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[JustinChase]

My TV recordings come into the library with names like "Friends - The One After Vegas-(11 21 2011) 18h30"  I can change this somewhat, but I have no way to get/have the season or episode numbers to include in the name above.

Carnac gets the series correct "Friends" but ignores the rest of the info, filling the Name field with exactly this same info.  This isn't a big problem, but pulling the series and name info out adn filling these fields correctly would be preferred.

When I 'Get Movie & TV Info' on this episode, it looks for Friends S1E1, and finds the pilot, which isn't correct.

I'm not sure I agree with the logic of assuming blank season and episode fields are 1, and searching for this.  I don't know if there is a way to search for Series and Name instead of Series sXXeXX, if these fields are blank.  I couldn't get any useful information from the search by removing the S1E1 part, just a long list of series with Friends in the name somewhere.

I looked up Friends on TVDB, and if I clicked on 'All episodes', they are listed by season/episode, but also display the episode name.  The episode above is S6E1 (link below), but I don't get that information from my recordings, and don't want to look it up prior to searching in MC.

http://thetvdb.com/?tab=episode&seriesid=79168&seasonid=16108&id=303942&lid=7

So, is there any way with their API to specify an episode & name search, instead of a sXXeXX search, to resolve this?  Or perhaps use YADB to first lookup the Season and Episode numbers, then go to TVDB?

[rick.ca]

The API does include GetEpisodeByAirDate.

[JustinChase]

Good catch, thanks.  I know little/nothing about using an API, but in looking at that link, then going to the main API wiki, it doesn't show any link for searching by season and episode (that I can see), so I wonder if there are other possibilities that aren't shown there, including description.  I'm guessing not.

I made a request of the developer of the program I use to convert my wtv files into ts files, which is how they end up with the name above, and requested he allow Original Air Date to be included in renaming.  He's usually fairly quick to respond, but even if he can do it, searching by Original Air Date would still have to be added to MC lookup somehow, unless there is a better way.

Do we know if the original air date is included in the JRiver TV metadata?  I only have a couple of shows that it's recorded, and I'm not seeing it in those details, nor in the guide info.  I do see the original recorded aired date in the Date field of this file that MC recorded last night...

Everybody Loves Raymond 2011-12-17.ts

It shows [Date]= 12/15/2003, which is correct, but it shows [Season]=2003 and [Episode]=0310, which are both incorrect (based on the title of 'Jazz Records'), it should be [Season]=08 and [Episode]=10.  'Get Movie & TV info...' fails on this episode with this information, since it looks for "Everybody Loves Raymond S2003E310"

So, if this gets corrected, I guess this might save me from the original problem on shows I record with MC (which will happen soon, once wifey gets used to it), but I still think the original issue should be fixed.  (defaulting blank => 1 is incorrect, IMO)  It also wont fix the hundreds I've already recorded and converted though.

[rick.ca]

I only mentioned the API because you asked. I have no idea how JRiver has implemented it. It seems clear the tool is currently using [Series] [Season][Episode] to find the episode data. If the JRiver and other scheduling and recording facilities typically create files with this information recorded in the filename and yours does not, maybe you should ask.  Otherwise, perhaps a more robust lookup will come in due course. At this point, it's just a lookup tool. It's reasonable for it to use [Season] and [Episode], as these are normally recorded for episodes.

[CountryBumkin]

I also noticed that the lookup always chooses Season 1 regardless the season specified in file name. My file names (the proper setup from when I used MyMovies to catelog everything) is like this "Lost s1.e01 Pilot.mkv".
So when I get to Season 2 (Lost s2.e01 episodename.mkv) the look up still goes to season 1, but gets the episode number correct. Possible the dot I use to separate season and episode is throwing it off.

Not a big problem - but if the "dot" in between season and episode is not desireable, perhaps let everyone know (new users) so they can setup their file naming correctly for MC.

