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Gweilojake · 2016-02-27, 08:44

I am unable to scan a video collection (The Psychedelic Furs - All Of This and Nothing (1988)) into my Movie Collection. I have attempted to scan as a music video, a movie and a TV show and attempted to change titles, folder location and settings. However, it will not appear. The content (as expected) does not appear in scrapers (it is a burn from a 1988 VHS).

The file The Psychedelic Furs - All Of This and Nothing (1988).iso and the folder is The Psychedelic Furs - All Of This and Nothing (1988).

KODI can detect ISO files, correct? Am I missing something? I admit, I am a novice, but I have been able to load rather elusive, enigmatic content that did not appear in scrapers on numerous occasions.
Nevertheless, I am likely missing something very simple.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

TRaSH · 2016-02-27, 11:02

Which scraper are you trying to use ?
I checked imdb.com and themoviedb.org and I can't find it there.
If it's not on the sites the scraper uses it won't be found.

Redwingsfansfc · 2016-02-27, 15:53

You will probably have to create an nfo file:
http://kodi.wiki/view/NFO_files

BatterPudding · (This post was last modified: 2016-04-10, 12:37 by BatterPudding.)

Yeah... you are in the world of totally hand rolled answers here.

Firstly - settle on a file name. If it was me I'd also include VHS in the filename.

The Psychedelic Furs - All Of This and Nothing.VHS.mkv

Any artwork you want you save as:
The Psychedelic Furs - All Of This and Nothing.VHS-thumb.jpg
The Psychedelic Furs - All Of This and Nothing.VHS-poster.jpg
The Psychedelic Furs - All Of This and Nothing.VHS-fanart.jpg
http://kodi.wiki/view/Artwork

A text file saved with this in it called
The Psychedelic Furs - All Of This and Nothing.VHS.NFO

Code:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>

    <musicvideo>

        <title>All Of This and Nothing</title>

        <artist>The Psychedelic Furs</artist>

        <album>Live in Concert</album>

        <genre>Rock</genre>

        <runtime>123:00</runtime>

        <plot>Something or other inserted in here</plot>

        <year>1988</year>

        <director>in the credits</director>

        <studio>also in the credits</studio>

        <track>1</track>

    </musicvideo>

There are other fields you can add to the NFO file. Just follow the link redwingsfansfc has posted above.

Edit: Whoops - spotted an error in that example... now corrected

Gweilojake · 2016-03-21, 09:04

Thank you for the reply. I suppose the NFO files are the only solution. I seem to be having trouble with my usual end run solution, which is simply applying generic names that can be scraped and ingested into the movie folder, whereupon I rename and add new thumbnails and fanart after the fact.

Since I have upgraded to Jarvis, I cannot seem to do this workaround. I was attempted to load a batch of MP4 music videos in collection...all with standard naming protocols....nope....will not ingest.

Thanks....Hope KODI will offer a simple solutions for people who want to create movies or TV shows from let's say, family vacations, etc.

Gweilojake · 2016-04-09, 06:57

Well...created an NFO file associated with a movie (a recent concert recording, so it would not normally appear in any scraper database).

The file name is:
Near Earth Orbit - Transmission Received.mp4
Folder name: Near Earth Orbit - Transmission Received
NFO file (created with Cool Beans): Near Earth Orbit - Transmission Received.nfo

The NFO file is as follows:
*******************************************************************************
Near Earth Orbit - Transmission Received
*******************************************************************************

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
General Information
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Type.................: Movie
Platform.............: Windows 9x/ME/2000
Image type...........: CD Rip

Video Format.........: MPEG4
Video Bitrate........: 364
Resolution...........: 1280x720
Color................: 24 bit
Source...............: YouTube
Genre................: Science Fiction

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Post Information
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted by............: Jake Rubin

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Release Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Berlin - 27-03-2016
We're not meant to save this world.
We're meant to leave it.

We are the Alpha and the Omega,
the First and the Last,
the Beginning and the End.

WRITTEN AND PERFORMED HERE AND BEYOND BY
ASHLEY DAYOUR, ARTAUD SETH & JAWA SETH

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Install Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Berlin - 27-03-2016
We're not meant to save this world.
We're meant to leave it.

