Movie artwork
Artwork contents |
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See also: Return to: |
Artwork | Movie artwork |
Movie artwork are images directly related to a movie, preferably of high quality, that are displayed when viewing the movie entry in the library. The movie section in Kodi has the impressive ability to display up to 14 types of artwork. This page will describe the different types of artwork available in the Movie category of Kodi.
It is important to note the following:
- Artwork is totally skin dependent. This means that some skins display a small number of artwork types, while other skins will display most or all of the available artwork types.
- In previous versions of Kodi and in older wiki pages, the term Thumbnails was used to describe Artwork. Kodi has now moved away from referring to thumbnails due to the amount of confusion and concern it caused users.
- The base line for all artwork is the default skin Estuary. By default, Estuary displays the Basic artwork.
- While high resolution do look impressive on HDTV's it is important to be aware that the increased artwork size can negatively affect low powered hardware
Basic Movie Artwork
The artwork in the Basic section is the minimum artwork displayed by the default skin Estuary with a standard install.
Note the following:
- The following naming schemes apply only to the artwork you have manually sourced and saved. It does not apply to artwork downloaded by the Kodi scraper or any add-on processes.
- The Aspect Ratios should be respected as the image fields within skins are not adjustable. Using incorrect ratios may lead to stretching, squashing or cropping of your artwork.
Fanart
Fanart can be defined as images, depicting iconic scenes in a movie, that have been created by fans.
- See also: Fanart on Wikipedia
For Kodi, it means digital images, of high quality, that are used as full screen backdrops or wallpapers to enhance the user experience.
The image to the right is a typical example of Movie fanart. It is specifically designed to match the 16:9 ratio of current generation televisions and monitors. This allows the screen to be completely filled by the image.
Required file properties:
Note: The resolution may be increased but ensure the aspect ratio is maintained
File Type | Aspect Ratio | Resolution- recommended |
*.jpg or png | 16:9 | 1920x1080 |
Naming and Saving conventions for your own manually sourced artwork:
Saved movies as | File Name | Save Location and example |
BluRay & DVD Structure:
|
fanart.jpg/png
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f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\fanart.jpg/png
|
Single movie in directory: | fanart.jpg/png | f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\fanart.jpg/png |
or (default)
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<NameOfVideoFile>-fanart.jpg/png
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f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\Big Buck Bunny (2008)-fanart.jpg/png
|
All movies in single directory: | <NameOfVideoFile>-fanart.jpg/png | f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)-fanart.jpg/png |
Poster
Also known as Cover Art and Folder Image. The Poster Art used in Kodi replicates the movie posters often seen in cinema complexes.
- See also: Poster on Wikipedia
The image to the right is displaying poster images of four movies in the Kodi library. They are portrait, high quality images which use a small portion of the screen allowing movie information or other items to be displayed alongside.
Required file properties:
Note: The resolution may be increased but ensure the aspect ratio is maintained
File Type | Aspect Ratio | Resolution- recommended |
*.jpg or png | 1:1.5 | 1000x1500 |
Naming and Saving conventions for your own manually sourced artwork:
Saved movies as | File Name | Save Location and example |
BluRay & DVD Structure:
|
poster.jpg/png
|
f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\poster.jpg/png
|
Single movie in directory: | poster.jpg/png | f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\poster.jpg/png |
or (default)
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<NameOfVideoFile>-poster.jpg/png
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f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\Big Buck Bunny (2008)-poster.jpg/png
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All movies in single directory: | <NameOfVideoFile>-poster.jpg/png | f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)-poster.jpg/png |
Animated Artwork
Animated Artwork are image files that contain movement. A creator starts with a static image and adds additional frames (images) to the file, each one slightly different to the previous and next image. The images are saved as a gif file, which is recognised as an animated file.
Kodi has the ability to display animated Fanart and animated Posters. If you have located an animated fanart or poster that you would like to display, simply replace the existing Fanart or Poster artwork using the Kodi- Choose Art procedure.
To the right is an example of Animated Fanart.
Required file properties:
Note: The resolution may be increased but ensure the aspect ratio is maintained
File Type | Aspect Ratio | Resolution- recommended |
*.gif | 16:9 | 1920x1080 -- for Fanart |
*.gif | 1:1.5 | 1000x1500 -- for Poster |
Naming and Saving conventions for your own manually sourced artwork:
Saved movies as | File Name | Save Location and example |
See above | See above | Use Naming and Saving conventions as described in Poster and Fanart above: |
Actor Image
The Actor artwork is a portrait of an actor for easy identification. The image is named as follows <FirstName>_<LastName>.jpg
The image to the right is displaying the Actor images of five actors along the top row. They are portrait, medium to high quality images.
