Some questions before testing emby on unRAID (in a docker container)

[cryodream 0]

Hi, I'm a new emby user.
I've been using Kodi pretty much from the very beginning, 10+ years. The problem with Kodi is, that it needs a server component. Come in Plex or emby.

I wanted to ask a couple of questions, before installing emby and letting it loose on my media collection.

 

I am running unRAID on my server, and I'm gonna use emby in a docker container. It seems there are 2 to choose from: one made by emby, and one by binhex.

• 1) Is there any preference, which one to use?

My collection has only Movies and TV Shows (no music). All my files have "Kodi-type" metadata. Movies are in separate folders, and have nfos, posters, fanart, etc. TV Shows folders have nfos, posters/fanart/logos/clearart and season posters/fanarts. Episodes do not have anything - no nfos no images (as Kodi would get them on demand). I am OCD about my collection, and all the images are hand picked. All the movies have their nfos created my EMM, and TVShows by Sonarr.

• 2) Does emby "touch" any files in the media collection. I mean does it automatically (like during the scan) write/overwrite any nfo or image files? If so, is there an option to disable that? My reason being, I want to "safely" test emby, knowing that nothing gets changed in my collection, at least for the time being, while I'm getting to know emby.
• 3) Would having nfos locally stop emby from updating with new info from the internet?

As I understand, emby has the ability to periodically update the information on movies and tv shows. Which is great feature, especially getting updates ratings, etc. I have the nfos with the media to ensure that every movie or tv show is would be recognized correctly %100 of the time. Kodi, Plex, and I'm sure emby too - all are not infallible. Having nfos manually created and double checked only once - gives me confidence that there will be no mistakes, ever with mismatching that item in the future. With emby's ability to initially get and then update the info from internet, I think the ideal solution would be to remove all but the imdb/tvdb ids and movie/show names from the nfo files. The ids would ensure the item would be recognized. The name - that one I mainly use to set an english title for foreign movies and to differentiate movie editions, when I have multiple of the same movie. Maybe for some movies I would use the sort title too.

• 4) How does emby treat the nfos? I mean would it use the local info from nfos and would not get anything from the internet. Or would it still get anything, that is missing in the nfos? Basically, does emby support "partial" or "minimal" nfos? From this post I gather it does (link), but would love a confirmation.

I do intent to use emby as a server backend serving multiple Kodi installs (at least for the time being). But after reading through the forums (link), I see there maybe a problem with emby docker on unRAID and Kodi Sync plugin? That would kinda be a deal-breaker...

• 5) So is there a problem in this scenario with Kodi Sync plugin slowing down emby webUI?

Plex has a killer feature - that is sharing by labels (including, NOT excluding). This one single feature is almost worth considering using Plex (at least for me). Like I mentioned before, I have 3 users. My server is 147TB in size and more than %90 of that is movies and shows. The other 2 do not want to have my whole collection in their Kodi, as in - they just want some newest movies, and the tv shows they're watching. Before, while using only Kodi, I was using symlinks to cherry-pick the stuff they wanted, but that was extremely tedious. In Plex, on the other hand - it was ideal. I just created 2 labels for each person, and added those labels to any movie or show they wanted. Done. That is what I call perfection in managing media sharing for multiple users.

• 6) After reading the wiki and forums, I gather emby uses tags in the opposite way - by using Parental Controls tags. Is that the only option to "filter" the content, or did I miss something, and emby does have an ability to share by tags, like Plex?

If the answer to the last question is no. Still (I hope), the easiest way to manage user access to the media, is tags.

• 7) Could I try and "game the system" by adding the Parental Controls tags to all the movies and shows, and just removing them from the stuff they want? This would be kinda backwards, but it should work, right?

If the answer to last question is yes.

• 8) Does emby have a way to mass-edit the movies/shows to add the tags to multiple items easily and not one by one?
• 9) If there is no mass-edit, can tags be added using emby API? I really really do not want to do this one-by-one   

One of the most important things nowadays, when using a Kodi/plex/emby type of media center/player soft, especially if you have large media collection, is keeping track of watched status. Trakt is essential here.

• 10) After reading up on the forums, I gather there is a big problem with current Trakt plugin? From what I gather, only scrobble works now, but sync does not? I have read through all the topics I could find about this, and it seems the trakt plugin needs a total re-write, because it is completely out-dated. Personally for me, Trakt is essential. It kinda looks like priority on this is very low. Should I be worried?

All of my media collection is properly organized. Except one thing, that I am not sure, if emby will be ok with it. That is - the movies, which actually belong in a set (eg: Harry Potter), I do keep them organized in a sub-folders, named as the collection they belong to. I do this, just to make things easier and more organized.

• 11) So in this example, would emby have a problem, if I pointed to the "Movie.Sets/" folder and not to the "Movie.Sets/Harry.Potter/" folder, as the source of movies, when setting up the movies library?

Movie.Sets/Harry.Potter/Harry.Potter.and.the.Prisoner.of.Azkaban.2004.1080p.BluRay.DTS.x264-CtrlHD/(movie file, nfo and images)

If you're still reading, sorry for a long post

[Luke 37188]

Use our docker.

 

 

 

• 2) Does emby "touch" any files in the media collection. I mean does it automatically (like during the scan) write/overwrite any nfo or image files? If so, is there an option to disable that? My reason being, I want to "safely" test emby, knowing that nothing gets changed in my collection, at least for the time being, while I'm getting to know emby.
•  

 

Yes, if you enable saving nfo to local media folders.

 

 

 

• 4) How does emby treat the nfos? I mean would it use the local info from nfos and would not get anything from the internet. Or would it still get anything, that is missing in the nfos? Basically, does emby support "partial" or "minimal" nfos? From this post I gather it does (link), but would love a confirmation.
•  

We still supplement with internet metadata.

 

 

 

• 5) So is there a problem in this scenario with Kodi Sync plugin slowing down emby webUI?

Try the EmbyCon addon: https://emby.media/emby-for-kodi.html

 

It's very fast with no sync process required.

[Luke 37188]

 

 

• 7) Could I try and "game the system" by adding the Parental Controls tags to all the movies and shows, and just removing them from the stuff they want? This would be kinda backwards, but it should work, right?
•  

It should probably work yes.

[Luke 37188]

 

 

• 8) Does emby have a way to mass-edit the movies/shows to add the tags to multiple items easily and not one by one?
• 9) If there is no mass-edit, can tags be added using emby API? I really really do not want to do this one-by-one 

 

No but planned for the future.

 

Yes.