Themes TV & Movies

[breezytm 124]

Hello, 

 

This may sounds like a rare request but to each his own. I would like to keep the downloaded trailers, tv tunes, and themes files away from my movies and tv shows directory. Would it be possible to allow downloading these files to the same location as the thumbnails or custom location. 

 

I share my movies and tv shows folder with multiple different applications and don't want to add anything extra in the directories other than the movie/episode files and subs. MB may know what a "theme" file is but I doubt an application like plex or xbmc would know what to do with it. 

 

Thanks, 

 

 

 

[altramarine 21]

I agree with you to a point. Each person has a preference, requirement and has different setup scenario. I cannot comment on the extra load on the meta providers, you are probably right there.

I still see this to be a very viable OPTION: either leave the files where the media files are or have the option to save these files in a different location.

 

Like Luke outlined above, this sounds like a feature request which will have its own evaluation, priority.

Edited October 15, 2014 by altramarine

[breezytm 124]

"I can put the files anywhere with very little dev to the plugins but them mbs wouldn't see them."  - If you move them to the metadata location specified in mbs I am sure it would not have any issues finding them. MBS doen't have any issues finding the metadata.

 

Thanks for the plex info but I've had my plex server running going on two and half years and never had any issues with it. I am not about to change what I know to be working to fix something that isn't. Specially when plex isn't the only affected one. What would I do about XBMC?

 

I will just get ride of the plugins. It sucks since I really like them. I will just wait until they are fixed. Fix - for my needs at least. 

Edited October 15, 2014 by breezytm

[Luke 39303]

Look at the documentation for the other software. They all have techniques to hide files and folders. Maybe Radeon will be kind enough to implement those techniques.

 

This is something all three of us do, although we have not introduced any new proprietary naming schemes since MB2. But both of the other two have and they do what they're going to do without checking with each other or with us. In our quest to be as open as possible we are supporting as many of them as we can and we will not be introducing any new ones. So if you want to call this an "issue" then go ahead but make sure you do the same the next time one of the others adds a new feature that requires a file within a media folder.

[breezytm 124]

@@Luke

 

Radeon says, and he can correct me if am wrong, that the limitation is on MBS side. He is willing to do the necessary chances. It requires "very little dev to the plugins".

 

And I agree. If they were to implement something that will interfere will my folder structure I would contact them as well and have them fix it. Again you are totally right. Just like MB is playing friendly they all should too. 

 

My only issue here is that I don't want to change something that has been working issue free for years for something new. Each one of them have similar plugins and I don't have to deal with the problem on hand. I have tv shows themes and trailers in plex and tv tunes, trailers and backdrop in xbmc.

[radeon 720]

"I can put the files anywhere with very little dev to the plugins but them mbs wouldn't see them."  - If you move them to the metadata location specified in mbs I am sure it would not have any issues finding them. MBS doen't have any issues finding the metadata.

 

Looking at the mbs file and folder structure guide, i cant just move the files out. http://mediabrowser.tv/community/index.php?/topic/674-media-files-folders-structure/&do=findComment&comment=21485

 

I could look to create the plexignore files when downloading the themes via the plugin.

 

 

What would I do about XBMC?

I'm not sure what the method is in xmbc, i cant imagine it would be that hard. If it's a file based "ignore file" fix again, i could just create it as with the plexignore.

 

 

Thanks for the plex info but I've had my plex server running going on two and half years and never had any issues with it. I am not about to change what I know to be working to fix something that isn't. Specially when plex isn't the only affected one.

 

I disagree, i see this as an issue with plex and xmbc as they aren't natively catering for other naming conventions and just working on what suits them. As far as i am aware, MBS supports all of their naming conventions and even creates metadata in their formats.

[radeon 720]

Infact, better than all of that, tell them to utilise the files!!

[Luke 39303]

i know the theme.mp3 theme song is fairly universally supported. as is the movie-trailer.ext for local trailers. which is why i pushed so hard to use those names instead of the old proprietary MB2 conventions. so i don't think anything needs to be done with those.

 

we are doing our best to support as many as possible, and we won't introduce new ones. but to go back and change the way existing ones work, that's just something that would be evaluated like any other request comparative to other projects that are going on.

