[MrGonzo]

Hi

Recently I had to add a movie manually with an .NFO file to get Kodi to add it to the library. It added all info fine, but because a scraper wasnt used, Kodi didnt/couldnt add the actor thumbnails.

Was wondering if anyone knows how to add the actor thumbnails to a movie already added to library, and manually and/or edit an actors thumbnail if its a wrong picture.

Thanks

[Karellen]

Recently I had to add a movie manually with an .NFO file to get Kodi to add it to the library

Which movie is it? It is rare that a released movie is not listed.

Was wondering if anyone knows how to add the actor thumbnails to a movie already added to library

You can't edit actors once a movie is in the library.

Add the actors to your nfo file using the tags shown at the bottom of the table in section 3... https://kodi.wiki/view/NFO_files/Movies
Add images to an .actors folder as shown in the image... https://kodi.wiki/view/Movie_artwork
Image naming and details are explained here... https://kodi.wiki/view/Artwork_types#actor

[MrGonzo]

Hi

Was trying to add Stephen King's  "The Langoliers" 1995. TV-movie yes, but wanted it added to the movie library. But Kodi cant ever find it with any of the usual scrapers (TMDB, Universal movie scraper). Its there on IMDB. Tried many, many times and the only found way was manually through NFOs.

Took ur suggestion and added the "actor" code to the NFO file. The only issue Im having now is where should the actors thumbnail be located to be read properly; and within the "<thumb\>" code, do I type in just the filename "blah.jpg" or should I include the full file path? Because now Kodi reads the actor and displays the name/character but the thumbnail is not coming up. All artwork for library is randomly located in a single "thumbnails" folder, with many sub-folders listed "1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-0-a-b-c" Kodi auto created. My movies are not in their own separate folder

Thanks

[Karellen]

Was trying to add Stephen King's  "The Langoliers" 1995.

https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/18197-the-langoliers
Its a tv show. If you scroll down the page, you will see Season 1 with 2 episodes, and in the URL, you will see .../tv/18197. If it was a movie, you would see.../movie/...

Add it to your TV show library and it will scrape correctly.

If you want it as a movie, how many video files do you have- 1 or 2?

I'll deal with the actors later, as I'll guide you how to scrape this.

[MrGonzo]

I've already added it in correctly as a movie using the NFO...I want it like this, in the movie library as a movie.. Its 3hrs, plays better as a movie. Have it in a single video file. The file(movie) is played out like a movie, not a part by part TV mini series. (Even thought it originally came out like that)

So now that its added correctly (mostly) with everything scarped off the NFO properly, the only issue left is the actor thumbnail displaying correctly in Kodi. With the code u told me about, I added it to the NFO and it is showing correctly minus the actor thumbnail....hence my previous questions about that.

Thanks

[Karellen]

I added it to the NFO and it is showing correctly minus the actor thumbnail....hence my previous questions about that.

Post the nfo file contents to Kodi Paste Site and I will have a look.

---

Alternatively, I scraped your show and converted the nfo file into a movie in a couple of minutes.... https://paste.kodi.tv/ilaligaqaz
Delete the movie from your library.
Copy the contents into your nfo file
Rescan into your library, and you should have everything working, even actors.

[MrGonzo]

Hi

Why do you think that the usual scrapers cannot find this as a movie? In fact Ive tried adding as a TV series, and it didnt even find it either.

All that code you game me for it working perfectly (minus a few small details I can edit) including the actors and thumbnails....Thank you!

I will hang onto this NFO file for this movie from now on. No point u seeing the code I had, its very small compared to yours.

There is also another TV movie I have I'd like to see everything added correctly as a movie too....A movie called "Merlin" from 1998 ( https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0130414/) that the usual scrapers also have trouble adding as a movie. If you could send me the proper code again like you did "The Langoliers"....That would be awesome!

One other small thing...if I want to add a trailer link say from youtube, how should it be added in the NFO under the "<trailer>" code? So far I've tried just adding the web link in the code area, but Kodi tries and fails to play the trailer from the link in the code. Or does the whole movie need to be re-added to the library for Kodi to read the NFO right?

Thank you again for this help.

[Karellen]

Why do you think that the usual scrapers cannot find this as a movie?

Because it is not a movie. It is a tv show as I explained in my previous posts. There are 4 types of scrapers in Kodi - Music, Music Videos, Movies and TV Shows (which includes seasons and episodes).
You cannot scrape one type while using a scraper meant for another type.
All TV Movies and mini-series are treated as TV Shows by the scraper sites.

All that code you game me for it working perfectly (minus a few small details I can edit) including the actors and thumbnails....Thank you!

Great!! You are welcome.

I will hang onto this NFO file for this movie from now on. No point u seeing the code I had, its very small compared to yours.

No problems. I forgot to ask you where your actors images were saved that you were having problems with. Were they online or were they saved on your local drives? If they are saved in the .actors folder next to the movie, then you don't need to add a URL in the nfo file. Kodi will find the images automatically.

There is also another TV movie I have I'd like to see everything added correctly as a movie too....A movie called "Merlin" from 1998 ( https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0130414/) that the usual scrapers also have trouble adding as a movie. If you could send me the proper code again like you did "The Langoliers"....That would be awesome!

Sure. They are quite quick to create. It only takes 2-3 minutes... https://paste.kodi.tv/azonerajez
But don't refer to IMDB, because the scrapers use TheMovieDB. Sometimes there are differences between the two sites.

One other small thing...if I want to add a trailer link say from youtube, how should it be added in the NFO under the "<trailer>" code? So far I've tried just adding the web link in the code area, but Kodi tries and fails to play the trailer from the link in the code. Or does the whole movie need to be re-added to the library for Kodi to read the NFO right?

