Folder type: Adult videos not finding all files

[mbguy 40]

Media Browser Server just finished scanning my entire library, no issues with Movies and TV folders, but files inside Adult Videos media locations are not scanned/picked up by the server consistently.

 

For example, it seems only the first media file in a folder is successfully scanned:

 

\\PC\Adult Videos\Movies 1\Scene1.avi

 

Whereas the remaining files are simply ignored:

 

\\PC\Adult Videos\Movies 1\Scene2.avi

\\PC\Adult Videos\Movies 1\Scene3.avi

...

 

Even more weird, in some folders, the other files (eg. Scene2.avi, Scene3.avi etc...) will be recognized as "Additional Parts" but in some other folders, the other files (eg. Clipname.avi, DifferentClipName.mkv etc...) are not listed under Additional Parts.

 

I suspect if the files are named successively, such as file1.mkv, file2.mkv, file3.mkv etc within a folder then they will be grouped under additional parts.

 

But currently my videos in most of the folders have completely different file names and file types, such as file1.avi, filename2.mkv, anotherfilename.mpg etc. It seems MBS only picks up whatever the first file on the list and just simply ignores the rest, which is a problem.

 

What is the solution to this? Do I need to create a new sub-folder for EVERY single media file so they will be picked up properly? This would be insane amount of work.

 

Media Browser Server version: 3.0.5154.43059

Edited February 11, 2014 by mbguy

[Tanamur 53]

Hi @@mbguy - Here are a couple of things you might want to look at regarding what appears to be a content naming issue at my first glance.

 

Regardless of the content, it still needs to follow this for multi-part files: Multi-file and multi-disc movies

 

I frequently use a little program called Ken Rename which allows me to just set up template and move from folder to folder and apply a renaming macro with a sequential counter. I hyperlinked the developer's website rather than the other "spawn of Satan" freeware sites with install wrappers of rubbish!

 

Next, since it sounds like you have designated the content as Adult Movies, you might want to check out the ADE (Adult DVD Empire) plugin for the server to pull meta data. However, be aware, this plugin is in development and was for a while overwriting the folder.jpg poster file and was somewhat challenged to pull the correct movie data for the uniquely named films of this genre. Alternatively, you might find quite a few adult films have metadata entries in TMDB. In order grab this data you will need to change the library type back to just movies.

 

Which ever way you go, it appears you will need to do a bit of house cleaning on the file names first. Good luck.

 

'Let's eat Grandma!' or, 'Let's eat, Grandma!' Punctuation saves lives...

[mbguy 40]

Hi Tanamur and Luke, thanks for the feedback on file naming. I fully understand that file naming conventions need to be followed, as I've done so for Movies and TV Shows folders.

 

But for some of these random, short Adult clips, first they are not "movies" so neither ADE nor "Movies" folder type would find any metadata.

 

Besides, I don't really care whether there's metadata associated with them or not. All I need is for Media Browser Server to recognize that there are multiple files in the folder so I can scroll and select the right ones to open in MBC. Even just a list of file names under MBC would suffice.

 

But my problem is, as stated above, MBS only recognizes the first file in the folder so what can I do to make it work without creating a folder for all these short random clips, which will slow down accessing of files by other media players if every single short clips are located inside a file folder.

 

BTW, previously MB2 had no problem just giving me a list of files inside any folder, even if there are no metadata associated. Perhaps something has changed in MB3 or that my setting is not correct?

[Luke 42077]

You're on the dev track right now where there is some instability. Thanks for the report.

[Luke 42077]

Well as I mentioned for the ones randomly named, that should. But in order to diagnose I really need concrete examples, screenshots, steps to reproduce, logs, etc.

[Luke 42077]

However - it looks like your issue is not the dev track, but rather your file naming. Having the files end with numbers collides with our multi-file movie naming convention.

 

For the folders where they're randomly named - Clipname.avi, DifferentClipName.mkv - those should be listed separately.

[mbguy 40]

screenshots? I would have done it already if not for the Adult Content. Gie me some time to do some reorganization to use only a couple of relevant examples without showing too much

 

But a quick update is that, it seems no matter what Media Folder type is used, ie. Movies, Mixed Content, Adult videos, MBS 3 only recognizes the first file in that folder, ignoring the rest, unless the rest of the files matches the first file's name and numbered sequentially, as per file naming requirement. convention.

