Artwork: Difference between revisions

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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 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.
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.


'''Be aware that artwork is skin dependent. Not all artwork types are used in all skins.'''
'''Be aware that artwork is skin dependent. Not all artwork types are used in all skins.'''
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[[File:Artwork-PosterView01.jpg|500px|right]]
[[File:Artwork-PosterView01.jpg|500px|right]]
[[File:Artwork-FanartView01.jpg|500px|right]]
[[File:Artwork-FanartView01.jpg|500px|right]]
[[File:Artwork-FanartView02.jpg|500px|right]]
[[File:Artwork-ListView01.jpg|500px|right]]
Movie, TV Show and Music artwork can be obtained using a variety of methods. The most common method is via the Kodi scraper.
Movie, TV Show and Music artwork can be obtained using a variety of methods. The most common method is via the Kodi scraper.


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=== Kodi- Choose Art ===
=== Kodi- Choose Art ===
From within Kodi, you have the ability to change the default artwork.
From within Kodi, you have the ability to manually change the artwork at any time.


Simply highlight the Movie, TV Show, Episode, Album or Artist whose artwork you want to change. Call up the ''Information'' page, then select ''Choose Art''. From within this page, you will be given the option to select which type of artwork you would like to change. Once selected, you will then be provided with a list of available artworks at the scraper site, or you can navigate to a local or network location as shown in the following images.
Simply highlight the Movie, TV Show, Episode, Album or Artist whose artwork you want to change. Call up the ''Information'' page, then select ''Choose Art''. From within this page, you will be given the option to select which type of artwork you would like to change. Once selected, you will then be provided with a list of available artworks at the scraper site, or you can navigate to a local or network location as shown in the following images.


<gallery widths=450px heights=250px>
<gallery widths=450px heights=250px>
File:Artwork-ChooseArt03.jpg|Choose Art on the Movie Information Page
File:Artwork-ChooseArt01.jpg|Select which type of artwork to change
File:Artwork-ChooseArt01.jpg|Select which type of artwork to change
File:Artwork-ChooseArt02.jpg|List of available remote artworks from the scraper site, as well as the ability to ''Browse'' local and network sources
File:Artwork-ChooseArt02.jpg|List of available remote artworks from the scraper site, as well as the ability to ''Browse'' local and network sources
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An easily understandable explanation of the effects of some of these settings can be located in the [https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=315806&pid=2599318#pid2599318 forum here.]
An easily understandable explanation of the effects of some of these settings can be located in the [https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=315806&pid=2599318#pid2599318 forum here.]
; {{see also|Advancedsettings.xml#Library_artwork}}
; {{see also|Advancedsettings.xml#Library_artwork}}
== Import/Export ==
Kodi offers the ability to import and export data manually into/from the [[Library|Media Library]], as well as importing media info automatically from [[NFO files|.nfo files]]
; {{see also|Import-Export_library}}




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[[File:Artwork-FanartView02.jpg|500px|right]]
[[File:Artwork-ListView01.jpg|500px|right]]


= Movie Artwork =
= Movie Artwork =

Revision as of 22:31, 26 June 2017

Artwork contents

Artwork Main Page



See also:


Return to:

Home icon grey.png   ▶ General topics ▶ 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.


Obtaining Artwork

Artwork-PosterView01.jpg
Artwork-FanartView01.jpg

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 it into the Kodi Library. The default sources for information are:

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

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

The entire 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.

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. Enter the Information page of the video and select Choose Art, then navigate to, and select, your preferred artwork.


Manual Search & Save

There are three methods to manually search and save your artwork.

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.


Kodi- Choose Art

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

Simply highlight the Movie, TV Show, Episode, Album or Artist whose artwork you want to change. Call up the Information page, then select Choose Art. From within this page, you will be given the option to select which type of artwork you would like to change. Once selected, you will then be provided with a list of available artworks at the scraper site, or you can navigate to a local or network location as shown in the following images.

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 Kodi does natively, but they do not add any entries into the Kodi library. Instead they create what is known as a nfo file. 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 the next time an Update Library is performed.

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.


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
  • IMDB- A comprehensive listing of ensuring artwork is appropriate and suitable.
see : IMDB- Image Submission Guide


Managing Artwork

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


Cache

Kodi maintains a local texture cache for all artwork downloaded via the scrape process. During this caching process, artwork size is modified to default sizes. This allows faster access and loading times, especially noticeable on low powered equipment. These default sizes can be modified in the advancedsettings.xml- Refer section 5.3

When Kodi performs an online scrape to download the metadata of your videos or music, it also downloads the associated artwork. The URL link to the original online artwork location is stored in the video or music databases. The downloaded artwork is then saved in the Cache located in \userdata\thumbnails directory. An entry in the texturesxx.db is recorded that connects each image to the appropriate video or music library entry.

If you have stored local artwork with your video or music file, Kodi will scrape these as described above. Once scraped, these original local images are no longer accessed by Kodi. Note that Extrafanart and Extrathumbs are a skin function, and these are not cached, but accessed directly by the skin. ;


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. There are two methods available to maintain a healthy cache and database:

Texture Cache Maintenance

This is a Python Utility that can perform a multitude of functions including adding missing artwork to cache and cleaning out orphaned or corrupted files. A little housekeeping on a regular basis will keep your Kodi system running smoothly.

Delete textures13.db

One sure way to repair any caching problems is to delete the textures13.db database. You will need to perform the following for a clean start with respect to Artwork

  • Delete texturesxx.db located in the \userdata\database\ folder.
  • Delete the Thumbnails directory located at \userdata\Thumbnails\ which stores all the cached images,

Be aware that this should be a last resort procedure. Deleting this database file will remove all cache entries and links, requiring your artwork be re-scraped.


Advanced Settings

There are a number of advancedsettings.xml tags which can be used to modify the handling and caching of artwork. This is especially useful for those who have low powered equipment and minimal storage. These settings should not be implemented unless you are experiencing problems displaying the artwork such as slow loading images or lagging GUI navigation. An easily understandable explanation of the effects of some of these settings can be located in the forum here.


Import/Export

Kodi offers the ability to import and export data manually into/from the Media Library, as well as importing media info automatically from .nfo files


Add-ons

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 the 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.



Artwork-FanartView02.jpg
Artwork-ListView01.jpg

Movie Artwork

This wiki covers the artwork found in the Movie section of Kodi

See: Movie_artwork


TV Show Artwork

This wiki covers the artwork found in the TV Show section of Kodi


Music Artwork

This wiki covers the artwork found in the Music section of Kodi


Music Videos Artwork

This wiki covers the artwork found in the Music Videos section of Kodi


TV Artwork

There is no user definable artwork for the TV section of Kodi


Pictures Artwork

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