Multiple NFOs for the same film

[crusher11 1101]

There's an NFO for every version of a multi-version film. Which makes sense for things like runtime, codec, etc. But what if they have conflicting information about the film itself? Say I give the Theatrical Cut a sort title, and then later on add the Extenderd Cut, will it inherit the sort title from the Theatrical Cut's NFO? What if I were to edit each of them after they'd already been created? Would any changes to one NFO transfer across to the other? If not, which would Emby display?

[crusher11 1101]

Hmm. After a bit of testing it seems like the new nfo file reads from the Internet, not the old nfo file. It seems like the newer nfo files are taking precedence, too. So any time I add a new cut of a film I lose my custom metadata - sort titles, etc. It's still there in the original nfo file but emby doesn't read it.

[Happy2Play 9782]

Sounds like a feature request to me. 
 
As multi-version was introduced for resolution not different version.  And there is a request for default versions also.

[crusher11 1101]

It doesn't matter why there are different versions though. If I start out with an HD version, give it a custom sort title (for example) and then add an SD version, it creates a new nfo file and I lose the sort title.

 

Whether I'm using it for different cuts or different resolutions, it's the same problem.

[Luke 42080]

Each one can have their own nfo file, and yes the metadata can be different for each.

[crusher11 1101]

Right, but the issue is what happens when there's a conflict. Some of the metadata relates to the file (codec, resolution, bitrate, duration), some of it relates to the title (title, sort title, description, tag line, tags, parental rating).

 

It seems to take the info from the newest nfo file by default. Which means if I add a new version - whether it's a different resolution/codec or a different cut - any changes I've made to the film info get overwritten within emby, even though that data is still in the original NFO file.

 

It would make more sense, in this situation, to read the film's metadata from the existing nfo file and the file's data from the file, rather than going to the internet at all.

 

I would consider this a bug rather than a feature request, because adding a new version shouldn't lead to losing custom metadata.

 

EDIT: I'm also curious as to what happens if I change the video file. Do the changes end up in the nfo file? Will this replace just the file-specific stuff or will it also replace the other metadata?

Edited February 25, 2020 by crusher11

[ebr 16185]

It would make more sense, in this situation, to read the film's metadata from the existing nfo file and the file's data from the file, rather than going to the internet at all.

 

If you are adding a 3rd version, which file should it read and take as gospel?

 

This is a tough one and I guess its really a design deficiency in that, we should have two files - one for title data and then another one for each version with just the actual file-related data.  But, that's not how it is designed and re-designing it that way could be a huge issue on existing setups.  Plus, most people don't have multiple versions so do we really want to complicate (and potentially slow down) the 80% case for the 20%.  I'm not sure there is a "right" answer here.

 

So, I guess we need to pause and figure out the best way forward for these situations.

[crusher11 1101]

If you are adding a 3rd version, which file should it read and take as gospel?

 If they differ, you mean? I guess it could just do what it does now and pick one at random, but if it's working properly they should match.

 

 

This is a tough one and I guess its really a design deficiency in that, we should have two files - one for title data and then another one for each version with just the actual file-related data.

It's already capable of checking NFO files rather than the internet for film metadata - if I move a film from one folder to another for example, it just keeps my custom NFO metadata instead of overwriting it - so could you not just expand that to "any NFO file for this film" instead of just "any NFO file for this exact media file"? It still gets the file metadata from the file anyway - I know this because I just removed all my episodes of Psych ripped from PAL DVDs, re-encoded them at the correct NTSC frame rate, and then re-added them. The new runtimes are on the server, so it clearly updated that part of the file.

 

Obviously without knowing how it's actually all coded behind the scenes I can only guess at how practical this would be in reality, but it seems a more elegant solution than a complete overhaul into a multiple-NFO system like you mentioned.

[ebr 16185]

so could you not just expand that to "any NFO file for this film" instead of just "any NFO file for this exact media file"?

 

That's easy as a human but not so much as a computer.  The determination of "any nfo file for this film" can be quite tricky.  How does the computer know that "Samantha" and "Samantha version 2" are the same film but "Samantha goes to Washington" is not?

 

And then the "any" file part has vast performance impact considerations as looking for an exact single file is quick but examining every single file in a given directory (think people who put 2000 films in one directory) for each file in that directory, well, now you just got an exponential degradation in performance.

 

But - all of that is neither here nor there.  This forum isn't for us to brainstorm implementations - that's on us.

 

Thanks.

[crusher11 1101]

Well, I would suggest that people who put 2000 films in one directory are idiots, for organisational purposes if nothing else. I have a folder for each letter of the alphabet, within which is a folder for each film. So "any NFO file in this folder" would work on my setup. I can't imagine having 2000 films in one folder and wanting to do any manual editing or anything...

 

Aside from that, how does multi-version detection work now? Wouldn't "any NFO file for this film" be operating on the same logic?

Edited February 25, 2020 by crusher11

[Luke 42080]

Aside from that, how does multi-version detection work now? 

 

It's based on our multi-version naming conventions. You can learn more in our knowledge base.

[crusher11 1101]

It was a rhetorical question...

[ebr 16185]

It was a rhetorical question...

 

The answer is that it requires very specific naming conventions in order to narrow it down.

[crusher11 1101]

Right, but people not following those conventions are going to have issues if they have more than one version of a movie anyway, right?

[Luke 42080]

They'll just see them as separate movies.

[crusher11 1101]

Right. And those separate movies can have their own film-specific metadata and everything is fine, so it shouldn't cause problems with an "other NFO files for this film" search on Emby's part.

[crusher11 1101]

Further question on this: if I edit metadata through emby, do the changes reflect in all NFOs or just one of them? How do I know which one?

[Luke 42080]

Just the one that you're editing.

[crusher11 1101]

How do I know which one that is?

[Luke 42080]

Doesn't the top of the metadata editor make that obvious?