Quote:
Originally Posted by Joanna
One problem I would have (I've just realized  ) is subtitles. I use separate subtitles quite frequently (for ripped DVDs etc.), and not rarely do I have more than one subtitle file per movie (as I may have different language versions for watching movies with different people). Those files have frequently the same format. This would be problematic as the movie players I use won't show subtitles from inside of a zipped file. Gotta think about it. |
Depending on the file format of your movies, there are programs out there that can embed subtitles into the movie file. If you use soft subs, you can even do it without re-encoding the video stream, so you lose no picture quality. It also means you can choose between different subtitles for the same movie, or no subtitles at all.
I can't really say more because I've never done it myself, but if you're willing to do a little research and work, this solution might work for you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joanna
I like the idea of merging the files and converting. For me, it would be even more useful if the resulting file could be epub or mobi - this would be a way to create a custom-made cook(e-)book and quickly send it to the e-book reader (and take it to the kitchen  ). If you ever manage to make a plugin and generalize it, I'd be happy to try it. |
Once it's HTML, Calibre should be able to convert it to epub or mobi easily. If I wrote a plugin, I might even be able to have the plugin convert it automatically.
My biggest issue with creating a plugin (aside from the fact that I've never written one before and it's been years since I've done any programming in Python) is that my script makes assuptions based upon the file names, directory structure, and contents of the file, and trying to generalize those might be a pain.
The directory structure wouldn't be too difficult to duplicate in Calibre; I could just require using the Title field for the recipe name and the Series field for the major section in the recipe book. (I break my recipes down by categories such as Main Dish, Dessert, Salad, etc) The problem is the layout of the text files containing the recipes.
Admittedly, it's pretty straightforward and if you converted most recipes to plain text they would end up in the proper format already, because my script simply identifies keywords such as "Ingredients:" and "Directions:" to insert formatting and make the HTML prettier. But my script only works on plain text, it can't handle auxiliary files like pictures, and it assumes the text files are laid out nice and neatly like that. Trying to make a plugin work on anything beyond that very basic system could be a nightmare.
That's why if I ever do write the plugin, it's not likely I'll upload it here. Inevitably people would (rightly) complain because it doesn't handle the way they manage their recipes.