Artwork: Difference between revisions

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An impressive feature of XBMC is its ability to display custom thumbnails (also known as an "icon") on most items displayed. You can assign thumbnails to folders, programs, music, videos, bookmarks, and of course pictures. You can choose to let XBMC automaticly download thumbnails for music-albums and video/movies from the internet or you can create your very own custom thumbnails, (or you can download custom thumbnails that others have created).
{{Artwork_Contents}}
{{mininav|[[Music_library|Music Library]] {{l2|[[Video_library|Video Library]]}} |[[HOW-TO:Create_Music_Library|Create Music Library]] {{l2|[[HOW-TO:Create_Video_Library|Create Video Library]]}}}}


==Custom Thumbnails==
<section begin="intro" />The use of artwork takes pride of place in Kodi. The artwork will transform your mundane media player into a showpiece to be proud of, especially when teamed up with your favourite skin. Kodi  will allow you to display Movie Posters, Fanart, Album Covers, Actor and Artist images to name a few. Install the Kodi slideshow add-on, and you will have a constant display of video or music fanart to brighten your entertainment room.<section end="intro" />
You can easily create your very own user-defined thumbnails on your computer with image tools like Adobe PhotoShop or Paint Shop Pro (or even Paint in Windows). You can alternativly downloaded thumbnails that others have created from the internet (from places like [http://www.chokemaniac.net/download.php?cat=pm3 ChokeManiac.net], [http://www.xbox-skins.net xbox-skins.net], [http://mediaicons.org MediaIcons.org], and many XBMC fan forums). Then you simply have to rename those thumbnails and transfer/copy them to the right location and XBMC will display them. Use JPG or PNG (with transparancy) image-format, and size of the picture to anything from 128x128 to 256x256 in pixel size, (the larger the image is the better it will look on a good display but at the same time large thumbnails loads slower). On a non-HDTV displays a image that is approx 100x140 is recomended for video/movies thumbnails (which is the size that is most common on [[IMDB|IMDb]]), and approx 75x75 for music-albums (which is the default size on [http://www.allmusic.com allmusic.com]). For 720p/1080i HDTV displays a size of approx 182x256 for video/movies thumbnails, and approx 200x200 for music-albums (such music-albums can be found on [http://www.allmusic.com allmusic.com]).


==== Thumbnail cache ====
As the topic covering artwork is comprehensive, it has been broken down into smaller and more manageable pages for ease of reading. Choose the subject that interests you to obtain further information. Information common to all categories is located on this page. Specific category details are located on linked pages.
XBMC will cache all generated thumbnails in the \UserData\thumbnails folder.
That is the first location XBMC will generally look for a thumbnail for a given item.
In order for your custom thumbnail to show, you may have to delete the cached thumbnail.


==Wide Icons==
'''Be aware that artwork is skin dependent. Not all artwork types are used in all skins.'''
{|
|
[[image:Wide1.jpg|360px]]
| valign="top" |
Some of the most visually appealing forms of thumbnails are Wide Icons. They were added in XBMC on the 1st. of January 2007 and are now an integral part of the application. With different adjustments to the skin xml files, you may disable title names, or stack one icon on top of another.<br>
To show big Icons, switch to one of the new [[General Navigation#View|views]], Big Wide or Wide Icons.<br>
'''Remember View''': XBMC Will now remember what view you have for each folder. (Thus you can keep your TV Shows in Wide, and your Movies in Icon)
|}


==Thumbnailing Individual Items in a Single Directory==
= Flexible artwork types =
Name the icon file the same as the file you would like it to display for with a .tbn extension ie: ''Transformers.avi, Transformers.tbn''. This is particularly useful for using custom thumbnails for movies.


'''Example:'''
<gallery mode="packed" widths=350px heights=200px>
Movies\path\'''moviename.avi'''
File:Artwork-PosterView01.jpg
Movies\path\'''moviename.tbn'''
File:Artwork-FanartView01.jpg
File:Artwork-Banner01.jpg
File:Artwork-PosterView02.jpg
File:Artwork-MusicArtist01.jpg
File:Artwork-ClearLogo02.jpg
</gallery>


==Folder Thumbnails==
{{Kodi}}'s support for artwork types to represent media items is very flexible: Any number of artwork can be added to a media item with free-form names that have only a few rules.
[[image:myvideos.jpg|right|360px]]If you store each of your media files in separate subfolders to keep things organized, you can also make the folder have a custom thumbnail image. To do this you eiter need to save your JPG/PNG thumbnail as folder.jpg and place it inside your movie/album folder, or you can save it as <foldername>.tbn and place it at the same level as the folder in the directory tree.
* Remember, XBMC first checks for <foldername>.tbn before checking for folder.jpg.
* Note that folder.jpg '''MUST''' be named .jpg, even if it is a .png format image.
<br>
'''Examples:'''
Movies\path\'''foldername'''\
Movies\path\'''foldername.tbn'''
or
Movies\path\moviename\'''folder.jpg'''
Music\path\album\'''folder.jpg'''


Now your media folder will have a lovely custom thumbnail-image.<br>
To view all art types that are already assigned in your Kodi library for any particular media type, use Kodi's built-in [[Artwork#Kodi- Choose Art| Choose Art]] dialog on nearly any item in the library (movie, TV show, episode, so on), and the list of artwork types shown on this window are assigned to at least one media item of the same type.


