I might be completely blind and can't find the setting (or senile so this has never been the case) but has there been a change to Kodi to not use the actors thumbs located in the .actors folder?
As an example we can take the shows Belgravia and Sweetbitter where I have .actors folders with thumbs of the actors exclusive from the show. Ella Purnell is in both of them but the picture that is displayed of her is the one from the last show I refreshed, so both show either show the thumb from Belgravia or the one from Sweetbitter.
How do I change this so I can get the correct thumb to show?
@
inzzzomnia
Kodi does not use multiple images for the same actor.
The first time an actor is scraped into the library, that is the image that is used. All subsequent shows that are scraped into the library where the same actor appears in will still use the same image, even if the scraper or local file system has a different image.
Knowing that, which is the "correct" thumb you want to show? Because if you change the image, then that will affect the other show.
(2020-04-23, 01:12)Karellen Wrote: [ -> ]@inzzzomnia
Kodi does not use multiple images for the same actor.
But has it always been like that? Guess I've been drunk the last decade or so if that's the case cause I've never noticed it before and here I've been creating separate thumbs for almost every show and movie in my library...
Then what's the point of separate .actors folders for every movie/show if there's no use for them?
Quote:The first time an actor is scraped into the library, that is the image that is used. All subsequent shows that are scraped into the library where the same actor appears in will still use the same image, even if the scraper or local file system has a different image.
That's not what's happening here though, it's the image from the show most recently scraped/refreshed that shows in both shows but that's a non-issue on my part.
Quote:Knowing that, which is the "correct" thumb you want to show? Because if you change the image, then that will affect the other show.
I want the one that I have in the .actors folder for every show to be used
Nothing to add to advandesettings.xml or an add on or anything else that can fix it? What about the [thumb] tag in tvshow.nfo?
The capability to have multiple actor images would be a good 'feature request', if there's
enough interest, perhaps someone with skills will take up this challenge.
(2020-04-23, 05:21)PatK Wrote: [ -> ]The capability to have multiple actor images would be a good 'feature request', if there's enough interest, perhaps someone with skills will take up this challenge.
Sorry for not answering until now.
That link you posted seem to answer my "But has it always been like that?" in my previous post since they seem to be able to fix what I'm asking about by refreshing the movie/series. Am I right?
And what do you mean with 'feature request' and enough interest? I'm sorry but I'm not following... Have you put this up for a vote somewhere?
Wouldn't this be an easy fix if you were given the option to turn of image caching and have Kodi use the stuff located together with the video file?
That would also solve the issues with updating fanarts that's more or less impossible without having to either delete the whole cache-file or use Kodi Fanart Cache Manager.
(2020-07-23, 23:27)inzzzomnia Wrote: [ -> ]Have you put this up for a vote somewhere?
I'll leave that up to you, it's the
feature request forum in which to make suggestions and ask for features, the developers when they have time and are seeking guidance will reference these threads, and should there be enough interest all round, they might entertain making it happen. Yes it's always been like that.
(2020-07-23, 23:27)inzzzomnia Wrote: [ -> ]option to turn of image caching and have Kodi use the stuff located together with the video file?
Perhaps on the surface it might appear easy, but Kodi image caching is the basis of a quick responsive GUI, if sliding through those covers, the system had to dive into the hard drive for each; the whole magic of Kodi would come to some sort of 'out of control slide show'. I'm sure there are more ways to handle this, but it's going to take someone with creative skills and imagination to pull this kind of thing off, and unfortunately we are in short supply.
You do sound pretty knowledgeable, if there was a work-round you would have found it.
I would think long term, making actors work like music artists would be a useful feature (have an actors info folder tree with art and actor nfo files that could be scraped). But that's a new feature and needs interested devs to take it up.
For existing implementation, I know the third party metadata program "media companion" has an option to create a central actor art folder. I haven't tried it but I think the idea is that the path to the art is added to the appropriate movie/tv show/episode nfo, so you don't have the issue of figuring out which art is "current" for an actor.
scott s.
