MediaBrowser

[ian804]

Is it possible to create a category for MPAA ratings eg. what I want to do is distinguish between PG/U and the higher age bracket, 12 upwards.

I used to manually swap the films over into different directories but knowing that MB has different filters already, I was thinking would it be possible to do this with the age rating

 

[DemonSeed]

Is it possible to create a category for MPAA ratings eg. what I want to do is distinguish between PG/U and the higher age bracket, 12 upwards.

I used to manually swap the films over into different directories but knowing that MB has different filters already, I was thinking would it be possible to do this with the age rating

not that I know of but I may be wrong.

 

[Digger]

There should be...... not sure why this cant be done simply.

Hands up in the air on how this hasnt been implemented, it couldnt be that difficult. I think the concentration of this plug has went the way of eyecandy rather than the way of functionality in the past few months.

And they are considering charging for this..... even considering it at this stage is ludacris imo

 

[DemonSeed]

How To Set Up a Clean TV Shows Library with StarkCovers

   Information

Stark Covers now has its own forum!! So dont miss a thing thats in the up and coming. Click to proceed.

   Note

*** I am using animated pix in this post that you can not see move with Internet Explorer. If you are using Firefox, Safari, or Opera your good, just skip over this next part.
If your using any other WebBrowser please just for this, download this Portitable Web Browser and run the Opera.exe and it will open to this page, after it opens browse to page 57 and you wont miss a thing.

I was asked by someone on the MB forum to do this but thought it should be here as well. I'm going to give some pointers on how to set up a Grate looking, easy to navigate Custom Looking interface in Media Browser using Stark Covers . So this is going to be based on how I have my system set up, please don't think this is the only way of doing thing because that's just incorrect. Stark Covers is capable of a world of options, to help make your setup your very own. This is solely going to be based on my system.

Just some basic tips.
So here it goes. Note, this is all in Vanilla Theme.


Setting up your TV Show library.
I use the new TV overlay to create a custom icon that represents each show. The way I did this was to use Meta<Browser/> and find a backdrop that had the Show Name in the pix.
once I had the insert I wanted in each shows folder I renamed them "backdrop (2).jpg", this way MediaBrowser wont show it as a backdrop + Stark will use any pix it finds with that name First, if it does not find one with that name it looks for one called backdrop2.jpg, if that's not there then it will use the first backdrop as the insert for the overlay. This goes for the Movie Film overlay as well.

To use meta<browser/> to fetch multiple backdrops for your TV Shows, just select the show and push the fetch button on the backdrop. Now if you already have one in the folder, by double clicking a new pic, the box will close, then there will now be a 2 count and a next button on the backdrop. To add another just push fetch and do it again, until your happy.
Thin click the save metadata button and move on to the next one.

FeLiX has created a script to assist in the renaming of the backdrops. What his scrip is going to let you do is, use Meta<Browser/> to go ahead and download the multiple backdrops to your folders, and afterward run his script and it will scan the folders and find the last backdrop in the string and copy it as backdrop (2).jpg.
So keep that in mind when choosing the backdrops and make the one you want as the insert, the last one you choose. This way its the one gets copied and turd into backdrop (2).

Hi All,

I am pleased to release BackdropArranger. This small tool will go through your media library and look for multiple backdrops if more than one exists in a movie or TV series folder, BackdropArranger will copy the last one in the list to backdrop (2).jpg. This is the ideal companion for Starkcovers - if you are using stark to process your backdrop.jpg files. You will know by default, that if backdrop (2).jpg is available in the movie or TV series folder that stark will use that first - here is the way to make sure that happens...

Usage:
BackdropArranger.exe "drive:\path to media files"

Example(s):
BackdropArranger.exe "e:\Tv Series"
BackdropArranger.exe "e:\My Movies"

Click here to download BackdropArranger 1.6b
Mirror by DemonSeed Click to download BackdropArranger 1.6b

Here is an example batch file that could be used to control the scrip...

@echo off
rem BDA.cmd
cls
echo Now working on Movies...
"drive:\path to backdroparranger\BackdropArranger.exe" "drive:\path to your movies"
echo Now working on TV Series...
"drive:\path to backdroparranger\BackdropArranger.exe" "drive:\path to your tv series"
echo All Finished!

Enjoy!

Here is an example of some of my newly created icons using Stark Covers with the TV overlay.

And as you can see it creates a very nice looking style for viewing TV Shows.

