[MCGuy]

Hello Everyone,

I need some advice on importing my TV Show collection into XBMC. I really want to avoid ripping each individual episode, primarily because the TV show disks usually include some really great bonus features that I’d like to keep intact. Ideally I want to rip the complete Video_TS folder, similar to a movie, but have XBMC recognize it as a TV Show and scrape it appropriately.

What’s the best way to go about doing this? At the moment I am using AnyDVD to rip the disk contents to my PC. Do I need to create separate .nfo files for each disk? I know the wiki has some information on this topic but I’m having trouble deciphering it into a working solution.

Any assistance / examples would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance.

[Plaguester]

I believe that you can do this:

Code:

Show Name
    /  Show Name.S0XE01E02E03E04
        /    Video_TS

Although from my experience, it is better to have discrete video files for each episode. If there are extras, then there is no reason that you can't rip them too.

[Hitcher]

Just rip them separately and then make your own NFOs for the extras.

[MCGuy]

Thank you for the responses.

@Plaguester

In the past I have always converted my DVDs into different file formats but lately I've found having the complete disk on file adds a lot of benefits. Not to mention a lot of the special features can be 2-3 minute clips and those add up quickly.

As for file structure, I have a very similar directory layout and I gave yours a shot to see if it would make a difference... no luck. Here is what I am currently working with:

Code:

\TV Shows
     \Survivor
          \Season 1
               \Survivor - S01E010203

I also took the advancedsettings.xml config from the wiki and added it to my user folder... still no luck.

Code:

<tvshowmatching append="no">
     <regexp>\[[Ss]([0-9]+)\]_\[[Ee]([0-9]+)\]?([^\\/]*)(?:(?:[\\/]video_ts)[\\/]video_ts.ifo)?</regexp>
     <regexp>[\._ \[\-\\/]([0-9]+)x([0-9]+)([^\\/]*)(?:(?:[\\/]video_ts)[\\/]video_ts.ifo)?</regexp>
     <regexp>[Ss]([0-9]+)[\.\-]?[Ee]([0-9]+)([^\\/]*)(?:(?:[\\/]video_ts)[\\/]video_ts.ifo)?</regexp>
     <regexp>[\._ \-\\/]([0-9]+)([0-9][0-9])([\._ \-][^\\/]*)(?:(?:[\\/]video_ts)[\\/]video_ts.ifo)?</regexp>
</tvshowmatching>

After adding the 'TV Shows' source I can browse into TV Shows and see that Survivor has been identified by the fan art background. When I click on it though it brings me to an empty screen.

@Hitcher

I'd really like to keep the DVD together instead of parting out the individual sections.

After looking around the forums and reading the wiki it seems like this configuration should be doable. If someone has it working please post what you've done.

[cw-kid]

I am having problems with this as well, all my TV Series (DVD) have been ripped to VIDEO_TS Folders.

Code:

TV
  DVD
       NameofSeries
                  Season 1
                         Disk 1
                               Video_TS
                         Disk 2
                               Video_TS

Have been using MCE with My Movies which handles TV Series on DVD perfectly, XBMC seems lacking in this department.

Are we seriously expected to re-encode in to individual episode video files ?

I tried adding TV Series on DVD in XBMC Eden seems things are just the same in Frodo.

I'd like to keep the full DVD VIDEO_TS rips as is. Is there any way to get XBMC to add these in to the TV Shows library and for the disks to play??

Many Thanks.