d00zah's gross hack to fix my WMC Movie Library

[jachin99 88]

I asked a question about excluding file types on TGB forums, and d00zah chimed in that this might work.  In his own words,

 

"As to your question, I can find nothing about excluding supported file types from WMP/WMC libraries, but I can imagine a 'gross hack' that might accomplish what you're looking for:

Create parallel library structures for movies & extras:

i.e.

x:\media\movies\movie (date)\movie.ext
x:\media\extras\movie (date)\extras\extra.ext
x:\media\extras\movie (date)\backdrops\backdrop.ext

Add both movies & extras paths to your Emby library, but only the movies path to WMC.

Emby SHOULD correctly merge & display content from different 'sources'?

I DID say it was a 'gross hack'..."

 

What would be the best way migrate my existing files MINUS the actual movie file to a parallel library?  Has anyone else tried this?  Thanks

 

@@d00zah

[d00zah 149]

Please bear in mind this was speculation, but easy enough to test for a couple of cases. A script is probably the path of least resistance for bulk changes... again, test small.

 

And as I said in the TGB post, maintaining WMC's native libraries, when EMC provides a preferable experience (IMO... properly displays the content you're trying to hide), seems redundant. Just my $.02.

Edited June 12, 2018 by d00zah

[jachin99 88]

Ok. I'm still standing up a new emby server but that should be done soon. I'll move a file or two manually and test. I'll work with some caution as you suggest. I understand that Emby is more modern but the live TV and streaming plugins keep me hanging on to wmc.

[d00zah 149]

Ok. I'm still standing up a new emby server but that should be done soon. I'll move a file or two manually and test. I'll work with some caution as you suggest. I understand that Emby is more modern but the live TV and streaming plugins keep me hanging on to wmc.

 Oh, I'm not suggesting you dump WMC, just use the 'Emby for Media Center" client:

 

https://emby.media/emby-for-windows-media-center.html

 

Try it out once you're set up.

 

I use 'MCE Reset Toolbox' to hide all the redundant, native strips, except for TV. If you don't have that, mikinho had a freebie called 'HideMediaCenterStrips' which accomplishes ~the same effect (in linked archive):

 

https://www.missingremote.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/valve-setup-111032-0002.zip

 

 

Oh, yeah... if you are still hell-bent on trying the 'gross hack' & it actually works, this may help:

move.zip

Edited June 15, 2018 by d00zah

[jachin99 88]

I tried this out on one movie file.  I moved all of the cover art, etc. to a new top level folder named extras.  I then created a new folder under extras which shares the name of my given movie, and placed all of my theme backdrops, trailers, etc. under that extras folder, and added the new extras folder to my movie library.  Emby then ran its nightly tasks and downloaded my theme backdrop that I had moved, and Emby does not aggregate the two folders together where I am still able to view my trailer in EMC.  Is there another way, or some way to troubleshoot?  Thanks.

[d00zah 149]

Don't think so. It was just an imaginative approach to your based on other behavior.

 

You really should take the EMC client.for a spin.

[jachin99 88]

I might have found a way to accomplish this.  Apparently there is a registry setting where you can set WMC's folder search depth level.  Its at HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Settings\DvdSettings.  the key is called folder search depth.  Its default was 3 so I'll try lowering it to 2, and placing Emby's metadata so that it creates an extra layer of search depth.  If this works I'll get to save A LOT of room on my server.  

[Luke 42085]

Are you still having an issue with this?

[jachin99 88]

i haven't set the time aside to get a good look at it.  If it would help to fix another issue then I'll try again.  I can't be certain WMC obeys the folder search depth registry key, and I use YAMMM for WMC metadata.  So even if WMC doesn't look that deep YAMMM might anyway, and then I'll still get metadata for trailers, and theme.mp4 files.  Is there any chance I might still be able to store that metadata in a separate folder, and have emby put the two together?  I guess one good aspect of this is that my movie library is mirrored across folders.  

[Luke 42085]

WMC metadata is not used by Emby. I'm not familiar with YAMMM but I would suggest using nfo files. Thanks.

[jachin99 88]

The issue for me boils down to YAMMM and WMC seeing theme.mp4 and local trailers that I have downloaded. They both see these as separate movies so in WMC for instance I get a hundred someodd movies named theme.mp4 and trailer.mp4. If I could setup a folder structure where this metadata isn't nested in the movie folders then I would be fine. Wmc will ignore .nfo files and yammm can be configured to do the same. The only issue comes from wmc seeing those files as movies.