Once you have your icons created you can place a folder.dna file in the folder with the icon and Stark will not change it during the next processing of your covers.
But that is not something you have to do. Stark now has a much better handling of TV Shows, meaning you can now run it with commands that can process your entire TV Collection while still giving you the freedom to do a mix of things to your collection.
An example is how I have mine set up. My shows first folders have the TV overlay used as you have seen, but on the next level, looking at the season folders I am using the Clear Case.

And now Stark has the ability to do the TV/Movie overlay on the TV Show Thumbs as well.

Now back to what I was saying about "Stark now has a much better handling of TV Shows", using a simple set of commands like these below you can easily do anything you want to your TV Shows.

StarkCovers.exe "Q:\T.V. Shows OnDemand" -revertjpg thumbs:TV Season:clearcase Series:TV
StarkCovers.exe "Q:\T.V. Shows OnDemand" thumbs:Movie Season:sidelogo Series:TV

These are just some ideas to play with to give you a better understanding of how it can run.


More to come, promise.

 

[DemonSeed]

I Found A very good way to speed things up.

I found MediaBrowser took a lot of time to sift through the large amount of image cache files so I took the time to figure out how to run MediaBrowser from RAM. Once the cache was cleared and rebuilt in RAM, the program loads thumbnails instantly. I no longer have to wait for all the thumbnails to appear and especially when using the Vanilla theme and the high res backdrops.

Note that this was done using Windows 7 build 7260 32bit Version. It should work with Vista/Windows7 systems.

What your going to need is RAM drive software and Windows Vista or Windows 7. RAM Drive software I've tested with are:

QSoft RAMDISK $20 -- ramdisk.tk -- 32Bit and 64Bit Versions Available
RamDisk 10 for Desktop Systems $60 ** Note you need version 10 for Windows7/Vista -- RamDisk - Microsoft Certified Software -- 32Bit and 64Bit Versions Available
Free Ramdisk $0--Free Ramdisk for Windows Vista, XP, 2000 and 2003 Server » My Digital Life - Thanks for the tip FeLix 32Bit ONLY Version Only

Both Programs save your RAMDRIVE to hard disk prior to shutdown and restore on bootup.
If your system has 4GB of RAM and using a 32bit OS like I am, those 2 programs can use that 1GB of System RAM that is unused.

Step 1
Download and install the RAM Disk software of your choice. Ramdisk 10 has a nice GUI and is easier to install and setup but is more expensive. You can download it as trialware and is fully functional for 15 days. QSoft RAMDISK is cheaper but I suggest you read the instruction carefully. The instructions say to go to control panel and select Add New Hardware to kick things off, but in Windows 7 the Add New Hardware button is gone. Instead click the Start Orb and search for hdwwiz.exe. I set my RAMDRIVE to 992MB. My current MediaBrowser folder with the cache and ImagesByName folder are already taking up 600+ MB.

Step 2
Once your RAM drive is setup, format it with a quick NTFS filesystem and create a "ProgramData" folder inside it. After that navigate to C:\ProgramData\ (It may be hidden, if so go to folder options in the control panel and check show hidden files) and right click the MediaBrowser folder and select copy, then paste it into your newly created ProgramData folder on your RAMDRIVE.

Step 3
Delete the MediaBrowser folder in C:\ProgramData\. (Or move it to your desktop to create a backup if something going wrong)

Step 4
If you haven't heard Vista/Windows 7 make use of soft/hard links much like *nix. The command is MKLINK in dos. If you want more information on it, Google it.
Click the Start Orb and Search cmd.exe and type the following :

MKLINK /J C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser DriveLetterofyourRAMDRIVE:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser

Optional Step 5
Make sure you add correct user permissions if your using exenders ie. xbox360 to the new MediaBrowser folder on your RAMDRIVE for all your xbox360 users.

Edit: If you think your lacking RAM, you can just put one or 2 folders on your RAM Drive. For instance, if you just wanted to put the ImageCache folder on your RAMDRIVE you would just copy the ImageCache onto your RAMDRIVE keeping the same directory structure. After pasting, delete the original folder from the C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ directory. Next you edit the MKLINK command:

MKLINK /J C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImageCache DriveLetterofyourRAMDRIVE:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImageCache

Thats it.


Cheers,

Washy

I have been playing with the ram drive, and have now moved almost everything MB related to the ram drive.
I have moved the Cache folder, ImagesByName folder,Plugins folder, RSS folder, StartupFolder, and even the folder I keep my Startup Icons in. + to top it off I uninstalled MediaBrowser and then reinstalled it to the Ram Drive.

I can now TRULY SEE A SPEED BOOST!!! The only thing that is still on a HDD is the image cache (because its just to big) and the CustomStyles.mcml, Fonts_DoNotEdit.mcml, MediaBrowserXml.config, Styles_DoNotEdit.mcml.

