[Ned Scott]

WOW I must say this is truly an intelligent answer.
Thank you so much vinistois, this really helped solve the problem.

pfft.. if whining is equal to having a different opinion than you - then you sir, are whining just as much

It's people like you that cause anger and frustration in this world.

I too, would like to see xbmc detect movies and series automatically.
I use TVMOBILI as my main streaming software, because it streams (and detect) content to all my devices.
I was considering xbmc for my "offline" use when I am away at my cabin - but thanks to intelligent answers like yours
I will look elsewhere for a different software all together.

So you judge software based on what some random user said on a forum somewhere?

You also don't understand what is being suggested in this thread. XBMC has no issue, whatsoever, detecting movies and series automatically. What we are talking about is called "scraping" where summaries, cover art, fan art, posters, actor information, and more, is downloaded and sorted into a media library. TVMOBILI does none of that. For it to work correctly, one must place movies in one source/folder, and TV shows in another. If all you want to do is play them back then you can keep them all in the same folder.

[jon12345]

What is the reason that scraping can't differentiate movies from TV shows based on filename and contents alone? Is it because there are too many clashes where a movie and TV show will have the same name?

Couldn't a scraper make a guess (eg based on time length of video)?

Someone above mentioned there were automated tools that could move TV shows and movies into separate folders. If an automated tool can figure out which is which, why can't a scraper?

[jmarshall]

Because noone has bothered to write the code. It really is as simple as that.

[selectortone]

There's a really nifty tool called Files 2 Folder that makes moving files into folders with the same name a very simple job.

It's a shell extension that, once installed, allows you to right click on a file and it will move that file into a folder of the same name. Works on multiple files too - you have the choice of moving them all into one folder, or into individually named folders.

It made organising my files so that I could maximise my use of XBMC a cinch. XBMC is absolutely the best Media Centre app available, it's worth a little effort to get your files set up so you can get the most out of it.

(I have no connection with the author of Files 2 Folder)

[guustavooo]

How is XBMC to figure out what is what?

Boxee does a pretty good job at this.

[claonic]

Old thread, but very interested in the same thing.. I'd also like XBMC to do this for me, especially as this is so easy. Why in the world would it only search movies or shows? Who made this choice? We want something to work, not to create indefinite structures of folders.

[PH-SYM]

What same thing are you interested in? There's a dozen or so suggestions in this thread so it's unclear which if them explains what you want. If it's the original question of the TS, Kodi was originally designed to play files from a media library, not to play random files downloaded from various sources. If that's what you want, Kodi is not for you I guess.

[trogggy]

Old thread, but very interested in the same thing.. I'd also like XBMC to do this for me, especially as this is so easy.

Great. Looking forward to testing your changes.

[Hitcher]

Also, XBMC?

[Klojum]

Meh...

Some people are simply stuck in the past.

Some people like to dump every possible video into 1 single folder and expect software/us to fix their lazy attitude towards file management.

Some people think that men have never landed on the moon.

[jjd-uk]

Old thread, but very interested in the same thing.. I'd also like XBMC to do this for me, especially as this is so easy. Why in the world would it only search movies or shows? Who made this choice? We want something to work, not to create indefinite structures of folders.

So how exactly do we tell what is a TV show episode or a Movie or order to scrape metadata from the right online resource?

Can't be done on name, for example something titled Star Trek would that be original TV series or one of the movies.

Can't be done on length either, there's plenty of movies around the 80 min mark and plenty of TV show episodes above 80 min.

[turbomortel]

Meh...

Some people are simply stuck in the past.

Some people like to dump every possible video into 1 single folder and expect software/us to fix their lazy attitude towards file management.

Some people think that men have never landed on the moon.

I understand that you have a high level of expertise and experience in this project. However, I would like to respectfully express my concerns about the comments that were made.
Some users (and I) are not leaving in the past because the way we store information is not perfectly structured. In the time we are leaving, a training AI can drive a vehicle in a crowded and disorganized street in China, so finding the difference between tv show and movie sounds accessible.
I acknowledge that this may not be a top priority at the moment, but I believe that it is an important area to consider for the future development of Kodi.
I have taken a look at the source code (the function  CVideoInfoScanner::RetrieveInfoForTvShow in xbmc/xbmc/video/VideoInfoScanner.cpp) , and it appears that the API call for matching and retrieving TV show information is relatively straightforward. What might be required here is a trained data science model that could calculate a level of confidence based on different inputs, like metadada from the files but also storage paths. I asked Bard how to differentiate movies and TV Shows and he gave me some interesting results :
Length: Movies are typically self-contained stories that run for about two hours, while TV shows are episodic and can go on for multiple seasons, with each episode lasting around 30 minutes to an hour. -> so duration can be helpful
Structure: Movies have a complete narrative arc that begins, develops, and ends within the runtime of the film. TV shows, on the other hand, have an ongoing storylines that unfold over multiple episodes and seasons. -> comparing if you have many files with more or less the same duration in the file's folder or in subfolders
Release: Movies are typically released theatrically first, followed by home video release. TV shows are initially broadcast on television or streaming platforms. -> so using file date and compare it to release dates
Format: Movies are typically presented in a widescreen format, while TV shows may be in a widescreen or standard format. -> check the file format
Gathering  this information and calculating a confidence score would be very helpful, not only to differentiate movie and tv shows, but also to get results with badly formatted filename and storage paths (having a better understanding of the filename, having a "did you mean" google approach). What about having a trained data model on tv shows and movies name that can easily offer to correct "DVD Rip The Lord of the Kings // Two Towers \\ HD" into "The Lord of the Ring - The Two Towers " ? I would rather see Kodi suggestiong a wrong answer than suggesting nothing.
While I understand that there are some challenges involved in implementing changes, I believe that it is worth exploring further.
I am not suggesting that this should be done , but I would like to encourage you to keep an open mind about this possibility. I am confident that the Kodi team has the talent and expertise to tackle this challenge, and I would be happy to assist in any way that I can.

[lesrhorer]

Frankly, I do not consider it worthwhile, at all.  Quite to the contrary, I think it is an exceedingly bad idea.  Fundamentally, TV series and movies are very, very different things.  Movie Franchises are the closest things to TV series for most movies, and even they are quite different in almost every aspect.  There are a handful of TV series, like for example The Outer Limits that in some ways thematically resemble movies, at least in the sense that each episode covers a different topic with somewhat diverse plots and a completely different set of actors, but even so, the very last thing I would ever want is my episodes of The Outer Limits to be scattered all over the field.  Most TV series, in fact even including a number of episodes of The Outer Limits, have at least a minimal chronological relationship.  While this is also the case with movie franchises, movie franchises are much more limited in scope.

No, I certainly would vote against the developers blurring the line between Movies and TV series.  I suspect I am not alone.