We are the Alpha and the Omega,
the First and the Last,
the Beginning and the End.

WRITTEN AND PERFORMED HERE AND BEYOND BY
ASHLEY DAYOUR, ARTAUD SETH & JAWA SETH

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Generated with Cool NFO Creator - http://fly.to/coolbeans
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I then proceeded to Videos - Files
"add videos:
"add video source"
(choose the file folder "Near Earth Orbit - Transmission Received"
(Movies)
Then, for "Choose a scraper" choose "Local Information Only"
De-select "Scan Recursively" (it's a single movie in the folder)

Proceed to "Videos"
Scan for New Content"

Now, at this point, the movie should appear in Movies, correct? Nothing....

Is something missing from the NFO file? Am I missing a step?

Thanks!!! Jake

Gweilojake · 2016-04-09, 07:08

I then altered the format, using an existing movie NFO template that does work....still not scanning in....

.....................................................
..:+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++:..
..:+++Near Earth Orbit - Transmission Received++++:..
..:+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++:..
.....................................................

Plot.
Berlin - 27-03-2016
We're not meant to save this world.
We're meant to leave it.

We are the Alpha and the Omega,
the First and the Last,
the Beginning and the End.

WRITTEN AND PERFORMED HERE AND BEYOND BY
ASHLEY DAYOUR, ARTAUD SETH & JAWA SETH

Stars.
=>-Artaud Seth.
=>-Ashley Dayour.
=>-Jawa Seth.

Director.
=>-Jake Rubin.

Info.
=>-Genre......................: Drama : Sci-Fi : Fantasy.
=>-Release Date...............: Screened 2016 : Release 2016.
=>-Language...................: English.
=>-File Size..................: 499 Mb.
=>-Overall bit rate...........: 1 487 Kbps.
=>-Movie Runtime..............: 46mn.

Video.
=>-Codec......................: H.264/MPEG-4 AVC.
=>-Aspect Ratio...............: 16:9.
=>-Resolution.................: 1280 x 720.
=>-Bit rate...................: 1 487 Kbps.

Audio English.
=>-Codec......................: mp4a: MPEG-4 AAC LC.
=>-Channels...................: 2 channel Stereo.
=>-Bit Rate...................: 128 Kbps.
=>-Maximum bit rate...........: 303 Kbps.

BatterPudding · 2016-04-09, 10:49

That is not an NFO file. They look like the messy things that appear in Torrents.

This is an NFO File: http://kodi.wiki/view/NFO_files/Movies

A page all about how to create them, laid out in proper XML.

There are programs like "Media Companion" that will create them, but for an odd film or two it is quicker to use Notepad

Gweilojake · 2016-04-09, 11:42

I attempted a simple NFO file, as it appears in the earlier post in this thread. I had used Cool Beans as suggested in a Kodi YouTube tutorial....didn't work. So, I decided to repurpose an NFO that DID successfully ingest....the "torrentesque" messy format you noted. It seemed that if the format is valid, substituting values, names should produce a similar result. I've seen posts suggesting very simple [without XML format] NFO files like the initial one I provided in this thread, using NFO file generators, etc. Like CoolBeans and notepad.

BatterPudding · 2016-04-09, 12:01

I don't know what YouTube videos they are. Some weird advice out there. I just go by the KODI FAQ as it is maintained by the KODI Devs and describes what is really required. Personally never seen any reference to any other style of NFO file.

Maybe there is an alternate switch in that Coolbeans thing to create an NFO in a more compliant format?

Give me 20mins or so and I'll be back with an example....

BatterPudding · (This post was last modified: 2016-04-09, 12:33 by BatterPudding.)

For your example film above, try this.....