Required file properties:
Note: The resolution may be increased but ensure the aspect ratio is maintained
File Type | Aspect Ratio | Resolution- recommended |
*.jpg | 1:1.5 | 1000x1500 |
Naming conventions for your own manually sourced artwork:
Saved movies as | File Name | Save Location |
BluRay Structure: | <FirstName>_<LastName>.jpg | f:MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\BDMV\.actors\Amy_Adams.jpg |
DVD Structure: | <FirstName>_<LastName>.jpg | f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\VIDEO_TS\.actors\Amy_Adams.jpg |
Single movie in Directory: | <FirstName>_<LastName>.jpg | f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\.actors\Amy_Adams.jpg |
All movies in single Directory: | <FirstName>_<LastName>.jpg | f:\MyMovies\.actors\Amy_Adams.jpg |
Source Folder Artwork
The Folder Artwork, also known as Source Folder thumb, are landscape images that can be used to replace the standard folder icons when browsing your movie sources in the Video menu. You will not see this artwork in the Movies menu. This image file is saved directly within the Source directory.
To enable the image, navigate to Videos>Files in the menu system. Highlight a source and call up the Context Menu. Select Choose Thumbnail. If you have saved in the image in the correct location, it will be available to select immediately. If not, you will need to navigate to locate and select it. The image must remain in its original location once selected. Deleting the image will remove it from view in the folder icon.
You are able to also apply the folder thumb by modifying the \userdata\sources.xml as follows
<source> <name>Movie</name> <path>xbms://192.168.1.100:1400/Movie/</path> <thumbnail>F:\MyMovies\folder.jpg</thumbnail> </source>
Required file properties:
Note: The resolution may be increased but ensure the aspect ratio is maintained
File Type | Aspect Ratio | Resolution- recommended |
*.jpg | 16:9 | 640x360 |
Naming conventions for your own manually sourced artwork:
Saved movies as | File Name | Save Location |
Folder Artwork: | folder.jpg | f:\MyMovies\folder.jpg |
Alternative name: | <foldername>.jpg | f:\MyMovies\MyMovies.jpg |
Extended Movie Artwork
To display the Extended artwork, you will need to change to a skin that supports the additional types of artwork. Add-ons are available to automate the download and caching of the extended artwork listed below. This is usually downloaded and installed with the skin. If not, you can manually download and install the add-on separately. The downloader can then be used to automatically scrape the extended artwork from either online or local sources. If you do not want to automate the process, it is possible to perform this procedure manually using the Kodi- Choose Art procedure detailed in the main Artwork page.
Two examples are below.
- See also: Add-on:Artwork_Downloader
- See also: Artwork Beef
Note the following:
- The following naming schemes apply only to the artwork you have manually sourced and saved. It does not apply to artwork downloaded by the Kodi scraper or any add-on processes.
- The Aspect Ratios should be respected as the image fields within skins are not adjustable. Using incorrect ratios may lead to stretching, squashing or cropping of your artwork.
- If using the Artwork Downloader add-on, it is important to note the following
- The add-on has the option to use local artwork (if correctly named and saved) or online artwork. This can be selected in the settings page of the add-on
- If you have more than one movie in a single directory, the add-on will scrape the online artwork. It will not scrape the local artwork. Each movie must be in its own directory.
- Using the Kodi scraper will not download extended artwork. The artwork downloader is required to be run after the Kodi scrape process. i.e. you are performing two scrapes.
Banner
Also known as Wide Banner Icons. The image to the right shows the Movie Banner view on the Aeon Nox skin. They are images that normally contain recognisable characters or moments in the movie. The banner image normally displays the movie logo which is of a size that is clearly legible. There should be no written advertising of Actors, Studios etc.
Required file properties:
Note: The resolution may be increased but ensure the aspect ratio is maintained
File Type | Aspect Ratio | Resolution- recommended |
*.jpg or png | 1:0.185 | 1000x185 |
Naming and Saving conventions for your own manually sourced artwork:
Saved movies as | File Name | Save Location and example |
BluRay & DVD Structure:
|
banner.jpg/png
|
f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\banner.jpg/png
|
Single movie in directory:
|
banner.jpg/png
|
f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\banner.jpg/png
|
All movies in single directory: | <NameOfVideoFile>-banner.jpg/png | f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)-banner.jpg/png |
ClearArt
ClearArt are images that are saved on a transparent background. This allows the image to be overlayed on another image or playing video. The images normally include the movie name or logo, along with an iconic prop or scene from the movie, or an actors image.