==Program Thumbnails==
== Naming rules ==
In order to display the image displayed for a game, emulator or application, simply rename the desired image '''default.tbn''' and place it in  the folder where the corresponding default.XBE is located.


==Music Thumbnails==
* artwork names must be
Music Thumbnails are assigned as part of a multitier process. First, the Tag Reader runs and caches any embedded art using the folder path and the album name. If the album name is unavailable, its cached using the fully qualified name. (This assumes, of course, that you have tag reading enabled).<br>
** only alphanumeric characters
You can also use "Get Thumb" to download the album thumbnail from [http://www.allmusic.com allmusic.com (AMG)] for a specific album/folder or do a scan of all your music files in all shares.<br>
** lowercase letters
Thumbnails also get downloaded when you rip AudioCD's to your XBox with XBMC (which is described in the [[Ripping CDs]] section).<br>
** keep them short - 20 characters is a bit long, though not forbidden
Recomended is that you store each of your music-albums or artists in a separate subfolder to keep things organized. You can also of course make the folder have a custom thumbnail image.<br>
* Named by convention so that skins and JSON-RPC consumers can find and use them reliably
<br>
* Some common types of artwork are "fanart", "clearlogo", "landscape", "banner", and "poster"
[[image:mymusic.jpg|right|360px]]
:'''Notes:''' Running a scan automatically enables 'tag reading' so everything can be cached. Once a scan is run, all your files and their associated thumbnails are stored in the database. When you first enter a folder path, XBMC checks the database before all this occurs. If the items are found in the database, all of this is skipped because the information is already known.
:Using Album Information will allow you to choose between the cover art available for download from [http://www.allmusic.com allmusic.com] and any user-defined thumbnail you may have.<br>
:Press the "Get Thumb" button to bring up a choice of the local thumbnails you have, the currently assigned thumbnail and the [http://www.allmusic.com allmusic.com] thumbnail.<br><br>


<br><br>'''Then the code which assigns thumbnails to files runs and assigns thumbnails in the following order:'''
== Artwork whitelist ==


;1) Cached Album Thumbnail
Starting with Kodi 18, there is a whitelist configuration for artwork types to be added automatically. This whitelist applies to all artwork added automatically by Kodi, either when scanning in local files or scraping from online sources. This allows you to share one media file library with a full artwork selection and configure individual Kodi clients separately based on processing power, skin selection, or client-local storage space (the local artwork cache takes up the most space of all Kodi running data). It is currently configured with advancedsettings.xml '''[[Advancedsettings.xml#Extra artwork| for the video library]]''' and  '''[[Advancedsettings.xml#Extra artwork 2| for the music library]]'''.
:This is all the embedded album art read by the tag reader and cached using the folder path and album name.
;2) Cached filename.tbn
:This includes an embedded thumbnail cached with the fully qualified name.
;3) Remote filename.tbn
:This is a filename.tbn on a remote share/folder which is then cached.
;4) Cached folder.jpg
:This is a folder.jpg which is cached based off the folder path.
;5) Remote folder.jpg
:This is a folder.jpg on a remote share/folder which is then cached.
;6) Remote foldername.tbn
:This is a foldername.tbn on a remote share/folder which is then cached.<br>


<br><br>
= Obtaining Artwork =
'''Examples:'''
Movie, TV Show and Music artwork can be obtained using a variety of methods. The most common method is via the Kodi scraper.


In this example audiofilename.mp3 will use audiofilename.tbn as thumbnail:
== Scrapers ==
Music\path\'''audiofilename.mp3'''
A scraper is a Kodi core function which, in combination with the relevant metadata API add-on, will preform an automatic online search for movie, tv show and music information and then retrieve all relevant metadata and artwork and import the data into the Kodi Library and the artwork into the [[Artwork#Cache|cache]]. The default sources for information are:  
Music\path\'''audiofilename.tbn'''
<br>


The same goes for playlists, cue-sheets, SHOUTcast, and [[HOW-TO:_Play_Internet_Streams|internet-stream files]], example:
Movies- [https://www.themoviedb.org/ The MovieDB]<br />
Music\path\'''audioplaylistname.m3u'''
TV Shows- [http://thetvdb.com/ The TVDB]<br />
Music\path\'''audioplaylistname.tbn'''
Music- [http://www.theaudiodb.com/ The AudioDB]<br />
Music\path\'''cuelistname.cue'''
<br />
Music\path\'''cuelistname.mp3'''
There are many other scraper information sources, but most are specialist listings for foreign language movies or Disney movies, for example.
Music\path\'''cuelistname.tbn'''
Music\path\'''shoutcastlinkname.pls'''
Music\path\'''shoutcastlinkname.tbn'''
Music\path\'''audiostreamname.strm'''
Music\path\'''audiostreamname.tbn'''


