|Context Menu]]''
  <match>all</match>
  <rule field="playlist" operator="is">Rock Music from the 1970s</rule>
  <rule field="playlist" operator="is">Recently Played Songs</rule>
</smartplaylist>
</xml>


Using this system allows very complex queries to be built.  Note that in a single playlist, you can only match ALL of the rules, or ONE (or more) of the rules.  This is basically either ANDing the conditions together, or ORing them together.  You cannot mix AND with OR in a single playlist.  To build up a playlist with both AND and OR operations on the rules, you use multiple playlists to group the AND operations and the OR operations, then combine them as above.
; Delete Playlist
: From your list of Playlists, highlight the playlist and select '''Delete''' from the ''[[Basic_controls#Context_Menu|Context Menu]]''


|


|}
 
= Queue Method =
While browsing your library, you have the ability to queue items for playback. These items are added to a temporary playlist.
 
This temporary playlist can be accessed from the ''[[Basic_controls#Sideblade_Menu|Sideblade menu]]'' and can be further edited and saved as a Basic playlist.
 
Using this method, Basic Playlists can be created for Music and Videos from either the files or library structure.
 
<gallery mode="packed" widths="400px" heights="225px">
File:Music-Playlist04.jpg|Image 3- Browse your library or browse your folder structure
File:Music-Playlist05.jpg|Image 4- Select '''Go to playlist''' from the left sideblade menu
File:Music-Playlist06.jpg|Image 5- The playlist view. Note the combined Movies and Episodes.
</gallery>
 
; Adding Items
: Highlight the item to be added then using one of the following two methods
:* Press {{keypress|Q}} on your keyboard, or
:* From the ''[[Basic_controls#Context_Menu|Context Menu]]'' select '''Queue item'''
: Repeat as necessary and all items will be added to the temporary playlist.
 
; Accessing the Playlist
: From the ''[[Basic_controls#Sideblade_Menu|Sideblade menu]]'' select '''Go to playlist'''
: Once you enter the playlist, the options for editing and saving are similar to the Playlist Editor detailed above.
 
 
 
= References =
<references />
 
 
 
 
{{top}}
 
{{updated|20}}
[[Category:Karellen]]
[[Category:Video library]]
[[Category:Music library]]

Latest revision as of 00:07, 13 February 2023

Home icon grey.png   ▶ Playlists ▶ Basic playlists


Introduction

The Basic Playlist is a user created list of music or video that does not require a correctly scraped library as it uses the folder paths to the media files. As the playlist is based on paths, different classes of media can be mixed, like movies and episodes. The list can be created within Kodi or transferred from another media player.

If your list of music or video has a common theme like genre, year, artist, studio, actor, etc, then you should consider using Smart playlists which will automatically generate the playlist based on rules. If the titles are random and there is no similarity between the items you want to group, then a manually created Basic Playlist is the best option.


Note: Depending on your setup, the m3u file may use relative paths to local content. If you then transfer a playlist file to another media player on different hardware, even though it has access to the same content, the paths may be different and Kodi will be unable to find the media. Use Absolute paths where possible.


Playlist Files

The Kodi generated basic playlist file is in the m3u format.


Supported Formats

Kodi supports the following playlist files:


Location of Playlist Files

Playlist files are are located in the userdata/playlists folder. The location of this folder for each platform is shown in the table below.


The Userdata folder is a subfolder of the Kodi Data Folder and is located as shown in the table below.

Operating system Userdata Folder
Android Android/data/org.xbmc.kodi/files/.kodi/userdata/ (see note)
iOS /private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/Kodi/userdata/
LibreELEC /storage/.kodi/userdata/
Linux ~/.kodi/userdata/
macOS /Users/<your_user_name>/Library/Application Support/Kodi/userdata/
Nvidia Shield (SMB) smb://<nvidiashieldurl>/internal/Android/data/org.xbmc.kodi/files/.kodi/userdata
OSMC /home/osmc/.kodi/userdata/
tvOS /private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/Kodi/userdata/
webOS /media/developer/apps/usr/palm/applications/org.xbmc.kodi/.kodi/userdata/
Windows %APPDATA%\Kodi\userdata
Windows Portable <Install location chosen by you>\portable_data\userdata\
Windows via Microsoft Store %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\XBMCFoundation.Kodi_4n2hpmxwrvr6p\LocalCache\Roaming\Kodi\
Windows Xbox %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\XBMCFoundation.Kodi_4n2hpmxwrvr6p\LocalCache\Roaming\Kodi\
Note: In some Android setups the path may be slightly different to the one stated above.


