Movie sets

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Revision as of 20:50, 28 January 2018 by Karellen (talk | contribs) (Add Movie Set Overview is now scraped)
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Home icon grey.png   ▶ Video library ▶ Management ▶ Movie sets

Description

MovieSets01.jpg

A Movie Set, also known as a Movie Collection, is a collection of movies that are, in some way, related to each other. The normal scraper sites include metadata for Movie Sets which is scraped by Kodi and creates the Movie Set in your library. Movie sets are versatile and can be created to suit your own preferences as they are easily edited in Kodi using the built in sets editor or by using NFO files.

Example Movie Set usage:

  • According to TMDB, the three movies from The Lord of the Rings are considered a set. The three movies from The Hobbit are considered as another set. This would create two movie sets in Kodi. (scraper created movie set)
  • Some users will combine these two sets into one set. The set now contains six movies and can be renamed to The Middle Earth Collection or similar. (created with movie set editor or nfo files)
  • Movie Sets can be used to collate separate versions of a movie- eg Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) (created with movie set editor or nfo files)
  • Movie Sets can also be used to stack multiple versions of the same movie- eg Blade Runner (US Theatrical Releasae}, Blade Runner (International Theatrical Release), Blade Runner (Directors Cut) etc. (created with movie set editor or nfo files)


Note: Movies can only be used in one set at a time. To use movies in more than one collection requires a different method using Tags. See: video library tags.


Settings

The following are the available settings to control Movie Sets.


Movie Set Node

The Movie Set Node is accessed from the Movies Home Screen. Along the top row of Categories, the icon Sets will become visible when the library contains Movie Sets. Selecting the Sets icon will open the Movie Sets node.

As long as Movie Set metadata has been scraped, then the Movie Set node will be automatically populated. The only available settings when using the Movie Sets Node are those that are accessed by the Sidebar Menu.


Movie Library

When viewing your movies from the main movie listing, or from a movie node such as Genre, Year, Country, etc, it is possible to show Movie Sets by adjusting settings as follows...

Show Movie Sets

Settings level: Standard
Description:
  • When disabled, all movies are shown individually in library lists.
  • When enabled, movies that are part of a "Movie set" are always grouped together and displayed as a Collection, not separately. Clicking the collection will in turn display the individual movies.

Note: The separate Movie Sets node is not affected by this setting.

See: Movie sets


Include sets containing a single movie

Settings level: Standard
Description: Can work with, or independently of the previous setting.
  • When the previous setting is enabled and this setting is enabled, a "Movie set" entry is used even if the movie set contains only a single movie from the set.
  • When the previous setting is enabled and this setting is disabled, a "Movie set" entry is used only if the movie library contains two or more movies from the set.
  • When this setting is enabled with or without the previous setting, sets that contain a single movie become visible in the Movie Set Editor.

Note: The separate Movie Sets node is not affected by this setting.

See: Movie sets



Creating & Editing Movie Sets

The following methods are available for creating and editing Movie Sets. You cannot use the Scraper method to edit movie sets.

Each movie required in a Movie Set must have Movie Set metadata.


Scraper

Using the native Kodi scraper will automatically download Movie Set metadata and create the Movie Set. Kodi relies on the scraper site for this information.

The naming of the set, and the movies contained within the set, is controlled by the scraper site. These variables can be edited using one of the following two methods.


Kodi Movie Set Editor

Kodi has an inbuilt Movie Set Editor which can be used to create and edit Movie Sets. The following guide and images should assist in locating and using the Editor. The Editor cannot be accessed from Videos>Files. It must be accessed from the Movie Library. Movies must have already been scraped into the library.

  1. Image 1- Highlight the movie to be added to a Movie Set. Call up the Context Menu
  2. Image 1- Select Manage...
  3. Image 2- Select Manage movie set
  4. Image 3- This is the Movie Set Editor. From this screen, your options are as follows:
    1. No set- The first option from the list. Allows you to remove an existing movie from a movie set.
    2. Keep current set - Allows you to exit the Editor without making any changes
    3. <List of other collections> - Allows you to move the selected movie from the current Movie Set and place it into another, existing, Movie Set
    4. Add movie to a new collection - This is the button above the Cancel button. The button name is not fully visible due to the length of the button name. Pressing this button calls up the on-screen keyboard which allows you to type the name of the new Movie Set. Selecting Enter will then create the Movie Set and place the currently selected movie into the new Set. Additional movies can be placed into the new Movie Collection by repeating steps 1, 2, 3 and 4.3.



nfo Files

Using nfo files allows you to add Movie Set data to specific movies and then scrape into the library.

The following two XML tags are used in Movie Sets:

  1. <name></name>- The name of the Set. Must be identical for each movie nfo you intend to place into the Set otherwise multiple, similarly named, Movie Sets will be created.
  2. <overview></overview> - Allows the entry of a Movie Set synopsis. Requires a compatible skin to display the overview. As of 7 January 2018, the scrapers were modified to scrape Movie Set Overview.

The code is entered into the nfo file as follows.

<set>
   <name></name>
   <overview></overview>
</set>
See: NFO_files


Sort Title

MovieSets05.jpg

Kodi is able to sort movie lists by a number of different parameters. The more common sort orders available for movies are...

  • Year- This is based on the year of release of the movie
  • Title- Standard alphabetical sorting of movies


Many enthusiasts prefer to sort their Sets by Canonical Order. This is a sort order based on the story timeline. This means that prequel movies, made after the original movie, would come first in the sort order.

An example of this is combining The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings into one set.

  • Using Year sort would list The Lord of the Rings first, which is incorrect as The Hobbit should be listed first, according to the story timeline
  • Using Title sort will list The Hobbit first and The Lord of the Rings would be listed second, but the three movies within each film group will be sorted incorrectly


Although Kodi has no Canonical Order option, it is possible to force this order by adding a Sort Title to the movie entry. See image to the right which shows Canonical Order of the movies, whereas the first image at the top of the page in 1 Description shows normal alphabetical listing.

Be aware that using Sort Order will also affect the Title sort order in the main library view. In most cases, this is preferable.
The Sort Title is NOT displayed in any movie list. It is a hidden title used internally by Kodi.


The following table shows a Sort Title renaming using The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings as an example. Only use suffix numbering. Using prefix numbering will send all movies with prefix numbering to the top of the Library View list.

Original Title Sort Title

Recommended

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) Hobbit 01
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) Hobbit 02
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) Hobbit 03
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) Lord of the Rings 01
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) Lord of the Rings 02
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) Lord of the Rings 03

The following are the two methods that enable adding Sort Titles to movies.


Sort Title Editor

Kodi has an inbuilt Sort Order Editor. The following guide and images should assist in locating and using the Editor. The Editor cannot be accessed from Videos>Files. It must be accessed from the Movie Library. Movies must have already been scraped into the library.

  1. Image 1- Highlight the movie to be edited. Call up the Context Menu
  2. Image 1- Select Manage...
  3. Image 2- Select Edit sort title
  4. Enter the new title.



nfo Files

Using nfo files allows you to add a Sort title to specific movies and then scrape into the library.

The following XML tag is used:

  • <sorttitle></sorttitle>
See: NFO_files


Movie Set Artwork

To apply artwork to Movie Sets ...

See: Movie Set Artwork



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