XBMC Media Center : Setup Guide, Knowlege Base & Support - Page 11

Ok... in MCM in the settings. In the XBMC tab I have the create movie.nfo meta data for XBMC and other compatable software checked....

Why isn't it doing it?

....on another note.... the computer I am sending this from is the one where I rip movies and everything then move to my HTPC later.
MCM just scanned a few things that were recently added and in addition to the 'mymovies.xml' file there is also a 'movie.tbn' file....
Is this for XBMC? I don't have these in any of my folders on my HTPC.

If the mymovie.xml is the exact same type as would be generated by My Movies then it is supported, see http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title...ideo_nfo_Files


In "Set content" have you tried selecting "Use Foldername for Lookups"? (see http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title...o_use_Scrapers) you may need this option set for it to pick up the mymovie.xml

Although it might well be simpler to use MCM to generate the .nfo files that XBMC natively supports.

I'm pretty sure I do not have that checked in XBMC.
As far as MCM is concerned... why isn't it making the .nfo file? I have the appropriate setting checked... Am I missing something in MCM?

Although a long term XBMC user I've always used the internal scrapaers, although now i'm getting a large video library I'm considering a external app like MCM so I've been looking into these type of topics.

My understanding is that if you have you movie in it's own folder with a structure like:

d:/movies/300

300.mkv
movie.nfo or mymovie.xml

Then you need to have selected "Use Foldername for Lookups", if you don't have this selected then the structure needs to be something like:

d:/movies/300
300.mkv
300.nfo

Actually now that I checked, I had this checked for my movies folder... but it still scraped. This was the first media I did when I installed XBMC and I just let it do its thing.
As for the tv shows which I am working on now... 'use folder name for lookups' is not an option...

...and yes, I have each movie in its own folder...

@Lordhutt

Of course it will still scrape if you're xml, nfo or whatever other file you have isn't in a format that xbmc recognises. The mere existence of either format isn't sufficient for xbmc to recognise its existence, what is contained in the file and its formatting dictates the recognition. In this instance I'm almost certain that the MCM generated xml isn't compatible. Why MCM isn't generateing the correct nfo format from its software is a question I would suggest should be posed to Peter (The author) on the appropriate forum.

@cheeky chappie

If I could give one piece of advice to anyone using any of the HTPC apps it would be to avoid the use of 3rd party scrapers - they just aren't worth the hassle. Just look at the type of confusion in this thread alone - the internal scrapers of most of the apps I have found are certainly equal to and in some cases better than any 3rd party app. Don't be fooled into thinking large collection = 3rd party scraper app. I have 1000+ movies and 300+ TV shows in my collection and xbmc has never let me down. Providing they are accurately named everything scrapes just fine.

I am not sure I agree with your assessment of 3rd party apps. I think the issue here is that MCM was not made specifically for XBMC by an XBMC user, it was just added as an additional feature. As such you are more likely to run into issues (not pointing the finger at MCM per se, just any 3rd party scraper that adds on features after the fact that the developer is not actively involved in). Case in point, I use metabrowser for Media Browser. Although there are plug ins for XBMC, this scraper was developed specifically for Media Browser and for that feature it works like a champ (as the developer uses Media Browser). The best thing for programs like MCM is for XBMC users to give continual feedback to the developer to iron out any issues. Especially when running multiple HTPCs I find having a 3rd party scraper extremely useful so you are not juggling multiple libraries.

Damian - guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this one - just don't see the need for them. Take your point though about developing specifially for one app.

Yeah, definitely wasn't saying you are wrong, just different opinions. One thing I have been meaning to test was the MyMovies scraper with XBMC, you can use that in place of the internal XBMC scraper (I think you need enough points though, and right now it only applies to Movies)

The internal scrapers have always been fine for which is why I've used them since I moved from XBMP to XBMC. Likely to go with continuing using the internal scrapers in combination with XBMC Web Media Manager for increased control of the metadata like editing movie descriptions, picking fanart etc.

However have been tempted to go for a 3rd party app exactly for the reason dbone points out, as it would make trying out other Front Ends easier. Although I don't see myself moving from XBMC after using it from the very beginning, particularly with native HD Audio support now in the pipeline.

That's primarily the reason why I DON'T use them . They don't make it easier to try out different front ends and this is the reason for Lordhutt's problems, with the exception of MyMovies and possibly MCM, I don't think any of the other apps are cross compatible.

metabrowser is cross compatible as well. Since I test out/run various front ends having an app that can manage multiple metadata is key. It doesn't always work out as great as it sounds as at times it can cause conflicts (perfect example I was testing out the Xtreamer and had MyMovies create the metadata for, of course the clowns at Xtreamer decided to use a common naming convention that the PCH/YAMJ already uses, and it creates issues to where I had to delete all the Xtreamer created metadata).

The ideal situation (although I know it is never going to happen) would be for all the developers to put their egos aside and adopt one standard metadata/art convention

Ok, so I am the point where I may add additional hard drives or a DNS.

How do you guys handle this when setting up XBMC ?