Editing m3u Files

If you choose to manually create your m3u playlists, then any text editor will suffice, but we recommend using an editor that can parse XML such as Visual Studio Code or Notepad++.


Use External Playlists

If you have a playlist that you manually created, or one that was created by another media player that:

  1. Is in a format supported by Kodi as detailed above, and
  2. The file paths are valid as described in the Introduction note, and
  3. Is saved in the correct playlist subfolder

Then you can use Kodi to play it.


Playlist Editor

Kodi has a built in Playlist Editor where playlists can be created and edited.


Playlist Editor Location

The Playlist Managers are located as follows:

Music library
From the Main Menu navigate to Music > Playlists
  • Select New Playlist... to create a new playlist
  • Highlight an existing Playlist and from the Context menu select Edit playlist to edit an existing playlist


Video library
There is no playlist editor for the Video library. Use the Queue Method (next section) or create the playlist externally.


Using Playlist Editor

  • Image 1- Starting a new playlist in Music

    Image 1- Starting a new playlist in Music

  • Image 2- Adding music items to the playlist

    Image 2- Adding music items to the playlist

Editor Layout
  • Left panel contains the Action buttons
  • Middle panel used to navigate to your music
  • Right panel contains the songs in the playlist
Create New Playlist
Decide how to locate your music files to add to the playlist-
  • Files- Navigate the folder structure of your files
  • Library- Navigate the library nodes
  • Music Videos- Also add music videos to the playlist
Whichever method you choose, the file paths are stored in the playlist.
What can be added to the Playlist
  • Artist- Selecting an Artist will add all songs attributed to the Artist
  • Album- Adding an Album will add all songs in the album
  • Song- Add an individual song
Adding Items
Highlight the item to be added then using one of the following two methods
  • Press Q on your keyboard, or
  • From the Context Menu select Add
The items will appear in the right panel in the order they are added.
Reorganise Items
To reorganise the order of the playlist items, move across to the right panel and on a keyboard select
  • U - Move selected up
  • D - Move selected down
  • DEL - Remove from playlist.
Alternatively, use the Context Menu which contains the same action options.
A remote control with the proper keymap additions can also use those actions.
Save the Playlist
Select Save from the left panel and enter a playlist name when prompted. The playlist will be accessible from Music > Playlists
A music m3u playlist is always saved in \playlists\music\ even if it contains music videos.
Edit Existing Playlist
To open and edit an existing playlist, use one of the following methods
  • From the left panel, select Open and navigate to your playlist
  • In your list of Playlists, highlight the playlist and select Edit playlist from the Context Menu
Delete Playlist
From your list of Playlists, highlight the playlist and select Delete from the Context Menu


Queue Method

While browsing your library, you have the ability to queue items for playback. These items are added to a temporary playlist.

This temporary playlist can be accessed from the Sideblade menu and can be further edited and saved as a Basic playlist.

Using this method, Basic Playlists can be created for Music and Videos from either the files or library structure.

  • Image 3- Browse your library or browse your folder structure

    Image 3- Browse your library or browse your folder structure

  • Image 4- Select Go to playlist from the left sideblade menu

    Image 4- Select Go to playlist from the left sideblade menu

  • Image 5- The playlist view. Note the combined Movies and Episodes.

    Image 5- The playlist view. Note the combined Movies and Episodes.

Adding Items
Highlight the item to be added then using one of the following two methods
  • Press Q on your keyboard, or
  • From the Context Menu select Queue item
Repeat as necessary and all items will be added to the temporary playlist.
Accessing the Playlist
From the Sideblade menu select Go to playlist
Once you enter the playlist, the options for editing and saving are similar to the Playlist Editor detailed above.


References

  1. ↑ https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/21992



Return to top


Retrieved from "https://kodi.wiki/index.php?title=Basic_playlists&oldid=244224"