Video library: Difference between revisions

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The Video Library, one of the [[The XBMC Database|XBMC databases]] allows the organization of your video content by information associated with the video files themselves.
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This information can be obtained in various different ways, like through [[How To use Scrapers|Scrapers]] (ie. [[IMDB|IMDb]], [[TV Shows]]) and [[Nfo|nfo]] files.
The Library Mode view allows you to browse your video content by things like; Genre, Title, Year, Actors and Directors.


{{TOCleft}}
[[image:Library.videos.moviefanart.WSCR.jpg|480px]]


==Preparing your Videos to be Scanned==
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First you have to decide what sort of video is contained in the folder/share you wish to scan via the 'Set Content' option of the [[Videos Navigation and Control#The Context_Menu|The Context Menu]], for more info see:
| style="width: 44%; vertical-align:top;" |'''{{resize|1.3em| [[HOW-TO:Create_Video_Library|Create your Video Library]]}}'''
*[[Set Contents (Video Library)]]
{{#lst:HOW-TO:Create_Video_Library|intro}}
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| style="width: 5%; vertical-align:top;" | [[File:Book icon 1.png|40px|left]]
| style="width: 44%; vertical-align:top;" |'''{{resize|1.3em| [[Video_management|Video Library Management]]}}'''
{{#lst:Video_management|intro}}


For [[TV Shows|TV shows]] to work properly in the Video Library, the file naming conventions used have to match the regular expressions used in XBMC, see:
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*[[TV Shows#TV show file naming conventions|TV show file naming conventions]].
| style="width: 5%; vertical-align:top;" | [[File:Oxygen480-actions-media-playback-start.png|40px|left]]
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| style="width: 44%; vertical-align:top;" | '''{{resize|1.3em| [[Video_playback|Video Playback Controls]]}}'''
[[image:Set_content0.jpg|180px]]
A guide that describes the player controls, how to access on-screen displays, adjust settings for video, audio, subtitles and more.
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| style="width: 5%; vertical-align:top;" | [[File:Video.png|40px|left]]
| style="width: 44%; vertical-align:top;" | '''{{resize|1.3em| [[Artwork]]}}'''
{{#lst:Artwork|intro}}


==Navigating your Library==
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The library organizes your videos into three basic categories, Movies, [[TV Shows]] and [[Music Videos]]. Further these categories are divided into sub-categories, allowing you to find a specific video through criteria like genre, actors, directors, year etc.
| style="width: 5%; vertical-align:top;" | [[File:Video.png|40px|left]]
{|
| style="width: 44%; vertical-align:top;" | '''{{resize|1.3em| [[Updating_or_removing_videos|Add & Remove Content from Library]]}}'''
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Details the various methods to Add new items to the library, Refresh items with new metadata, Remove titles and Exclude files and folders from scanning
[[image:Library.videos.controls.jpg|360px]]
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; View:
  | style="width: 44%; vertical-align:top;" | '''{{resize|1.3em| [[Backup]]}}'''
: You can the toggle between the different display options, amongst others; List, Icons and Big Icons.
{{#lst:Backup|intro}}
; Sort By:
: You can choose what criteria to sort your Videos by. Note the arrow to the right which controls whether the items are sorted in ascending or descending order.
; Library Mode
: This control allows you to switch between Library Mode and [[Videos#Files View|File View]]. (Used to be called Switch View)
; Hide Watched
: Toggles between All Videos and Unwatched. XBMC will show either all videos or only unwatched media.
; Search
: You can search for a string anywhere in the [[The XBMC Database|XBMC video database]].
; Filter
: Allows you to filter the media files to only show videos that include the specified string in the name.
; Party Mode
: See below.
; Flatten
: Removes the title, genre etc nodes from the library view. Selecting a category takes you straight to the title view.
|}
You can select the default startup screen in Video Library Mode via the ''Make Default'' option of [[Video Library#Video Context Menu in Library Mode|The Context Menu]], (Selecting Movies, TV Shows, Title in each etc.)


{|
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| style="width: 5%; vertical-align:top;" | [[File:language_globe_icon.png|40px|left]]
| style="width: 44%; vertical-align:top;" | '''{{resize|1.3em| [[Scrapers|Scrapers]]}}'''
Scrapers are used to contact online information providers to download metadata for video and music items to be added to the library.<br>
Contains information on how to install and use scrapers


==Party Mode==
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The Party Mode option allows you to randomly play [[Music Videos]] from your entire music videos collection based on criteria specified in [[PartyMode.xsp|partymode-video.xsp]]. Simply build a
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[[Playlists#Smart_Playlists|Smart Playlist]] and save it as '''partymode-video.xsp''' in [[The UserData Folder]].
| style="width: 44%; vertical-align:top;" | '''{{resize|1.3em| [[NFO files]]}}'''
{{#lst:NFO_files|intro}}


Selecting 'Party Mode' from the sidebar will play ALL valid media scanned into your libraries in a random order that meet the conditions specified in the Smart Playlist.
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[[image:Music.videos.jpg|360px]]
| style="width: 44%; vertical-align:top;" | '''{{resize|1.3em| [[Import-export_library|Export Library]]}}'''
|}
{{#lst:Import-export_library|intro}}


==The Media Information Screen==
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You display information on you video files by selecting the [[IMDB|Movie]] / [[TV Shows|TV Show]] Information option from [[Videos Navigation and Control#The Context_Menu|The Context Menu]] or by pressing '''info''' on the remote.<br>
| style="width: 5%; vertical-align:top;" | [[File:Video.png|40px|left]]
From here you can refresh the information on your media, i.e. in the case of a wrong match during scanning. Here you can also change fanart and media thumbs, where the number of images being offered may depend on your [[Set_Contents_%28Video_Library%29#Scraper_settings|scraper settings]].
| style="width: 44%; vertical-align:top;" | '''{{resize|1.3em| [[:Category:Video_library|Index of All Video Library Articles]]}}'''
[[image:Library.videos.movieinfo.WSCR.jpg|445px]]          [[image:Library.videos.tvshowinfo.WSCR.jpg|445px]]
Can't find what you are looking for? Browse the list of all Video Library wiki pages.
 