==Video Thumbnails==
The Video scraping process is reliant on your local directory and file names being named in accordance with the title listed at the scraper site. To ensure correct naming, simply visit the website, search for your title, and copy the title from the site and paste into your directory/filename.  
[[image:files.myvideos.jpg||right|360px]]
You can either use your own custom thumbnails or you can let XBMC download video thumbnails from the internet via [[IMDB|IMDB (Internet Movie Database)]].<br>
In order to automatically get thumbnails from IMDB you can either select each file and press the black-button on the controller ("Info" on the DVD-Remote) or choose "Movie Information" from the context menu.<br>
Or you can select the share/folder that your videos are stored in and choose "Query Info for all Files" from the context menu. This will scan all movies in that share/folder and automatically download the movie-information and a tumbnail for each movie that is found on IMDB. <br><br>


<br><br>'''XBMC applies thumbnails to video files in the following order:'''
The Music scraping process is reliant on correct file naming and music tags.


;1) Cached Thumbnail
Kodi will then match the video or music and download all relevant metadata and artwork. It is important to note that if you already have correctly named artwork in the video and music folder, then Kodi will scrape the local artwork and ignore the online source. Metadata will still be downloaded though.
:Thumbnails are cached to UserData\Thumbnails\Video using the CRC of the path of the file or folder.


;2) User-Defined Thumbnail
If you subsequently locate artwork that is preferable, it is possible to replace the Kodi selected artwork. Refer to [[Artwork#Kodi-_Choose_Art|paragraph 2.1]] below.
:'''For files''', XBMC checks <filename>.tbn and uses that if it exists. The thumbnail is cached the first time it is read.<br>
; {{see also|Naming video files}}
:'''For folders''', XBMC first checks for <foldername>.tbn in the same directory as the folder is in.<br>
; {{see also|Add-on:The Movie Database}}
:If no <foldername>.tbn exists XBMC then checks for folder.jpg inside the movie-folder. In either case the first found thumb of those is cached.
; {{see also|Add-on:The TVDB}}
; {{see also|Add-on:Universal Album Scraper}}
; {{see also|Add-on:Universal Artist Scraper}}


;3) IMDB Thumbnail
== Media Managers ==
:When you do a "Movie Information" lookup on a movie, XBMC will download the thumbnail from [[IMDB|IMDB (Internet Movie Database)]] automatically if the movie has no thumbnail at all.<br>
There is a range of software that can create nfo files and download artwork and save them to the correct location and correct naming. They perform the same process and function as the Kodi Scraping operation does natively, but they do not add any entries into the Kodi library. Instead they create what is known as '''[[NFO_files|NFO files]]'''. This file holds all the metadata for that particular movie, tv show or music. The software will also download associated artwork from the scraper site. Kodi can then read this file and scrape it into the library along with the artwork.
:The "Get Thumb" option from the movie information screen can then be used to switch between the IMDB thumbnail and any user-defined thumbnail you may have.<br>


<br>
Although these programs are quick and easy to use, they are more suited for use where a movie or tv show is not listed at the scraper site. You are then able to create the metadata from scratch. You would normally use this for, say, home movies, sporting events or other items that are not listed at the scraper site.  
'''Examples for User-Defined Thumbnails:'''
==== Single Movie File ====
The following example "moviename.avi" will now use the thumbnail "moviename.tbn".
Movies\path\'''moviename.tbn'''
Movies\path\'''moviename.avi'''


==== Stacked Movie File ====
It is always best to use Kodi for the normal mainstream scrapes and the Media Managers for the non-listed movie, tv show and music scrapes.
In the following example, the stacked movie "moviename" will now use the thumbnail "moviename CD1.tbn"
; {{see also|NFO_files}}
Movies\path\'''moviename CD1.tbn'''
Movies\path\'''moviename CD1.avi'''
Movies\path\'''moviename CD2.avi'''
<br>


The same goes for playlists, and [[HOW-TO:_Play_Internet_Streams|internet-stream files]], example:
== Web Search ==
Movies\path\'''videoplaylistname.pls'''
Using an online search engine can help you discover individual artworks, or additional sites where artwork is hosted. When downloading, check that the resolution is of an acceptable standard. Also pay respect to any copyright notices that are attached to the artwork.
Movies\path\'''videoplaylistname.tbn'''
Movies\path\'''videostreamname.strm'''
Movies\path\'''videostreamname.tbn'''


==Picture Thumbnails==
Once downloaded, they must be named and saved correctly for the artwork to be visible to Kodi.
'''XBMC applies thumbnails to picture files in the following order:'''


;1) Cached Thumbnail
== Create Your Own ==
:Thumbnails are cached to UserData\Thumbnails\Pictures using the CRC of the path of the file or folder.
So you are not happy with the artwork the scraper downloaded? And you just can't find that perfect artwork by manually searching the internet. Then, you will just have to create your own. For those who are artistically minded and can easily navigate around image editing software, then you should be able to easily create your very own user-defined artwork on your computer.  Only your imagination is the limit, but be mindful that the artwork needs to remain true to the movie or tv show it represents.  