Would certainly make life a whole lot easier

From file mode call up the context menu and pick 'edit source' from there add your new movie/TV Show folder

steelman1991,

I guess the main reason I use 3rd party software like MCM is that it stores the metadata locally in each folder. You would think this would be enough for me to run any app that uses metadata but apparently not.
Let's say for some reason I needed to do a clean install of XBMC or install it on another pc...if all my data is stored locally then I wouldn't have to wait for it scrape or anything like that. When I did a clean install of WCM and pointed it to my 4 hard drives with my media everything was there... no scraping needed, or even internet access for that matter. I have all 4 of my HDD's cloned and stored away complete with the metadata that I acquired with MCM (although its obviously only good for WMC)

Like Dbone said... there just needs to be a standard for this stuff and everyones life would be easier! I wouldn't care if the software cost $200. If it just worked with zero problems I would gladly pay it :-)

While I'm here... XBMC although I like it better just seems so much more complicated than WMC!

Anyway, I need to have some dedicated content folders. I don't want to click movies and see EVERY movie I have. When I am by myself I don't want to wade through my daughters 200 Disney movies :-)
I know this can be done and I believe I saw someone post it here but something was confusing about their instructions.
I am using the AeonMQ Theme.

Probably need to set up about half a dozen of these. Kids movies, home movies, etc.
Can ya point me to tutorial somewhere?

Thanks to everyone for all the help!

I assume you want something similar to the Virtual Folder setup you can do with Media Browser? I think there was mention of this a few pages back (possibly by Greeneyez). Virtual Folders are my one of my favorite features with Media Browser, so getting an equivalent working with XBMC would be great

Not sure if that is what they are called or not.
Basically I want to be able to tell xbmc what to display for each selection.
For example when I select movies I don't want every file that I have content set to movies displayed. Just the ones in folders I point to.

For example I have all my regular movies in their own folders inside a folder called movies.
All my daughters movies in their own folder.
Home movies an so forth.

This is incredibly easy to do with media browser.
Name a group and point it to the folder(s) with the media you want displayed.

I believe Greeneyze mentioned putting this in the tutorial a while back but it hasn't made it yet.

This is a huge feature for me as well... and the one thing that if I cannot get to work would push me back to WMC.

Yeah, that is virtual folders. My setup is similar. Under my "Movies" folder I have separate folders (Movies HD, Movies SD, Kids Movies, etc...). Makes life much easier, especially for family to use

Perhpas time to put this one to bed, already hijacked the thread too much. Just as a final thought, the same end result can be achieved (in xbmc) without the use of a 3rd party scarper. Scrape as normal then back up the library (System\\Video\\Library\\Export Video Library) and choose to export to 'seperate files'. This will then save all nfo, tbn and fanart files correctly to the individual movie/tv show folder. Clean installs then have all the information there for ease and speed of scrape.

Sorry but I don't understand the problem.

If you want to navigate like that then use File view not Library view

Other alternatives for library view are to use Smartplaylists or perhaps create a separate user profile for your daughter with only the Disney movies directories set as a source in her profile.

There is a feature in Media Browser called Virtual Folders where you can create custom entry points that you see when you first enter Media Browser. For example, if you see the screenshot below this is the main menu for Media Browser showing the entry points I created (Family Movies, HD Movies, etc are custom entry points). Very easily for the wife to navigate to and easy to set up / maintain

So why not use Files view in XBMC?

I guess the point is so you don't have to switch back and forth if you don't want to between Files view and Library view. Also, I don't believe that Files view allows you to group together. For example, I have two separate Kids folders. With virtual folders I can just create one master "Kids" entry point. I would assume with Files view you would see the two folders separate which although not horrible is not quite the same

Can be solved several ways.

You can create a source called Kids and point that source to the 2 seperate pc or network locations, when in Files view and you enter the Kids source then contents of two locations are aggregated together.

For Library view create a Smartplaylist for the Kids movies perhaps using genre, for a demo see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjWea_PvIkE

Ahhh... that will be fine with me then. I thought xbmc always saved everything into a database. If on a backup it saves everything to the individual folders then I can live with that. I just wanted to have all the meta data stored with their respective files.


yeah, that is what I was talking about.... I have to mess with that next. I saw that video awhile back. Isn't that option dependent on the skin you are using though?

Refer to the link I provided above http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title...ideo_nfo_Files

I believe the add to home page bit is dependent on the skin, but it's not something I've had the need to do so don't know what skins do & do not support it, however I would imagine any skin that is still actively in development would have this feature.

loved the video share. thank you so much! that was exactly what i needed to see to separate my dvd and bluray rips that share a common drive! it seems as though i can't add custom home menu buttons in aeon? am i see this right. i went to the skin features aeon advanced and don't see where i can add new shortcuts to that playlist.

fixed:
settings> main menu > shortcuts > movies > down arrow (new item) hit enter and then add playlist! that scenario will populate your playlist underneath your existing movie menu button.

for a brand new button you would do
settings> main menu > shortcuts > new item (hit enter) > add movie playlist.


works like a charm. thanks again for the find CC