The image to the right is displaying ClearArt at the bottom right corner of the image.
Required file properties:
Note: The resolution may be increased but ensure the aspect ratio is maintained
File Type | Aspect Ratio | Resolution- recommended |
*.png | 1:0.562 | 1000x562 |
Naming and Saving conventions for your own manually sourced artwork:
Saved movies as | File Name | Save Location and example |
BluRay & DVD Structure:
|
clearart.png
|
f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\clearart.png
|
Single movie in directory:
|
clearart.png
|
f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\clearart.png
|
All movies in single directory: | <NameOfVideoFile>-clearart.png | f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)-clearart.png |
Clearlogo
This is the basic movie logo or movie name on a transparent background. The logo uses the movies distinctive font. There are no movie or actor images incorporated into the logo. The transparent background allows it to be overlayed on other images or video with minimal impact.
The image on the right is displaying the ClearLogo movie names across the bottom of the image.
Required file properties:
Note: The resolution may be increased but ensure the aspect ratio is maintained
File Type | Aspect Ratio | Resolution- recommended |
*.png | 1:0.388 | 800x310 |
Naming and Saving conventions for your own manually sourced artwork:
Saved movies as | File Name | Save Location and example |
BluRay & DVD Structure:
|
clearlogo.png
|
f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\clearlogo.png
|
Single movie in directory:
|
clearlogo.png
|
f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\clearlogo.png
|
All movies in single directory: | <NameOfVideoFile>-clearlogo.png | f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)-clearlogo.png |
Landscape
Landscape, also known as Movie Thumbs, are specially made small fanart images that contain the movie logo and main cast characters or a memorable movie moment. They are used in certain page layouts for movie browsing. The original intent of this artwork has blurred over the years so if you have no Landscape images, it is safe to use your Fanart or Extrafanart images.
Required file properties:
Note: The resolution may be increased but ensure the aspect ratio is maintained
File Type | Aspect Ratio | Resolution- recommended |
*.jpg | 16:9 | 1000x562 |
Naming and Saving conventions for your own manually sourced artwork:
Saved movies as | File Name | Save Location and example |
BluRay & DVD Structure:
|
landscape.jpg
|
f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\landscape.jpg
|
Single movie in directory:
|
landscape.jpg
|
f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\landscape.jpg
|
All movies in single directory: | <NameOfVideoFile>-landscape.jpg | f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)-landscape.jpg |
Thumb
The Thumb is a legacy item and can be omitted for movies. It is a Poster with the same properties of Posters above. There are some skins that still have provision for it, but if there is no specific thumb.jpg file, the poster will be used. If you find that your displayed Posters look squashed, you should delete any thumb.* artwork in the movie folder, as it is the wrong aspect ratio for the skin in use.
It is still used for TV Show episode images
Skin Dependent & Other Artwork
The following artwork requires a skin that supports that type of artwork.
- See also: skin
- See also: Add-on Search
Disc
DiscArt requires the use of a supporting skin. It replicates the picture on the physical DVD and Bluray disc. Although the disc artwork is round, the image itself is square and the disc image is placed on a transparent background.
Required file properties:
Note: The resolution may be increased but ensure the aspect ratio is maintained
File Type | Aspect Ratio | Resolution- recommended |
*.png | 1:1 | 1000x1000 |
Naming and Saving conventions for your own manually sourced artwork:
Saved movies as | File Name | Save Location and example |
BluRay & DVD Structure:
|
disc.png
|
f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\disc.png
|
Single movie in directory:
|
disc.png
|
f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\disc.png
|
All movies in single directory: | <NameOfVideoFile>-disc.png | f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)-disc.png |
Logo
The Logo has the same qualities and properties as the ClearLogo. These two items can be easily interchanged. Although, there are logo's with a solid background rather than a transparent background and these should not be used to replace the ClearLogo.
Extra Fanart
It is possible to download and save additional high quality Fanart which the skin can display, usually in a slideshow. Extra fanart is reliant on a supporting skin and the images have exactly the same properties as the standard Fanart described above. These images are not cached, and are directly accessed by the skin.
