[jshs2020]

Hello,
Merry Christmas to all.

In v18 of Kodi if I created a set artwork for that set appears to be taken from the first movie added to the set. Or perhaps some other strategy, but the point is I never had to manually download a poster, or setup artwork folders or anything else.

From v19 of Kodi that functionality is no longer present.

Is there a way to replicate the v18 behavior in v20? Such that a post will be added for manually created set, without me having to manually find, download and store the image?

[PatK]

Set artwork is a function of the settings in the 'scraper' (collection Artwork in the universal scraper) when scanned and is independent of the iteration of Kodi. I do recommend you create a Movie Set information folder for ease of use and manipulation of set images.

[jshs2020]

Please forgive my ignorance. I'm not understanding.

When there is a collection that is recognized the artwork for that collection seems to be applied to the collection.

I'm differentiating between sets and collections. A set is a number of movies that the information provider has categorized as part of a collection, and a set is a collection I manually create.

If I manually create a set (by adding a movie to a set), does Kodi do a scrape? It doesn't appear to be doing a scrape, and it's pretty darn quick if it is. But then, I have no idea what's going on behind the scenes.

What I've noticed, is (and I could be wrong here), is that the first movie I add to the new set, (when creating the set), the poster for the movie that I used becomes the poster for that set.

Probably going to be way above my head anyway.

I've tried different scrapers and I still get no artwork. So did something change in the scrapers that altered the behavior to no longer download artwork when creating a set manually in v19?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the bottom line of what you are saying seems to be that I have to create a movie set information folder and manually locate and download the artwork for each set I create?
And if I'm starting from scratch, I have a thousand images to download and add to my sets. If I have the images already then I need to manage/choose art/select the image?

[Karellen]

by adding a movie to a set

To add a movie to a set, it already needs to be in your library, so it has already been scraped or scanned with nfo files. Which one did you do?

m differentiating between sets and collections

They are both the same thing. Different countries use different terminology.

What I've noticed, is (and I could be wrong here), is that the first movie I add to the new set, (when creating the set), the poster for the movie that I used becomes the poster for that set.

Yes, that is expected.
If you are creating your own sets, it means they don't exist at the scraper site. Where do you think the artwork should be coming from?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the bottom line of what you are saying seems to be that I have to create a movie set information folder and manually locate and download the artwork for each set I create?

You are not wrong. Read here... https://kodi.wiki/view/Movie_set_information_folder
I guess I must be missing something here. You create your own sets, but are upset because Kodi is not providing the artwork? Again, where does artwork for non-existent sets meant to come from?

[scott967]

AFAIK, when you scrape a movie, the scraper will return any set/collection membership associated with that movie (that the site provides) and any set art/overview (in the case of movie data nfo, whatever set info is contained in the movie nfo).  There's no scraper to scrape based on set/collection name, nor is there any local nfo for it.  But Kodi currently will also search a set info folder (if setting selected) during a scan when a movie scrape finds set membership for the movie.    Some skins supported addon script.skin.info.service or other skin helpers that could provide set art and details.  Since current Kodi you can add local art and use the <i>info dialog or context menu which provides a button for managing set art.

You might be interested in open PR 24131 (PR) which adds some new scanning capability for local set art.

scott s.
.

[jshs2020]

I'm not upset. And I'm not complaining.

I understand that in v18 the artwork comes from the first movie added to the set. This is a good thing. I love that about v18.

From v19 and later this doesn't happen. It doesn't use the artwork from the first movie added to the new set, or any other movie subsequently added to the set.

Every movie I purchase is ripped to my hard disk. I often end up with movies of different resolutions. So, lets take Greenland for example, there is only one movie, so there is no collection.

When I "scraped" Greenland the artwork was downloaded. Cool.

So I manually create a set for it, and in v18 Kodi used the artwork from the movie that I added as the set poster. This is awesome. Then I created a .disc for the bluray, and added it to the set. All good.
Two movies, each with their respective artwork, and at the root of the library I see the set with the artwork from the first movie I added to that set. Life if beautiful

I did the same thing in v20.2. But Kodi did not use the artwork from the movie I added to the set, or the .disc file. I had to manually download the artwork.

So, to answer the question "Where do you think Kodi is going to get the artwork....". From the movie that I add to the set, as it does in v18.

I'm sorry if I'm not explaining myself clearly.

[jshs2020]

Sorry, I missed your first question: "Which one did you do?".

