[muzikoverdose]

Forgiveness if this is n00bish, but i'm not massively computer savvy. I've got XBMC set up wonderfully on my main comp. I want to set it up on my laptop as well and stream from the main computer. My issue is that I have a lot of foreign films etc... and spend ages manually renaming/finding the correct art since the scraper only got about 70% right. Can the information from my main box be exported to the laptop so I can stream movies etc...? I really can't be bothered going through the renaming process again.

Many thanks in advance.

[AnalogKid]

Forgiveness if this is n00bish, but i'm not massively computer savvy. I've got XBMC set up wonderfully on my main comp. I want to set it up on my laptop as well and stream from the main computer. My issue is that I have a lot of foreign films etc... and spend ages manually renaming/finding the correct art since the scraper only got about 70% right. Can the information from my main box be exported to the laptop so I can stream movies etc...? I really can't be bothered going through the renaming process again.

Many thanks in advance.

Yes you can do this.... firstly on the PC that's fully configured and working... go to Settings --> Video --> Library... and export your library.
Be sure to make your folders writeable, because XBMC will be exporting data to them.
When asked if you wish to save to multiple or single file... choose multiple.
When asked to export fanart and thumbs, choose yes
when asked to overwrite existing files, choose NO

Once the export has completed, use your laptop to connect to your main PC (server), where you files are stored.
Then, simply scan as you would do normally.... XBMC will pick up all the local files on the server (instead of scraping).

Good luck!

[muzikoverdose]

Yes you can do this.... firstly on the PC that's fully configured and working... go to Settings --> Video --> Library... and export your library.
Be sure to make your folders writeable, because XBMC will be exporting data to them.
When asked if you wish to save to multiple or single file... choose multiple.
When asked to export fanart and thumbs, choose yes
when asked to overwrite existing files, choose NO

Once the export has completed, use your laptop to connect to your main PC (server), where you files are stored.
Then, simply scan as you would do normally.... XBMC will pick up all the local files on the server (instead of scraping).

Good luck!

Thanks for the info. Where do I tell XBMC to scan and what method to use? IE: Add source, SMB and point it at the exported library?

also, as I add media to the main box, will it update the laptop when i use update library or do i have to export and import again?

[AnalogKid]

Thanks for the info. Where do I tell XBMC to scan and what method to use? IE: Add source, SMB and point it at the exported library?

also, as I add media to the main box, will it update the laptop when i use update library or do i have to export and import again?

Do the following:

1) Share your media folder, wherever it is stored. (I assume on your main PC)
(You should probably setup a share for Music, one for Movies and one for TV
2) Install XBMC on your laptop
3) Create a source for each of the types of media you want to scan (Music, Movies and TV etc)
4) Point each source to the corresponding shared folder (using SMB)
5) Tell XBMC the content type for each source (Music, Movie, TV etc)
6) Scan for new content on each new source

This will cause XBMC to read all your media files, BUT also find special 'exported' information from your main PC... (eg a '.NFO' file for each of your media files + some artwork that was exported too)

Now, next time you add new media files to your folders, you can do one of two things...

you can scan the new media from your main PC and then scan the new media on your laptop ... this will work fine

OR

you can scan the new media on your main PC, choose all the nice artwork you like, and correct any issues with movies names etc. Then export your library, and then rescan from your laptop.



The second option is the best option, otherwise you will have to setup your artwork and resolve any conflicts TWICE (once for each computer).




BTW, all the export is doing is saving all the movie information (the plot, and summary etc) to a .NFO file. Then in future, whenever it finds your movie, it doesn't have to rescrape from the internet, it just reads the NFO file.
It does the same with artwork... the art you choose on your main PC is then exported alongside your movie files.... so when your laptop does a scan, your laptop will automatically grab the same artwork


Hope this helps

[muzikoverdose]

genius! you've saved me hours of work. cheers!