[JustinChase]

It seems clear the tool is currently using [Series] [Season][Episode] to find the episode data. If the JRiver and other scheduling and recording facilities typically create files with this information recorded in the filename and yours does not, maybe you should start begging for special consideration. Otherwise, perhaps a more robust lookup will come in due course. At this point, it's just a lookup tool. It's perfectly reasonable for it to use [Season] and [Episode], as these are normally recorded for episodes.

Yes, it's rather obvious that it's using [Series] s[Season]d[Episode] for lookups, since that's what's in the dialog box when you use it, and changing it there changes the search.

JRiver does NOT include this season/episode info in the filename, nor does WMC.  JRiver includes some information about [Season] and [Episode] in the tags, but it's wrong, which is why the file it recorded (Everybody Loves Raymond 2011-12-17.ts) also failed to lookup properly.

I did not say it's not reasonable to use this method to lookup, it's arguably the best way.  But it's incorrect to say "these are normally recorded for episodes".  They aren't.  However, I believe it is correct to say what I said originally, which is assuming blank [Season] and [Episode] fields are "1" and searching for s1e1 when they are blank is a mistake, and has little chance of success.

In fact, that's basically the title of the post, and the main reason I created it, to stop this behavior.  I suggested an alternative way to search for accurate results, which may or may not be possible; which I believe could accurately be considered.

[JustinChase]

My file names (the proper setup from when I used MyMovies to catelog everything) is like this "Lost s1.e01 Pilot.mkv".
So when I get to Season 2 (Lost s2.e01 episodename.mkv) the look up still goes to season 1, but gets the episode number correct. Possible the dot I use to separate season and episode is throwing it off.

Not a big problem - but if the "dot" in between season and episode is not desireable, perhaps let everyone know (new users) so they can setup their file naming correctly for MC.

I'm guessing the dot is the problem also.  I think Carnac corrects for this, but I assume these files did not get imported after it was implemented, so they never got "corrected" by Carnac.

I believe you can do a 'Rename, Move & Copy files' to rename them without the dot, but that will only work correctly if the tags themselves are correct.  If [Season] and [Episode] fields are not already correct in your library, it should be simple to 'Fill properties from filename' to get the fields correct, before you rename them.  Both tasks are pretty fast, so this would not take you too long to "correct" all of these for the way MC needs to see them to get accurate search results.

[rick.ca]

...as you so condescendingly put it, "you should start begging for special consideration"

Not knowing anything about recording systems or exactly why a system under development is in the particular state it's in today, I had no choice but to say IF other recording systems do provide season and episode numbers in the filename, THEN it would be necessary for you to make it perfectly clear to the developers this will not work for you (and likely others). If recording systems (including JRiver's) typically do NOT include season and episode numbers—and perhaps do include broadcast date—in the file name, then it's even more likely...

...a more robust lookup will come in due course. At this point, it's just a lookup tool. It's perfectly reasonable for it to use [Season] and [Episode], as these are normally recorded for episodes.

You're criticizing a system in development not yet at a point where it's even attempting to do what you're expecting it to do. As it is now, it's a simple lookup tool. It will work fine if you first tag the file with [Season] and [Episode]. There's not much point in coding a lookup by broadcast date until an automated system is being implemented. At that point, the TVDb will become the source of all meta data for an episode—including [Season] and [Episode]—and the lookup tool will be redundant.

[JustinChase]

The only "criticism" I've levied is that assuming blank fields are 1's is not logical behavior in a completed system or not.

I suggested perhaps episode name, and you suggested original recording date, might be options for lookup. Both of which sound like good, reasonable options.  But again, the original "complaint" was filling blank fields, which still feels like a valid concern.

[rick.ca]

I honestly don't know why everything seems to be an argument for you to win

Projection? It might also explain why you would characterize direct answers to your questions as condescending.

[JimH]

The Sanitation Department has visited this thread.  Please keep it clean.

[JustinChase]

Projection? It might also explain why you would characterize direct answers to your questions as condescending.