;2) Images
If you are unsure where to start, the following links may prove useful. Especially if you plan to share your masterpieces. If this is the case, it is best to stick to the posted guidelines.
:EXIF thumbnail in JPEG images are then read. If no EXIF thumbnail is available, XBMC will load the image and generate a thumbnail from the image. These are then cached.
*Fanart.TV- The premier repository for all things artwork. They have an in-depth guide for artwork requirements
:;''see : [https://fanart.tv/movie-fanart/<nowiki>Fanart.tv- Image Creation Guide</nowiki>]''
*The MovieDB- The go to movie scraper site for Kodi. In addition to metadata, they also hold a large repository of artwork that are created and uploaded to the site by people just like you. Read their easy to understand artwork creation guide.
:; ''see : [https://www.themoviedb.org/documentation/editing/images<nowiki>themoviedb- Image Creation Guide</nowiki>]''
*The TVDB- The go to TV Show scraper site for Kodi. In addition to metadata, they also hold a large repository of artwork devoted to TV Shows. Read their easy to understand artwork creation guide.
:; ''see : [http://www.thetvdb.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Images<nowiki>theTVDB- Image Creation Guide</nowiki>]''
*IMDB- A comprehensive listing of ensuring artwork is appropriate and suitable.
:; ''see : [https://contribute.imdb.com/updates/guide/images<nowiki>IMDB- Image Submission Guide</nowiki>]''
*TheAudioDB- The go to scraper site for all things music. They hold metadata on Artists, Albums and Songs with a large collection of music artwork.
:; ''see : [http://theaudiodb.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1<nowiki>TheAudioDB- Image Creation Guide</nowiki>]''


;3) Folders
= Importing-Scanning Artwork =
:<MyHolidayPictures>\folder.jpg is checked first.  If that file doesn't exist, XBMC will generate a thumbnail from up to 4 random images inside that folder.
{{anchor|Importing-Scraping Artwork}}


==Bookmark Thumbnails==
This section does not apply to the Kodi scraper or any other add-on scraping process. It only applies to artwork you have manually sourced and saved.
You can change the thumbnail displayed for a bookmark by editing '''UserData\sources.xml'''.<br>
'''Note:''' Bookmark thumbnails have to be in a folder on the local XBox Harddrive!<br>


'''When performing an Update Library or Scrape, Kodi will always use Local Artwork first if it exists. If there is no local artwork, Kodi will obtain the artwork from online sources.'''


Simply modify your bookmark as shown:
'''It is important to note that once a movie, tv show, artist or album has been scraped into the library, Kodi will ignore them on subsequent scans.''' If you have made changes to either artwork and/or metadata (in the form of a nfo file), you must instruct Kodi to update using one of the following methods...
<xml>
#If the Library has not yet been created, or the source has not yet been added
<bookmark>
#*Ensure your artwork is named and saved correctly. Add the [[Media sources]] to Kodi and allow to update. Artwork will be cached
  <name>Music</name>
#This Movie/TV Show/Album/Artist is new and has not been added to the library yet
  <path>xbms://192.168.1.100:1400/Music/</path>
#*An Update Library will scrape and cache the artwork, or
  <thumbnail>F:\Apps\XBMC\thumbs\shares\thumb.png</thumbnail>
#*For Videos, navigate Videos>Files, navigate to the item and call up the Information page. This will start an automatic scrape for that single item
</bookmark>
#*For Music, navigate Music>Files, locate and highlight the new artist or album. From the context menu select ''Scan item to library''
</xml>
#I added new artwork for Movie/TV Show/Album/Artist already in the library
#*For videos follow instructions for ''Kodi- Choose Art'' below
#*For music follow instructions in [[Music_artwork]]
#I added new artwork for a lot of Movies/TV Shows/Music already in the library
#*Update each Movie/TV Show/Music manually using instructions in the previous option, or
#*Remove the Source and clean library. Re-add the source and allow the Update Library
:'''''See also: [[Updating_or_removing_videos|Update Video Library]]'''''


==Autoswitch to Thumbnail mode==
== "Available" artwork ==
When enabled, XBMC autoswitches to thumbnail-mode in the entered share/folder/subfolder if:


===My Programs===
Scrapers and NFO files can include multiple images for a single type of artwork. The first image will be assigned to the media item for skins and other interfaces to access for display, and the full list will be saved for the "Choose art" dialog, where you can select a new image for any art type.
Autoswitches to Thumb view when 50% of all the items (files and folder) have thumbs.


===My Music===
== Kodi- Choose Art ==
Autoswitches to Thumb view when the list contains atleast 75% folders and atleast 50% of them have thumbs. (Remember that playlist files like m3u, pls, etc, are treated as folders by default!)
From within Kodi, you have the ability to manually change the artwork at any time by following these directions.  