[Luke 39303]

Whilst not a perfect solution at all, this may help you until such a time that mbs may support alternate locations for the theme media:

 

https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201375253-Excluding-Content-with-plexignore

 

If the support is added to mbs then ill gladly add the functionality to my plugins when i do some other due dev to the plugins. :-)

 

You don't need any MBS support for this, right? all you have to do is save both the file + the ignore to tell the other software not to touch it

[radeon 720]

i know the theme.mp3 theme song is fairly universally supported. as is the movie-trailer.ext for local trailers. which is why i pushed so hard to use those names instead of the old proprietary MB2 conventions. so i don't think anything needs to be done with those.

 

we are doing our best to support as many as possible, and we won't introduce new ones. but to go back and change the way existing ones work, that's just something that would be evaluated like any other request comparative to other projects that are going on.

 

I'll look into adding the ignore files to prevent the mbs change requirements as changing these could open up some issues. 

 

If i just chuck in some config options so people can enable the automatic adding of the ignore files then there shouldn't be any problems.

[radeon 720]

You don't need any MBS support for this, right? all you have to do is save both the file + the ignore to tell the other software not to touch it

 

Nah, no support from mbs, providing mbs will ignore the ignore files! haha.

 

The support from mbs would come if we moved the files out of the medias directory. As there ways for plex and xmbc to ignore them then i think that this would be somewhat unnecessary

Edited October 15, 2014 by radeon

[breezytm 124]

This themes messed up both my xbmc and plex setup as expected. I had to shutdown my plex server because it was going on a constant loop trying to determine what the files were.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fphgj6eaydd9rvz/Screenshot%202014-10-15%2016.04.56.png?dl=0

[radeon 720]

hey @@breezytm,

 

I can't change their locations as its the one required by MBS.

 

If you look at my plugins as more of a metadata provider rather than something which enables functionality. Essentially my plugins have to place the files in the locations set out by MBS. As t

 

They're are named theme.ext for theme music and backdrops\theme.ext for theme videos. Can't you add some sort of ignore rules to xmbc/plex? Or request the other apps allow them to be ignored?

 

Sorry i can't be of more help.

 

All the best,

[altramarine 21]

Please do not take this as criticism or a demand but rather a request for an explanation.

I do not know how Plex, XMBC works as far as metadata, images, plugins are concerned because I do not use them.

Why is it an issue to have the option to have all media associated files (in this case backdrops, themes or other plugin's media related files) saved in one optional spot (which already exists in Metadata -> Advanced -> Metadata path) ? You would rather hide it. Is it the way MBS is designed? Is it for compatibility purposes?

Logically, to me, having the option to contain MBS's generated files to it's own realm at how it processes, utilizes it's own generated data would alleviate any compatibility issues.

Say, I add Plex or XBMC. I should be able to tell those two where to save the associated media files as well. Each server would have it's own metdata, images, backdrops, posters, etc.

This is as an option that is definitely not ideal to all because I imagine plenty of people use MB, Plex, XMBC scenarios in which they share the aforementioned files, and with success. Though, to me that sounds like a trouble waiting to burst out.

Edited October 15, 2014 by altramarine

[Luke 39303]

Well I thought that was covered. There is nothing wrong with the idea, but it is a feature request that will be considered like any other. Evaluated, prioritized, etc.

[breezytm 124]

Well I can't really just go to xbmc and plex and ask them to fix their competitor's issues. How does that even sound.

 

If the limitation is on the MBS perhaps MBS developers can do something about it.

 

I am the only one who brought this up but I am pretty sure I am not the only one who thinks something is seriously wrong with this. These files needs to be moved either wherever the user selected to have their fantarts downloaded to or a custom location of the user's choosing.

 

XMBC doesn't have that problem because TV Tunes for example download the tunes by default to the user's media folders or to a specified location.

 

Right now I have to keep all my xbmc boxes off and plex server shut to prevent the mess from continuing. If it can't be fixed I may have to uninstall the plugins which I really really really don't want to do since they are great plugins.

 

Same goes for local trailers which I am not sure manages that.

[breezytm 124]

I really don't like work around. The ignore file approach is just a work around. But since there is nothing personally I can do to convince you guys to do it the right way I guess we will have to settle for what we can get and I just won't use the plugins.

 

Edit: the right way according to myself of course and altramarine since he seems to think so as well.

