If you are a movie fan, you know that over the decades end credit sequences have gotten longer and longer, sometimes as much as 10 minutes for a movie like one of Marvel"s Avengers films or one of the Lord of the Rings movies.
Today, the folks at Plex have come up with a new feature, Skip Credits, that can be used on any movie or TV show episode in your personal library that"s available on a Plex Media Server. When an end credit sequence starts, there will be an option that pops up on screen to skip them.
You would think that such a feature would be relatively easy to put in place, but Plex says it was actually quite complicated:
We’ve worked hard to tune a machine learning algorithm to make sense of several inputs (text detection, the presence of black frames, and a few other secret ingredients) to come up with a reliable set of markers when credits begin and end.
Plex says that it has also created a cloud-based solution that will store information about end credits for shows and movies, with info sent in anonymously from users. If you have to rebuild your digital TV series and film library, the Skip Credits feature will automatically know when to show you that option, instead of having to learn it again.
If you are wondering about the growing use of mid and end credit sequences in movies, Plex says the Skip Credits feature will also automatically detect them and allow you to see them when you click on the option, so you won"t miss anything.
The new feature is available now on Plex"s own collection of free streaming movies and TV shows. In order for Skip Credits to work on your movies and shows stored on a Plex Media Server, you will have to sign up for a Plex Pass subscription. It costs $4.99 a month, $39.99 for an annual subscription, or you can get it forever with a $119.99 lifetime subscription. Plex Pass also has a ton of other features, including a broadcast TV DVR, mobile downloads, the Plexamp music player and more.