Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[perpetual98]

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 > Next
Browser 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 View

I 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 Down

Click 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.  

[JimH]

Thanks for starting this thread. 

Some other front ends depend on an organized folder structure.  MC doesn't.  It has a database and it can organize by the tags.

A simple way to tag your files would be to select a view that shows all video files and search for, for example, Kids.  Then select all the resulting files (ctrl-a) and change the genre to Kids.  Repeat for other types.

If the files are tagged, it won't matter where they are stored.

We hope to make it easier for people who are moving from other players.

[perpetual98]

Yeah, from my cruising through the forums I knew that it's more of a database structure as opposed to folder structure and that people have commented that once you wrap your mind around it, it makes more sense.  I'm trying to wrap my mind around it more, and also figured that I could help others with said mind wrapping.

[bunglemebaby]

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.

A year or so ago somebody informed me that view scheme rules that depend on file names or file paths are slower than those that use normal database tags. I noticed a difference on my older system.
I don't know if this still applies today, but if you notice this view scheme being slow to load, it might be worth your time to copy the view scheme, then change it to something like [genre]="Kids Movies" (after tagging your genre as Jim mentioned).
-JB

[MrHaugen]

I agree with others, that it's worth to take a look at making some tags to fix this. It might be faster and it much more flexible than relaying on directories. When that is said, I do notice lot's of users with this sort of problems. It's almost the same for everyone. They have their own type of directory structure. Some of this users just wants to split the views in TV Shows, Movies, Images and Music. Others however, like Perpetual here, does have other needs. This needs will not get picked up by Carnac and tagged correctly by filename and directory only.

To enable this users to use the system like they really want to, I believe there is just no way around it. There needs to be a way to set a tag or two on import. For instance to set Media Sub Type to a defined value. Or to define your own custom field and fill in tags like Kids Movies, DVD and Bluray in this field. Watched folders and media imported would get tags automatically. And it would be 100% reliable. There is an endless stream of examples of things that people might want to split their library up by. "Kids Movies, DVD's, TV Shows, Classical Music, POP Music" is just a few of them.

I know you work to get Carnac to work for most users, and I support you in that. It's good to have a basis that works for many. But I'm afraid the idea of controlling library fields data on automatic import never will pass. No matter how hard you work on the automatic Regex thingy.

[bunglemebaby]

I know you work to get Carnac to work for most users, and I support you in that. It's good to have a basis that works for many. But I'm afraid the idea of controlling library fields data on automatic import never will pass.

Yeah, I'm really hoping that once the fully automatic method is working well, they'll add support for manual rules (similar to confishy's Autotagger). Anyway, I'll stop here so as to not delve too far off topic...

[perpetual98]

A simple way to tag your files would be to select a view that shows all video files and search for, for example, Kids.  Then select all the resulting files (ctrl-a) and change the genre to Kids.  Repeat for other types.

If the files are tagged, it won't matter where they are stored.

Nice!  I will dive deeper into this.  I need to figure out tagging now.  At first blush, so much of this stuff isn't user-friendly.  I was able to change a movie tag in Theater View, but that's clunky for more than a handful of movies.  I will update my first post when/if I figure out easy ways to do stuff.  Db lookups being faster makes sense though.

EDIT:  Do'h!  I figured it out about 7 seconds after posting this.  I was able to mass-change the tags from the Edit Menu, but I did get an error message saying that they couldn't be edited because they were open in another program or something like that, although the tags did stick.

[perpetual98]

First post updated.

[Matt]

Would it help if you could set a few tags at import time for each folder?

For example, configure it so that G:\Kids Movies\ set the genre to 'Kids Movies' and media subtype to 'Movie'?

This is a feature we've been considering adding for a while.

[perpetual98]

Let me see if I have your question right...

Say I import a folder called Anime that resides on the R:\ drive

Are you implying the the import could automatically set certain fields in the database to the folder name?  i.e. importing R:\Anime would populate (in your example) the database entry for Genre to 'Anime' and the subtype to 'Movie'?  Did I read that correctly?

If that were the case, would it make sense to add a Db entry for 'Location' (or File Directory or something like that) and then sort by that?  Or would that be too similar to Filename(path) and counterproductive?

