Disadvantage of New Fanart File Structure

[nstocke]

I'm always the first to admit that I may not fully understand something and I am willing to be corrected. I like the new support for Fanart the Multiple Backgrounds for a show is great. However having one central folder where backgrounds could be dropped and named by show was a lot easier for Bulk updates of TV shows. For example being able to get the Backgrounds while scrolling through the Guide was cool. With a ton of backgrounds stored in one central location I could get backgrounds for shows I don't record or even watch.

As I understand it now if I want a background for shows that I scroll through on the guide I would have to create a multi level directory structure for every show that may be on the Guide.

I may be dreaming but it would have been nice to include a "if not here than Here" central location that looks up by Show Name.jpg

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by nstocke

I'm always the first to admit that I may not fully understand something and I am willing to be corrected. I like the new support for Fanart the Multiple Backgrounds for a show is great. However having one central folder where backgrounds could be dropped and named by show was a lot easier for Bulk updates of TV shows. For example being able to get the Backgrounds while scrolling through the Guide was cool. With a ton of backgrounds stored in one central location I could get backgrounds for shows I don't record or even watch.

As I understand it now if I want a background for shows that I scroll through on the guide I would have to create a multi level directory structure for every show that may be on the Guide.

I may be dreaming but it would have been nice to include a "if not here than Here" central location that looks up by Show Name.jpg

If you use one of the updated media scrapers (stucless' BMT or evilpenguin's Mediascraper) it will create that directory structure for you. BMT you can do from a commandline and I think do a bulk load for existing. Or using the STVI included wth BMT you could do it one at a tme and it still create the stucture. Configure it as a plugin and any new media added gets added with the structure automatically.

Gerry

[stuckless]

There are definately going to be some growing pains of the new fanart system. I think the intention is not so much that you have to manually create a folder system, but that the applications (default stv, sagemc, scraper tools, etc) would do that for you. This release is just the first step, but in the simple addition to the default stv, I have it so that if you are in the guide, you can do a fanart search/download for a given item... it's still manual, but you are not required to create the directories. I think that eventually you'll see these types of enhancements, plus others, make it's way into the stvs, but it's going to take some time...and unfortunately patience.

[jaminben]

Yer, its a pain to start with but once you start to see the bigger picture you will hopefully really like what the other guys have come up with. For instance you can already use Stuckless's plugin and download fanart on the fly from within SageMC for TV shows and Movies and it will automatically create all the correct folder layouts.

I have an addition to the movie info screen which I'm working on that does the same thing but also allows the user to pick which image they want to use (thanks to Seans tools), although it doesn't work 100% just yet. I've attached a screenshot so you can see an example of this.

[nstocke]

I appreciate all of the quick responses. And as I expected I learned some things. I was not aware that I could grab Fanart from the Guide. I am also looking forward to the tool that will allow me to pick which Fanart to download.

I have an addition to the movie info screen which I'm working on that does the same thing but also allows the user to pick which image they want to use (thanks to Seans tools), although it doesn't work 100% just yet. I've attached a screenshot so you can see an example of this.

Will this also allow me to download more than one Fanart at a time?

Thanks again for the info.

[jaminben]

Originally Posted by nstocke

I am also looking forward to the tool that will allow me to pick which Fanart to download.
Will this also allow me to download more than one Fanart at a time?

Stuckless's tool is already available and adds the option to download fanart. The tool will download what ever is available which can sometimes be 1 image or 20 images.

[nstocke]

I've been using Stuckless's tool however for some reason I only get one Fanart image. I get multiple Posters but only the one Background. Is there a setting I'm missing?

[jaminben]

Originally Posted by nstocke

I've been using Stuckless's tool however for some reason I only get one Fanart image. I get multiple Posters but only the one Background. Is there a setting I'm missing?

I dont think so, its just luck of the draw. Quite a few of my films only have one image.

[nstocke]

I tested on the TV show Chuck which has 20 Fanart Backgrounds. All I ever get is one. Have you done TV shows or are you just doing Movies? Could just be a difference on how the scrapper works on different sites. That is why I was hoping for something that would allow me to view multiple fanart images and then select the ones I want and preferably multiple at a time.

[KJake]

Originally Posted by nstocke

I tested on the TV show Chuck which has 20 Fanart Backgrounds. All I ever get is one. Have you done TV shows or are you just doing Movies? Could just be a difference on how the scrapper works on different sites. That is why I was hoping for something that would allow me to view multiple fanart images and then select the ones I want and preferably multiple at a time.

I noticed the same, especially on TV shows. I'll submit something.

[jaminben]

Originally Posted by nstocke

I tested on the TV show Chuck which has 20 Fanart Backgrounds. All I ever get is one. Have you done TV shows or are you just doing Movies? Could just be a difference on how the scrapper works on different sites. That is why I was hoping for something that would allow me to view multiple fanart images and then select the ones I want and preferably multiple at a time.

Ah, Yes. I only use this for Movies.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by nstocke

As I understand it now if I want a background for shows that I scroll through on the guide I would have to create a multi level directory structure for every show that may be on the Guide.

