Convert movie to episode: Difference between revisions

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*If you chose to add the movie as a Special, you can still display the movie in a Season as well as the Specials section:
*If you chose to add the movie as a Special, you can still display the movie in a Season as well as the Specials section:
*# In the NFO file add the following two tags (or they may already be in there, but empty):
*# In the NFO file add the following two tags (or they may already be in there, but empty):
::<syntaxhighlight lang="xml">
<syntaxhighlight lang="xml">
  <displayseason></displayseason>  
<displayseason></displayseason>  
  <displayepisode></displayepisode>
<displayepisode></displayepisode>
</syntaxhighlight>
</syntaxhighlight>
::3. The first tag tells Kodi to list the item in a particular season. If you want it in season 2, add '''2''' as the value
::3. The first tag tells Kodi to list the item in a particular season. If you want it in season 2, add '''2''' as the value

Revision as of 08:25, 8 October 2021

Create Video Libraries
1. The Basics
2. Source Folder
3. Movie Setup
4a. TV Show Setup
4b. Seasons Setup
4c. Episodes Setup
5. Music Videos Setup
6. Add Source & Scrape
7. Scraping Problems
Home icon grey.png   ▶ Video library ▶ Video management ▶ Convert movie to episode


Introduction

Do you think that a particular movie should be an episode of a TV Show? Maybe those two related TV Shows should actually be one TV show? Then read on to discover how to make a movie an episode of a TV Show or how to combine TV Shows.

Each one of the following tweaks requires that you scrape your items as per normal as listed at the scraper sites. This information will be exported to NFO files, and the NFO files will be modified with the required changes.

You should also download the associated artwork as, after these changes are made, you will be unable to scrape artwork as the listing will no longer match the listing at the scraper site.

It is always recommended you use a Portable Install where possible, or an install away from your main library, to accomplish these tweaks to your library and then rescan the changes back into your library.

This guide requires moderate level experience with Kodi and assumes you are familiar with NFO files, Exporting, Artwork and Updating functions.


Movie to Episode

This is an alternative, and more flexible, method than the Linking movies to TV shows feature.

Typical examples of where you may want to move a Movie into a TV Show are:


Follow these steps to convert a movie into an episode of a TV show.

  1. Scrape the movie as a movie. This will download all the metadata and artwork
  2. Run an Export to Seperate Files to create the NFO files. (This process will create NFO files for your entire library.)
  3. If you do not have local artwork, it is recommended you download the original artwork from the scraper site, rather than exporting the modified artwork from the Kodi library
  4. Delete the movie from your library.
  5. Move the video file, artwork and NFO file into the appropriate season folder of your TV show
  6. Rename your movie file to add the appropriate episode numbering in the SxxExx format. See notes below.
  7. Rename the NFO file and artwork to match
  8. If you have an .actors folder, move the actors images into the .actors folder of the parent TV show
  9. In the NFO file change the following tags. Nothing else needs to be changed, added or removed as most information is inherited from the TV show.
Existing Tags Change To
<movie></movie> <episodedetails></episodedetails>
<premiered></premiered> <aired></aired>
9. Run an Update library or Scan item to library to add the new episode to the library

The movie should appear as an episode in the TV show.


Notes:

  • After you add the SxxEyy numbering, you may find that you have duplicated episode numbers for that season. You can either:
    1. Leave it duplicated.
      • When there are two episodes with the same numbering, then those two items are sub-sorted alphabetically by episode title.
      • You may get lucky with the sub-sorting and the episodes will sort in the correct position. If not a bit of tweaking of the episode name or renumber the new movie/episode to the previous/next episode number can usually fix that.
    2. Alternatively you can bump the episode numbering for all subsequent episodes. If you use this method, you will need to rely on your NFO files for future library rebuilds as your episode numbering no longer matches the numbering at the scraper site.
  • If you chose to add the movie as a Special, you can still display the movie in a Season as well as the Specials section:
    1. In the NFO file add the following two tags (or they may already be in there, but empty):
<displayseason></displayseason> 
<displayepisode></displayepisode>
3. The first tag tells Kodi to list the item in a particular season. If you want it in season 2, add 2 as the value
4. The second tag tells Kodi where to list the episode in the season. If you want to watch it before episode 3, then add 3 as the value


Episode to Movie

Moving an episode to a movie listing is easier and is basically the reverse of the previous section, without having to worry about episode numbering issues.


Combine TV Shows

Typical examples of where you may want to combine two or more TV Shows are:


This method can also be used to adjust Seasons for Netflix shows, such as Money Heist (2017) and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018) where the broadcast season differs between countries.

Using Battlestar Galactica (1978) and Galactica 1980 (1980) as an example, follow these steps to combine the two shows:

  1. Scrape your TV Shows as per normal
  2. Run an Export to Seperate Files to create the NFO files. (This process will create NFO files for your entire library.)
  3. If you do not have local artwork, it is recommended you download the original artwork from the scraper site, rather than exporting the modified artwork from the Kodi library
  4. In this example, Battlestar Galactica (1978) with one season will be the parent show and Galactica (1980) is the child show which will become Season 2 of the parent show Battlestar Galactica (1978)
  5. Delete the child TV show from your library
  6. In the child TV show, rename the Season folder to Season 2
  7. In the child TV show, update the SxxExx numbering of the video files, NFO files and episode artwork to S02Exx
  8. Move the Season 2 folder into the parent TV show Battlestar Galactica (1978)
  9. If you have an .actors folder, move the actors images into the .actors folder of the parent TV show
  10. Run an Update library or Scan item to library to add the new season to the library


Notes:

  • The most important step is ensuring the SxxExx is updated to match where you want the season and episodes to fit into the parent show.
  • Nothing in the NFO file needs to be added, removed or changed as most data is inherited from the TV show and any episode specific data (plot, actors etc) normally does not need to change.


Reorganise Episodes

Do you feel that episodes would be better watched in an order different to what was scraped? Shuffling episodes into different orders is a simple task with NFO files.

  1. Scrape your TV Shows as per normal
  2. Run an Export to Seperate Files to create the NFO files. (This process will create NFO files for your entire library.)
  3. If you do not have local artwork, it is recommended you download the original artwork from the scraper site, rather than exporting the modified artwork from the Kodi library
  4. Delete the TV show from your library
  5. By editing the SxxExx numbering of your episode files, reorganise the episodes into your preferred order
  6. As you renumber each episode, also renumber the related NFO file and Episode Thumb to match
  7. Run an Update library or Scan item to library to scan the TV show back into the library with the changes.


Notes:

  • The most important step is ensuring the SxxExx is updated to match your intended season and episode order.
  • Nothing in the NFO file needs to be added, removed or changed as most data is inherited from the TV show and any episode specific data (plot, actors etc) normally does not need to change.


See Also

Linking movies to TV shows
This feature allows you to link a Move to a TV Show without the need of keeping two copies of the video file on your system. eg, linking Serenity (2005) to the tv show Firefly.
HOW-TO:Movie universe
Through the use of specialised filenaming and a smart playlist, Kodi can build a cinematic universe for any of your favourite movie and tv show franchises. Using this method allows correct canonical sorting, or any sorting required by the user, which cannot be accomplished with any other method. This method has the advantage of creating these universes without affecting movie sets or library listings in the movie or tv show library.



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