Adding Videos to "Movies"?

[mSeliga]

I like the fact that Media Center has an option to have a special Movies category, becuas eI rip alot of my DVDs. However, I haven't been able to find a way to manually add these files in. IS there a special thing the file needs to have to show up there?

 

[Bellerophon]

Most annoying

I like the fact that Media Center has an option to have a special Movies category, becuas eI rip alot of my DVDs. However, I haven't been able to find a way to manually add these files in. IS there a special thing the file needs to have to show up there?

Sorry don't have a solution, but most annoying and a little short-sighted of M$ if you ask me.

:sarc: After all this is the digital age and I like you have my movies on HDD as I suspect many movie lovers will. Mine just sit in videos, the movies seems a bit redundant.

 

[mSeliga]

Sorry don't have a solution, but most annoying and a little short-sighted of M$ if you ask me.

:sarc: After all this is the digital age and I like you have my movies on HDD as I suspect many movie lovers will. Mine just sit in videos, the movies seems a bit redundant.

Odd. Granted the only things that have shown up in that Movies area are dvds I have in the drive, I wonder if you download/recorded something it shows there...

 

[Bellerophon]

Movies

Recorded items, at least recorded TV, appears in the TV section. Yep inserted DVD's show up in movies but not really useful. I believe you can import to them to HDD but I bet that it won't be quick and DVD format is so bulky compared to divx

A really excellent extension that I would highly recommend for MCE is My Movies. It is free software and automatically catalogues your HDD movies with actors, trailers, plots etc etc. I have around 400 films and it catalogued them in 10 mins!

Here's the link if you want to take a look. If you want more add-ons for MCE their are few sites, The Green Button is quite good just google it.

 

[mSeliga]

Recorded items, at least recorded TV, appears in the TV section. Yep inserted DVD's show up in movies but not really useful. I believe you can import to them to HDD but I bet that it won't be quick and DVD format is so bulky compared to divx

A really excellent extension that I would highly recommend for MCE is My Movies. It is free software and automatically catalogues your HDD movies with actors, trailers, plots etc etc. I have around 400 films and it catalogued them in 10 mins!

Here's the link if you want to take a look. If you want more add-ons for MCE their are few sites, The Green Button is quite good just google it.

Thanks, I'll try that.

 

[dalhectar]

There is a way to add xvid movies to the native 7MC Movie Library.

What you probably should do is place each movie in its own folder. So "Matrix.avi" "Matrix Reloaded.avi" and "Matrix Revolutions.avi" are all in their own folder. Then add the parent folder of those folders to DVD Library with Manage Library.

Now cover art and metadata. any picture labeled folder.jpg will be used as the coverart for that movie, so you can custom set the cover art for the matrix movies.

If you want metadata, a good site is dvdxml.com. Search for the right data file, download it to the movie folder and save as *.dvdid.xml, and media center should use that data for plot syonpis, actors, etc.

 

[mSeliga]

There is a way to add xvid movies to the native 7MC Movie Library.

What you probably should do is place each movie in its own folder. So "Matrix.avi" "Matrix Reloaded.avi" and "Matrix Revolutions.avi" are all in their own folder. Then add the parent folder of those folders to DVD Library with Manage Library.

Now cover art and metadata. any picture labeled folder.jpg will be used as the coverart for that movie, so you can custom set the cover art for the matrix movies.

If you want metadata, a good site is dvdxml.com. Search for the right data file, download it to the movie folder and save as *.dvdid.xml, and media center should use that data for plot syonpis, actors, etc.

I'll have to try this. Thanks for the help! EDIT The cover shows up, but what should the name of the xml file be? Nothing is showing up.

 

[dalhectar]

Check out the FAQ and dvdxml.com . The Name of the file should match the movie, but honestly I don't think it matters. What's key is that you have 1 xml file per subfolder. So the Ideal setup would be... C:\My Movies\Movie Name\moviename.dvdid.xml C:\My Movies\Movie Name\moviename.avi C:\My Movies\Movie Name\folder.jpg

 

[mSeliga]

Check out the FAQ and dvdxml.com . The Name of the file should match the movie, but honestly I don't think it matters. What's key is that you have 1 xml file per subfolder. So the Ideal setup would be... C:\My Movies\Movie Name\moviename.dvdid.xml C:\My Movies\Movie Name\moviename.avi C:\My Movies\Movie Name\folder.jpg

So far, it's all working great. The pictures on that website are LQ so I'm grabbing them off Amazon, but it works like a charm. Thanks. +rep.

 

[Buckeye25]

Guys stupd question alert... So if i want to add movies to my HDD so i can view them later with out the disk. What do i need to do? can i just insert the DVD into my drive then copy the files to the folder of my choice?

 

[mSeliga]

Guys stupd question alert... So if i want to add movies to my HDD so i can view them later with out the disk. What do i need to do? can i just insert the DVD into my drive then copy the files to the folder of my choice?

You need DVD ripping software. I use Xilisoft DVD Ripper. It costs money though. I think HandBrake will work if you have a third party dvd player installed.

 

[Buckeye25]

what about that my movies program that the other poster mentioned? Does that have a built in ripper?

 

[johngalt]

No, that is a Movie *cataloging* software, IIRC.

 

[dalhectar]

I do think MyMovies does have a built in ripper.

My issue with My Movies is that it looks so awful. While the backend is extremely impressive, the author hasn't been able to update the GUI to a Vista or Win 7 UI theme. I'm sure the next version would rock, but many people stay away from MyMovies for that reason.

Beyond the standard Disc rippers like DVD Decrypter, or an unregistered copy of DVDFab, you can also use Handbrake and convert the files to mp4.

Handbrake can encode the file to an mp4 or an avi so it's playable on an extender as well. From what I've read, to make it work with an extender, you can encode a mp4 with h264 video & stereo aac (Set Handbrake to Dolby Pro Logic II) or an avi with xvid video & stereo mp3 or AC3 passthru.

 

[mSeliga]

I do think MyMovies does have a built in ripper.

All My Movies does is copy the entire dvd to a folder, not just the video file. Not to mention I haven't been able to get My Movies to work in WMC.

 

[dalhectar]

If you want a single file, probably handbrake is the application for you. You might need to use DVD DeCrypter to copy the vob files to your hard drive (and remove CSS while it copies) then Handbrake will recompile those files to a single mp4.

 

[Buckeye25]

ive got handbrake running right now.. im trying to just pull the files straight off the DVD. If that doesnt work i will use DVD Decrypter.

 

[SIW2]

Hi,

Came across this, don't know what it's like , but you may like to try

DVDSmith Movie Backup freeware download - DVDSmith Movie Backup: Freeware to copy any Movie DVD to computer easily! - Best Freeware Download

SIW2

 

[Buckeye25]

Guys im having some trouble getting Media center to add my DVD cover to my movie.

I manually added the movie Rock N Rolla using the steps that delhectar mentioned... I added the folder Rock N Rolla to my movies library. Inside that folder is my jpeg of the DVD cover. Media center sees the movie but not the album art... Im so close yet so far away!!!

 

[mSeliga]

Guys im having some trouble getting Media center to add my DVD cover to my movie.

I manually added the movie Rock N Rolla using the steps that delhectar mentioned... I added the folder Rock N Rolla to my movies library. Inside that folder is my jpeg of the DVD cover. Media center sees the movie but not the album art... Im so close yet so far away!!!

The image needs to be named "folder.jpg".