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New HTPC - how to organize and catalog my video files?

post #1 of 10
1/31/10 at 1:24pm
Thread Starter 
So I just got my first real HTPC, the Zino HD. I upgraded the HD with a 1.5 TB drive and have moved most of my movies onto it. I plan to use this PC for viewing those movies as well as doing some streaming video from Hulu and the like. I know, I know - the Zino isn't totally perfect at handling flash right now... I plan to just upgrade if and when that is fixed. That's not my concern here...

What I'm hoping for is to find some software that creates a good interface for viewing these hundreds of movies and TV shows that I have downloaded (AVI format generally). Right now I have them sorted into simple folders by genre, and named with the names of the movies. No artwork or anything.

Ideally, what I'm looking for is some program to present me with an interface for playing those files hopefully based on the DVD artwork. The key thing that I'm looking for is some program that will access IMDB or some other online database to take a single AVI file, say "Shallow Hal" and tag it with information like genre, starring actors, download the DVD artwork, etc.

Its very important that I be able to search that database, so if I'm looking for a movie with Jack Black in it, it will show me all the movies I have with him. I should be able to tag a movie with multiples of each category - there's no reason Shallow Hal can't be a comedy and a chick flick, for instance.

The PC runs Win 7 64 bit, if that makes any difference. I've been looking around the internet all weekend and tried a few things, but none even come close to what I'm looking for. I figure this is the perfect place to get some direct experience, rather than hoping Google has the answer for me.

so... any help is greatly appreciated!

Cameron
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post #2 of 10
1/31/10 at 3:26pm
after reading your post, I came across a thread that might have what you are looking for. I'm going to have to try it out myself.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1094009

looks like it may have what you are looking for. Hopefully it works with Windows 7, and not just Vista. Good luck.
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post #3 of 10
1/31/10 at 5:57pm
I would go with XBMC or Mediabrowser, or My Movies 3. It depends how you have the movies stored file structure wise.
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post #4 of 10
1/31/10 at 6:37pm
I use media browswer but I had too many movies for a single folder. I then seperated by genre creating like 12 categories. That way if I want a movie I know is a comedy I dont have to spend 45 minutes looking through the whole collection. I dont know that there is any other way to seperate them other than how you think would work because its personal taste as to what genre is what. For instance a funny cowboy movie.. is that a western or comedy? I put everything that is non english in foreign. Documentaries were easy. Maybe there is a tagging system or something but then I have a feeling it is still going to be more of a mess than just getting a good folder structure plus its easy to expand when you add more volumes.
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post #5 of 10
1/31/10 at 6:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ogormask View Post

I use media browswer but I had too many movies for a single folder.

Curious...How many did you have?


Mike
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post #6 of 10
1/31/10 at 6:56pm
I use this case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...=APEVIA%20CORP and have seen a few other use it here also I don't think it looks to bad as long as you go with the all black one.
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post #7 of 10
1/31/10 at 7:30pm
Thread Starter 
So far I've spent time today with XBMC, and I've been happy so far. It has been a little tricky to figure out where all the options are stored, but I think I'm nearly to the point where I've got just what I want. I love the IMDB integration, and the flat database file structure where I don't need to worry about where the file is stored, and movies can have multiple genres attached to them. I can go into the list of actors and find all of Jim Carrey's movies, or find all the movies I have from 1986, or whatever. Pretty strong.
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post #8 of 10
1/31/10 at 7:31pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ogormask View Post

I use media browswer but I had too many movies for a single folder. I then seperated by genre creating like 12 categories. That way if I want a movie I know is a comedy I dont have to spend 45 minutes looking through the whole collection. I dont know that there is any other way to seperate them other than how you think would work because its personal taste as to what genre is what. For instance a funny cowboy movie.. is that a western or comedy? I put everything that is non english in foreign. Documentaries were easy. Maybe there is a tagging system or something but then I have a feeling it is still going to be more of a mess than just getting a good folder structure plus its easy to expand when you add more volumes.

Exactly what I'm talking about. I don't know about the other apps, but XBMC is exactly what you're looking for.
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post #9 of 10
2/1/10 at 9:23pm
I agree Cmaeronjpu XBMC is good for large collections spanning multiple drives and network locations. I have over 300 movies and 500+ tv show episodes stored across a total of 10 drives some in the HTPC and thes rest networked. I am in the process of switching over to a HP Mediasmart Windows Home Server so I can have all the drives centralized.
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post #10 of 10
2/1/10 at 11:57pm
I have about 1500 movies and over 4k TV episodes and documentaries. XBMC handles it all with ease. It's the only way to go with really big collections.
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