===My Videos===
#Highlight the media item whose artwork you want to change.
Autoswitches to Thumb view when 50% of all the items (files and folder) have thumbs.
#Call up the ''Information'' page, (Image 1)
#* For seasons and movie sets the "Choose Art" option is in the [[Context menu]].
#Select ''Choose Art''. (Image 1)
#From within this page, you will be given the option to select which type of artwork you would like to change. (Image 2)
#* This dialog is filled with artwork already assigned to similar media items in the library. If your type of artwork is not listed, then use the '''Add art''' button. An onscreen keyboard will be displayed. Enter the new type of artwork and select '''Ok'''.
#* Examples of artwork type are those listed in the following pages- eg clearlogo, clearart, banner etc...
#Once selected, you will then be provided with a list of available artwork at the scraper site, or you can navigate to a local or network location. (Image 3)
#Once you select the desired image, it will replace the existing image. You will be returned to the screen displayed in Image 2
#If you do not intend to change any other artwork types, simply Esc or Back out of the screen


=== My Pictures===
<gallery widths=350px heights=200px>
Autoswitches to Thumbs view when the list contains more than 25% files. (In the case of Pictures, all items have thumbs as they are generated upon entering the folder.)
File:Artwork-ChooseArt03.jpg|Image 1- Choose Art on the Information Page
File:Artwork-ChooseArt01.jpg|Image 2- Select which type of artwork to change
File:Artwork-ChooseArt02.jpg|Image 3- List of available remote artworks from the scraper site, as well as the ability to ''Browse'' local and network sources
File:Artwork-ChooseArt04.jpg|Image 4- Using the Refresh Method
</gallery>
An alternative method:
#Choose ''Refresh'' as seen in Image 1.
#You will then be asked ''Locally stored information found. Ignore and refresh from Internet?'' (Image 4)
#*To scrape local artwork and metadata - Select '''No''' note- If you have no local nfo file, Kodi will scrape metadata from the online scraper site
#*To scrape online artwork and metadata - Select '''Yes'''


[[category:Usage]]
= Artwork details for media sections =
[[category:Customization]]
 
<gallery mode="packed" widths=350px heights=200px>
File:Skin.rapier fullscreen music.jpg
File:Artwork-MusicBanner01.jpg
File:Artwork-FanartView02.jpg
File:Rapier new tvshows.jpg
File:Artwork-Animated01.gif
File:Artwork-musiclandscape-EstuaryATF.jpg
</gallery>
 
== Movie Artwork ==
{{#lst:Movie_artwork|intro}}
{{see|Movie artwork}}
 
== TV Show Artwork ==
{{#lst:TV-Show_artwork|intro}}
{{see|TV-Show artwork}}
 
== Music Artwork ==
{{#lst:Music_artwork|intro}}
{{see|Music artwork}}
 
== Music Videos Artwork ==
{{#lst:Music_Video_artwork|intro}}
{{see|Music Video artwork}}
 
== Live TV Artwork ==
{{#lst:Live_TV_Artwork|intro}}
{{see|Live TV Artwork}}
 
== Pictures Artwork ==
There is no user definable artwork for the Pictures section of Kodi.<br />
:'''''See: [[Pictures]]
 
All images added to Pictures are cached as follows:
#Embedded EXIF previews are scanned and cached. If none available then
#Preview images are created and cached
:'''''See: [[Artwork#Cache|Artwork Cache]]'''''<br />
 
To add an image to the folder icon:
:'''''See: [[Movie_artwork#Source Folder Artwork|Folder Image]]'''''
 
= Add-ons to display artwork =
The following add-ons allow you to display your movie, TV show and music artwork.
 
=== Screensavers ===
 
Want to do more with all that wonderful fanart? Install this Kodi screensaver. Just like a screensaver on computers from yesteryear, the Kodi screensaver will produce a slideshow of your Movie and TV Show fanart, or set it to display your Music Fanart. Don't like either of those? Then setup a directory with your own pictures and it can produce a screensaver from your selection of photos.
; {{see also|Add-on:Picture Slideshow Screensaver}}
 
= Managing Artwork =
There are a number of ways to maintain and improve Kodi's handling of the artwork.
 
== Cache ==
{{#lst:Artwork/Cache|intro}}
; {{see also|Artwork/Cache}}
 
== Recovering Disk Space ==
After years of use, it is expected that your system will gather some clutter- that being either orphaned artwork files or corrupted artwork which will not display.
; {{see also|HOW-TO:Reduce disk space usage}}
; {{see also|Artwork/Cache}}
 
=== Texture Cache Maintenance ===
{{#lst:Texture_Cache_Maintenance_utility|intro}}
; {{see also|Texture Cache Maintenance utility}}
 
== Import/Export ==
{{#lst:import-export_library|intro}}
; {{see also|Import-export library}}
 
= Troubleshooting =
There are certain scenarios where attempting to replace existing artwork with new artwork, '''you may experience {{kodi}} refusing to load the new artwork'''. This occurs when replacing one artwork with another artwork having the same name. eg replacing ''poster.jpg'' with a new ''poster.jpg''.
 