I agree that this is one of the downsides to the new structure. I downloaded a couple of the Fanart zip files that contained backgrounds for hundreds of shows and movies and this worked great to give me backgrounds in the guide for shows that I never watched.

Would it be possible for someone to create an automated process to take these zip files and recreate them with the new directory structure? I guess this would consist of looping through each file in my old Fanart\TV folder and create a new \Fanart\TV\30Rock\Backgrounds folder and then copy the existing 30Rock.jpg file into this new folder (just to use 30Rock as an example).

How about another process that runs daily in the middle of the night that would use Stuckless' tool and would look for Fanart for all shows in the Guide? Is this feasible or would it take too long to run?

[nstocke]

Would it be possible for someone to create an automated process to take these zip files and recreate them with the new directory structure? I guess this would consist of looping through each file in my old Fanart\TV folder and create a new \Fanart\TV\30Rock\Backgrounds folder and then copy the existing 30Rock.jpg file into this new folder (just to use 30Rock as an example).

This got me thinking that I could create a super simple batch file and use DirMon2 to kick off just such a thing. I'm sure there would be a way to do it all with a batch file but I didn't want to think that hard and I already have DirMon2 running. With this running I can unzip a jpg collection in my old background folder and have the new directory structure created for me and the files moved to the right place.

Here is my batch file:

md "c:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\STVs\Phoenix\FanArt\TV\%*\"
md "c:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\STVs\Phoenix\FanArt\TV\%*\Backgrounds"
move "c:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\STVs\SageTV3\SageMCE\MediaBackgrounds\TV\%*.jpg" "c:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\STVs\Phoenix\FanArt\TV\%*\Backgrounds"

This of course assumes that your new FanArt location is in the Phoenix directory in your STVs folder for SageTV. It also assumes that everything is on your C: drive (edit appropriately).
You will need to modify the third line to point to whatever directory you have your old Backgrounds located in.

DirMon2 Settings:
Create New Job Under Joh Management Tab (I named mine FanArtMover)
Where: Point to the directory that has your old JPG files.
Program to run: Point to your batch file (I named mine FanArtMover.bat)
Targets: jpg
Command Line Options: %BASENAME%
Triggers: Must Exist: jpg

DirMon2 can be found here:

http://www.dragonglobal.org/dirmon.htm

The the DirMon2 thread is here:

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...hlight=dirmon2

[jpaddock3000]

I made a VB script that will auto convert the old structure of Fan Art to the new Fan Art structure( I didn't really make it, but gathered different scripts and put it together).

• Put the code in a text file and save as a .vbs file.

• Then run the file.

• An explorer box will pop up asking what folder do you want to run the script on.

• Select the folder that has all your jpg files in them(The script only works with jpg's currently, but you can easily modify .jpg with any other extension in the script).

• The script will automatically make a folder name with the same name as your jpg minus the extension and create all the new Fan Art sub folders.

• It will then move your jpg file into the backgrounds folder.

On Error Resume Next
Dim name
Dim destFolder
Dim TargetDirectory
Const WINDOW_HANDLE = 0
Const BIF_EDITBOX = &H10
Const BIF_NONEWFOLDER = &H0200
Const BIF_RETURNONLYFSDIRS = &H1

Set objShell = CreateObject("Shell.Application")
Set wshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

'**Browse For Folder To Be Processed
strPrompt = "Please select the folder to process."
intOptions = BIF_RETURNONLYFSDIRS + BIF_NONEWFOLDER + BIF_EDITBOX
strTargetPath = wshShell.SpecialFolders("MyComputer")
TargetDirectory = Browse4Folder(strPrompt, intOptions, strTargetPath)

Set objFolder = objFSO.GetFolder(TargetDirectory)
Set objColFiles = objFolder.Files

For Each file In objColFiles
        name = Replace(file.name,".jpg", "")
        destFolder = (TargetDirectory & "\" & name)
		objFSO.CreateFolder(destFolder)
		objFSO.CreateFolder(destFolder & "\Backgrounds")
		objFSO.CreateFolder(destFolder & "\Posters")
		objFSO.CreateFolder(destFolder & "\Banners")         
        objFSO.MoveFile (TargetDirectory & "\" & file.name), (destFolder & "\Backgrounds" & "\" & file.name)

Next


'**Browse4Folder Function
Function Browse4Folder(strPrompt, intOptions, strRoot)
	Dim objFolder, objFolderItem

	On Error Resume Next

	Set objFolder = objShell.BrowseForFolder(0, strPrompt, intOptions, strRoot)
  	If (objFolder Is Nothing) Then
  		Wscript.Quit
	End If
  	Set objFolderItem = objFolder.Self
  	Browse4Folder = objFolderItem.Path
  	Set objFolderItem = Nothing
  	Set objFolder = Nothing
End Function

' echo the job is completed
WScript.Echo "Completed!"

[Toddupton]

Thanks for the script! It works PERFECT! Someone make this a sticky.

[MeInMaui]

I'll add a link to the tips and tricks sticky.

Aloha,
Mike

[Dirtman16]

Well done on the VB script. That just saved me half an hour.