Video management: Difference between revisions

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===Naming files===
===Naming files===
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Revision as of 20:22, 5 February 2014

Home icon grey.png   ▶ General topics ▶ Videos ▶ Video management

Topics related to video library management. See Adding videos to the library for just the basic topics on adding videos.

Preparing files

To use your video files with "metadata" like summaries, cast info, DVD covers, thumbnails, and more, you need to add those video files to the video library.

There are a couple of important parts to getting things imported into your XBMC library. First, the metadata for the video file should exist someplace (the metadata are things like the title of the show, the plot description, the season and episode number if the video file happens to be an episode of a TV series, the actors, the director, cover art and episode art, etc.) The second part is naming the video files so the file gets matched up with the metadata available online.

XBMC uses plugins called scrapers to pull information from a video file and coordinate it with a source of metadata available someplace on the internet. For a TV show the scraper basically looks for the show name, season number, and episode number. The default scrapers look at TheTVDB.com (for TV shows) and TheMovieDB.org (for Movies).

If some video file is not scraping properly, the first step is to go to the website of the scraper you are using on that source and see if the video is already listed there. If you can't find an entry on one of those two sites for the video you're interested in, you can hunt for different scrapers which search other websites for metadata (and go through the same process of making sure your show is listed there, then naming the video files to match). Alternatively, you can create new entries on those sites with some basic information about your show, and then let the scrapers do their work. This is nice, because it means that other people will benefit from your work, and may contribute additional information about the show over time. Adding info to a site like TheTVDB.org is easy, but make sure you read the site rules before you start adding.

If none of that works, you can create .nfo files for each video by hand so that XBMC will bypass the normal looking online for information about your show. This is the least attractive option, though. It's a lot of work, and it doesn't benefit anyone else the way creating entries on the metadata sites does.

Naming files


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.


Adding media sources

Video library/Adding media sources

Media sources


  • Media stubs -
  • If you have a collection of DVD's and Bluray disks but do not want to rip them to a hard drive, then a Media Stub File allows you to add the collection of disks to the Kodi Video Library.
  • It is a simple text based file that is added to your Source in exactly the same way as any other Movie or TV Show, which is then scanned or scraped into the library.
Internet streams
Various internet video and audio streams can be played back in Kodi as if they were locally stored on your media center by using STRM files. As long as the format and streaming-method (network-protocol) is supported by Kodi, stream can be added. These are basic text files that look like <name>.strm and contain a URL to the internet stream. STRM files can also be added to the video library and can have cover art, summaries, etc.

Some internet sites may have an add-on available that can also access these media streams, rather than having to manually create STRM files. See Add-ons for more information on how to find and install add-ons.


Setting content and scanning

Video library/Setting content and scanning

Maintenance

Incorrect and missing content

Video library/Incorrect and missing content

Home videos/custom videos

Video library/Home videos/custom videos

Updating or removing videos

Video library/Updating or removing videos

Grouping media

File stacking


Movie sets
A Movie Set is a collection of related films that are part of the same fictional universe. The scraper sites include artwork and metadata for Movie Sets which is scraped by Kodi and creates the Movie Set in your library. Movie sets are versatile and can be easily edited to suit your own needs.


Video library tags
Video library tags, aka Tags or Keywords, can be used to further sort and organise your library into meaningful lists. Sites such as IMDB and TheMovieDB use Keywords to describe themes, plot details or character types to group and easily locate similar titles. They are generally different to the genre.


How to separate the library (cartoons, documentaries, anime, etc)

It is possible to create additional Main Menu items that appear on the default Main Menu. For example, adding Home Movies, Kids Movies, Sports, Documentaries and other menu items. Kodi can already filter and separate library items using a number of methods. Combined with a skin that supports Custom Home Items, the library and main menu can be laid out to meet your requirements.

Playlists

The Basic Playlist is a user created list of music or video that does not require a correctly scraped library as it uses the folder paths to the media files. As the playlist is based on paths, different classes of media can be mixed, like movies and episodes. The list can be created within Kodi or transferred from another media player.

Linking movies to TV shows


Custom video nodes
Video nodes are defined views that are used to organize your media from the videos menu. Title, Director, Year, Studios, Countries, Genres are examples of Nodes. These Nodes can be customised using an XML file which gives flexibility in how you display your media. Custom nodes will work with any skin, but for ease of use a compatible skin is preferred.


Alternative guides

Video guides


See also