NFO files/Movies

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NFO files

Movies

General

The order of importing metadata is as follows:

1. nfo file. If no nfo file exists then
2. Depending on your scraper settings for your source, either
   • Online scraper sites- if a scraper is set in your source settings, or
   • Nothing- if Local Info Only is set

When Kodi locates the nfo file it will load the *.nfo file and:

1. If the file is a metadata nfo, Kodi will import the meta-data directly into the library from the .nfo file or
2. If the file is a parsing nfo, Kodi will parse the nfo file for a direct URL to the scraper info page, then scrape the online metadata. See: Parsing NFO
3. If the file is a combination nfo, Kodi will parse the nfo file and scrape the online metadata, then import the metadata from the nfo file. See: Combination NFO

Known Issues

• v18 introduced a bug where any class of nfo file can be scanned into any part of the video library. See Issue 16112

nfo Name and Location

Regardless of what settings you have set for the source and scraper, Kodi will always search for and scan the nfo file first where available.

Correct placement of the nfo file is essential. Failing to save the file with the correct name and in the correct location, as detailed below, will force Kodi to either:

1. Scrape the metadata from the online source set in your scraper or,
2. If you have Local Info Only set as your scraper, then no entry will be made into the library.

<VideoFileName>.nfo

• NFO Files are named the same as the video file except with the .nfo extension. See image below.
• We recommend using this format to name nfo files.

movie.nfo

Kodi may also scan nfo files named movie.nfo. To use this name, the setting Movies are in separate folders that match the movie title must be Enabled in the Set Content Screen.

• If the above setting is not enabled, Kodi will ignore the movie.nfo. If the <VideoFileName>.nfo formatted file is available, Kodi will scan this one instead, otherwise an online scrape will be performed.
• If you use movie.nfo and later Export your library to Separate Files, Kodi will still create the nfo file in the <VideoFileName>.nfo format and two nfo files will exist. If a Refresh or rescan is run in future, the <VideoFileName>.nfo file will be ignored in favour of movie.nfo, which means any changes you may have made to the library entry (play counts, watched status etc) will not be re-scanned back into the library.
• We recommend using the <VideoFileName>.nfo format name for nfo files to avoid the above traps.

Movies require one nfo file. The below image details naming and location for Single File, DVD and Bluray movies:

• 

  Example of correct use of Movie Folder with artwork, nfo file, trailer and theme.
  Take note of file naming and location.

nfo Tags

The following table lists most available XML tags. Some system generated tags are ommitted and are not required if you are creating your own nfo files as Kodi will create the missing XML tags internally.

Two XML tags are required and are indicated in the table below. All other tags are optional. Of course the less tags used, the less information scanned into the library.

Children tags are displayed correctly with parent tags. The list is ordered in the same order as the exported nfo file.

