2012-09-16, 20:39
(2012-09-16, 19:11)ajamils Wrote: Is there any particular advantage of using Eden (or any other media organizer) instead of built-in scraper of XBMC?
Well, I cannot speak for everyone, but there are a few reason I use Ember as opposed to the internal XBMC scraper.
I prefer the generation of .nfo files. Now, I believe XBMC can do that with an export - but because of the way I have my external drives setup, that is not convenient for me. I also like that I can do a "clean library" in XBMC or reinstall and then the actual adding of my films and tv shows is relatively painless because I have the local .nfo files.
This is very convenient when you build another box, say for the bedroom or wherever, and then when you add the (if you have it) network drives - it doesn't need to rescrape. For some it may not be a big deal, but my Internet connection is bad and I have a lot of films - so it would be not desirable. Again, you can export with XBMC, but I think using Ember is much easier.
Additionally, Ember is grand for control. I don't use automatic image scraping or any of that. I like manually choosing. While the automatic scraping would have suited fine for 95% of my content - sometimes its first guess is wrong. With Ember, I have a lot more control and the interface is better suited for scraping and customising what images you want to pick and so forth. For me, it's more user-friendly and it fits the way I like to do it. Again, since I only do it once per show or tv season or whatever, it's not that much of a burden and with the creation of .nfo files, it's pretty good.
My routine is a bit more involved and labourious than most, I imagine, as I like to set up the directory just right. First, I ensure that the naming scheme is adequate, so I use the Renamer tool (not the built in one, a third party programme). Then, if it is a film, I grab the trailer and name it accordingly so I have a physical copy of the trailer. Then I grab the clearart images manually and set them in the directory. Then I manually scrape, make my choices and it's all grand.
It seems like a lot of work and initially it was, but now it's nothing when I get a new DVD or whatever. Rip, scrape, add to XBMC. I can tweak the titles or ratings or whatever before accepting.