I add the movie to the folder. Just the MKV

I run Kodi which is set to auto update library on start up. It scrapes and adds the movie.

Now it's in my library I right click, Manage, create movie set, and in v18 I get the poster that is linked to the movie as the poster for the set.

In v20.2 I get nothing but a blank poster.

[Karellen]

I did the same thing in v20.2. But Kodi did not use the artwork from the movie I added to the set, or the .disc file. I had to manually download the artwork.

Hmm, ok. Let me look into it. I will test on a couple of sets. If I don't respond in a few days (it's a bit busy at the moment) remind me.

Now that I understand what you are doing, which is to use Sets to group the different versions of the same movie, then I should make you aware of the new Movie Versions feature that has been created for this exact reason.
It is in v21 Beta 2. It's still in development, but you can probably start playing around with it.

[jshs2020]

I'll see if I can get time to look into v21. I'm about to move house so things are hectic here too, and very messy

thanks for your help.

merry xmas

[jshs2020]

@Karellan, were you able to replicate the issue I am having?

[Karellen]

were you able to replicate the issue I am having

I just tested it.
In v18.9 I added a movie.
Context Menu>Manage>Manage Movie Set
Added the movie to a new set.
Exited Kodi, then went back in, found the new movie set and poster and fanart for the movie set were added from the movie.

Reading the original PR that added the MSIF function in v19, it sounds like what you are experiencing is expected for v19 and later.
Second paragraph under motivation and context... https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/16970

Unfortunately, you will need to create the MSIF folder.
Is it an inconvenience? Depends who you ask. I don't think it is, others do. But once you do the initial setup (create the MSIF parent folder, point the Kodi setting to that folder) really it's a less than 1 minute inconvenience. Create a folder, copy two files across.

[jshs2020]

Reading the original PR that added the MSIF function in v19, it sounds like what you are experiencing is expected for v19 and later.
Second paragraph under motivation and context... https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/16970

Unfortunately, you will need to create the MSIF folder.
Is it an inconvenience? Depends who you ask. I don't think it is, others do. But once you do the initial setup (create the MSIF parent folder, point the Kodi setting to that folder) really it's a less than 1 minute inconvenience. Create a folder, copy two files across.

If All I have to do is what you say, that's hardly an inconvenience.
What are the two files? The poster and...?

If I have to manually download 1,000 images and manually link them to the set, and do that every time I create a set. Well, that would be an inconvenience.

I was thinking about this over Christmas. It doesn't only happen when I have multiple versions of the same movie. For example, Overboard. The original was in 1986, a remake in 2018. I created a set for them, and they are two very different movies.

[Karellen]

If All I have to do is what you say, that's hardly an inconvenience.
What are the two files? The poster and...?

Yep, that is all it is. Follow Create Your MSIF and Set MSIF sections shown here... https://kodi.wiki/view/Movie_set_information_folder
Once that is set up. It is simply a matter of creating your sub-folder eg "Overboard Collection" and copying the artwork across. - poster.jpg and fanart.jpg should be your minimum, but you can also add banner, landscape, discart, clearart, clearlogo also. Depends on which skin you are using and how nice you want it to look.

If I have to manually download 1,000 images and manually link them to the set

Yep, definitely agree with you. If you already have 500 sets, then it will be a problem.

BUT.... what you are using Sets/Collections for is no longer needed. In v21 you can use the new Video Versions feature which deals with your use of different versions of the same movie.
https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/14972

Sure, but for the same movie with different versions, you can use the Video Versions feature, and remakes you can continue to use Sets or there is nothing stopping you from using the Video Versions for remakes.

[jshs2020]

I've finally finished moving house and am going to set up this MSIF stuff.

I was reading the wiki and a couple of questions come to mind.

My content is on a networked PC. My sources are set up using smb://111.222.333.444\Movies (eg)

It says don't put the MSIF inside a source location but somewhere that Kodi can access.
If Kodi is installed on 3 PCs, rather than have 3 MSIF's (one on each PC for each Kodi install), can I put it on a shared drive that all PCs can access?

While I was reading the various wikis I saw that I could set this up using MySQL. That sounds like a better idea than having 3 separate libraries.
Does using MySQL change anything in terms of MSIF location?

[Karellen]

If Kodi is installed on 3 PCs, rather than have 3 MSIF's (one on each PC for each Kodi install), can I put it on a shared drive that all PCs can access?

Yes

Does using MySQL change anything in terms of MSIF location?

I'm not a MySQL user, but I don't think it changes anything.