New User Setup Questions

[archiel 3]

I have recently setup an Emby Server, running on Windows 10, to replace my old Popcorn Hour / YAMJ setup (my one but last PCH has finally given up).  I am using a Shield TV for payback on my main screen.  I am still using a PCH + YAMJ on another set.

 

Because of the old setup my movies were already stored in in 'Moviename (year)' folders containing

Moviename (Year).mkv

Moviename (Year).jpg (for posters)

Moviename (Year).fanart.jpg (for backgrounds)

Moviename (Year).NFO

 

Due to the way YAMJ worked, I did not store 'watched data' in the NFO files, but in separate .watched files - Moviename (Year).watched - in a dedicated folder

The NFOs contained <director> but not <actor> settings, as YAMJ does not support these.

 

Posters & Fanart

Is there a way to get Emby to use the existing posters & fanart, rather than creating these again - I do not want to bulk rename while I still have one PCH working?

 

Watched Data

 

Is there a way to point Emby at a folder containing 'watched' files (empty text files).  I can change the file extension if this would help.

 

Cast & Crew - Resolved

 

While Emby has identified most movies and added the director information, in almost all cases it is not picking up the Cast & Crew.  While I can use refresh data on individual movies, this will be very slow to do this movie-by-movie for a very large library.  Is there away to force a refresh across a whole library? - Resolved

 

Chapters - Resolved

 

I have no interest in seeing chapters / chapter placeholders on screen (for movies, videos or tv).  Is there a way to prevent them showing - either from the server or failing that by editing the xml files on any playback devices.

 

Direct Play or Transcoding - Resolved

 

As I am running the server and the devices on the same local subnet, I assume that my files are being played directly - is there a way to check this behaviour, preferably from the playback device, but failing that from the server? - Resolved

 

Thank you

 

archiel

 

@@Happy2Play

@@cayars

@

Edited November 28, 2019 by archiel

[Happy2Play 9782]

Posters & Fanart

I think you will have a issue with fanart.

https://github.com/MediaBrowser/Wiki/wiki/Movie-naming

 

Watched Data

Emby does its own internal watched status via providerid and if no providerid exist it uses a databaseid per user.  

 

Chapters

Chapters should only appear if you enabled the option per library.  But no there is no option to hide chapters once they exist.  You would have to disable the option per library, remove the media so the server deletes the chapter images from database and /library folder, then re-add the media.

[Luke 42081]

@@archiel please let us know if this helps. Thanks !

[Carlo 4561]

As far as the watched data goes if you know how to write any type of simple programs to parse the watched status files in that special directory I can help you with the information you would need to programmatically set the watched status in Emby.

 

I know nothing about Popcorn Hour / YAMJ but if either of these programs has the ability to update Trakt then Emby would be able to read in the watched status for you making this easy.

 

Carlo

[Stephon 0]

How do I choose a server for emby

[Happy2Play 9782]

How do I choose a server for emby

What do you mean?  Emby provides you the ability to install a media server to deliver your media.

Emby is NOT a media streaming service. We provide no content. Emby is a Personal Media Server platform. You must have your own server installed and your own media (or Live TV tuner).

[archiel 3]

Posters & Fanart

I think you will have a issue with fanart.

https://github.com/MediaBrowser/Wiki/wiki/Movie-naming

 

Watched Data

Emby does its own internal watched status via providerid and if no providerid exist it uses a databaseid per user.  

 

Chapters

Chapters should only appear if you enabled the option per library.  But no there is no option to hide chapters once they exist.  You would have to disable the option per library, remove the media so the server deletes the chapter images from database and /library folder, then re-add the media.

 

With respect to the Chapters, it turns out I only needed to disable the options on the library and then delete the existing thumbs.  Initially I was left with chapter placeholders, but as the folders were updated the placeholders were also removed. 

[Happy2Play 9782]

With respect to the Chapters, it turns out I only needed to disable the options on the library and then delete the existing thumbs.  Initially I was left with chapter placeholders, but as the folders were updated the placeholders were also removed. 

That is one way to do it, it can be difficult to locate the items within /library but you are lucky they are actually in chapters subfolders.

[archiel 3]

A further question on Movie Names.  

 

In my initial library I had chosen my preferred name for each movie e.g.  Una Pilota Ritorna and this is the name used in for both the folder and the files.

 

and it is stored as ..\Un Pilota Ritorna (1942)\Un Pilota Ritorna (1942).mkv, Un Pilota Ritorna (1942)\Un Pilota Ritorna (1942).NFO, etc

 

However when the system runs an internet update all my non-English titles now become English - in this case  A Pilot Returns, which I do not want.