Code:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>

<movie>

    <title>Near Earth Orbit - Transmission Received</title>

    <originaltitle>Near Earth Orbit - Transmission Received</originaltitle>

    <sorttitle>Near Earth Orbit - Transmission Received</sorttitle>

    <set></set>

    <rating></rating>

    <year>2016</year>

    <top250></top250>

    <votes></votes>

    <outline>Berlin - 27-03-2016 We're not meant to save this world.</outline>

    <plot>Berlin - 27-03-2016 We're not meant to save this world.  We're meant to leave it.  We are the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.</plot>

    <tagline></tagline>

    <runtime>46</runtime> //runtime in minutes

    <thumb></thumb>

    <mpaa></mpaa>

    <id></id>

    <filenameandpath></filenameandpath>

    <trailer></trailer>

    <genre>Drama</genre>

    <genre>Sci-Fi</genre>

    <genre>Fantasy</genre>

    <credits>Artaud Seth, Ashley Dayour, Jawa Seth.</credits>

    <fileinfo>

        <streamdetails> <!-- While it is possible to manually set the information contained within the "streamdetails" tag,there is little point in doing so, as the software will always overwrite this data when it plays back the video file. In other words, no matter how many times you try to manually set it, it will be undone the moment the video is played.-->

        </streamdetails>

    </fileinfo>

    <director>Jake Rubin</director>

    <actor>

        <name>Artaud Seth</name>

        <role>Someone</role>

    </actor>

    <actor>

        <name>Ashley Dayour</name>

        <role>Someone else</role>

    </actor>

    <actor>

        <name>Jawa Seth</name>

        <role>That other guy</role>

    </actor>

</movie>

I threw that together by hand in Notepad++ . I have checked this in my own KODI and it looks fine

If your film is called "Near Earth Orbit.mkv" then name this NFO as "Near Earth Orbit.nfo" And sort the artwork out in a similar way with "Near Earth Orbit.jpg" "Near Earth Orbit-thumb.jpg" and so on....

Here is another example, direct from my library:

Code:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>

<movie>

  <fileinfo>

    <streamdetails>

      <video>

        <width>320</width>

        <height>240</height>

        <aspect>4.00</aspect>

        <codec>h264</codec>

        <format>avc1</format>

        <durationinseconds>4646</durationinseconds>

        <bitrate>512 Kbps</bitrate>

        <container>.mp4</container>

        <scantype>Progressive</scantype>

      </video>

      <audio>

        <codec>AAC</codec>

        <channels>2</channels>

        <bitrate>64.2 Kbps</bitrate>

      </audio>

    </streamdetails>

  </fileinfo>

  <title>The Charlie Chaplin Festival</title>

  <originaltitle>The Charlie Chaplin Festival</originaltitle>

  <alternativetitle>Lachen verboten</alternativetitle>

  <alternativetitle>Lachen verboten</alternativetitle>

  <alternativetitle>Chaplin vender tilbage</alternativetitle>

  <alternativetitle>Festival Charlot</alternativetitle>

  <alternativetitle>Lachen verboten</alternativetitle>

  <sorttitle>The Charlie Chaplin Festival</sorttitle>

  <year>1941</year>

  <premiered>1941-04-01</premiered>

  <rating>7.2</rating>

  <votes>152</votes>

  <top250>0</top250>

  <outline>Four Chaplin shorts from 1917: The Adventurer, The Cure, Easy Street and The Immigrant, presented with music and sound effects.</outline>

  <plot>Four Chaplin shorts from 1917: The Adventurer, The Cure, Easy Street and The Immigrant, presented with music and sound effects.</plot>

  <tagline>

  </tagline>

  <country>USA</country>

  <fanart url="" />

  <runtime>96 min</runtime>

  <mpaa>

  </mpaa>

  <genre>Comedy</genre>

  <credits>Charles Chaplin</credits>

  <director>Charles Chaplin</director>

  <studio>

  </studio>

  <playcount>0</playcount>

  <lastplayed>

  </lastplayed>

  <id>tt0284688</id>

  <createdate>20150103162752</createdate>

  <stars>Charles Chaplin, Albert Austin, Lloyd Bacon</stars>

  <actor>

    <id>0000122</id>

    <name>Charles Chaplin</name>

    <role>Various Roles</role>

    <thumb>http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BNDcwMDc0ODAzOF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNTY2OTI1MDE@._V1._SY400_SX300_.jpg</thumb>