Rest assured that the new image has been accepted, but due to the same filename, {{kodi}} may take upto 24 hrs to check the image hash, realise the image is different and clear out the cached image and replace it with the new one. This is intended behaviour. Further reading available in the following link
 
; {{see also|Artwork/Cache}}
 
= Animated artwork - experimental =
 
Kodi has basic support for displaying animated artwork, and two artwork types have a decent collection of animated options: posters and fanart for movies. The most comprehensive support for animated artwork is Skin Helper Service, which has taken to naming these as "animatedposter" and "animatedfanart".
 
New animated movie posters (and textless posters / keyart which could be named "animatedkeyart") are often posted to [https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=215727 this forum thread].
 
== Limitations of animated artwork ==
 
Kodi's support for displaying animated artwork is basic, and does have some limitations.
 
Number one is a hard limit on the number of pixels in a single animated artwork. The size of animated artwork is limited to roughly 12 frames of 1920x1080. This limit is defined as fully decoded pixels. The trend for animated posters is for smaller images with more frames (a recent "animatedposter" is 500x713 with 60 frames). Kodi will discard any remaining frames after it has reached this limit, which will probably hitch unpleasantly, so obeying this limit is important.
* Technically this limit is 11 frames but Kodi will decode full frames until it has decoded MORE than this, so the calculation is
** 1920 × 1080 = 2,073,600 * 11 =
*** 22,809,600 pixels '''plus''' one more frame
 
Number two is that Kodi doesn't save animated artwork to the texture cache and will not play them (only displaying the first frame) unless they are stored on a client-local file system.
 
= Accessing with skins and JSON-RPC =
{{#lst:Artwork/Accessing with skins and JSON-RPC|intro}}
; {{see also|Artwork/Accessing with skins and JSON-RPC}}
 
{{Top}}
 
{{updated|18}}
[[Category:FAQ]]
[[Category:Index]]
[[Category:Guides]]
[[Category:Manual]]
[[Category:Karellen]]
[[Category:Video library]]
[[Category:Music library]]
[[Category:Advanced topics]]
[[Category:First time user]]
[[Category:Quick Start Guide]]

Revision as of 20:35, 17 February 2019

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▶ Artwork

The use of artwork takes pride of place in Kodi. The artwork will transform your mundane media player into a showpiece to be proud of, especially when teamed up with your favourite skin. Kodi will allow you to display Movie Posters, Fanart, Album Covers, Actor and Artist images to name a few. Install the Kodi slideshow add-on, and you will have a constant display of video or music fanart to brighten your entertainment room.

As the topic covering artwork is comprehensive, it has been broken down into smaller and more manageable pages for ease of reading. Choose the subject that interests you to obtain further information. Information common to all categories is located on this page. Specific category details are located on linked pages.

Be aware that artwork is skin dependent. Not all artwork types are used in all skins.

Flexible artwork types

Kodi's support for artwork types to represent media items is very flexible: Any number of artwork can be added to a media item with free-form names that have only a few rules.

To view all art types that are already assigned in your Kodi library for any particular media type, use Kodi's built-in Choose Art dialog on nearly any item in the library (movie, TV show, episode, so on), and the list of artwork types shown on this window are assigned to at least one media item of the same type.

Naming rules

  • artwork names must be
    • only alphanumeric characters
    • lowercase letters
    • keep them short - 20 characters is a bit long, though not forbidden
  • Named by convention so that skins and JSON-RPC consumers can find and use them reliably
  • Some common types of artwork are "fanart", "clearlogo", "landscape", "banner", and "poster"

Artwork whitelist

Starting with Kodi 18, there is a whitelist configuration for artwork types to be added automatically. This whitelist applies to all artwork added automatically by Kodi, either when scanning in local files or scraping from online sources. This allows you to share one media file library with a full artwork selection and configure individual Kodi clients separately based on processing power, skin selection, or client-local storage space (the local artwork cache takes up the most space of all Kodi running data). It is currently configured with advancedsettings.xml for the video library and for the music library.

Obtaining Artwork

Movie, TV Show and Music artwork can be obtained using a variety of methods. The most common method is via the Kodi scraper.

Scrapers

A scraper is a Kodi core function which, in combination with the relevant metadata API add-on, will preform an automatic online search for movie, tv show and music information and then retrieve all relevant metadata and artwork and import the data into the Kodi Library and the artwork into the cache. The default sources for information are:

Movies- The MovieDB
TV Shows- The TVDB
Music- The AudioDB

There are many other scraper information sources, but most are specialist listings for foreign language movies or Disney movies, for example.

The Video scraping process is reliant on your local directory and file names being named in accordance with the title listed at the scraper site. To ensure correct naming, simply visit the website, search for your title, and copy the title from the site and paste into your directory/filename.

The Music scraping process is reliant on correct file naming and music tags.

Kodi will then match the video or music and download all relevant metadata and artwork. It is important to note that if you already have correctly named artwork in the video and music folder, then Kodi will scrape the local artwork and ignore the online source. Metadata will still be downloaded though.