[Matt]

Let me see if I have your question right...

Say I import a folder called Anime that resides on the R:\ drive

Are you implying the the import could automatically set certain fields in the database to the folder name?  i.e. importing R:\Anime would populate (in your example) the database entry for Genre to 'Anime' and the subtype to 'Movie'?  Did I read that correctly?

If that were the case, would it make sense to add a Db entry for 'Location' (or File Directory or something like that) and then sort by that?  Or would that be too similar to Filename(path) and counterproductive?

I mean you could make a list of tags to apply for each import folder.  For each tag in the list, you'd pick a field and type a value.  The values could be the same as part of the path, or they could be totally different (ie. Keyword = "I need to clean this file up").

[JustinChase]

Would it help if you could set a few tags at import time for each folder?

For example, configure it so that G:\Kids Movies\ set the genre to 'Kids Movies' and media subtype to 'Movie'?

This is a feature we've been considering adding for a while.

Yes, it's easy for me to get my new media into the "correct" folder initially.  If MC17 could get some basic tags filled based on that folder, I'd have much better luck with new media coming into MC.

Also, as mentioned above and elsewhere, if these rules could eventually be made customizable (within reason), that would be another big leap towards Carnac being mostly successful.

"The La Brea Tar Pits."

"What do you have left after eating the La Brea Tar Peaches?"

[MrHaugen]

You probably know my answer Matt, but I'll just throw in a quick comment. I think that a simple thing like allowing user to choose a library field or three (standard or custom) and the value, would do wonders for advanced and new users. Allowing some expressions in this would expand the usability quite a bit I think. I would be super happy with one or both. So would most probably Rick.ca, all other previous users of the Autotagger plugin, as well as directory focused new users.

And, yes perpetula. This would allow you to import media automatically and the program does all the tagging for you with the combination of manual options and the automatic system. You could add what ever data you want.

[perpetual98]

I mean you could make a list of tags to apply for each import folder.  For each tag in the list, you'd pick a field and type a value.  The values could be the same as part of the path, or they could be totally different (ie. Keyword = "I need to clean this file up").

Ok, I think I follow.  It would basically be another step in the importing process.  I would select R:\Anime and then click next and it would bring up another screen where I could assign tags to all the imported files at once?

[MrHaugen]

Not exactly. You would only assign tags to the files that are not filled with Genre in your case. All other properties should be filled automatically with the Carnac system. Each user has different ways of browsing their media. This way everyone can get it all. Automatically.

You'll do the normal adding of one of your folders like Kids Movies. You would choose a library field called Genre, and you would set "Kids Movies" as the values. All other the media placed in this directory will have the genre tag. This could be done for a LOT of things.

[rick.ca]

I mean you could make a list of tags to apply for each import folder.  For each tag in the list, you'd pick a field and type a value.

I hope this would be completely flexible, allowing the use of expressions to assign any value to any field. As such, it wouldn't require that all the files in the folder be tagged exactly the same way. Anything in the full pathname, and possibly additional attributes obtained from analysis of the file (e.g., duration, compression, height), could used in expressions to set tags. Any fields set this way would override whatever Carnac or file analysis would otherwise do.

The purpose of this flexibility is not to make things unduly complicated. Obviously it's preferable if Carnac can get things right without any need for configuring things further. While the ability to set tags completely outside the scope of Carnac will be appreciated by some, the main purpose is to provide an effective solution for those situations in which Carnac is unable to do the tagging necessary.

This situation is a little odd, but a good example. I currently need to remove all [Media Sub Type]=[TV Show] (set by Carnac) while retaining it for my dummy series records. If such rules were available, I'd simply set [Media Sub Type]=If(IsEqual([File Type], log), TV Show, ). When circumstances change (as I'm sure they will), I'd simply remove the rule and let Carnac take over.

BTW, Carnac does his thing not only on import, but on Update Library (from tags). So this is not just a matter of Carnac failing to set tags which the user is going to review and change anyway. If Carnac doesn't set tags as required by the user, there must be a way to override it. Or have a separate Update Library (with Carnac) command.

[JimH]

This feature may help:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=67307.msg451570

The build will be available in a few days.