  </actor>

  <actor>

    <id>0042317</id>

    <name>Albert Austin</name>

    <role>Various Roles</role>

    <thumb>

    </thumb>

  </actor>

  <actor>

    <id>0045800</id>

    <name>Lloyd Bacon</name>

    <role>Various Roles</role>

    <thumb>

    </thumb>

  </actor>

  <actor>

    <id>0074788</id>

    <name>Henry Bergman</name>

    <role>Various Roles</role>

    <thumb>

    </thumb>

  </actor>

  <actor>

    <id>0102901</id>

    <name>Kitty Bradbury</name>

    <role>Various Roles</role>

    <thumb>

    </thumb>

  </actor>

  <actor>

    <id>0132444</id>

    <name>Eric Campbell</name>

    <role>Various Roles</role>

    <thumb>

    </thumb>

  </actor>

  <actor>

    <id>0171035</id>

    <name>Frank J. Coleman</name>

    <role>Various Roles</role>

    <thumb>

    </thumb>

  </actor>

  <actor>

    <id>0465231</id>

    <name>Toraichi Kono</name>

    <role>Various Roles</role>

    <thumb>

    </thumb>

  </actor>

  <actor>

    <id>0701012</id>

    <name>Edna Purviance</name>

    <role>Various Roles</role>

    <thumb>http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTgzMTI2MTcwNV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMjY4NjYxOA@@._V1._SY400_SX300_.jpg</thumb>

  </actor>

</movie>

This was made by the Internet Movie Archive. The notes in the KODI FAQ point out that <streamdetails> are a bit pointless in an NFO as they will get ignored in favour of the actual file itself.

These do work. And between them they let you see how you create the missing descriptions for your personal movies. They have to be in a computer readable format. The NFO examples you were creating were making human readable text files.

Do read the comments on the NFO WIKI page. And the comments from within the example code on that page.

Gweilojake · 2016-04-09, 12:22

Much appreciated....I should simply make the effort to create an XML format nfo file....the examples on the Kodi wiki pages were a bit ambiguous. Thanks, again. ....

BatterPudding · (This post was last modified: 2016-04-09, 12:41 by BatterPudding.)

(2016-04-09, 12:22)Gweilojake Wrote: Much appreciated....I should simply make the effort to create an XML format nfo file....the examples on the Kodi wiki pages were a bit ambiguous. Thanks, again. ....

Have a look at what I have now done in my example above. Notice how I have just ignored some tags. I could have deleted these from the text file to be neater.

Notice how each tags open and closes. They must be there as a pair or removed totally.

Also notice that the very first line of the file has that XML description bit. Tells the computer what the file is.

I put the Chaplain example in so you can see how to handle actors and artwork better. This you can also put local paths in for the actor artwork letting you make up your own local actor image store for your home movies.

I would certainly get hold of notepad++ ( https://notepad-plus-plus.org/ ) as that makes editing them easier.

Get hacking and chopping and experimenting. Making a few errors as you go along will mean you learn more. Smile

Feel free to post any XML examples up here that you are having problems with and I'll see if I can help.

I don't pretend to be an expert, more a Happy Hacker. KODI has so many options I'm still learning Cool

Maybe the Wiki will make more sense now you have specific examples http://kodi.wiki/view/NFO_files/Movies

Gweilojake · 2016-04-09, 21:40

Thanks so much! Yes...it is certainly more technical than I had hoped, but with your example, I believe I can toy around, simply transpose some values, and eventually get the hang of it. I really appreciate the patient and detailed explanation of the process.

BatterPudding · 2016-04-10, 10:26

(2016-04-09, 21:40)Gweilojake Wrote: Thanks so much! Yes...it is certainly more technical than I had hoped, but with your example, I believe I can toy around, simply transpose some values, and eventually get the hang of it. I really appreciate the patient and detailed explanation of the process.

That's the best way - take my example and hack it around a bit. Even better, go back to that full template as fields like <id></id> are handy for pointing in to IMDB when the scraper doesn't get it right.

I'm glad to help. There is a lot to take on with KODI the first time. But a little patience here and there and you end up with a media centre totally under *your* control.

If you get any troublesome NFO files just post 'em back up here and I'll help debug them for you.