Metadata Question

[Dahrl]

I need to make my own properties files for metadata as I have home content I want to be able to search. So none of the existing tools will find my personal video's I am sure.

So I need; would like to know the format for the files.
And if any value restrictions. I have seen one posting that almost helps but I am concerned its not fully explained.

For example...
Media Type=
What types are expected? Supported? Valid values etc.

This post starts to explain it...
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43888

However does not actually provide any documentation on the format.

Is there any kind of full doc somewhere? Or do we run around trying to break it with trial and error?

Or can I just say
Media Type=Home Movie
or
Media Type=Vacation
and expect it to work?

[APillowOfClouds]

Originally Posted by Dahrl

I need to make my own properties files for metadata as I have home content I want to be able to search. So none of the existing tools will find my personal video's I am sure.

So I need; would like to know the format for the files.
And if any value restrictions. I have seen one posting that almost helps but I am concerned its not fully explained.

For example...
Media Type=
What types are expected? Supported? Valid values etc.

This post starts to explain it...
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43888

However does not actually provide any documentation on the format.

Is there any kind of full doc somewhere? Or do we run around trying to break it with trial and error?

Or can I just say
Media Type=Home Movie
or
Media Type=Vacation
and expect it to work?

Take a look at the instructions by nielm to convert BeyondTV metadata. I have successfully imported some home movies into my tv recordings area by using the .xml format that is used in the BeyondTV conversion and just editing the data. You can import the .xml files via his web interface. I don't have a link unfortunately but if you search around on "convert beyondtv" I'm sure you'll find the instructions.

[stuckless]

Consider the following example....

Description=Disney Family Vacation 2009.  We spent 7 Days and visited all parks. This is a highlight reel from all 7 days
Director=Me
Genre=FamilyVacation
Title=Disney 2009 (Highlight Reel)
MediaTitle=Disney 2009 Highlights
MediaType=Movie
OriginalAirDate=6 June 2009
Year=2009

This is the base set of properties (stored in a .properties file). If your filename is Disney2009Highlights.avi the the properties is Disney2009Highlights.avi.properties.

MediaType is one of TV, Movie, Music
MediaTitle is a basically a directory name that holds the fanart (if you are not going to associate fanart with your home movies, then you can ignore MediaType and MediaTitle).

I would use the Genre field to describe the type of video, ie, Home Video, Vacation, etc.

Hope this helps... the rest really is trial and error

btw, if you have already imported your home movie, and you've updated the .properties, then you will need to "touch" the media file (ie, update it's timestamp) in order to sagetv to re-read the newly updated .properties.

[Fuzzy]

You also should be able to edit this data from teh Web UI if you choose. Simply browse the imported videos in the web interface, and you can edit the data there directly.

[Dahrl]

Thanks everyone I will give your suggestions a try.