I gave MB 1GB on the Ram Drive and with all of tha in Ram its only using 768mb. And like I said I can really see improvement!

   Note

   Note

   Note

Yea I did it in my norm, moving pix so I'm sure you know the drill by now. If not...
*** I am using animated pix in this post that you can not see move with Internet Explorer. If you are using Firefox, Safari, or Opera your good, just skip over this next part.
If your using any other web browser please just for this, download this Portitable Web Browser and run the opera.exe and it will open, then browse back to this page, and you wont miss a thing.

This is on the Hdd side of things...

This is on the Ram Side of things...

So you know its all true!

P.S.> You probably saw that link for my image cache, it was just to move it to another drive. As you can see my C:/ partition was a little full so I moved it to another hdd. The reason I had to leave the Image Cache on a hdd is my Image Cache is 7.25gb and I only have 6gb of RAm.


This is the commands I used.

MKLINK /J C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\Cache J:\Cache

MKLINK /J C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImageCache J:\ImageCache

MKLINK /J C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\StartupFolder J:\StartupFolder

MKLINK /J C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\Plugins J:\Plugins

MKLINK /J C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\RSS J:\RSS

MKLINK /J C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName J:\ImagesByName

 

[zay]

The link to dl the bd changer is not working. PS, which ram disk software did you use, and dod you use the trial version to set yours up? BTW, good job with all that.

 

[DemonSeed]

Thanks for the heads up! I fixed it!

http://files.getdropbox.com/u/841137/backdropArranger_1.6.zip

 

[DemonSeed]

@Zay I am not using one in the list just because I'm a cheap basted and wont pay for things and the free one doesnt work in x64 OS.
If your needing one just PM me and we'll talk.

 

[Syphrez]

how do i get it to play rmvb videos =[

 

[DemonSeed]

I Have No Idea! What I do know is that Media Center is the actual player so if you can make Media Center play Media Browser will launch it.

All I can say is do some research to find the correct codecs to play that file type.

 

[Syphrez]

mmm what about mkv and stuff umm alsoo.. these backdrop and photos... really are for english series and movies yeahh.... i got a few chinese series (well known) well in hongkong maybe but they wont ever be able to pick it up ?

 

[DemonSeed]

You can us a Metadata fetcher for those to get the correct info.

The one I recommend is meta<browser/>, just a few post back you'll find a link for it.

 

[mxosder16]

Ok, i just installed and it works great...for a few movies.
It wont grab metadata for most of my movies, can someone please help!

 

[Orbital Shark]

Ok, i just installed and it works great...for a few movies.
It wont grab metadata for most of my movies, can someone please help!

Do you have an example of a movie so I can install & test it? What version you installed too?

 

[mxosder16]

Do you have an example of a movie so I can install & test it? What version you installed too?

An example would be The Goblet of Fire (and any harry potter movie)
And i'm using 2.1.1

 

[zay]

Have you tried YAMM? Off topic, what do you guys suggest is the best trailer downloader so that I can have trailers for the movies I already have? Oh in case anyone had the problem like I had with not getting the trailers to work (All I was getting was a blank square with no sound or picture), I got it resolved. I had my xml file configured a while back (worked like a charm), but when I ran YAMM, it renamed the folders and appended the movie year....(you see where this is going?)

 

[Quantus]

I cant get it to work in Windows 7 RTM.

After I configured the intial setting nothing happen.

First I added my media (F:/Videos) ... what then?

How do I launch the program?

 

[Orbital Shark]

I cant get it to work in Windows 7 RTM.

After I configured the intial setting nothing happen.

First I added my media (F:/Videos) ... what then?

How do I launch the program?

The program wont launch under Windows 7 RTM

You need to install v2.0.1 first then overwright with 2.1.1 for it to work.

You can find the Icon under 'Extras Library' in Media Center

 

[Orbital Shark]

An example would be The Goblet of Fire (and any harry potter movie)
And i'm using 2.1.1

Sorry mate, can't get films to register at the minute. Not even 'Reign Of Fire'. Hell, cant even can't even run it without needing to install 2.0.1 on there before hand

 

[DemonSeed]

Have you tried YAMM?

No I haven't.

Off topic, what do you guys suggest is the best trailer downloader so that I can have trailers for the movies I already have?

The best I have found is Media Center Master, it will scan your collection and add the trailers to the folders it finds matches for and add the info to the xml for Media Browser.


On the issue with metadata not being fetched, has anyone checked to see if tvdb or the moviedb might be down right now? Just wondering because I've seen that happen before and no one knew.