.
(2020-07-24, 01:13)PatK Wrote: [ -> ]Yes it's always been like that.
I find this so hard to believe since knowing my OCD-self I can't even imagine I wouldn't have reacted to this until now after using XBMC/Kodi for 15 years...
Maybe I haven't had an actor appear in more than one show during this period so that's why..
(2020-07-24, 01:13)PatK Wrote: [ -> ] (2020-07-23, 23:27)inzzzomnia Wrote: [ -> ]option to turn of image caching and have Kodi use the stuff located together with the video file?
Perhaps on the surface it might appear easy, but Kodi image caching is the basis of a quick responsive GUI, if sliding through those covers, the system had to dive into the hard drive for each; the whole magic of Kodi would come to some sort of 'out of control slide show'. I'm sure there are more ways to handle this, but it's going to take someone with creative skills and imagination to pull this kind of thing off, and unfortunately we are in short supply.
You do sound pretty knowledgeable, if there was a work-round you would have found it.
Isn't the image in the cache the same thing as the image on the drive? With old mechanical drives I can see the point but not with an SSD since the read speed should be the same.
Even so, would it be the same mammoth job to make it not cache the actors thumbs and keep the rest? I can see the problems you describe with covers but you never browse through actors the same way so doubt it would be an issue there.
I haven't been looking for a work-around until making this post and was hoping for an answer to it here. As a bonus I found out about the whole cache thing and finally found a solution to why changing fanarts have been such a hassle and constant struggle lately.
(2020-07-25, 18:54)scott967 Wrote: [ -> ]I would think long term, making actors work like music artists would be a useful feature (have an actors info folder tree with art and actor nfo files that could be scraped). But that's a new feature and needs interested devs to take it up.
For existing implementation, I know the third party metadata program "media companion" has an option to create a central actor art folder. I haven't tried it but I think the idea is that the path to the art is added to the appropriate movie/tv show/episode nfo, so you don't have the issue of figuring out which art is "current" for an actor.
scott s.
.
That's like the total opposite of what I'm talking about though and make what I wish for even more distant.
And as you wrote that is already possible to achieve so instead of putting time into something that already exist and work it would be better to either fix what I'm talking about or something completely different.
(2020-07-25, 21:19)inzzzomnia Wrote: [ -> ]That's like the total opposite of what I'm talking about though and make what I wish for even more distant.
And as you wrote that is already possible to achieve so instead of putting time into something that already exist and work it would be better to either fix what I'm talking about or something completely different.
I'm not sure there's going to be a lot of demand for unique artist thumb for each appearance. Not saying there's anything wrong with the idea. I thought that was the idea of character art (I admit I am not that much interested in tons of art).
As an alternative there is a carefully curated actress image resource addon. That's directly opposite of what you want.
scott s.
.
(2020-07-26, 04:52)scott967 Wrote: [ -> ] (2020-07-25, 21:19)inzzzomnia Wrote: [ -> ]That's like the total opposite of what I'm talking about though and make what I wish for even more distant.
And as you wrote that is already possible to achieve so instead of putting time into something that already exist and work it would be better to either fix what I'm talking about or something completely different.
I'm not sure there's going to be a lot of demand for unique artist thumb for each appearance. Not saying there's anything wrong with the idea. I thought that was the idea of character art (I admit I am not that much interested in tons of art).
As an alternative there is a carefully curated actress image resource addon. That's directly opposite of what you want.
scott s.
.
Oh, OK.. I thought since TheTVDB has people creating unique thumbs for every series made this was something people actually liked but guess I'm completely off then.
Wonder why they even bothered to begin with that thing if there never were any real use of them anyway.
Well, well...
(2020-08-08, 02:06)inzzzomnia Wrote: [ -> ]Oh, OK.. I thought since TheTVDB has people creating unique thumbs for every series made this was something people actually liked but guess I'm completely off then.
Wonder why they even bothered to begin with that thing if there never were any real use of them anyway.
