Artwork: Difference between revisions

From Official Kodi Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
No edit summary
(Updated for v19)
(14 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Artwork_Contents}}
{{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]]}}}}
{{mininav|[[Music_library|Music Library]] {{l2|[[Video_library|Video Library]]}} }}
__NOTOC__


<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" />


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.
= Introduction =
<section begin="intro" />The use of 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 Posters, Fanart, Album Covers, Actor and Artist images to name a few. Install the '''''[[Add-on:Picture_Slideshow_Screensaver| Picture Slideshow add-on]]''''', and you will have a constant display of video or music fanart to brighten your entertainment room.<section end="intro" />


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


= Flexible artwork types =
If you prefer  not to manually source and save artwork to your local media folders, then scraped artwork can be automatically downloaded and saved into your local  folders by installing one of the following add-ons:
* '''[https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=360078 Artwork Dump]'''- for v19 and later
* '''[https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=258886 Artwork Beef]'''- for v18 and earlier


<gallery mode="packed" widths=350px heights=200px>
File:Artwork-PosterView01.jpg
File:Artwork-FanartView01.jpg
File:Artwork-Banner01.jpg
File:Artwork-PosterView02.jpg
File:Artwork-MusicArtist01.jpg
File:Artwork-ClearLogo02.jpg
</gallery>


{{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.
'''v19 Matrix''' introduced new artwork settings. These new {{Kodi}} settings replace the artwork settings in the new python range of scrapers. They also remove the need for the advancedsettings.xml artwork tags which were introduced in v18.<br>
* Naming rules: artwork names must be
''(Note: if the advancedsettings.xml tags are still available in the advancedsettings.xml file, then on first run of v19 these tags will be automatically loaded into the new settings system)''
** 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"


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.
* Music artwork settings are located in {{highlight|[[Settings/Media/Music#Artwork|Settings > Media > Music > Artwork]]}}
* Video artwork settings are located in {{highlight|[[Settings/Media/Videos#Artwork|Settings > Media > Videos > Artwork]]}}


== 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 '''[[Advancedsettings.xml#Extra artwork| for the video library]]''' and  '''[[Advancedsettings.xml#Extra artwork 2| for the music library]]'''.
'''{{red|The {{kodi}} scrapers automatically download artwork with little input required by the user. These pages are for those users that want greater control over their artwork by saving artwork locally or creating their own.}}'''


= 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 [[Artwork#Cache|cache]]. The default sources for information are:


Movies- [https://www.themoviedb.org/ The MovieDB]<br />
TV Shows- [http://thetvdb.com/ The TVDB]<br />
Music- [http://www.theaudiodb.com/ The AudioDB]<br />
<br />
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.
{{updated|19}}


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.
[[Category:Karellen]]
 
[[Category:Music library]]
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.
[[Category:Video library]]
; {{see also|Naming_video_files}}
; {{see also|Add-on:The_Movie_Database}}
; {{see also|Add-on:The_TVDB}}
; {{see also|Add-on:Universal_Album_Scraper}}
; {{see also|Add-on:Universal_Artist_Scraper}}
 
== 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|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.
; {{see also|NFO_files}}
 
== 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 : [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>]''
 
= Importing-Scanning Artwork =
{{anchor|Importing-Scraping 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...
#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
#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''
#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]]'''''
 
== "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.
 
#Highlight the media item whose artwork you want to change.
#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
 
<gallery widths=350px heights=200px>
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'''
 
= Artwork details for media sections =
 
<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}}

Revision as of 03:18, 23 June 2021

Artwork contents

Artwork Main Page



See also:


Return to:

Home icon grey.png   ▶ Music Library
▶ Video Library
▶ Artwork


Introduction

The use of 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 Posters, Fanart, Album Covers, Actor and Artist images to name a few. Install the Picture Slideshow add-on, and you will have a constant display of video or music fanart to brighten your entertainment room.


If you prefer not to manually source and save artwork to your local media folders, then scraped artwork can be automatically downloaded and saved into your local folders by installing one of the following add-ons:


v19 Matrix introduced new artwork settings. These new Kodi settings replace the artwork settings in the new python range of scrapers. They also remove the need for the advancedsettings.xml artwork tags which were introduced in v18.
(Note: if the advancedsettings.xml tags are still available in the advancedsettings.xml file, then on first run of v19 these tags will be automatically loaded into the new settings system)


The Kodi scrapers automatically download artwork with little input required by the user. These pages are for those users that want greater control over their artwork by saving artwork locally or creating their own.