Question about NFO files for FOLDER

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Question about NFO files for FOLDER - harvey637 - 2023-12-18

Hi,
succesfully organised my home videos (children and holidays and so on) into a directory structure, mostly based on the year.

I can successfully create <videoname>.nfo files eg. for titel, year, author, country and so on
I can successfully create/add the files "fanart.jpg" and "folder.jpg" inside the video folder and all this infos/pictures are used for the videos.
So far perfect inside a folder with videos

I can successfully add "fanart.jpg" and "folder.jpg" pictures on the upper (parent) directory level. And this pictures are than used as backgroud and folder-icon of the parent folder.
This is 80% of my whishes.

What I want is to create a (minimal) xxxx.nfo to use tags like <title>....</title> and other reasonable tags like <year>...</year> to get rid of the usage of the filename of the directory.
So if the directory name is "Video_2016" I would like to replace this with eg "Holidays in 2016" without renameing the directory. Also some extra Info could be places in the bar, that is unused for directories, but perferctly filled by the <vidoename>.nfo.

Any idea or help please? I tried a lot with different <name>.nfo, searched wiki and forum, found nochting and only get something like "No information available" or "No video file found" ...
merry christmas to you all
Harvey

RE: Question about NFO files for FOLDER - Karellen - 2023-12-18

(2023-12-18, 16:54)harvey637 Wrote: I can successfully create <videoname>.nfo files eg. for titel, year, author, country and so on

We have nfo templates here... https://kodi.wiki/view/NFO_files/Templates
It shows the minimum required for a properly functioning nfo file. A good idea to ensure you have those at least.

(2023-12-18, 16:54)harvey637 Wrote: I can successfully create/add the files "fanart.jpg" and "folder.jpg" inside the video folder

We don't use a "folder.jpg" except in the music library. What is it- poster?
Check what artwork is actually used for movies in the image here... https://kodi.wiki/view/Movie_artwork

(2023-12-18, 16:54)harvey637 Wrote: What I want is to create a (minimal) xxxx.nfo to use tags like <title>....</title> and other reasonable tags like <year>...</year> to get rid of the usage of the filename of the directory.

I am not really following this. Maybe you can post a screenshot?
If you have created nfo files and, presumably, you have scanned them into the library, then you should just be seeing the movie titles. Where are you seeing directory names?
Are you browsing your library, or are you browsing Videos>files. If you are browsing Videos>files, then it defeats the purpose of creating the nfo files.

RE: Question about NFO files for FOLDER - scott967 - 2023-12-18

For movies, folder is meaningless in the library views. The alternative is to use tag or genre which gives you control over the label that is displayed, and could also allow art, but I think that would require skinning. Or create sets which provide an "overview" and built-in art capability.

Otherwise an alternative is creating a plugin, requires knowledge of python.

scott s.
.

RE: Question about NFO files for FOLDER - jbinkley60 - 2023-12-20

(2023-12-18, 16:54)harvey637 Wrote: Hi,
succesfully organised my home videos (children and holidays and so on) into a directory structure, mostly based on the year.

I can successfully create <videoname>.nfo files eg. for titel, year, author, country and so on
I can successfully create/add the files "fanart.jpg" and "folder.jpg" inside the video folder and all this infos/pictures are used for the videos.
So far perfect inside a folder with videos

I can successfully add "fanart.jpg" and "folder.jpg" pictures on the upper (parent) directory level. And this pictures are than used as backgroud and folder-icon of the parent folder.
This is 80% of my whishes.

What I want is to create a (minimal) xxxx.nfo to use tags like <title>....</title> and other reasonable tags like <year>...</year> to get rid of the usage of the filename of the directory.
So if the directory name is "Video_2016" I would like to replace this with eg "Holidays in 2016" without renameing the directory. Also some extra Info could be places in the bar, that is unused for directories, but perferctly filled by the <vidoename>.nfo.

Any idea or help please? I tried a lot with different <name>.nfo, searched wiki and forum, found nochting and only get something like "No information available" or "No video file found" ...
merry christmas to you all
Harvey

The solution I use, Mezzmo and the Mezzmo Kodi addon, supports both Kodi modes, traditional native mode library views or a GUI mode which works exactly as you describe and is my preferred usage mode. My library is organized similar to your description and has over 20K movies and TV shows. In GUI mode Mezzmo with Kodi supports an enriched folder view mode which is fully customizable to include renaming the underlying file storage structure so Kodi sees what you want to call the folder, it works with poster, fanart and folder.jpg artwork, allows you to add your own tiles and descriptions to folders and using display titles you have a complete set of keywords you can add to customize your title. You can also set your preferred view mode based upon content type and not have to manage this within Kodi for each folder.

While it's really targeted as a sharing solution feeding and managing multiple Kodi clients from a central point (I have 7 Kodi and many non-Kodi clients like Android, Roku and web running off of it) it could be used for a single Kodi instance, especially if you expect your needs to grow in the future. I started off with a single Kodi client but then quickly grew as I discovered the power of the solution.