 

I just need a way for MBS to "see" all files in any folders like it used to in MB2, even if these files are not put inside their own individual folders.

[Tanamur 53]

But for some of these random, short Adult clips, first they are not "movies" so neither ADE nor "Movies" folder type would find any metadata.

 

Besides, I don't really care whether there's metadata associated with them or not. All I need is for Media Browser Server to recognize that there are multiple files in the folder so I can scroll and select the right ones to open in MBC. Even just a list of file names under MBC would suffice.

 

Hi @@mbguy - I just ran a little test and copied a bunch of randomly named video clips into a single folder named Home Movies and added it to the MBServer Media Library as Folder type: Home videos. This allowed me to see all of the video clips with their original file names appearing with thumb images in both the MB web client and MB-Classic interface. You can obviously name the library anything you want but the Folder Type of Home Videos seems to give you what you are looking for since pulling metadata is not important.

 

[ScottIsAFool 517]

It will be hard (no pun intended) to do a provider for pure scenes. You'd have to have a plugin that could somehow recognise different naming conventions for different scene providers (brazzers, for example). Not only that, but there is no source for that kind of information, even if you were to try and scrape the source's website. This is why at the moment, only full movies are supported and not individual scenes.

 

I assume this is what you're on about?

[mbguy 40]

Hi @@mbguy - I just ran a little test and copied a bunch of randomly named video clips into a single folder named Home Movies and added it to the MBServer Media Library as Folder type: Home videos. This allowed me to see all of the video clips with their original file names appearing with thumb images in both the MB web client and MB-Classic interface. You can obviously name the library anything you want but the Folder Type of Home Videos seems to give you what you are looking for since pulling metadata is not important.

So good to know "Home Videos" Media Folder type might be a solution. But after I added this new type of Media Folder, my files list still shows up incomplete just like before: only the first file in the folder is recognized but the rest are ignored.

 

I'm guessing the cache from previous library scan might be the cause of the problem, so I'm wondering now if there's a way to empty/reset/delete cache from previous sessions?

Edited February 12, 2014 by mbguy

[Tanamur 53]

So good to know "Home Videos" Media Folder type might be a solution. But after I added this new type of Media Folder, my files list still shows up incomplete just like before: only the first file in the folder is recognized but the rest are ignored.

 

I'm guessing the cache from previous library scan might be the cause of the problem, so I'm wondering now if there's a way to empty/reset/delete cache from previous sessions?

Hmmm, here are a couple of more things that deserve a quick check. There used to be a MBServer setting that defined the maximum number of sequentially numbered parts to be considered as part of the same "movie" but for the life of me I can't find it now. Perhaps it was removed and it may not even be applicable in your case since the clips are not necessarily part of the same "movie" and probably doesn't apply to the Home Video Folder Type.

 

Also, my system is set up to store meta data locally in the content folders and I kind of assumed yours was as well. In my test case I created a new folder and just copied the videos into it. Looking at that folder now, there is no meta data or xml file added by the server since they are Home Videos. You might want to check your folder to see if you have any old meta/xml files lingering around from MB2 and just set up a small test set of 3 or 4 vids in a new folder in a separate Home Video library entry to see if that gets you where you want to go. What I mean is, don't just add a new folder to the list of the existing Media Folder.

 

Lastly, from the web client MediaBrowser interface, you might just click on the meta data Edit button for the top level (edit: of the Home Video Folder), and just force a recursive Refresh Metadata to see if that cleans things up so you can see the other files. Also from this view you can click on the folder structure triangle to the left to open it up to see if the vids in the folder are visible there.

 

Hope that helps, Tanamur

Edited February 12, 2014 by Tanamur

[mbguy 40]

Tanamur, thanks for the suggestions! Here is my follow-up.

 

1. I agreet that "maximum number of sequential number parts" feature seems to have been removed from MBS3

 

2. I went through all the folders in question, there are no existing metadata/xml files.

 

3. I've tried the meta data Edit and Refresh, makes no difference.

 

4. Creating a new "Home Videos" Media Folder and adding a media location to it finally helps MBS3 "sees and lists" all the various files inside this folder. But unfortunately this only works if I point to a media location with no sub-folders. If a media location has multiple sub-folders, then the previous problem returns, ie. MBS3 only "sees" the first file in the sub-folder, ignoring the rest.

