Tool to create library for Emby

[sandro_rocha_1982 1]

Good Morning. I'm about to migrate from an Asustor NAS to an Intel server running OMV. I plan to put 6 4TB disks and use MergerFS to merge everything into a single mount point and move my library to this new location. I'll take advantage and correct some library file names. Is there a tool that allows me to pre-scan, collect all the metadata and files needed by Emby to avoid a very time-consuming real-time scan? On NAS Asustor took a long time. I believe that on the Intel server it will be faster but I still wanted to avoid this by collecting the metadata before reconfiguring Emby.

ps: the tool does not need to be for Linux, I will access the files through Windows.

[GrimReaper 4748]

1 minute ago, sandro_rocha_1982 said:

s there a tool that allows me to pre-scan, collect all the metadata and files needed by Emby to avoid a very time-consuming real-time scan?

There are a few, as with everything, it all boils down to personal preference. My tool of choice.

[sandro_rocha_1982 1]

9 minutes ago, GrimReaper said:

There are a few, as with everything, it all boils down to personal preference. My tool of choice.

Would this tool avoid Emby's initial scan? Do I need to install some plugin in Emby or do some specific configuration in this tool for the process to work as I need?

[GrimReaper 4748]

7 minutes ago, sandro_rocha_1982 said:

Would this tool avoid Emby's initial scan?

You can't avoid initial scan. However, you can disable all scrapers and/or cut internet connection altogether while initial import, which will significantly increase the speed of that initial scan as only local files (NFOs, artwork) will be read. 

10 minutes ago, sandro_rocha_1982 said:

Do I need to install some plugin in Emby or do some specific configuration in this tool for the process to work as I need?

No on both accounts. You might wanna look in the tools Movies/TV show settings for NFO template Type as there is Emby-type as NFO connector, but it will work on default Kodi-type settings just as well. 

[Gilgamesh_48 1240]

The very first part of this post just disappeared when I submitted it I will try to reproduce it as best I can:
- - - -
I started off suggesting FileBot and stated that it worked great for initial import.
- - - -
When I initially migrated from Plex to Emby and added a bunch of content as well all I did was use FileBot to get the naming right and made sure the structure for TV conformed to Emby's standard (FileBot can do both but I found it easier to do the structure corrections manually) I then simply pointed Emby to the correct folder(s) and let Emby do its thing. It uncovered a few, very few, naming/matching problems but FileBot got 99.9% of everything right and I could have even avoided most of the issues if I had let FileBot correctly append date and ID info from the start but I did not know everything FileBot could do at that time. (I still don't know "everything" but I know more now than I did back then.)

Since the initial scan of the libraries I have been able to add movies and TV shows to my existing structure without problem. I have even avoided most of the problems others have had with TV series having the same name like "Battlestar Galactica" and "One Day at a Time."

Emby is not real forgiving on TV structure so be sure you name and structure everything exactly the way Emby wants. It is sometimes even important that the season folders are always two digits even for the single digit ones. That is use "Season 01" rather than "Season 1." It does not usually make a difference but it has a couple of times.

I also recommend that you always have a season folder even if the is only one season. Emby will, usually, work for single season shows but not always so why try to force a structure that is not close to 100%.

I guess you are trying to avoid using data from the internet during initial scan and that can be done as has been pointed out but it does not seem to me that the initial scan of my libraries took much data, it just took time. About 8.5 hours to complete. I had, at the time, over 2000 movies and about 550 TV shows with 28000 or so episodes.

There are a LOT of ways to structure your libraries but I have found that following Emby's directions avoids many problems.
The only part of Emby's suggestions that I do not bother about is the suggestion that all movies go in individual folders. The advantages of that structure are not important to me. I almost never use subtitles (I luckily understand all the major languages that I like to watch movies in) and I do not have multiple versions of the same movie and I do not care about extras or specials and those are the things that the individual folders allow.

For ease of access I do keep all the movies in the correct single letter folder as appropriate. The only other further concession I make to organization is that I group some movies into a single folder. ex. I have all the "Lord of the Rings" and "Hobbit" movies in a single folder under "H" and all the "Indiana Jones" movies in a single folder under "I". I just do that to make maintenance easier. 

As long as you conform to Emby's naming and structure you should have few problems.

Edited December 30, 2022 by Gilgamesh_48