Jump to content

A Learners Guide to Understanding Artwork in Media Browser


Brendon

Recommended Posts

Brendon

I wrote this guide up to try and help @@t^2 understand the images and their place(s) and thought it might also be helpful to anyone new to this and scratching their head.

 

So here we go:

 

Movies

Movie Art - are images of a movie logo/name including characters of the movie with a transparent background

Movie Backdrops – are high quality backdrops of the Movie

Movie Banner - are images containing the movie characters including the movie logo/title

Movie Disc - are original movie disc images with a transparent background

Movie Logo – are images of a movie logo/name with a transparent background

Movie Thumb - are images containing the movie characters including the movie logo/title

 

 

TV

TV Art- are images of a TV show logo/name including characters of the TV show with a transparent background

TV Backdrops – are high quality backdrops of the TV show

TV Banner - are images containing the TV show characters including the TV show logo/title

TV Logo – are images of a TV show logo/name with a transparent background

TV Thumb - are images containing the TV show characters including the TV show logo/title

 

 

TV Seasons

TV Seasons Backdrops – are high quality backdrops of the season, usually displayed in the background when the related season is selected

TV Seasons Banner - are images containing the TV show characters including the TV show logo/title and season number

TV Seasons Thumb - are images containing the TV show characters including the TV show season number

 

 

Music Artists

Music Artist Thumb - are high quality thumbnail images of an artist or band

Music Artist Backdrops - are high quality backdrops containing the artist/band

Music Artist Logo - are images of an artist or bands logo/name with a transparent background

Music Artist Banner - are images containing the artists including their logo/name

 

 

Music Albums

Music Album Cover - are images of the original album

Music Album Backdrops - are high quality backdrops containing the artist/band

Music Album Disc - are original music disc images with a transparent background

 

 

 

What Do They Do?

Firstly you will notice that covers for TV and Movies are not listed, this seems to be a given that you want them and they are fetched providing an image does not already exist in the folder (folder.jpg or folder.png)

When changing/adding cover images using they WebUI they are referred to as ‘primary’ but will be saved as a folder.jpg

 

Music Albums cover fetch can be enabled and disabled along with the options listed above, cover images for music will be extracted from tags if it exists,

if it does not and there is no folder image then providing it is enabled MBS will download one when available.

 

Please bear in mind most of the artwork is subject to what client and skin you are using and can vary as to how it is implemented, this is just a general idea for those new to MB and the world of Home Theatre.

 

Art - used while browsing your media centre library to show next to the poster/banner or as a recognizable navigation item.

Backdrops - used as a background while browsing your library and as a background slide show on skins that support this feature

Banner - used while browsing your media centre library as a recognizable navigation item

Disc - used while browsing your media centre library to show the original disc next to the cover also used while playing the movie in a media centre for skins that support it.

Logo - used while browsing your media center library as a recognizable navigation item

Thumb - used while browsing your media center library as a recognizable navigation item

 

All of the above images are stored locally in the folder containing the media by default, making them easy to find and replace/delete or edit or you can browse for and replace/delete images via the MBS WebUI > http://YOURSERVERNAME:PORT/mediabrowser/dashboard/edititemmetadata.html

 

You can also enable/disable which of the above images are fetched via your MBS Dashboard > Metadata > Image Downloading.

 

 

But wait there’s more….

 

Collections - Collections in essence are navigation menu defined by you the user and created as you desire when you add your media. They can also have an image associated with them, these images are usually created by users and can found here on the forums or you can make your own.

The easiest way by far to add/change these is using the WebUI > http://YOURSERVERNAME:PORT/mediabrowser/dashboard/index.html …click on one of you collections > edit > upload your image

 

Box Sets – We all know what these are and yes they can have images as well, MB is just that cool :D

Most Box Set images are easily obtained from TMDb, although MB doesn’t find it so easy at the moment and the manual process is the best option, so the easiest way for that, again go to your WebUI > http://YOURSERVERNAME:PORT/mediabrowser/dashboard/boxsets.html > select one your boxsets > edit > now scroll down and look for the TheMovieDB Id: in the field beside it add the collection number from TMDb > click save > click refresh and all your metadata and images (including any fanart.tv images) should be populated.

 

C’MON! How do I get the tmdb id? Head over to TMDb.org and search for your movie(s), on the left menu select collections, select and click the right collection if more then one, now look at the URL in your browser (eg. http://www.themoviedb.org/collection/2326-underworld-collection), so for our Underworld Collection the TMDb id needed is 2326.

 

 

Media Browser also makes use of images for Artists, People, Studios, Genres (TV/Movie, Music and Game), Years and even General for those they couldn’t think of, they are however stored deeper inside the MBS folders on your server.

More info on those and their location can be found here

 

 

 

... got all that? feel like having a go at making your own?

....well i'll even give you a hand there, here is a list of recommended resolutions and formats, they are not set in concrete for personal use, although if you wish to share your creations they are, and if you wish to share on fanart.tv i would suggest you head over there and read their guidelines, they have a very strict criteria to make sure only the best quality art appears on your tv screens.

 

Art - Resolution: Hi 1000x562 or Low 500x281 / Format: png or jpg

Backdrops - Resolution: 1920x1080 / Format jpg

Banner - Resolution: 1000x185 / Format jpg

Disc - Resolution: 1000x1000 / Format: png

Logo - Resolution: Hi 800x310 or Low 400x155 / Format: png

Thumb - Resolution: 500x281 / Format: jpg

Movie / TV Covers - Resolution: 1000x1426 / Format: jpg

Music Album Covers - Resolution: 1000x1000 / Format jpg

 

For Disc art a template can be found here and a tutorial for using it with GIMP here

 

 

 

Hope that helps some to get their head around all the pretty pictures and terms used for them.

 

Thank you to fanart.tv for their general descriptions and awesome artwork and of course to the Media Browser team cos they rock B)

Edited by Luke
  • Like 14
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Koleckai Silvestri

Nice. Thanks for the write up. Might be useful to include the accepted dimensions from fan art.tv. This way people can use the, to make their own images if they choose.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fyi - the next server release is going to change our collection terminology to match the rest of the industry. the term collection will now be interchangeable with box set. what we call Media Collections will now be called Media Folders.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brendon

Nice. Thanks for the write up. Might be useful to include the accepted dimensions from fan art.tv. This way people can use the, to make their own images if they choose.

 

Done mate, although i have to confirm resolutons for some of the more specific art like cat icons etc.. i'll add them once i do.

 

Fyi - the next server release is going to change our collection terminology to match the rest of the industry. the term collection will now be interchangeable with box set. what we call Media Collections will now be called Media Folders.

 

I added a note to the bottom about that Luke and will update the guide once it goes live to users so as not to confuse them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
chef

Well done.

 

@@Luke could use some of the descriptions for summaries in the API. ;) Just kidding man... there is no time for summaries... lol.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...