Kodi Community Forum

OK basically I have a lot of movies and have been using xbmc for a LONG time (back on my Xbox which I loved). I have a few questions for the community.

First, what is the best way to store DVD rips? Should I use ISO or Video_TS folders? Are there pros/cons to each option?

Second, what is the best folder structure? I see three folder structures:

1. Would be separating them by type:
//Movie/HD/movie1 (year).mkv
//Movie/DVD/movie2 (year).iso
//Movie/movie3 (year).avi

2. Would be putting each movie into a separate movie folder:
//Movie/HD/movie1 (year)/movie1 (year).mkv
//Movie/DVD/movie2 (year)/movie2 (year).iso
//Movie/movie3 (year)/movie3 (year).avi

3. Would be all movies in one folder:
//Movie/movie1 (year).mkv
//Movie/movie2 (year).iso
//Movie/movie3 (year).avi


It would be great to see the pros and cons to each one of these options.

I will start with some pros and cons to the folder structures:

1.
Pros:
Skins that review naming will find the HD and the DVD where required.
Ability to scan for new movies on sub folders which will run quicker

2.
Pros:
Ability to use extra fanart on skins that have that ability.

3.
Pros:
Easy of use. Simple single place to put the files

Cons:
Longer to scan.


If anyone can give a better picture of the pros and cons to the two questions above I would appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
SoBBie

I personally use the following structure:

Movies/Movie Name (year) [language] [quality]/movie.name.year.language.quality.ext

ie: Movies/Toy Story 3 (2010) [MULTi] [1080p]/Toy.Story.3.2010.MULTi.1080p.BluRay.x264.mkv

I was previously using a structure like you described in #1, but found it too complicated to look for duplicates (once a better version of the movie was available)

my structure will have all of your pros (btw I think most skins uses the file name of the movie to identify the quality, not the folder name)

and i dont think any of the structure will be longer to scan than another (on a full update)

The_Dogg Wrote:(btw I think most skins uses the file name of the movie to identify the quality, not the folder name)

Correct but it would allow to use a smart playlist to look for HD or DVD in the path I use similar

/Movie/HD/movie1/movie1
/Movie/SD/movie2/movie2

The_Dogg Wrote:and i dont think any of the structure will be longer to scan than another (on a full update)

Agreed, think the only question is whether you want each movie in its own folder as other than that your folder structure can be anything you like, personally I think its a much tidier solution to have each movie in its own folder and it allows artwork and trailers without the file name which is handy if you want to batch rename artwork/trailers

Thank you both. Very interesting. I may have to rework my movie collection and will post what I decide to use when I decide it

Thanks for you input.

SoBBie

Just thought I'd add programs like Ember Media Manager can sort your movies into their own folders if you decide to go that route

I've personally have a lot of ISOs in my library and XBMC handles them great. I've found that it's just easier to work with.