 

I really really dislike the idea of adding anything to my folders other then my media files and .srts. Keeping my folders clean means i can use the paths with any software of my desire without worrying about compatibility issues. Doesn't necessarily have to be plex or xbmc. If let's say a new company comes along and don't ignore the files, what would you guys do then? Find another work around? If you are going to tackle the problem why not just spend just a little bit more time to do it right and never have to worry about it again.

 

I hope you guys don't think I am being difficult. Simply voicing my opinion. I tried MB in the past and left because it kept dumping the metadata in my media folders. The metadata were not compatible with either plex or xbmc so it became a whole mess. I was very happy to see you guys gave users an option to keep them locally and that's when I came back. I honestly think that's the route you guys should take with this.

Edited October 15, 2014 by breezytm

[radeon 720]

Well the backdrops dir is hidden so I cant see what it cant be ignored and i dont think its really an unreasonable request for plex/xmbc to ignore them. As for the theme music, if i remember correctly, its in that location and unhidden so plex can see it as it knows how too utilise it.

 

I can put the files anywhere with very little dev to the plugins but them mbs wouldn't see them. It's really something that mbs would been to cater for if there is a high enough demand for it.

[altramarine 21]

Hi there,

 

I too think it would be ideal if the Theme plugins had the option to save the backdrops, music theme in the same location as indicated in Metadata -> Advanced -> Metadata path.

That would be best for Plex comparability (or other) and for general cleanliness of the media folder if one should choose to go that route.

I have to say, the same would apply to the "Local trailers" plugin.

 

Thanks!

Edited October 15, 2014 by altramarine

[radeon 720]

I really dont think its a work around at all.

 

For me, i prefer my metadata to be in one place. Having 3 separate solutions which download to 3 separate locations is putting unnecessary load on the meta data providers and IMO should be avoided at any given chance.

 

With that said, after more though I dont think i would move where my plugins download to either.  This way, all other solutions, plex, xmbc or otherwise are free to utilise the themes downloaded by my plugins. My plugins are exclusive to MBS and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. If i moved the themes, no other solution could use them without supporting whatever alternate location is added or by me writing plugins for those solutions and putting 3 times the load on my hosting accounts.

[radeon 720]

Whilst not a perfect solution at all, this may help you until such a time that mbs may support alternate locations for the theme media:

 

https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201375253-Excluding-Content-with-plexignore

 

If the support is added to mbs then ill gladly add the functionality to my plugins when i do some other due dev to the plugins. :-)

[breezytm 124]

Yeah well the only downside to prioritizing things always come down to the person doing the prioritizing and how much that thing(s) matter(s) to them. For example: Since you said you don't use either Plex or XBMC, this request can take up to two years and it would not affect you in anyhow. You also would like to see it done because clearly it makes sense to you but it's not really important to you. I, in the other, find it very important because I want to use my other applications and it's a show stopper for me.  

 

Yes I know I can use the .plexignore file and the advancedsettings.xml file . But why make my life so complicated.

[breezytm 124]

I really dont think its a work around at all.

 

For me, i prefer my metadata to be in one place. Having 3 separate solutions which download to 3 separate locations is putting unnecessary load on the meta data providers and IMO should be avoided at any given chance.

 

With that said, after more though I dont think i would move where my plugins download to either.  This way, all other solutions, plex, xmbc or otherwise are free to utilise the themes downloaded by my plugins. My plugins are exclusive to MBS and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. If i moved the themes, no other solution could use them without supporting whatever alternate location is added or by me writing plugins for those solutions and putting 3 times the load on my hosting accounts.

 

Make sense. Which brings up the point of adding the files where ever the metadata is. If a user such as yourself wants to share metadata between applications all they have to do is have MB dump everything in their libraries folders. And those like myself who thinks its a nightmare they can continue to keep things separate. Everyone wins. 

[Spaceboy 2563]

It's quite easy to ignore files and folders with a consistent name in xbmc though. I used to hide the trailers folder that mb uses when I was combining the two. Worked very easily

[breezytm 124]

@@Spaceboy

 

The idea behind the request is so that you don't have to. You shouldn't have to. It has nothing to do with how easy it is. 

 

BTW: For a user migrating from MB to XMBC it may be easier. But for a user who has XBMC and Plex first, it is not the same thing.