Thanks,

Jeff

RE: Question about NFO files for FOLDER - harvey637 - 2023-12-20

Hi and thank You!
@ Karellen:

upps - how do I upload an image, I have no URL to provide :-( so I describe the contents ...

screenshot in "widelist":

in the left pane I see
/Filme/Movies <video_source>
Sortieren nach: Datei . 3/8

and than the contents of the folger.jpg displayed as small picture
below the text
"Keine Information verfügbar" (which is "no information available", pressing "context" button and "insert into library" gives: "no video files found in this path!" in german, which is literally correct)

In the right/main pane I have as background the contents of fanart.jpg as picture.
And on top of that all the directory names exactly from the filesystem, each with a dot in Front.

Scrrolling up/down through the directories the folger.jpg and the fanart.jpg is updated correctly, perfect!

What I would LIKE to see is a replacement of the text "no information available" with the OUTLINE (and PLOT) from some *.nfo file, also a replacement of the directory name with TITLE from some *.nfo file.
This is exactly what I get inside a folder WITH videofiles, so than the behaviour for (video-) folder is completly identical to the gui and handling of videos INSIDE this folder.

Is this a bit clearer now? (Sorry for no screenshot, but I have them locally)

Very similar is the "shift" view:

The background is filled as picture from fanart.jpg, the directory uses a picture from each directory from folder.jpg

The lower bar shows the directory names directly from the filesystem.

The upper bar is completly empty (but shown dark above fanart.jpg, where some infos from the <videoname>.nfo is displayed inside a viedeo folder).
The pictures in the shift-items (folders) are from the folder.jpg of each directory, the fanart is changed accordingly to left/right moving of the selectiion from the selected folder, perfect!

What I would like to see is:
The use of the upper (now empty) bar for OUTLINE (possibly PLOT in second line and smaller, or left part OUTLINE, right part PLOT) from the "missing" *.nfo in the directory, the usage of TITLE for the text below the folder/selection icons (which are from each folder.jpg)

So in the end all ? (at least tested with fanart.jpg and folder.jpg) artwork taken from known filenames (fanart.jpg, folder.jpg) allready works out of the box with all views in esturay.
Missing is the possibility to change/override some textual replacements, info that is traditionally located inside some *.nfo file in xml-structures.

I suggest some thinking of an "folder.nfo" with some infos, that are displayed on the folder hierachy, where no videos are, with similar keywords like TITEL, OUTLINE, PLOT (YEAR, ...).

As this mechanism actually does appearently not exist I would like to add this to a future wishlist of enhancments - thank You

cu
Harvey

RE: Question about NFO files for FOLDER - Karellen - 2023-12-20

(2023-12-20, 13:32)harvey637 Wrote: how do I upload an image,

Use button 17...

Before I answer the rest of your questions, upload the screenshots of your folder and I can more easily check the problem.
Also, if you have nfo files, upload the content of one to Kodi Paste Site and provide the link. I can check if there is any problem with the nfo file.

The folder.jpg is used as a folder icon. It won't work on individual titles. Did you check those two links I gave you? Especially the artwork one which shows how to correctly add artwork.

RE: Question about NFO files for FOLDER - harvey637 - 2023-12-21

thank you, here my screenshots:

The infos inside the <videoname>.nfo is perfect, I can check every item in the context->information menu.

My "problem" is the folder structure, in detail: how to add textual information for a folder. The artwork for a folder is working perfect (poster.jpg, fanart.jpg, folder.jpg). I played a around a bit, and can control all the visual artwork in every place.
I even got fanart.jpg and poster.jpg working !!!! for a video tag. (via the context->information menu, I simply added artwork categories and browsed for pictures).

So funnily the are stored somewhere, but where? It looks like the are NOT in der video database backup?

Findings:
with tags: I can add some pictures (the text of the tag is used in the <videoname>.nfo file and is also in the backup): context-information gives some nensense info, but graphics are selectable and WORK!
with years: I get a similar context-information, but this time NO graphic is selectable, but the artwork categories are displayed
with countries: I can add fanart via the context-information menu, also fanart
with studios: no artwork in the context-information menu, but I can add fanart, working
with directors: no artwork in the context-information menu, but I can add fanart, working, also thumbs is working
with actors: no artwork in the context-information menu, but I can add fanart, working, also checked thumb, working!
with genre: no artwork in the context-information menu, but I can add thumb, working, also checked fanart, NOT working!

So I played with the graphics in lots of places, mostly working, some places NOT (fanart in genre, nothing in years).

This makes me very happy .... but still I found no way to add text components to this nodes. So in widelist I allways have "no information available" and the context-information menu is showing "no information available" and "no actors found".
I can live with that, no Problem.

This leads to my final conclusion (and question):
If I dont want to play for HOURS with the remote to add graphics, and if I have text, where could I put this stuff into xxxxxx.nfo files?