Extra Fanart is stored in a separate Folder named "extrafanart". Create a Folder named extrafanart in the folder of the Movie. Each Extra Fanart must be named fanartX.jpg where X is a sequential number starting with 0 (fanart0.jpg, fanart1.jpg, fanart2.jpg, etc). There is a limit of 10 fanart images allowable. Be aware that some skins utilise less than 10 of the images. The location of the extrafanart Folder is as follows.
Naming and Saving conventions for your own manually sourced Extra Fanart:
Saved movies as | File Name | Save Location and example |
BluRay Structure:
|
fanart0.jpg (0 thru 9)
|
f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\BDMV\extrafanart\fanart0.jpg
|
DVD Structure:
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fanart0.jpg (0 thru 9)
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f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\VIDEO_TS\extrafanart\fanart0.jpg
|
Single movie in directory:
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fanart0.jpg (0 thru 9)
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f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\extrafanart\fanart0.jpg
|
All movies in single directory: | Not possible | Each movie requires separate directory |
Extra Thumbs
These are extra Poster images. It is possible to download and save additional high quality Thumbs which the skin can display, usually in rotation on the display page of the movie. Extra Thumbs are reliant on a supporting skin and the images have exactly the same properties as the standard Poster image described above. These images are not cached, and are directly accessed by the skin.
Extra Thumbs are stored in a separate Folder named "extrathumbs". Create a Folder named extrathumbs in the folder of the Movie. Each Extra Thumb must be named thumbX.jpg where X is a sequential number starting with 0 (thumb0.jpg, thumb1.jpg, thumb2.jpg, etc). There is a limit of 10 thumb images allowable. Be aware that some skins utilise less than 10 of the images. The location of the extrathumbs Folder is as follows.
Naming and Saving conventions for your own manually sourced Extra Thumbs:
Saved movies as | File Name | Save Location and example |
BluRay Structure:
|
thumb0.jpg (0 thru 9)
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f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\BDMV\extrathumbs\thumb0.jpg
|
DVD Structure:
|
thumb0.jpg (0 thru 9)
|
f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\VIDEO_TS\extrathumbs\thumb0.jpg
|
Single movie in directory:
|
thumb0.jpg (0 thru 9)
|
f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\extrathumbs\thumb0.jpg
|
All movies in single directory: | Not possible | Each movie requires separate directory |
Movieset Fanart
- See also: Movie_sets
Kodi does not automatically recognise and scrape the Movieset Fanart. It needs to be manually selected. There are add-ons available that can assist in automating the process of downloading and inserting Movieset Artwork.
- See also: Movie Set Artwork Automator
- See also: Artwork Beef
This artwork is used for movie Collections or Sets. For example, the Superman collection consists of five movies. Kodi has the ability to display these as a Box-Set. When viewing the box-set, rather than displaying a fanart that is associated with only one of the movies, it is preferable to display a fanart image that has a connection to all the movies.
The file and image properties of the movieset fanart are exactly the same as for Fanart.
Naming and Saving conventions for your own manually sourced artwork:
Saved movies as | File Name | Save Location and example |
BluRay & DVD Structure:
|
movieset-fanart.jpg/png
|
f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\movieset-fanart.jpg/png
|
Single movie in directory:
|
movieset-fanart.jpg/png
|
f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\movieset-fanart.jpg/png
|
All movies in single directory: | <NameOfVideoFile>-movieset-fanart.jpg/png | f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)-movieset-fanart.jpg/png |
Movieset Poster
- See also: Movie_sets
Kodi does not automatically recognise and scrape the Movieset Poster. It needs to be manually selected. There are add-ons available that can assist in automating the process of downloading and inserting Movieset Artwork.
- See also: Movie Set Artwork Automator
- See also: Artwork Beef
This artwork is used for movie Collections or Sets. For example, the Superman collection consists of five movies. Kodi has the ability to display these as a Box-Set. When viewing the box-set, rather than displaying a Poster that is associated with only one of the movies, it is preferable to display a Poster image that has a connection to all the movies.
The file and image properties of the movieset poster are exactly the same as for Poster.
Naming and Saving conventions for your own manually sourced artwork:
Saved movies as | File Name | Save Location and example |
BluRay & DVD Structure:
|
movieset-poster.jpg/png
|
f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\movieset-poster.jpg/png
|
Single movie in directory:
|
movieset-poster.jpg/png
|
f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)\movieset-poster.jpg/png
|
All movies in single directory: | <NameOfVideoFile>-movieset-poster.jpg/png | f:\MyMovies\Big Buck Bunny (2008)-movieset-poster.jpg/png |
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