[schmoppa]

Hi All,

I am testing out XBMC. I had been using Boxee for Windows, and now I have a newly-built hackintosh and I'd like to see if XBMC is for me. So far I like how customizable it appears to be.

One oddness, however, is when I am in the main nav, and I click into a category (say, TV), I get a modal that essentially is asking me to select a directory. In the Boxee world, clicking on TV brought me to a screen with large thumbnails representing TV series, which is the behavior I'd like.

Is there a way to have this work for me? I'm new at XBMC so it's possible, hopefully, that I just haven't stumbled across the method to accomplish this.

Thanks!

[Ned Scott]

Adding videos to the library (wiki)

[Hitcher]

The TV selection shouldn't even be visible if there's no TV shows in the library.

[schmoppa]

I added a source via the method Ned linked (I'm pretty sure I had already done this, as the same source showed up with a (2) after it. And I classified the directory's contents as "TV". I did this under the Videos menu option, which is a little confusing if I want it to show up under TV shows. What's the point of videos, movies, and tv shows? Aren't movies and tv shows just videos? Or is "videos" meant for things like home-shot videos?


Anyway, I have the source linked, classified as TV, and still when I select TV shows, I get that file explorer menu. I can navigate to the directory with my TV shows, but that doesn't seem to be the right behavior.

[schmoppa]

let me rephrase. I have added a source (via the videos menu...) for TV shows. I want those TV series to show up, not a file explorer menu, when I select TV shows. What am I doing wrong?

[Hitcher]

Not setting a scraper to get the info.

[artrafael]

What's the point of videos, movies, and tv shows? Aren't movies and tv shows just videos? Or is "videos" meant for things like home-shot videos?

VIDEOS is a superset of MOVIES and TV SHOWS. It also gives you access to Video Add-ons, Playlists and the Files view. The VIDEOS option is enabled by default, even if you don't use the library. When you use the appropriate scrapers to add your media files to the library, options for MOVIES and/or TV SHOWS will be added to your menu. These options allow you to directly access your movies and TV shows without having to drill down the VIDEOS menu option. Skins, such the default one, may provide options to hide one or more of these menu options. For example, you may have movies and TV shows, but not video add-ons, in which case, you may choose to hide the VIDEOS option from the homepage and just use the MOVIES and TV SHOWS options. Conversely, you can hide the MOVIES and TV SHOWS options and simply use the VIDEOS option to access all your video content (since it is the superset, you have access to movies, TV shows, add-ons, files, add-ons).

However, in order to get your stuff into the library (so you'll have the MOVIES and/or TV SHOWS options), you must not only designate your media source location to XBMC (which you've already done), but you must also properly name your media files and assign the appropriate scraper to be used for the given media content type. How to do this is explained in the link Ned Scott provided in post #2.

[schmoppa]

Thank you for your responses! It is much appreciated.

2 things I'm noticing.

1. Even with all sources removed, I still see the TV Shows and Movies nav items. From what I've read I shouldn't be seeing them?

2. I added a source for TV Shows. I selected the content type, and a scraper.
Then I added a source for Movies. A different directory. This action seemed to overwrite what I had done for TV -- no more source configured for the TV shows, though the movie directory I had just set up showed up under TV Shows.

Incidentally, only 1 show was able to be scraped. I had been trusting the naming convention that NZBmatrix uses, but I'll have to dig into the naming conventions more. Or just install SortTV. http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=75949

[artrafael]

1. Even with all sources removed, I still see the TV Shows and Movies nav items. From what I've read I shouldn't be seeing them?

If you've already scanned items into the library, even if you subsequently remove the source, the previously added movies/TV shows remain in the library unless you had selected the option to remove them from the library when you deleted the source. If library entries exist for movies and TV shows, then the homepage menu items MOVIES and TV SHOWS will remain.

2. I added a source for TV Shows. I selected the content type, and a scraper.
Then I added a source for Movies. A different directory. This action seemed to overwrite what I had done for TV -- no more source configured for the TV shows, though the movie directory I had just set up showed up under TV Shows.

Did you specify a different scraper type for movies than for TV shows? You need to define two separate sources: the directory for your movie files and the directory for your TV shows. For the movie directory, you need to specify a movie scraper (e.g., TMDB); for the TV shows directory, you need to specify a TV show scraper (e.g., TVDB). If you used the TV scraper on the movies directory, then XBMC would treat those items as TV shows rather than as movies.

Incidentally, only 1 show was able to be scraped. I had been trusting the naming convention that NZBmatrix uses, but I'll have to dig into the naming conventions more. Or just install SortTV. http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=75949

If you organize and name your TV show files correctly, you probably won't need to use any of these other tools to allow your shows to be correctly scanned into the library. See this wiki page regarding proper naming conventions: http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Add...ming_files

[schmoppa]

Just a quick update, I am now using the Aeon Nox skin, and it provided the means of creating two sets of movies and tv show menu items, as well as hiding items in the main navigation I did not want. Works great, though I am seeing a few odd issues (display related) that I will be trying to address in the next few days here.