Hello folks.
I am very new to XBMC and getting everything set up. I am the point of importing my movie library but am at an impasse what my best options are. My setup is this, Mix of devices Pi, Nuc, OpenElec PC running XBMC connected to tv's, All these are running Gotham RC1. A Nas hosting about 800 movies all in a single directory, I guess I need to get all those movies into there own directories.?
I would like to access the movies from any XBMC at any time.
Some of the things I considered, I really like the idea of something like Plex with the transcoding managing the movies. However If I go that route, Do I still get the same options I would if I directly imported the library, Aka, sort by, search for, and will the metadata come through? Furthermore, and more importantly many of my movies have a 2nd audio channel with Description for the blind. If I go the Plex route can I still select that 2nd audio stream. If not seems direct library import or shared SQL would be my only option.
Another concern I have is this, With direct library or shared sql library, can the Pi and/or my celeron nuc handle a good size library? Seems the UPNP/Plex route would take bit of load off the low power devices.
Thought about going the Playon Route, Since I do have PlayOn, however, with Playon I don't get the metadata.
Your thoughts would be awesome.
Plex is unnecessary for you. Use a MySQL database. Put the movies in their own directories.
With that many movies to start with, you could consider using a media manager (like Media Center Master or similar) to scrape everything and organize into XBMC compatible folders with all the metadata/nfo files/artwork. At that point, each XBMC client could quickly scan in the content to its own library.
XBMC can do the scraping as well, but I find it easier to manage/check/correct with a manager.
If you take this approach and do not use the MySQL DB as suggested by nickr, your watched status on each client will only reflect what was watched on that client. Stopping on one client and resuming on a different one where you left off would not work. You can still set up the MySQL db if you desire this functionality.
And since you are at the starting point, it doesn't hurt to consider separating movies into higher level directories. For instance, I have a MOVIES folder, and a FAMILY MOVIES folder. That way I can keep the grown up stuff off of the XBMC client that the kids use by only adding the FAMILY MOVIES directory as a source.
The Pi might struggle with the large library, particularly if you use it for scraping. The NUC will do just fine.
Thing about plex, XBMC upnp or some other upnp option is it seems that not only would it take a extra load off an already slightly sluggish pi. By not only transcoding the video, But also the unit not having to handle the ever growing database and updating. But I don't know if alternate audio streams and metadata can be transmitted through a setup like that. I only ask because it seems I read something about Gotham going this route in development so that we didn't have to share the db anymore.
If I were to go the shared SQL route, I could turn off the scraping from all but one system thus saving the pi from the effort, Couldn't I?
Yes with MySQL any machine on your LAN can do the scraping, and the other machines pick up the results.
Transcoding is something rpi doesn't need, its video playback is its strength.
It's weakness is menus. Transcoding and plex wont help. Using the various hardware and software tweaks you'll find in these forums will help.
In short, recent Gotham build, USB 3 drive, good SD card.
Ok, Then shared database it is. Thank you.
Just to fill my curiosity, What is the deal with the shared UPNP setup in Gotham. Originally it was my understanding that it was to replace the shared sql setup. Im guessing from you nice folks that its more just another option rather than a replacement.
(2014-05-03, 01:06)Traker1001 Wrote: [ -> ]Thing about plex, XBMC upnp or some other upnp option is it seems that not only would it take a extra load off an already slightly sluggish pi. By not only transcoding the video, But also the unit not having to handle the ever growing database and updating. But I don't know if alternate audio streams and metadata can be transmitted through a setup like that. I only ask because it seems I read something about Gotham going this route in development so that we didn't have to share the db anymore.
If I were to go the shared SQL route, I could turn off the scraping from all but one system thus saving the pi from the effort, Couldn't I?
The main thing the Pi actually has that is "powerful" is the video decoding :)
To be honest, UPnP seems pretty slow on the Pi if you have a large library. I would give
MySQL (wiki) a go and I would expect better results from it. You don't have to turn scraping off on anything, since XBMC only scraps when you specifically tell it to, and only from the XBMC instance you tell it to scrape with.
(2014-05-03, 03:27)Traker1001 Wrote: [ -> ]Ok, Then shared database it is. Thank you.
Just to fill my curiosity, What is the deal with the shared UPNP setup in Gotham. Originally it was my understanding that it was to replace the shared sql setup. Im guessing from you nice folks that its more just another option rather than a replacement.
Not in Gotham. It gets closer to being a replacement in Gotham, and in many cases it does a good enough job already, but a full replacement won't be coming until at least another version or two. It's basically just expanding upon the existing UPnP abilities of XBMC so that UPnP sources can eventually mesh with the local library, to keep things "sync'ed".
Ok, Awesome, Thanks folk.. Your help is greatly appreciated.