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Full Version: Use one single folder as a source for both tv shows and movies
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I have one download folder in which I download everything. Movies, tv shows, programs, whatever. Seems perfectly normal to me. I will never ever change this habit, so need in advicing me to store my tv shows/movies somewhere else Smile .

I want to use XBMC and use this folder for both movies and tv shows. Somehow, this is not possible. First of all, I can only set one content type to the folder (the reason why is beyond me, this makes absolutely no sense at all). I tried adding the folder twice, (once for movies, once for tv shows), but that's not helpful either because when I change the content type, it change the content type for both my folders.

It seems that what I want, however simple it is, is simply not possible. I can't grasp my mind around this, especially because XBMC definitely has the capabilities to perform the task that I want! It frustrates me. Boxee can do this, but it is dead (and buggy), Plex is an incredible resource hog and the usability is from 1807. XBMC was my last hope, but it can't perform this basic task either. Egh. At this point I prefer to just use Media Player Classic.

So my question, is there some kind of add-on/script that will allow me to perform this basic simple task? I really hope so.
Merkie Wrote:I have one download folder in which I download everything. Movies, tv shows, programs, whatever. Seems perfectly normal to me. I will never ever change this habit, so need in advicing me to store my tv shows/movies somewhere else Smile .

Not the greatest habit to have, since you insist, expect some issues with pretty much any media center application that uses a library type database.

There are plenty of scripts and applications that can automate the sorting for you.
gabbott Wrote:Not the greatest habit to have, since you insist, expect some issues with pretty much any media center application that uses a library type database.

There are plenty of scripts and applications that can automate the sorting for you.
I don't want to copy/paste everything I download into specific folders, and I usually watch shows within a week after I download it. I don't have a huge collection. I understand it may be beneficial (performance wise) to seperate these folders, but I don't think I'll ever have more than 30 tv show episodes and movies combined on my hard drive.

What kind of scripts are you talking about? I don't want to physically alter the location of my media files.
Early versions could do this...set content on each individual folder. Dharma was the last (I suspect you're using Eden now) but I believe Dharma 10.1 is still available.

If there's any chance I could change your ways, and organize a folder/drive for TV shows and another for movies, it will make your life a lot easier if you want some organization to your downloads. Otherwise just use any old media player, and not to worry about fancy graphics, covers, ratings and synopsis.
couchpotato and sickbeard are a couple that can automate as much of the process you want when retrieving the files.
I don't want to automate my downloading procedure Smile . I like the way it is now. Except XBMC doesn't.
then we can't help you
Merkie Wrote:I don't want to copy/paste everything I download into specific folders, and I usually watch shows within a week after I download it. I don't have a huge collection. I understand it may be beneficial (performance wise) to seperate these folders, but I don't think I'll ever have more than 30 tv show episodes and movies combined on my hard drive.

What kind of scripts are you talking about? I don't want to physically alter the location of my media files.

Many of us here have thousands of files to manage so it makes sense to have Movies and TV Shows in different paths. If you insist you can create a 2nd path that points to the same place. Assuming you're on Windows and have a folder D:\Videos you could set that folder as a share then map it to a different drive letter like M:\TVShows or as a unc path like //servername/TVShows. An issue you will wind up with is the scanner will do the drive once as movies then again as TV and it could give you some weird results with oddly named TV Shows that you don't really have. If you really only have 30 videos how much time and trouble can it be to move them into different folders.
Dobyken Wrote:Many of us here have thousands of files to manage so it makes sense to have Movies and TV Shows in different paths. If you insist you can create a 2nd path that points to the same place. Assuming you're on Windows and have a folder D:\Videos you could set that folder as a share then map it to a different drive letter like M:\TVShows or as a unc path like //servername/TVShows. An issue you will wind up with is the scanner will do the drive once as movies then again as TV and it could give you some weird results with oddly named TV Shows that you don't really have. If you really only have 30 videos how much time and trouble can it be to move them into different folders.
Too much. Sometimes I have 3 new episodes downloaded, why should I use some mandatory directory structure. XBMC should be smart (and can be) smart enough to figure out itself whether a file is an episode of some tv show or a movie.

I'm now trying a seperate folder structure for movies and TV shows, but am I correct in saying that each TV show needs its own folder? :confused2:
Merkie Wrote:I don't want to automate my downloading procedure Smile . I like the way it is now. Except XBMC doesn't.

If XBMC doesn't work for you because you refuse to conform, then it just won't work for you. Instead of whining about it, go find some different software to use. Hopefully they have a forum for you to whine on.
vinistois Wrote:If XBMC doesn't work for you because you refuse to conform, then it just won't work for you. Instead of whining about it, go find some different software to use. Hopefully they have a forum for you to whine on.
I'm not whining, I just don't see the use of scanning folders for media and this fancy library if you have to do 90% of the work yourself. If I only have a few files, I'll have more folders than files! In that case, yeah, I refuse to conform to silly standards that absolutely make no sense at all.

The reason I want to use XBMC is so I can use an XBMC app on my iPhone so I can easily navigate through movies and TV shows. But if the price for this functionality is putting everything into its own folder, then I just don't really see the benefit. XBMC is about making things easier. It's not making it easier for me. It's just a really fancy file browser this way since I don't have a lot of media files. Well, I don't want a fancy file browser.
Merkie Wrote:I'm not whining, I just don't see the use of scanning folders for media and this fancy library if you have to do 90% of the work yourself. If I only have a few files, I'll have more folders than files! In that case, yeah, I refuse to conform to silly standards that absolutely make no sense at all.

The reason I want to use XBMC is so I can use an XBMC app on my iPhone so I can easily navigate through movies and TV shows. But if the price for this functionality is putting everything into its own folder, then I just don't really see the benefit. XBMC is about making things easier. It's not making it easier for me. It's just a really fancy file browser this way since I don't have a lot of media files. Well, I don't want a fancy file browser.

For movies, just make a folder and dump your movies in there.

For TV shows, make another folder and then just put each TV show into it's own separate folder with there.

Otherwise, just use it as a file browser. How is XBMC to figure out what is what?

You need to be willing to at least come understand how the XBMC library and scrapers work and not just make assumptions and state how it should be. Otherwise, your best option is to just move on to something else.

(in other words, leave the commentary and critique out until you actually understand how things work if you really do want to see if it can work for you)
Does your iPhone app let you just view files? That's how I browse stuff in my "new downloads" folder when I'm too lazy (I admit, my library is a total mess right now). You won't get meta-data, but other than that it should work.
(2012-01-23, 01:54)vinistois Wrote: [ -> ]
Merkie Wrote:I don't want to automate my downloading procedure Smile . I like the way it is now. Except XBMC doesn't.

If XBMC doesn't work for you because you refuse to conform, then it just won't work for you. Instead of whining about it, go find some different software to use. Hopefully they have a forum for you to whine on.

WOW I must say this is truly an intelligent answer.
Thank you so much vinistois, this really helped solve the problem.

pfft.. if whining is equal to having a different opinion than you - then you sir, are whining just as much Rofl

It's people like you that cause anger and frustration in this world.

I too, would like to see xbmc detect movies and series automatically.
I use TVMOBILI as my main streaming software, because it streams (and detect) content to all my devices.
I was considering xbmc for my "offline" use when I am away at my cabin - but thanks to intelligent answers like yours
I will look elsewhere for a different software all together.
phew. we just dodged that one.
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