Hi @bcaster,
Glad to hear the Linked Folder module is working well! This is a great suggestion—referencing external 3+ GB files with specific in/out points fits right into the module, so we are going to build it.
(Note: if you only do this manually, you can already set In and Out points directly in the cue list and the plugin will remember them. A cue file is mainly useful when another program generates your playlist.)
To keep things consistent with how the plugin works, we will adjust a few details from your proposal:
No separate “Cue Mode”: One file is still one cue. You can freely mix regular files, .url files, and cue files in the same folder, or use a folder with only cue files.
.playoutcue extension: We will use .playoutcue instead of .cue so it doesn’t conflict with CD image associations (like VLC) and clearly belongs with _settings.playoutfolder.
Streamlined JSON: type isn’t needed (detected automatically from path, or use url for webpages). music and link won’t be included as they work across multiple cues or internal IDs in the plugin. That leaves path/url, title, in, out, volume, transition, and follow.
Time format: Matches the UI columns (mm:ss, mm:ss.t, or seconds like 90).
Two-way sync & monitoring: Just like _settings.playoutfolder, changes made in the UI are written back to the .playoutcue file, and external edits reload the cue. We will also monitor the target video itself so replacing a large source file reloads the cue cleanly once copying finishes.
A valid .playoutcue file (standard JSON without comments) will look like this:
{
"path": "C:\\path\\to\\media.mp4",
"title": "Cue Title",
"in": "01:30",
"out": "05:00.5",
"volume": 100,
"transition": {
"style": "fade",
"duration": 0.5
},
"follow": "pause"
}Since this requires updates to both the module and the core plugin, we are targeting version 1.2.3 (or shortly after), complete with full documentation in the manual. Thanks for the great input!