Ok, I'm a longtime Windows Media Center & MediaBrowser user and lately I'm working on getting MC to work with my existing files/folders, etc.
I'm going to try to come up with a guide and I will try to edit it as I go along and get feedback from other users.
What I come from is a folder structure similar to this:
G:\Kids Movies\Cars
G:\Kids Movies\Ice Age
G:\Kids Movies\Ice Age 2
H:\DVD Movies\Avatar
H:\DVD Movies\Fight Club
H:\DVD Movies\Hall Pass
I:\Blu-Ray\Braveheart
I:\Blu-Ray\Full Metal Jacket
etc
etc
In each folder is (for DVD at least) the AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS folder, a mymovies.xml file containing the metadata, and a folder.jpg of the DVD cover (typically from themoviedb.org) along with at least one, if not several backdrop.jpg files.
I have MediaBrowser set up so at the main screen it's got categories like "Kid's Movies", "Movies", "Blu-Ray" among some other things. I select "Kid's Movies" and they all show up with the covers. I select the cover and it brings me to a view that shows details about the movie and allows me to play, etc. Easy peasy.
I found in my dabbling with MC that it isn't quite as easy, although I think I've figured it out to some extent.
To import my folders, I do as follows in MC:
Click
File > Library > Import (at this point I will do a single import, but you can also set up auto-imports here too)
Import
Single Folder > NextBrowser to the folder that you want, select the media type and click
Finish. I also unchecked the Ignore Special Files, but I'm not sure if that has any bearing on things.
That should import the selected folder. I will start my example with the Kids Movies folder that I already had.
Here's where things get a little less obvious. I want to use Theater View (I will call it Theater View I suppose to make it easier) exclusively for media selection.
[Added 10/26/11] Navigating to the
Video > Files directory in the Explorer-type view on the upper left will show you a breakdown of imported folders. I found my "Kids Movies" folder and selected it which shows all of the files on the right. If you select all of the files (
Ctrl-A) and then
Alt-Enter, you can then mass-change fields in the lower left box. I changed the Genre to "Kids Movies"
To get a subcategory in Theater View, here's what I did in MC.
Click
Tools > Options > Theater ViewI selected the Video Category, but it didn't seem to matter where I was in the menu.
Click
Add > Library Item and select that if it isn't.
Click
Move DownClick
Nest and then
Move Up or
Move Down to the desired position. Once it's in position, you can rename it. (Kid's Movies in this example)
Then I clicked "
Set Rules for Display"
In the dropdown, I selected Filename(path) and changed the middle box to "Contains" and the right box I entered the Folder name (i.e. Kids Movies). You might not even need to change the middle box, but that's what I did.[Added 10/26/11] In the dropdown, I selected
Genre, left or changed (if necessary) the middle box to
is and in the right box you can select one (or multiple) Genre(s). Bingo
I repeated those steps for DVD Movies and Blu-Ray Movies and got them positioned where I wanted to.
Once I was in Theater View (Ctrl-4) and I went to Video, my subcategories were there, along with the specific movies that I wanted in those subcategories.
I'm going to work on trying to figure out Cover Art next. Some of it seems to be pulled either from the web or from the folders that I have, but not all of it. Most of the movies seem to have information already (description, cast, etc) although I'm not sure if that's from existing info that I have, or if Carnac or MC is doing something.
I will edit this post as I figure stuff out or as people correct me.