Perhaps you can explain which question of mine this directly answers...

maybe you should start begging for special consideration

[Matt]

If the season and episode is in the filename but not in the library, use Library Tools > Fill Properties From Filename in Automatic mode.

[JustinChase]

Unfortunately, neither MC nor WMC includes the season/episode info in the file name.  MC populates(d) the information in the tags in the example above, but they were both incorrect, I'm not sure why.

I did find a way to get the original air date in episodes originally recorded in WMC, so the .ts files MC imports will have that now; but no way to get season/episode info automatically

[glynor]

Unfortunately, neither MC nor WMC includes the season/episode info in the file name.  MC populates(d) the information in the tags in the example above, but they were both incorrect, I'm not sure why.

If you want to continue to use 7MC for your DVR, but want to do playback, management, and tagging in MC17, then this might be just the tool for you:

MCEZ Sort

Here's a brief description of that application from another page that describes a bunch of nice "advanced" setup for 7MC to use it with Media Browser.  Using the files from within Media Browser and from within JRiver Media Center involves much the same issue, that you need the filenames to have Season and Episode numbers embedded.  This solves that problem:

this really isn’t an installed app so much as a ‘run as needed’ app. save it somewhere easy to find, i used my C:\ProgramData dir. this step will read the metadata from your .wtv file, grab the season and epiosde numbers from thetvdb.com and renames the episode accordingly. use his guide for most of the configs in the ConfigInfo.xml file, settings i used:

    recorded tv folder > E:\Recorded TV
    saved tv folder > E:\recTVholder
    season folder name format > empty
    cull schedule_days > 0
    wtv files > true

    you can change the ‘copy only’ setting to true if you are nervous about deleting the original recording from MC. everything should still run the same, and you can just change the setting to false later when you are confident everything is working how you want. watch your HDD space

i added a scheduled task to run the MCEZ Sort.exe file 8 hours after a MC log entry for recorded TV is added. i chose 8 hour delay because there may be some shows that we want to start watching that night, while they are being recorded, so i don’t want this process to start while we are watching the show…
you could set your scheduled task to run at a specified time or however you like to set it up. or just run that .exe manually whenever you want

I wouldn't put it in the C:\ProgramData directory like the guy above suggests.  That's dumb because that folder can be redirected and could have permissions issues.  I'd put it somewhere like C:\bin\ instead.

[JustinChase]

Thanks glynor, that looks like a great solution.

It sounds like they are getting the season/episode info from tvdb also, so perhaps a similar method can be included in MC someday, to avoid this extra step.  however, this should work good for me in the meantime!

This sounds pretty clever/useful also...

The program also has a schedule culler. It will look through X days of your future scheduled recordings and if it finds there are reruns scheduled that you already have archived, it will cancel the recording. This will free up your tuners if you are trying to complete your collection of a series and it keeps recording the episodes you already have. For example, I am trying to collect all episodes of Family Guy. Reruns air like 10 times a day on different channels, but I only need a few episodes to complete my collection so I really only need like 1% of what is being recorded for the series. The culler will go through and cancel all the recordings for episodes I already have and free up my tuners.

thanks again

[glynor]

It sounds like they are getting the season/episode info from tvdb also

Yeah, if you read the thread a bit, he actually describes how it works in a bit more detail.

Basically, you have to make sure that the Series name embedded in 7MC's filename matches the one on thetvdb.com.  If it doesn't, there is a way in the application to "map" a particular series name from a filename to a particular thetvdb.com Series ID.  Once you do this, and it knows what the Series name is, it does the following:

1. It knows the Episode Title that 7MC has in the Filename.
2. It knows what Series it is on thetvdb.com.
3. Then, it literally goes through each of the Seasons and Episodes for that series in thetvdb.com, one at a time, and checks for a string match between the filename's title and the Episode Title field in thetvdb.com.  Amazing that he put that much work into it, but it seems to work according to other posts from around the web.