If you subsequently locate artwork that is preferable, it is possible to replace the Kodi selected artwork. Refer to paragraph 2.1 below.

Media Managers

There is a range of software that can create nfo files and download artwork and save them to the correct location and correct naming. They perform the same process and function as the Kodi Scraping operation does natively, but they do not add any entries into the Kodi library. Instead they create what is known as NFO files. This file holds all the metadata for that particular movie, tv show or music. The software will also download associated artwork from the scraper site. Kodi can then read this file and scrape it into the library along with the artwork.

Although these programs are quick and easy to use, they are more suited for use where a movie or tv show is not listed at the scraper site. You are then able to create the metadata from scratch. You would normally use this for, say, home movies, sporting events or other items that are not listed at the scraper site.

It is always best to use Kodi for the normal mainstream scrapes and the Media Managers for the non-listed movie, tv show and music scrapes.

Web Search

Using an online search engine can help you discover individual artworks, or additional sites where artwork is hosted. When downloading, check that the resolution is of an acceptable standard. Also pay respect to any copyright notices that are attached to the artwork.

Once downloaded, they must be named and saved correctly for the artwork to be visible to Kodi.

Create Your Own

So you are not happy with the artwork the scraper downloaded? And you just can't find that perfect artwork by manually searching the internet. Then, you will just have to create your own. For those who are artistically minded and can easily navigate around image editing software, then you should be able to easily create your very own user-defined artwork on your computer. Only your imagination is the limit, but be mindful that the artwork needs to remain true to the movie or tv show it represents.

If you are unsure where to start, the following links may prove useful. Especially if you plan to share your masterpieces. If this is the case, it is best to stick to the posted guidelines.

  • Fanart.TV- The premier repository for all things artwork. They have an in-depth guide for artwork requirements
see : Fanart.tv- Image Creation Guide
  • The MovieDB- The go to movie scraper site for Kodi. In addition to metadata, they also hold a large repository of artwork that are created and uploaded to the site by people just like you. Read their easy to understand artwork creation guide.
see : themoviedb- Image Creation Guide
  • The TVDB- The go to TV Show scraper site for Kodi. In addition to metadata, they also hold a large repository of artwork devoted to TV Shows. Read their easy to understand artwork creation guide.
see : theTVDB- Image Creation Guide
  • IMDB- A comprehensive listing of ensuring artwork is appropriate and suitable.
see : IMDB- Image Submission Guide
  • TheAudioDB- The go to scraper site for all things music. They hold metadata on Artists, Albums and Songs with a large collection of music artwork.
see : TheAudioDB- Image Creation Guide

Importing-Scanning Artwork

This section does not apply to the Kodi scraper or any other add-on scraping process. It only applies to artwork you have manually sourced and saved.

When performing an Update Library or Scrape, Kodi will always use Local Artwork first if it exists. If there is no local artwork, Kodi will obtain the artwork from online sources.

It is important to note that once a movie, tv show, artist or album has been scraped into the library, Kodi will ignore them on subsequent scans. If you have made changes to either artwork and/or metadata (in the form of a nfo file), you must instruct Kodi to update using one of the following methods...

  1. If the Library has not yet been created, or the source has not yet been added
    • Ensure your artwork is named and saved correctly. Add the Media sources to Kodi and allow to update. Artwork will be cached
  2. This Movie/TV Show/Album/Artist is new and has not been added to the library yet
    • An Update Library will scrape and cache the artwork, or
    • For Videos, navigate Videos>Files, navigate to the item and call up the Information page. This will start an automatic scrape for that single item
    • For Music, navigate Music>Files, locate and highlight the new artist or album. From the context menu select Scan item to library
  3. I added new artwork for Movie/TV Show/Album/Artist already in the library
    • For videos follow instructions for Kodi- Choose Art below
    • For music follow instructions in Music_artwork
  4. I added new artwork for a lot of Movies/TV Shows/Music already in the library
    • Update each Movie/TV Show/Music manually using instructions in the previous option, or
    • Remove the Source and clean library. Re-add the source and allow the Update Library
See also: Update Video Library

"Available" artwork

Scrapers and NFO files can include multiple images for a single type of artwork. The first image will be assigned to the media item for skins and other interfaces to access for display, and the full list will be saved for the "Choose art" dialog, where you can select a new image for any art type.

Kodi- Choose Art

From within Kodi, you have the ability to manually change the artwork at any time by following these directions.

