Settings

Library

This tab is about the open library: where its files live, which smart libraries you see, and which List columns are on.

1. Exclude unplayable files from filters leaves those files out of ordinary filters. They stay in the Unplayable smart library, and search can still find them.
2. Confirm deletions asks before Delete Video… moves a file to the Trash. Turn it off to skip that question.
3. Change Library Location… quits Skagway and opens the catalog chooser. Files on disk are not deleted. The choices on that screen are described on the Library page.
4. Change Thumbnail Cache Location… points this library at a different cache folder. Other libraries are unaffected. The command retargets the pointer. Existing cache files are left in place.
5. Automatically check for updates is off by default. When you turn it on, Skagway occasionally checks downloads.machiilabs.com for a newer build. The check does not send usage analytics.
6. Smart Libraries is the list of toggles for the Quick Filter drawer. Recently Added and Recently Played each have a day count. Top Rated has a star threshold. Turn a row off to hide that smart library.
7. List view columns chooses what List shows. Title stays on. You can also right-click a column header in the table. Drag a header to reorder it, or its edge to resize it. Up to 16 custom columns can be shown at once, alphabetically.

Video

Playback, previews, and the player.

1. Default Filmstrip Size sets the rows and columns of Inspector filmstrip previews. Click Regenerate filmstrips after you change it, to rebuild previews that were made at the old size.
2. Surprise Me! auto-plays selected video: on means ⇧⌘S jumps to a random video and plays it. Off means the jump only.
3. Loop Play All makes Play All start again at the first video after the last one finishes. The toolbar also has a Loop Play All control.
4. Hover preview on Grid and List turns the silent moving preview on or off. Storyboard does not use it.
5. Prepare previews while idle is on by default. When nothing is playing, scanning, or scrolling, Skagway builds missing Grid, List, and Storyboard images for the current view, then for the rest of the library.
6. Tag blind default state remembers whether the Inspector’s Add tags list starts open. Filter drawer height remembers how tall you left the Quick Filter drawer.
7. Player opens at chooses the size for the next playback: Compact, Full screen, or Last used size.
8. Show filmstrip in player is on by default. It is the row of frames above the scrubber. Compact draws that row thinner.
9. Fade resume banner after delay controls whether the “Resumed at…” banner fades, and when. That banner offers Start at beginning.

Data Sources

Data Sources are the folders Scan for New Videos checks. The video files stay in those folders. This tab edits the list. File → Add Folder… also adds to it, and that command scans immediately.

1. Click Add Folder… to register another folder. Registration alone does not index it. Then choose File → Scan for New Videos.
2. Show in Finder opens the selected source folder in Finder.
3. Exclude… skips a nested subfolder on later scans. To stop watching the source folder, select it and click Remove.
4. Remove takes the folder off the list. Videos already indexed from that folder stay in the library.

Extensions

1. Checked extensions are the ones a scan treats as video. Uncheck an extension to ignore new files of that type.
2. Use the Add extension field for an extension that is not in the list.
3. Click Reset to defaults to restore the standard list.

Custom Metadata

1. Create a field for this library: a name, and a type. The types are String, Text, Number, Date, Date & Time, and Boolean.
2. Values are edited in the Inspector under CUSTOM. The field also appears in search, the Sort menu, List columns, filters, smart collections, and Export Metadata….