NFO (xml) Tag	Required	Multiple	Notes
<movie></movie>	Yes	No	The top level parent tag for the nfo file. All other tags must be contained within these two tags
<title></title>	No	No	The title for the movie
<originaltitle></originaltitle>	No	No	Displays the original title of the movie. For example, if the scraper is set to german language and the scraped movie in german is "Der mit dem Wolf tanzt" the original title will be "Dances with Wolves"
<sorttitle></sorttitle>	No	No	Allows alternate title sort without modifying movie title. Not displayed in any library listing. See: Sort Title
<ratings> <rating name="" max="10" default=""> <value></value> <votes></votes> </rating> </ratings>	No	No	default="true" default="false" Only one rating can be set as default="true", additional ratings must be set as default="false" or ommitted name="identifier". Do not use "default". Examples of identifier include... <rating name="imdb" max="10"> <rating name="trakt" max="10"> <rating name="themoviedb" max="10"> <rating name="metacritic" max="10"> <rating name="tomatometerallcritics" max="10"> <rating name="tomatometerallaudience" max="10"> Example of complete entry... <rating name="themoviedb" max="10" default="true"> <rating name="imdb" max="10" default="false"> or <rating name="themoviedb" max="10">
<userrating></userrating>	No	No	Personal rating set by the user
<top250></top250>	No	No	Ranking in IMDB Top 250 movies
<outline></outline>			Should be short, will be displayed on a single line (scraped from IMDB only)
<plot></plot>			Can contain more information on multiple lines, will be wrapped
<tagline></tagline>	No	No	Short movie slogan. "The true story of a real fake" is the tagline for "Catch me if you can
<runtime></runtime>	No	No	Minutes only. Overwritten when movie played
<thumb aspect="" preview=""></thumb>	No	Yes	Path to available Movie Posters Example use of aspect="" <thumb aspect="banner" <thumb aspect="clearart" <thumb aspect="clearlogo" <thumb aspect="discart" <thumb aspect="landscape" <thumb aspect="poster"
<fanart> <thumb preview=""></thumb> </fanart>	No	Yes^	Path to available movie fanart. ^ Multiple <thumb> entries allowed between the <fanart></fanart> tags
<mpaa></mpaa>	No	No	Country specific mpaa rating system. Check with skin author which prefix is required to diplay your country local rating system
<playcount></playcount>	No	No	Number of times movie has been played. Setting this to 1 or greater will mark the movie as watched if the importwatchedstate flag is set in advancedsettings.xml
<lastplayed></lastplayed>	No	No	Date movie was last played
<id></id>	No	No	The default ID. Do not use as this is a Kodi generated tag. See next item.
<uniqueid type="xxxx" default="true"></uniqueid>	Yes	Yes	The ID from the scraper site. type="xxxx" = Identifier of the ID. Do not use "default". Examples of identifier include... <uniqueid type="imdb"> <uniqueid type="tvdb"> <uniqueid type="tmdb"> For non-scraped items, use simple values like "home", "sport", "doco" etc The value can be alpha-numeric eg tt3480556 for imdb, 286668 for tmdb, home001 for home movies, etc default="true" default="false" Only one uniqueID can be set as default="true", additional uniqueID's must be set as default="false" or ommitted Example of complete entry... <uniqueid type="tmdb" default="true"> <uniqueid type="imdb" default="false"> or <uniqueid type="imdb">
<genre></genre>	No	Yes	Movie genre.
<country></country>	No	Yes	Country of origin
<set> <name></name> <overview></overview> </set>	No	No	Movie set tags The <overview> tag allows a short summary of the movie set. It can be displayed by some skins.
<tag></tag>	No	Yes	Movie tags. See: Video library tags
<credits></credits>	No	Yes	Field for writers.
<director></director>	No	Yes	Movie Director
<premiered></premiered>	No	No	Release date of movie. Format as 2019-01-31
<year></year>	No	No	Release Year. Do not use. Use <premiered> instead
<status></status>	No	No	Not used
	No	No	Not used
<aired></aired>	No	No	Not used
<studio></studio>	No	Yes	Production studio
<trailer></trailer>	No	No	Local or online path to movie trailer
<fileinfo> <streamdetails> <video> <codec></codec> <aspect></aspect> <width></width> <height></height> <durationinseconds></durationinseconds> <stereomode></stereomode> </video> <audio> <codec></codec> <language></language> <channels></channels> </audio> <subtitle> <language></language> </subtitle> </streamdetails> </fileinfo>	No	Yes	Multiple entries of <audio> and <subtitles> accepted In v17 and prior, Kodi would overwrite these values on first play of the file. In v18 that process was removed and values in these tags will remain.
<actor> <name></name> <role></role> <order></order> <thumb></thumb> </actor>	No	Yes	The <order> tag determines where in the list the actor will appear. 0 = first in the list
<showlink></showlink>	No	No	Connect movie to TV Show. Use the TV Show <title></title> name.
<resume> <position></position> <total></total> </resume>	No	No	Movie resume point in Seconds
<dateadded></dateadded>	No	No	mTime of the playable video file. Can be altered in advancedsettings.xml

Template nfo

A template NFO File is provided below that can be copied into your own file and completed. It is a simplified file:

• System generated tags are removed
• Assumes local artwork is being used
• Assumes no online information is available, so items like Ratings have no relevance
• This will be the first time scanned into library so watched status and play counts are not required.

If any of these removed tags are required, simply add the appropriate tags, and refer to the Sample NFO File in the next section to confirm correct usage.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes" ?>
<movie>
    <title></title>
    <originaltitle></originaltitle>
    <userrating>0</userrating>
    <outline></outline>
    <plot></plot>
    <tagline></tagline>
    <runtime></runtime>
    <mpaa></mpaa>
    <uniqueid type="" default="true"></uniqueid>
    <genre></genre>
    <country></country>
    <credits></credits>
    <director></director>
    <premiered></premiered>
    <studio></studio>
    <actor>
        <name></name>
        <role></role>
        <order></order>
        <thumb></thumb>
    </actor>
</movie>

Sample nfo

Below is a sample nfo file that was exported from Kodi after scraping into the library using the Universal Movie Scraper.

Press Expand at right edge of the green bar to view

References

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