Emby for Kodi Next Gen proper setup?

[lightsout 156]

Is there an install/best practices thread somewhere? I don't see much info about how to actually use the addon.

I am running an Odroid N2 with latest Coreelec. I already had my movies/tv shows/music mounted added with SMB in Kodi.

1. Should I remove all the SMB shares?

2. Do most folks just go to the add on and access all their media there? Or do you add the Emby movie source to your normal "movies" section in Kodi. I am confused as to how this is supposed to be done.
3. I have a folder full or sermons, mixed with video and audio. Emby for Kodi made this three different sections. Sermons/Movies, Sermons/TV Shows, Sermons/Audio. I just want to view this according to the folder structure but I don't see a way to control the views of each section coming from my Emby server.

Help is much appreciated here.
EDIT# I installed Emby for Kodi 6.x.x becauser 7.x.x said it was experimental, was this a mistake?

Edited August 1, 2022 by lightsout

[quickmic 1703]

18 hours ago, lightsout said:

Is there an install/best practices thread somewhere? I don't see much info about how to actually use the addon.

I am running an Odroid N2 with latest Coreelec. I already had my movies/tv shows/music mounted added with SMB in Kodi.

1. Should I remove all the SMB shares?

2. Do most folks just go to the add on and access all their media there? Or do you add the Emby movie source to your normal "movies" section in Kodi. I am confused as to how this is supposed to be done.
3. I have a folder full or sermons, mixed with video and audio. Emby for Kodi made this three different sections. Sermons/Movies, Sermons/TV Shows, Sermons/Audio. I just want to view this according to the folder structure but I don't see a way to control the views of each section coming from my Emby server.

Help is much appreciated here.
EDIT# I installed Emby for Kodi 6.x.x becauser 7.x.x said it was experimental, was this a mistake?

 

First, if you have no experience with the plugin I recommend a test run on a PC and start with a plain Kodi installation.

Use 7.x version, it's anyway a test run and actually 7.x is as stable as 6.x for regular use cases. Also use addon mode if you haven't a really good reason why not.

When using the plugin from a plain Kodi installation, the (init) sync process is wizard based. Should be straight forward. It's more tricky to customize the skin and using the plugin's custom nodes, but this is no important for getting started.

btw, forget all Kodi's integrated library management. This is not used by the plugin, library modifications are in the plugin's config menu (actually everything is there you need)

Kodi's stock library management is for Kodi native content (not plugin's/Emby content), just try it.

To sum it up:

Install Kodi and don't setup anything in Kodi!

Install the plugin and follow the wizard

Done

 

btw, you don't need any shares smb/nfs or whatever in addon mode. It is absolutely straight forward.

Also keep in mind, the plugin is just as powerful as you tagged you content on Emby server. It will not add metadata or anything else you you content. Emby server is in charge for metadata ops. As better you tagged your content and Emby server as better the plugin works. Just saying, cause I'm not a fan of mixed content.

imho, there is only one reason using this type of library and that's for homevideos (pictures and videos mixed).

Otherwise it makes Emby server much hard to "guess" what's what.

 

 

Edited August 2, 2022 by quickmic

[quickmic 1703]

18 hours ago, lightsout said:

3. I have a folder full or sermons, mixed with video and audio. Emby for Kodi made this three different sections. Sermons/Movies, Sermons/TV Shows, Sermons/Audio. I just want to view this according to the folder structure but I don't see a way to control the views of each section coming from my Emby server.

This already an advanced question. With stock Kodi, movies will be under movies and TV Shows under TV Shows.

btw, I'm talking about synced content not dynamic content (different topic).

If you want special views, you need a customize the skin.

In 7.x plugin's "run" menu you can see all available nodes/sortings. (I still leave dynamic nodes out of the scope for the moment). Any node you find there can be bind to any view/widget/list on your Kodi skin (if you have a custom skin installed).

This gives you the option to extend Kodi's default capabilities (which are very limited by default).

Edited August 2, 2022 by quickmic

[lightsout 156]

Thank you very much for the write up. My main issue was I had an already setup Kodi. I did what you said earlier and tried a clean install.

Things are working much better. I know that mixed folders are not great but I have a ton of stuff that can't be named properly.

That said I decided to leave that content out of Kodi and use it in the Emby app where it works better.

My main use for the plugin is keeping my watch counts connected with Emby. Thanks for the hard work.