 

I want the rest of the metadata (such as plot) in English, so is there a way to change this behaviour other than going to each movie's metadata and unticking the Name?

 

Even better is there a way to force the movies that have already been changed to use the folder/file names?

Edited November 28, 2019 by archiel

[Luke 42081]

So you already had a pre-existing nfo file? What was the contents?

[archiel 3]

The exiting NFO files have all been updated by Emby - previously for this movie it was

 

<movie>
   <title>Un Pilota Ritorna</title>
   <originaltitle>Un Pilota Ritorna</originaltitle>
   <rating></rating>
   <year>1942</year>
   <top250></top250>
   <votes></votes>
   <outline></outline>
   <plot>A young Italian pilot is interned in a British prison camp after his plane is shot down during the war against Greece. He falls in love with a doctor's daughter and manages to escape during a bombardment. He reaches home, wounded, just as news arrives of the Greek surrender.</plot>
   <tagline></tagline>
   <runtime></runtime>
   <thumb></thumb>
   <mpaa></mpaa>
   <certification>UK:PG</certification>
   <playcount></playcount>
   <watched></watched>
   <id>tt0035191</id>
   <id moviedb="tmdb"></id>
   <sets>
     <set></set>
   </sets>
   <filenameandpath></filenameandpath>
   <trailer></trailer>
   <studio></studio>
   <actor>
     <name></name>
     <role></role>
   </actor>
   <director>Roberto Rossellini</director>
   <genre>Drama</genre>
   <genre>War</genre>
</movie>
 

[Luke 42081]

It should have retained your title. @@Happy2Play are you able to reproduce?

[Happy2Play 9782]

It should have retained your title. @@Happy2Play are you able to reproduce?

 

I added the example in post 11 and the updated nfo looked like this.

 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="yes"?>
<movie>
  <plot>A young Italian pilot is interned in a British prison camp after his plane is shot down during the war against Greece. He falls in love with a doctor's daughter and manages to escape during a bombardment. He reaches home, wounded, just as news arrives of the Greek surrender.</plot>
  <outline />
  <lockdata>false</lockdata>
  <dateadded>2019-11-29 09:55:28</dateadded>
  <title>Un Pilota Ritorna</title>
  <originaltitle>Un Pilota Ritorna</originaltitle>
  <director>Roberto Rossellini</director>
  <year>1942</year>
  <imdbid>tt0035191</imdbid>
  <genre>Drama</genre>
  <genre>War</genre>
  <art>
    <poster>C:\Users\Media\Desktop\Videos\Movies - nfo\Un Pilota Ritorna\poster.jpg</poster>
  </art>
  <id>tt0035191</id>
  <fileinfo>
    <streamdetails />
  </fileinfo>
  <top250></top250>
  <votes></votes>
  <thumb></thumb>
  <certification>UK:PG</certification>
  <sets>
     <set></set>
   </sets>
  <filenameandpath></filenameandpath>
</movie>

[Luke 42081]

Great, thanks. That's what I expected. Looks correct to me.

 

@@archiel did use the refresh metadata command? that would cause your customizations to be overwritten with data from the internet.

[archiel 3]

As my original NFO files did not hold Cast & Crew (and after as couple of weeks were not populating) I ran a refresh metadata across the library.

 

In the library I have also 'set Automatically refresh metadata from the internet' at 30 days.

 

With my old (YAMJ) setup, the refresh command would only overwrite empty fields, to deal with incomplete data scans.  With Emby does this mean that any unlocked fields may be overwritten? 

 

If this is the case is there a way to lock specific fields across a whole library, in this case <name>?

[Luke 42081]

 

As my original NFO files did not hold Cast & Crew (and after as couple of weeks were not populating) I ran a refresh metadata across the library.

 

In the library I have also 'set Automatically refresh metadata from the internet' at 30 days.

 

Ok so that would be why it happened.

[Luke 42081]

 

 

If this is the case is there a way to lock specific fields across a whole library, in this case ?

 

No, but bulk editing is planned for the future. Having locked fields inherit from top down is also an idea that has been tossed around in the past.

[archiel 3]

No, but bulk editing is planned for the future. Having locked fields inherit from top down is also an idea that has been tossed around in the past.

 

Okay - for now one way to do this where NFO files are being used is to bulk edit the NFO files in Notepad++

So to lock Names you could use

 

find:    <lockdata>false</lockdata>\r\n  <lockedfields>Name</lockedfields>\r\n  <dateadded>

replace with: <lockdata>false</lockdata>\r\n  <lockedfields>Name</lockedfields>\r\n  <dateadded>

Filters: *.NFO