[j2mediabox]

Hi,
I hope this has not been covered elsewhere, if so.. point me to it.

As many have, I too have spent a lot of time nameing and creating my video library with moviename.tbn, moviename.nfo, moviname-fanart.jpg.

A couple of things i would like to know about.

If i do not set a scraper will xbmc still add the fanart and nfo?

Another thing... since i have many movies in multiple directories it sure would be nice to be able to just drop all my .nfo, .tbn, .farart.jpg into one single directory and have xbmc grab it from there.

i.e.
move directories:
\\movie_server\movie_vol1\movie1.iso
\\movie_server\move_vol2\movie2.iso

farnart-tbn-nfo directory:
\\movie_server\DATA

so, when i add a new movie i can add it to any volume that has space and not worry if i have the .nfo, .tbn, fanart.jpg yet. and when i get it i can add it to the single directory for arnart-tbn-nfo and as long as its named the same as my moviename.iso it will pick it up.

this is beneficial since from time to time i change my thumbs and fan art. i would not have to go searching through my server to find the appropriate share to drop the files...

Hope i make sense.
is something like this possible?

thanks.

[Waffa]

No, the info needs to be with the movie file.
And, yes you do have to scrape to see the fanart and .nfo
But did you really created those files by hand ? That was a lot of work !!

Maybe you should try an external scraper, they will do all the work for you and place the files aut. in the movie folder.
Media Companion
Media Info Plus (Movie Info Plus)

[j2mediabox]

Oh, sorry, didnt mean to have you think i did it by hand. I did look up each movie on imdb and name them for freindly scraping with moviename (YYYY).iso.

i was afraid that scaping would have to happen.

I have been using media companion in conjunction with other sites for covers like http://www.nicecovers.com, http://www.getvideoartwork.com, http://www.coverdude.com and some others. i really like some of the stuff at getvideoartwork.com.

the scrapers i have do not look at getvideoartwork so i usally download the image in Hi Res and manually name it. I had to do all this because this is a library that was being built from way before i ever discovered xbmc or imdb. Now i am wiser!

so, that said... how about if i scrape stuff with something like media companion and i have the nfo, tbn etc...

couldnt a custom scraper be made that allowed one to put all the files in one directory as i mentioned and just set xbmc to use this custom scraper to grab from that directory based on file name?

i have 5 xbmc in my house and it sure would be nice and fast. Plus as i mentioned, it is a pain sometimes to find the movie in its specific directory share as apposed to jsut dropping it in one centralized folder.

once these nfo, tbn, etc... are in place, why do i need to scrape the web?

thanks.

[Waffa]

You won't scrape the web if .nfo etc. are present in movie folder, XBMC will pick those before it goes on the web.
XBMC wil scrape those files and put it into your userdata.
If you like you can export/import this data and use it on another XBMC.

[j2mediabox]

It sure seems like this is not the case for me. I currently do have the .nfo, .tbn, fanart.jpg in the same directory with the movie. I had some issues with one of the machines so i delted the cached thumbs directory.

After telling xbmc to scan for new movies. it took forever to update (5 hrs). If the .nfo is hit first, perhaps it is something i have in my nfo that is slowing it down?

when all is done I do see my thumbs and fanart.

Again, it would be of benefit to have a single directory to drop all the stuff into for scraping. could i just put a path in the .nfo for the images? or, perhaps there is a way to modify a scraper to point to a specific directory?

[j2mediabox]

I am still looking for a way to have all my thumbs, fanart ect in a centralized directory (single directory) and have xbmc pick up all the info there first...

how can i do this?

[fekker]

I am still looking for a way to have all my thumbs, fanart ect in a centralized directory (single directory) and have xbmc pick up all the info there first...

how can i do this?

Short of making a patch for xbmc that will allow this, you'll need to have the information with the media file.

You could also use a media manager to do this alot easier then remembering where those images and nfo's are at.

[j2mediabox]

maybe i am not asking correctly. Perhaps i need to learn how a scaper works or how to write my own.

I was just thinking that there could be a scraper written that would automatically take the the moviename.iso, avi or whatever format and look for moviename.tbn, moviname.nfo, moviename-fanart.jpg in a specified directory.

I know i can use media manager for this too but lets say i have a location that doesnt have internet or i have multiple locations and i just want to drop my files on a flash drive and copy them to this specified directory.

am i making sense?

[mkortstiege]

maybe i am not asking correctly. Perhaps i need to learn how a scaper works or how to write my own.

I was just thinking that there could be a scraper written that would automatically take the the moviename.iso, avi or whatever format and look for moviename.tbn, moviname.nfo, moviename-fanart.jpg in a specified directory.

I know i can use media manager for this too but lets say i have a location that doesnt have internet or i have multiple locations and i just want to drop my files on a flash drive and copy them to this specified directory.

am i making sense?

Not possible without patching XBMC to search in specific folders for it.