  1. Highlight the media item whose artwork you want to change.
  2. Call up the Information page, (Image 1)
    • For seasons and movie sets the "Choose Art" option is in the Context menu.
  3. Select Choose Art. (Image 1)
  4. From within this page, you will be given the option to select which type of artwork you would like to change. (Image 2)
    • This dialog is filled with artwork already assigned to similar media items in the library. If your type of artwork is not listed, then use the Add art button. An onscreen keyboard will be displayed. Enter the new type of artwork and select Ok.
    • Examples of artwork type are those listed in the following pages- eg clearlogo, clearart, banner etc...
  5. Once selected, you will then be provided with a list of available artwork at the scraper site, or you can navigate to a local or network location. (Image 3)
  6. Once you select the desired image, it will replace the existing image. You will be returned to the screen displayed in Image 2
  7. If you do not intend to change any other artwork types, simply Esc or Back out of the screen

An alternative method:

  1. Choose Refresh as seen in Image 1.
  2. You will then be asked Locally stored information found. Ignore and refresh from Internet? (Image 4)
    • To scrape local artwork and metadata - Select No note- If you have no local nfo file, Kodi will scrape metadata from the online scraper site
    • To scrape online artwork and metadata - Select Yes

Artwork details for media sections

Movie Artwork

This page details information specific to the movie library.

See: Movie artwork

TV Show Artwork

This page details information specific to TV Shows. For Seasons and Episodes, see linked pages.

See: TV-Show artwork

Music Artwork

See: Music artwork

Music Videos Artwork

This page details information specific to artwork for music videos used in the Music Video library.

See: Music Video artwork

Live TV Artwork

Kodi provides the ability to insert the Logo of your TV Stations which then becomes visible in the program guide, on-screen displays and all channel listings, making it easy to distinguish each channel.

See: Live TV Artwork

Pictures Artwork

There is no user definable artwork for the Pictures section of Kodi.

See: Pictures

All images added to Pictures are cached as follows:

  1. Embedded EXIF previews are scanned and cached. If none available then
  2. Preview images are created and cached
See: Artwork Cache

To add an image to the folder icon:

See: Folder Image

Add-ons to display artwork

The following add-ons allow you to display your movie, TV show and music artwork.

Screensavers

Want to do more with all that wonderful fanart? Install this Kodi screensaver. Just like a screensaver on computers from yesteryear, the Kodi screensaver will produce a slideshow of your Movie and TV Show fanart, or set it to display your Music Fanart. Don't like either of those? Then setup a directory with your own pictures and it can produce a screensaver from your selection of photos.

Managing Artwork

There are a number of ways to maintain and improve Kodi's handling of the artwork.

Cache

Kodi maintains a texture cache on local device storage for all artwork displayed in the GUI, whether from an online source or the local file system. These textures are optimized and stored locally for faster loading.

When media is added to the library, Kodi initially only has a URL or path to the artwork. The artwork itself is downloaded (if from an online source) and then cached.

Recovering Disk Space

After years of use, it is expected that your system will gather some clutter- that being either orphaned artwork files or corrupted artwork which will not display.

Texture Cache Maintenance

Texture Cache Maintenance utility is a python script created by MillhouseVH, that can do a number of artwork related maintenance on the Kodi library. The script can be used to pre-generate thumbnails, clean up old thumbnail files, find corrupted files, and much more. The script can work on any OS that can run Python 2.6 or higher.

Import/Export

Kodi has the option to Export and Import the library databases. These options may be used for a number of reasons including the following more popular ones:

  • Perform database backup and recovery
  • Reorganization of data or eliminate database fragmentation (export, clean/remove database, re-import)
  • Move data between Kodi databases on different platforms (eg Widows to Linux)

Troubleshooting

There are certain scenarios where attempting to replace existing artwork with new artwork, you may experience Kodi refusing to load the new artwork. This occurs when replacing one artwork with another artwork having the same name. eg replacing poster.jpg with a new poster.jpg.

Rest assured that the new image has been accepted, but due to the same filename, Kodi may take upto 24 hrs to check the image hash, realise the image is different and clear out the cached image and replace it with the new one. This is intended behaviour. Further reading available in the following link

Animated artwork - experimental

Kodi has basic support for displaying animated artwork, and two artwork types have a decent collection of animated options: posters and fanart for movies. The most comprehensive support for animated artwork is Skin Helper Service, which has taken to naming these as "animatedposter" and "animatedfanart".

New animated movie posters (and textless posters / keyart which could be named "animatedkeyart") are often posted to this forum thread.

Limitations of animated artwork

Kodi's support for displaying animated artwork is basic, and does have some limitations.

Number one is a hard limit on the number of pixels in a single animated artwork. The size of animated artwork is limited to roughly 12 frames of 1920x1080. This limit is defined as fully decoded pixels. The trend for animated posters is for smaller images with more frames (a recent "animatedposter" is 500x713 with 60 frames). Kodi will discard any remaining frames after it has reached this limit, which will probably hitch unpleasantly, so obeying this limit is important.

  • Technically this limit is 11 frames but Kodi will decode full frames until it has decoded MORE than this, so the calculation is
    • 1920 × 1080 = 2,073,600 * 11 =
      • 22,809,600 pixels plus one more frame

Number two is that Kodi doesn't save animated artwork to the texture cache and will not play them (only displaying the first frame) unless they are stored on a client-local file system.

Accessing with skins and JSON-RPC

The primary usage of artwork is to be displayed, and to that end, they can be accessed by name in skins and over JSON-RPC.

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