Adding video sources
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Video library | Management | Adding video sources |
A video source is a kind of media source. Media sources are the links that tell Kodi where your content is stored and what type of content is contained within each one.
You can have multiple sources for each media type.
You can use local media, file shares, removable USB drives, etc.
Note: UPnP won't work with the library features (scanning data in like summaries and movie covers) in Kodi, but just about all the other options should be fine.
Adding sources
Step 2: Select FILES, then select ADD VIDEOS....Note: For Android users with devices running Android 7 & up (possibly Android 6) and attached storage, do not select ADD VIDEOS as attached storage will not display in the Browse for new shares list. Instead, select the storage which should display in FILES, or navigate to the folder you wish to add on the storage, then press C on a keyboard or long press the Enter/OK button on a remote to pull up the Context Menu and select SET CONTENT.
Step 3: The ADD VIDEO SOURCE window will be displayed. Then select the BROWSE button. Note: You can also type a local or network file path directly into this box, if you already know the address/path. For example,
smb://192.162.0.4 or smb://Your_Device_Name
could be typed in directly and saved, which will skip the "browsing" step.Step 4: Now browse the path where you keep your videos stored. Note: You must open the source/folder for the correct path to be added. Once you have found the folder you keep your videos in, select the OK button. If you keep them shared on a network drive, read the Configuring PC Shares article for more information about setting up a share on your computer first.
Step 7: There are a number of options underneath, see Setting content and scanning to check what options to enable. Then select "OK"
Adding Remote sources
For details on the supported protocols and configuration
- See: File sharing
Follow the steps (above) for adding a source, but when you get to the 'browse' section (step 4), you need to do one of the following:
If your remote device is visible from one of the existing choices (e.g 'Network File system' , 'UPnP Devices' etc)
- Select a remote location, and you should be able to browse to the remote server.
If the device is not visible, or
- It is a remote NAS
- It is an SMB server
You will need to add a new network location:
Making one source from multiple locations
You might notice that Kodi has an "ADD" button in addition to a "BROWSE" button when you are adding a source. After you add your first location, you can add a second location (network or local. you can even mix them) and Kodi will show both folders as a single folder/source.
Kodi will also combine the subfolders within the source/locations. For example, if you had a hard drive for TV shows, but ran out of space, you could make a second hard drive with the same folder paths and Kodi would merge them together to a single directory path. Such as
Hard drive 1/TV shows/
Hard drive 2/TV shows/
and the same is true for an additional nested folder with the same way:
Hard drive 1/TV shows/American Dad/
Hard drive 2/TV shows/American Dad/
You could have half of a show on one hard drive, half on another, and Kodi will show it to you as if it was in a single location by using multiple locations in a single source.
Note: This only impacts the basic "Files view". The default Library nodes will combine things by show even if their files are spread across multiple drives. Most users will not really benefit from using multiple paths in a single source.