==Video Context Menu in Library Mode==
You perform actions on your video files using the Context Menu. Press the '''White''' button on your controller ('''Title''' on the remote). This will bring up the context menu, pictured below right. In Library Mode, selecting a movie that has been designated as a movie folder, the following options are available:
{|
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[[image:Context.library.myvideos.movies.jpg]]
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; Queue Item
: Adds the item to the [[Now Playing]] playlist.
; Add to Favourites
: Adds the item to your [[Favourites]] menu.
; Movie / TV Show Information
: Shows the relevant information, gathered through [[How To use Scrapers|scrapers]], such as the [[IMDB|IMDb]] or [[TV Shows]] info on the selected file.
; Mark as Watched
: Changes the video status to watched, see above.
; Edit Title
: Changes the name of the item within the Library.
; Remove From Library
: Removes the selected item from the [[The XBMC Database|video database]].
; Update Library
: Checks if files in the Library have been changed, added or removed, modifies the database accordingly and runs a cleaning routine. Adds missing media to the database.
; Go to Root
: Takes you to the Video Library root.
; Now Playing...
: Takes you to the [[Now Playing]] screen that shows what is currently playing and what the next queued files are.
; Settings
: Opens the [[Videos Settings]] menu.<br>
|}
|}


;Other possible menu items
; Play
: Plays the selected file, resumes a video from the last stopped position.
==Remote browsing==
To be able to browse the Video Library outside the GUI, like through [[The Web Interface]], you'll currently have to add a special [[Types of  Media Sources#Video_Library|videodb:// source]], which will show up as 'Library' under Videos in the web interface.
==Video Library Settings and Maintenance==
The main Video Library settings can be accessed from the [[Videos_Settings#Library|Library]] tab in [[Videos Settings]]. Those can be accessed either from the [[Settings]] menu from the home screen, or via the context menu as seen above.
===Keeping your Library up to date===
The '''Update library on startup''' and '''Always update library in background''' library settings can in conjunction be used to scan your sources for new files for inclusion in the library in the background at each XBMC start.
'''NOTE!''' If sources are unavailable during library update, everything on them will be removed from the library. You can avoid this with the <cleanonupdate> advancedsettings tag (see below).
===advancedsettings.xml===
Some settings can only be altered through the [[advancedsettings.xml#<videolibrary>|advancedsettings.xml]] file, such as settings affecting the "All" and "Recently Added" database nodes.
===Removing Entire Folders from the Library===
You can remove the contents of entire folders from the library by setting content to <None> as described in the [[How To use Scrapers]] section.


===Clean Video Library===
{{updated|20}}
Cleaning up the Video Library (removing invalid entries and compressing) can be done via the [[User Interface Settings]], in the [[Videos Settings]] with the Clean Library option.


[[category:Usage]]
[[Category:Karellen]]
[[category:Scraper]]
[[Category:Video library]]
[[category:Library]]
[[category:Video Library]]

Latest revision as of 07:39, 8 February 2023

Home icon grey.png   ▶ Video library


Video.png
 Create your Video Library

Kodi has the ability to create separate Movie, TV Show and Music Video libraries that can display your collections in an Artwork and information rich display. Follow these pages to step through the creation of your libraries.

Book icon 1.png
 Video Library Management

Now that you have your library setup and have become confident with using Kodi, you can start experimenting with modifying your library so it better suits your preferences.

This page will guide you to other wiki pages that are commonly used to modify the library.

Oxygen480-actions-media-playback-start.png
 Video Playback Controls

A guide that describes the player controls, how to access on-screen displays, adjust settings for video, audio, subtitles and more.

Video.png
 Artwork

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.

Video.png
 Add & Remove Content from Library

Details the various methods to Add new items to the library, Refresh items with new metadata, Remove titles and Exclude files and folders from scanning

Video.png
 Backup

Like all technology, disaster can strike at any time, either due to a hardware failure, operating system crash which has corrupted Kodi data, or unexpected results from the use of a nightly or development build of Kodi. For these reasons, backups of Kodi are essential to enable you to quickly rebuild your setup.

Language globe icon.png
 Scrapers

Scrapers are used to contact online information providers to download metadata for video and music items to be added to the library.
Contains information on how to install and use scrapers

Video.png
 NFO files

NFO files are used to populate the music and video library using locally stored information. They are helpful if data for your particular title does not exist, such as for home movies and sporting events. A Parsing and Combination NFO file can be used to control the search behaviour of scrapers when problematic and ambiguous titles prevent your preferred title from being scraped.

Video.png
 Export Library

Kodi has the option to Export and Import the library databases. These options may be used for a number of reasons including the following more popular ones:

  • Perform database backup and recovery
  • Reorganization of data or eliminate database fragmentation (export, clean/remove database, re-import)
  • Move data between Kodi databases on different platforms (eg Widows to Linux)
Video.png
 Index of All Video Library Articles

Can't find what you are looking for? Browse the list of all Video Library wiki pages.


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