A quick XBMC question...

Access

Hi all, i have been messing around with XBMC on my pc for a while now and it runs all my media (movies/tv/kids shows etc) off of a 1TB attached usb drive and displays on my tv in sitting room.

I just noticed that all my media folders... we will take for instance movies... used to just list the avi movie files in order in one big folder...

Film 1.avi
Film 2.avi
Film 3.avi
etc.

But now each avi movie file also has a jpeg file, a TBN file and a system information file as well...

Film 1.avi
Film 1 system information file
Film 1 TBN file
Film 1 Jpeg
Film 2.avi
Etc.

Now i know these files have been pulled down by XBMC to display the dvd cover/synopsis/and fan art, but surely these should be in a media folder in xbmc instead of being in the movies folder on the 1TB?

Am i doing something wrong here... should i have xbmc pointing media info for avi files to a different particular folder, or is this the same for all who use xbmc on here? I know these info files etc need to be there to display the covers/info on xbmc, but it seriously clutters up my media folders with extra files (which are used over wireless to play on other laptop and sons xbox) and causes very hard to navigate cluttered-filled media folders

Any help with this would be appreciated.

subway

in my experience, the info (in any media player) is stored alongside the movie.
best practice is to store each movie in its own indivual folder - there is a piece of software called robocopy that does this for pre-exisitng collections - to avoid clutter.
doing it this way allows the media library to be portable and persistent, should you have an OS failure etc.
the files should still be readable by xbmc if hidden so an that might be an option also?

Access

i just have our movies in one folder called "movies" on the 1TB and i didnt opt for the one movie in its own folder method as it is easier for the laptop/xbox and network tv for us to see all the movies in one folder instead of clicking into a folder then into a folder etc.

Shouldnt xbmc have an option that i am missing for storing those media info files even in a separate folder on the 1TB?

The TV folder does have separate folders for each tv program and then a separate folder for each season within it... but with the info files thrown in there as well at the moment, it is very very hard to navigate on the laptop.

About the OS crashing, im not too worried as i backup and export the library around once a week anyways.

PogMoThoin

You're better off having these files in the media folders, I've added them to my own collection. It makes the scanning of media on new installs of XBMC or Boxee much faster. You can also dictate which images and info get displayed.

Voodu Child

XBMC only stores these files in the folder for each movie if you choose to backup your library:
system > videos > backup library > individual files

It shouldn't do it otherwise.

The advantage of doing it is that if you need to wipe and reinstall XBMC, or use the HDD with another computer running XBMC etc, you don't need to rescan and refetch all the info from the web. It can save quite a bit of time and bandwidth.

If you have accidentally done this (backup library) and don't want it, its perfectly safe to delete them all, it won't affect XBMC. Just use Windows Explorer to find all .jpg files in the folder and delete them, same for .tbn etc

Access

thanks voodu... thats exactly what i did... i had spotted that you should backup your library just in case the pc crashes... but i must of selected export library > individual files.

I am only ever going to run XBMC on one pc in the house, so not worried about having these files for other xbmc setups in the house.

I take it that i should do a backup of system > videos > backup library > export as single file every so often (maybe once a month or so?)... and then put that export safely somewhere in a backup folder on my network if i need it in the future?

Voodu Child

Access wrote: »

thanks voodu... thats exactly what i did... i had spotted that you should backup your library just in case the pc crashes... but i must of selected export library > individual files.

I am only ever going to run XBMC on one pc in the house, so not worried about having these files for other xbmc setups in the house.

I take it that i should do a backup of system > videos > backup library > export as single file every so often (maybe once a month or so?)... and then put that export safely somewhere in a backup folder on my network if i need it in the future?

Its for convenience mostly, so do it as often as you think it suitable. All it does is back up the thumbnails, fanart and movie info. (Maybe it also backs up details like watched/unwatched etc, not sure about that.)

Its not something super-critical like saving personal photos or important documents...so I think once a month is overkill.

Basically you are just saving yourself the hassle of rescraping from the web. And often you need to make manual corrections, so you're saving yourself from having to do that all over again.

Access

Thanks for the info to all, its really appreciated... was lost in a sea of files there for a while but am back sorted again

All sorted now, and special thanks for the tip on using the search in windows explorer for the rouge files... thought i would have to go folder to folder there for a while!