Well, well...
I don't like using the term "thumb" as it has too many conflicting uses. Kodi has the current ability to display arbitrary art types (if a skin supports it) so the concept of "character art" type that I believe came from anime could be extended to cover live actors. The missing linkage is from a character art (which is "tied" to specific video library item such as episode) to an actor. An alternative would be to associate the character art with an artist and then find a way to "tie" it to a video library item.
Currently if you go to the "actor" node there is a single image presented (called "thumb") and the only info available is a listing of video library items that actor is linked to. I've thought it would be a nice feature to provide extended info on the actor (such as the extended info script does) such as bio, etc the way music library does for artists. Then you could display roles as well and if character art was available display that too.
scott s.
.
It's possible to rig a skin to look in the video's .actors folder for the actor image. This would allow you to keep separate images per show.
In Confluence, in DialogVideoInfo.xml, for the control with the "Actor Image" description, you can replace what's currently between the texture tags with the following:
xml:
<texture>$INFO[ListItem.Path].actors\$INFO[Container(50).ListItem.Label].jpg</texture>
That will work for movies and episodes. For tvshows, it has to be slightly different:
xml:
<texture>$INFO[ListItem.FolderPath].actors\$INFO[Container(50).ListItem.Label].jpg</texture>
In order to ensure the right path is called in the right place, you would need to duplicate the "Actor Image" and use conditional visibility. So overall it would look like this:
xml:
<control type="image">
<description>Actor image</description>
<left>210</left>
<top>480</top>
<width>160</width>
<height>160</height>
<texture>$INFO[ListItem.Path].actors\$INFO[Container(50).ListItem.Label].jpg</texture>
<aspectratio>keep</aspectratio>
<visible>Control.IsVisible(50) + [String.IsEqual(ListItem.DBTYPE,episode) | String.IsEqual(ListItem.DBTYPE,movie)]</visible>
</control>
<control type="image">
<description>Actor image</description>
<left>210</left>
<top>480</top>
<width>160</width>
<height>160</height>
<texture>$INFO[ListItem.FolderPath].actors\$INFO[Container(50).ListItem.Label].jpg</texture>
<aspectratio>keep</aspectratio>
<visible>Control.IsVisible(50) + String.IsEqual(ListItem.DBTYPE,tvshow)</visible>
</control>
(I didn't test for music videos.)
The basic concept should work in other skins but it would need to be implemented differently (i had trouble getting it to work in Estuary but i'm sure it could be figured out; i can make the images appear in new floating boxes but not part of the card deck spinner thing).
One challenge is that if you use Kodi to export to the .actors folders, it puts underscores between the actor names ("Tom_Cruise.jpg") whereas this needs the images to be named exactly like the actor name ("Tom Cruse.jpg"). So you would have to use something like Bulk Rename Utility to fix all the filenames. And of course the bigger challenge is that no scraper will pull down the images into individual folders, so you'd be on your own once you set things up this way. Just wanted to share that it could be possible with a little work.
Also might as well share this: for people who want the opposite, i.e. if you use the tvdb scraper but want it to stop replacing your global Mark Hamill image with a cartoon picture of the Joker or whatever, you can hack the tvdb addon. In addons, under metadata.tvdb.com, you can edit tvdb.xml. You can replace the line on 306 with the following:
xml:
<RegExp input="$$1" output="<actor><name>\1</name><role>\2</role><order>\3</order></actor>" dest="5">
It's the same "output" as the line below on 309, for when no actor image is found. This will stop the tvdb scraper from bringing in actor images altogether (which is fine if you're like me and you already have a large library and you can manage the cases where you don't already have an actor image manually, but might otherwise be annoying).
This is a brute force hacky solution and you probably shouldn't do it. Also, you'd have to re-do this every time there is an update to the addon. But i just wanted to put it out there.
What i'd like to do is write code to prevent rewriting of existing images but take any image if you don't already have one, and make it a config option and then submit that code to the addon developer. But i haven't figured out how to do that yet.