Once you scan the nfo into the library, Kodi never uses it again. So if you make changes to it, you need to rescan it back into the library. Use the Refresh button, or delete the movie and rescan it back in.
I have added a trailer in the Merlin nfo file. It is in the <trailer> tag. But you need to install the YouTube addon from the Kodi repo to play it. So make sure you do that.
You should consider saving the trailer locally, along with your artwork. Saving it locally means you don't need an extra addon and don't rely on the internet.
I download my trailers from here... https://www.traileraddict.com/search

Let me know how all that works out for you.

[MrGonzo]

...About "Langoliers"  not scanning as a movie....it wasnt found as a TV series either...like i said.
....Where are the thumbnails located for me....All artwork for library is randomly located in a single "thumbnails" folder, with many sub-folders listed "1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-0-a-b-c" Kodi auto created. Movies are not in their own separate folder.

Been thinking....Do you think it better if I rescan the movie library, but place each movie in its own folder? Does Kodi automatically DL all artwork into each movie's folder if the library is setup that way?

I would also like to find a way to tell Kodi how to label the thumbnails in the library so if I have to go searching for an image its not so hard to find. Right now all thumbnails are all grouped into one folder, and the file naming is completely random eg. "bgfbd54whny.jpg". Any way to control the file naming?

Was wondering....What addon/app do you use to auto create such detailed NFOs quickly? Would love to use ur method....I like how urs has ALL needed details to properly add to Kodi. My addon only seems to create working, but simple general NFOs for Kodi. Please let me know how u generated those detailed NFOs.....Thanks again.

[Karellen]

Where are the thumbnails located for me....All artwork for library is randomly located in a single "thumbnails" folder, with many sub-folders listed "1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-0-a-b-c" Kodi auto created

Yes, but that is Kodi's artwork cache. Kodi creates and maintains it. If you are trying to save your artwork there, then don't or you will corrupt the cache, and anyway Kodi won't know how to use the images you place there as they are not in the database.
All the artwork in the cache is modified, usually made smaller for faster loading in Kodi.
Artwork needs to be saved in accordance with what is shown in the artwork pages of the wiki.

Movies are not in their own separate folder.

Ah, right. That is why you could not create the .actors folder.
Yes, definitely use movie folders.
Install and configure Artwork Dump to save artwork locally during the scraping process.
Rescrape your library.

Any way to control the file naming?

No, and you are not meant to fiddle with the artwork in the thumbnails folder.
The names are based on file name hashes. Read here... https://medium.com/eonian-technologies/f...bb03aa4091
You provide the artwork, either locally or via scraper, and then Kodi deals with the artwork cache.
Any changes to artwork need to be handled via Choose Art option or rescraping/rescanning the movie

[MrGonzo]

"Choose art option"?? Where is that option, dont see it anywhere

About adding a trailer with youtube link....I added the full youtube link into the NFO for "langoliers"...re-scanned it to library...it now gives the option to play the trailer, but when run it tries and fails. I do have the youtube addon installed. And trailers do run on movies that where added with scrapers; so do you know why this is happening with this movie?

Was wondering....What addon/app do you use to auto create such detailed NFOs quickly? Would love to use ur method....I like how urs has ALL needed details to properly add to Kodi. My addon only seems to create working, but simple general NFOs for Kodi. Please let me know how u generated those detailed NFOs.....Thanks again.

[Karellen]

"Choose art option"?? Where is that option, dont see it anywhere

Section 4.... https://kodi.wiki/view/Artwork/Changing#Choose_Art

About adding a trailer with youtube link....I added the full youtube link into the NFO for "langoliers"...re-scanned it to library...it now gives the option to play the trailer, but when run it tries and fails. I do have the youtube addon installed. And trailers do run on movies that where added with scrapers; so do you know why this is happening with this movie?

Let me check and see. Its almost bedtime here, so it will be tomorrow.

What addon/app do you use to auto create such detailed NFOs quickly? Would love to use ur method

Kodi, and only Kodi. Its the tricks you pick up over time.
Check out this wiki page... https://kodi.wiki/view/Convert_movie_to_episode
Tomorrow I will add a new section for TV mini-series as the method I used for you was a little bit different to what is listed there.
Instead of using the episode nfo file, I had to use the tvshow.nfo file.

[Karellen]

About adding a trailer with youtube link

Had a look at this. You cannot simply paste the youtube link into the nfo file.

<trailer>plugin://plugin.video.youtube/?action=play_video&amp;videoid=W86cTIoMv2U</trailer>

The above entry is what is needed. The bold section is the youtube id, so that is all you need to replace, and also ensuring you have the youtube addon installed. If not, it will ask you to install it.

Please let me know how u generated those detailed NFOs

I updated the wiki page. This is the method I use... https://kodi.wiki/view/Convert_movie_to_...e_to_Movie

[MrGonzo]

Thanks for all the help...will fix the trailer code issue you mentioned.

One last thing....could you send me a blank template of the NFO "episode to movie"?

I just have a few special movies that need this code to add correctly like I like in Kodi. I dont want to do a full export right now. If I have a blank template I can just manually add the info needed as I like.

But in the future I will strongly think about re-setting up my movie library in their own separate folders so all DLed artwork for each movie is stored in its own folder with the movie.

Thanks again for all ur help!

[Karellen]

One last thing....could you send me a blank template of the NFO "episode to movie"?

You can get the templates on this page. They are the minimum required tags. Just add more tags as you need them... https://kodi.wiki/view/NFO_files/Templates
Or you can just use one of the nfo files I already sent you and delete the data between the tags. I don't have a full blank one.