Noob Question?

[thepainter]

I got caught up with the HTPC crowd and have been spending alot of time on a few sites and am very interested in getting started. I was drawn in by the idea of using a tablet PC (Fujitsu 3400) with the skins that I have seen look absolutely awesome. I'm not sure where to start. First of all I'll have to say I'm a Mac (OS X) person, but like the touch pad idea. I currently have about 250 movies saved to my External HD's saved in .avi format for space (I didn't do full backups but may consider it later, for now I'm happy with what I have). I have seen Thumbnails for the movies in the GUI but am not sure how you get them there. I tried to point xlobby in the movie setup to the external drive in my network but it does not import anything - Is there no way to do this over a network? or what am I doing wrong? For now I'm trying to figure out the thumbnail access and possibly a link/plugin for the xbox xbmc. Thanks in advance.

Paul

[rembetis]

I tried to point xlobby in the movie setup to the external drive in my network but it does not import anything - Is there no way to do this over a network? or what am I doing wrong?

Been a while since I started from scratch, but I believe the default movie template searches for standard DVD formats, not .avi. Go into Setup (F2) > Databases > Import and select the movies template from the drop-down menu. If .avi is not in the extensions field, add it, then go back and re-try your import.

Keep in mind, you'll need your .avi in their own, named folders for best results. Put .jpegs of covers in each folder before import to get the thumbnails in your database screen.

Hope that helps.

[thepainter]

Thanks very much. I knew there was an easy way to do it, well maybe not so easy. Currently I have two folders (one for my young son and one for me) and all .avi's are lumped in that folder. I notice there is a setup for DVD Profiler I currently use a program called DVD Cache to catalog my DVD's. Is there someting I can use from there (.xml maybe). If not what size shall I use for the cover? Thanks again.

Paul

[rembetis]

I'm not aware of any plugin that imports info from DVD Cache. Sorry. It really would be much easier if you had each movie in its own subfolder. You could create separate databases and screens (e.g. movies1, movies2) for you and your son if you want, or you could point the import to both folders and then use the sorttitle field to artificially group all the kids movies together (this is what I do with my girls, put a "a_" before the sorttitle of each kids movie, which groups them all at the beginning).

But first things first... you need to create your database with a successful import. If you're not willing to group the movies in their own subfolders, you'll need to use a metamask to tailor the import. Do a search for metamask and movies.

As far as cover images go, I'm pretty sure Xlobby creates its own thumbnails from your source images so it doesn't really matter. I'd say in the 100-200kb range. You can always use the Spiders (F2 > Databases > Movies > Spiders) to grab the covers if you don't have them already.

Good luck. Keep reading and searching the forums. Xlobby has a bit of a learning curve (like everything) but its easier than it seems...

[thepainter]

OK - I need to put the movies in separate folders e.g
PAUL'S MOVIES
.Bad Boys (Folder)
..Bad Boys.avi
..Bad Boys.jpeg

.Jarhead (Folder)
..Jarhead.avi
..Jarhead.jpeg

Also am I correct in saying if I don't have the cover art XL can some how be set to import it in the right folder? I'm just trying to import the database and get the cover art in first as you rightly said, then move on to something else. This program is unbelievable... very time consuming though. Thanks for the quick responses.

[rembetis]

Also am I correct in saying if I don't have the cover art XL can some how be set to import it in the right folder?

Well, the process isn't automated exactly. There are tools called "Spiders" that you can use (either within the skin or F2 (Setup) > Databases > Movies > Edit > Spiders) to search merchant sites (Amazon, Walmart) for the cover art. Then you just click Save Art and Xlobby associates the image with that database entry.

This program is unbelievable... very time consuming though.

The learning curve does eat up some time, but it gets better. And once you have everything set up to your liking you can leave it alone (but who does that? )

[Colby]

Also am I correct in saying if I don't have the cover art XL can some how be set to import it in the right folder? ...

Xlobby has spiders that search the web for covers. Once you find the appropriate one you can save it to the database. I dont know for sure honestly if it puts the spider image in the folder structure of your db? (someone confirm?) just use a skin that has spider support for movies and you should be able to get dvd covers for your movies.

[S Pittaway]

yep, it sticks it next to the film file.

[thepainter]

Unbelieveable!!! .....and a GREAT forum on top of everything. IIIIII muuuuuust get some SLEEEEEEEP! Too much stuff swirling in my brain. I already have some ideas taht I want to implement but first getting my movies in. By the way ahh forget it I need to pay the bills. Thanks Again.

[thepainter]

OK - Started putting in individual folders and importing, did a few with .jpg file in folder, came up no problem. Using Baddabing Burl Skin and tried the Spider. It does the search and pulls the covers but when I do Save it does not import it. Do I need to set anything up?