 

5. In fact, I re-tested the "Adult Videos" Media Folder Type, it has no problem seeing and displaying a list of files with various filenames too within a single folder, as long as the media location doesn't have sub-folders. Once there are sub-folders, MBS3 only sees the first file on the list.

 

I'm not sure this behavior is intended by the Media Browser team. Hopefully this can be identified as a bug to be fixed, otherwise I'm back to looking for a workaround.

Edited February 12, 2014 by mbguy

[Tanamur 53]

Hi @@mbguy - Well it is some progress in that #5, which is where we started, is seeing the first vid in each folder. I am just trying to get inventive here a bit. Since we are having a play with library folder types, Movies/Adult Vids isn't really looking for subfolders. However, if MB sees the first vid, you might try naming them sequentially in one folder to see if that forces it to consider all parts as the same vid. 

 

Also, there is the Collections (formerly Boxset) option that may view the subfolders as movies in the series like Bourne, 007, etc. Sequential naming of parts still applies but subfolders are expected.

 

I had a go a while ago with Music Videos. There were quite a few changes recently with that structure but it may be an option.

 

Other than that, I am out of ideas for now

[Luke 42077]

I am not accusing,  but I don't see any screenshots or logs, and those are what will help me identify the problem in the fastest way.

[mbguy 40]

Thanks Luke for the clarification, I will get you the relevant screenshots or logs if it helps.

 

But after all the testing, I can't speak for Tanamur, but I just would like to know if MBS is DESIGNED to scan sub-folders and recognize more than the first file (when the rest of the files doesn't follow naming convention) in the folder, if media type is set to "Home Videos", "Mixed Media" and "Adult Videos". This is a straightforward question that I didn't think would require my logs or screenshot for the developers to answer.

 

Your answer could be "yes, you did something wrong so show me your logs or we won't help you" or "we never will implement this, move on", both of which will be fine with me. I just want to take the next steps knowing what my options are, is this too much to ask?

[Luke 42077]

They have the same rules as movies.

[trusselo 225]

FYI unlike most forums we are able to send files and upload pictures through PMs here...

 

or can always use the spoiler tags to hide adult language...

[spoiler]text...[/spoiler]

 

text...

 

[mbguy 40]

They have the same rules as movies.

 

Thanks for the confirmation, Luke. Could you also confirm if the development team would or would not consider altering or enhancing this rule for other media folder types such as Home Movies, Mixed Media for reasons I've outlined above?

[Luke 42077]

No enhancement is needed. What are are you doing is supported, which brings us right back to my original request for information to diagnose.

[mbguy 40]

Thanks for the confirmation again, when I have some time and back to the server, I will get you the information requested.

Edited February 12, 2014 by mbguy

[mbguy 40]

Thanks, Tanamur, but could MB developers also chime in? I am wondering if work will be done to allow Media Folder types like "Home Videos" and "Mixed media" to see beyond the first file in sub-folders?

[mbguy 40]

It will be hard (no pun intended) to do a provider for pure scenes. You'd have to have a plugin that could somehow recognise different naming conventions for different scene providers (brazzers, for example). Not only that, but there is no source for that kind of information, even if you were to try and scrape the source's website. This is why at the moment, only full movies are supported and not individual scenes.

 

I assume this is what you're on about?

No, the request is not about scenes, it's having MBS to see beyond the first file in sub-folders. I get that naming convention should be upheld for Movies and TV folder types, but for Mixed media, Home Videos etc, MBS should really see and list all files in sub-folders instead of just treating first file as the first in a series.

[Luke 42077]

I've already chimed in but my response was not answered with the information requested so there's nothing i can really do.

[mbguy 40]

Luke, I don't know what you are looking for specifically, because as Tanamur and I have been testing and reporting functionalities that confirm the current limitation of MBS. I have even posted multiple scenarios and concrete testing results too, and you still seem to be brushing me off without acknowledging all the testing and sharing of info that I have done here.

 

If there is something specific that I've missed, please share instead of accusing me of not answering your request.

[LASooner 24]

  but I don't see any screenshots

On this topic, it's best not to.