My thumbnail are for the folder/media view, but my question "what is the name of the xxxx.nfo files" is also for the genre, years, directors, studios, countries, tags nodes.

thank you for your patience!
cu
Harvey

RE: Question about NFO files for FOLDER - Karellen - 2023-12-21

(2023-12-21, 01:41)harvey637 Wrote: My "problem" is the folder structure, in detail: how to add textual information for a folder.

You can't.

(2023-12-21, 01:41)harvey637 Wrote: So funnily the are stored somewhere, but where?

They are stored in the artwork cache folder located in the Userdata (wiki) folder.

(2023-12-21, 01:41)harvey637 Wrote: If I dont want to play for HOURS with the remote to add graphics, and if I have text, where could I put this stuff into xxxxxx.nfo files?

The nfo files have no effect at the folder level, which means there is nothing you can add to the nfo file.

If all these videos are scanned in your library, then why are you using Videos>Files to view them? Why aren't you scrolling through the library or one of its nodes, like year or tags?

In my opinion, I would add home movies as a tv show, especially when you have so many of them.
For example, you would have

xml:
My Holiday Videos (tv show)

    - 2016 (season 1)

    - 2017 (season 2)

    etc etc...

Then you could rename the Seasons... https://kodi.wiki/view/Season_rename
The benefit of this is that your home movies are all contained to one tv show, rather than spread throughout your movie library.
And there would be no need to scroll through Videos>Files.

RE: Question about NFO files for FOLDER - harvey637 - 2023-12-21

Hi @Karellen,

thank you for your great support!

I allready switched to the nodes view :-)

But the last kick was your hint about using the tvshow/season links. Now I can organize everything to my needs, my first try is to use moviesets.

merry christmas
cu
Harvey

RE: Question about NFO files for FOLDER - Karellen - 2023-12-21

(2023-12-21, 11:07)harvey637 Wrote: I allready switched to the nodes view :-)

Great. You can also use Smart Playlists... https://kodi.wiki/view/Smart_playlists

(2023-12-21, 11:07)harvey637 Wrote: But the last kick was your hint about using the tvshow/season links. Now I can organize everything to my needs

Here are some templates for the tvshow.nfo and episode nfo files... https://kodi.wiki/view/NFO_files/Templates
You will need an nfo file for each "episode" and one tvshow.nfo file.
Remember that you need to rename the files or "episodes" to use episode numbering. So something like S01E01 - Spain holiday.mkv

(2023-12-21, 11:07)harvey637 Wrote: thank you for your great support!

You are welcome! And Merry Christmas to you.

RE: Question about NFO files for FOLDER - harvey637 - 2023-12-21

Hi,

thank you for all the infos - great stuff!

In the end I populated my videos with a lot of poster.jpg, thumb.jpg, fanart.jpg.
Doing so and exporting give also infos about the used files.

Funny/interesting fact with actors: they are exported to .actors subfolder in each movie (in contrast to moviesets, which have ther own folder), but I have no idea where in input the picture from a folder/file, only via GUI.
Changing actors picture in one movie-subfolder does not add to the global artist picture for this artist nor does it show up for this artist in this movie. Interesting, but no problem.
I was just thinking eg. havin a specific artist in younger years in an old movie, the same artist but older now in a recent movie. hmmmm, must use differnet names, it is ok.
And the years node seems not to respond to artwork...

So very few places are left over "no information available", eg. in the movieset-context-information menu. And artists, genre, studio ... have "no information available"

I saw, that there is episodes.nfo and tvshow.nfo for tvshows, maybe ther should be a "<movieset>.nfo containing the textual infos about a movieset also? Just thinking .....
Renaming all videos into seasons/episode schema is not worth the time for my needs:-) yes I know about renaming software :-))

thank you and bye bye - this is CLOSED for me (until some NEW <.....>nfo files are in future use)
Harvey

RE: Question about NFO files for FOLDER - Karellen - 2023-12-21

(2023-12-21, 16:40)harvey637 Wrote: maybe ther should be a "<movieset>.nfo containing the textual infos about a movieset also?

These tags in the Movie nfo file is what controls information about the Set/Collection...

xml:
    <set>

        <name>Star Wars Collection</name>

        <overview>An epic space-opera theatrical film series, which depicts the adventures of various characters &quot;a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…&quot;.</overview>

    </set>

RE: Question about NFO files for FOLDER - harvey637 - 2023-12-22

Hi @ Karellen,

I already played with this <overview> tag, but:

- the default WITHOUT this tag is to display the year and the title of all movies in that movieset.
- WITH tag ONLY this tag is displayed, thus hiding the titles (and years) of the movies, which is a bit sad for moviesets with a lot of movies.

Both ways are interesting, but why not have both?

Also I am not quite shure what happens to the <overview> line in the moviset menu IF more than one <overview> with different contens is part of the <movie>.nfo files ... :-)

RE: Question about NFO files for FOLDER - harvey637 - 2023-12-22

Hi,

found the answers:

BOTH infos are displayed in eg. shift, but I tested with list, so my fault

and it seems that the newest <overview> is used.

cu
Harvey