XBMC Media Companion Help And Useage

[HTML Templates] - Help/Examples/Tricks

Pr.Sinister — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:44:31 GMT

Hi Everyone, Some of you may not know this but the addition of HTML Templates is HUGE! Plenty of commercial software have the ability to generate nice reports and HTML templates but none of them offer the ease of scraping data like Media Companion and EMM do. All those commercial softwares have you enter the movies manually one by one and the ones that let you import from hard drives have you click ok for every single entry!!! Anyway... i digress... I would like ...

Media Companion is missing 2 movies!

Michael Prassel — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:17:05 GMT

My Media Companion scans 466 movies but my movies folder contains 468 movie folders. How come that happens and how can I tell what movies are missing?

Library problem on XBMC

Doughboy — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:06:24 GMT

I'm using Media Companion for tv scraping. I hate complaining and have held off on bringing this up but I can't take it anymore. TV shows are the last thing to work on XBMC for me. The scraper doesn't work for me, and Media Companion wasn't working correctly till recently. My process is to use EpNamer to rename my files to a naming convention Media Companion likes. Then I scrape the files in Media Companion. I've been doing a few tv shows at a time, it works great in Media Companion now. ...

Genre filter, the "problem" check box

paybac — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:00:38 GMT

Just wondering what this filter is looking for when it's selected?

TV shows cant been found by scraper

renegade — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:32:14 GMT

hi is there a prob with the scaper at the momment, for the last two days the tv scraper has returned episide not found when scraping for all shows. I have downloaded the latest version and the new imbd.dll with no luck.

Scraper is failing...

dlhoppe — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:57:13 GMT

Anyone else experiencing this issue?

An error was encountered at stage 1, Downloading Movie Body
The 'div' start tag on line 8 does not match the end tag of 'genre'. Line 8, position 36.

I'm thinking the website must have changed the page layout breaking the scraper. How soon do these things get fixed?

How to use TV Scraper

jeller316 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:02:42 GMT

Hello I am new to Media companion. I am having trouble with my tv shows. Her is how mine are setup. \\Tower\t.v. shows\SMALLVILLE\Season 01 then the file name is SMALLVILLE_S01E01_PILOT.iso. If I scrape this it finds the main smallville folder and puts a banner there but will not show any information for the individual episodes. In the options I chose add root-folder is this correct. Or is there a different problem. Any help would be appreciated. I am using Media Companion 3.148.

Changing poster wont update folder.jpg

holmes5518 — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 01:23:53 GMT

Hey guys, I recently updated to the newest version of MC...After i scrape and try to change the poster, the folder thumbnail doesn't update anymore and it also doesn't change in XBMC..What setting do I have wrong here?

Scrape problems

jaycee — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:03:09 GMT

Hi Thanks for a great app! I've been using media companion for a while now without any sort of problems. But the other day something strange happend. when a scrape for new movies I get blanks! Year turns 0000 and now info. I've never had this problem before. I donno what i'm doing wrong or what could have happend? When i read the output log it seem somethings going wrong in line 8 genre position 13?! whatever that meens? anyone got any ideas? I'm using the new build (3.148) ...

Episodes greater than 99

StormyKnight — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:31:01 GMT

Billy, can you advise the method I can use to scrape a TV episode greater than 99? e.g. Top Gear S00E219 Clarkson - Duel.avi here is the TVDB link to the specials for your information... http://www.thetvdb.com/?tab=season&seriesid=74608&seasonid=22070&lid=7 Changing the regex doesn't seem to be enough... [Ss]([\d]{1,2}).?[Ee]([\d]{1,3}) Do you know if XBMC will handle these episodes? Thanks PS as a workaround, the above Top Gear ep. is also ...

Subfolders wont show

raevenlock — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:56:49 GMT

Hello everyone! Sorry if this post already has been up. I´ve tried to find the info that I need on the forum, but with no luck. When I am scraping my tv-shows only some subfolders(season folders) will show(see screenshot). Whatever I try I can't get them to show. What am I doing wrong? I got all the subfolders to show after a while by pressing "TV show selector" button then pressing "Search for new episodes" and everything was fine. I saw all the season folders, ...

Eastbound and Down - Chapters instead of Episodes

Groty — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:59:25 GMT

Here's the link to it at TVDB - http://www.thetvdb.com/?tab=series&id=82467&lid=7 Instead of Episodes, it has chapters. Epnamer is not recognizing it for renaming. Media Companion isn't recognizing the episodes or chapters either. Media Companion pulled in the series data fine, just not the episodes. Current Directory Setup: >Eastbound & Down >>>>>Season 1 >>>>>>>>>>Chapters (Episodes) What changes do I need ...

Want to rescan Root folder to find new shows v3.135

ChuckMcB — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:00:06 GMT

Hi folks If I add a 'Root folder' I would expect there to be some way to rescan that root folder to find a new show's folder (not new seasons, not new episodes but an entirely new show) I've added since I set up MC. "Search for new Episodes" doesn't seem to do it nor does "Rebuild Shows". I could delete and re-add the root folder or manually add a single folder but (unless I'm missing something Am I missing a button or does this feature not exist? TIA.

Multi-Episode Single file naming convention?

paybac — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:03:19 GMT

Is it possible and if so what is the correct naming convention for a multi-episode that airs as a single episode and is one file.

For example Stargate Universe aired S01e01-e02 as one episode, making the download a single AVI. MC recognizes this only as e01 and not e01-e02. I know that is because thats how it is scraped from TheTVDB. But just wondering if and how i can make it show that i have episode 2?

What about A & B parts of one Epidode

paulpoco — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:41:16 GMT

What about when you have two files that make up an episode? I.e. Arthur - S07E02 -Cast Away.mkv and Arthur - S07E02 -The Great Sock Mystery.mkv Yes I know they are my daughters shows, but it seems the kid show are multi part. Under plot it seems to use A & B. A).Arthur is thrilled when Dad invites him to go fly fishing for the weekend. Finally - an escape from D.W.! But when a change in plans forces them to include her, Arthur's had enough. Does D.W. always have to get ...

Media Companion is not finding the shows

Groty — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:18:48 GMT

I don't understand why it seems to find the info for the first 2 seasons and generate NFO and pull images but it can't find anything else. Then I added Chuck to the scan. Is there something wrong with the naming convention? I can't find any documentation on the Regex's. Gahh, getting a bit frustrated. Quote:Starting Folder Scan 0 New episodes found in directory:- E:\Shared2\Television\Top Gear\season 1 10 New episodes found in directory:- E:\Shared2\Television\Top Gear\season ...

Export to HTML

PureLoneWolf — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:26:03 GMT

Hi there

I have 2 questions.

Firstly, is it possible to flatten the results for TV Shows? I have shows split across 8 physical hard drives, which means I have 5 or more entries for a single show.

Secondly, can I export the TV Show list to HTML in the same way as the movies?

Many thanks

INFO: Media Companion 3.106 installs on 64 bit Vista with SP1

dbareis — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 03:50:49 GMT

Hi,

I didn't need to install .NET or anything. Hopefully this info will help someone (I don't think its documented anywhere).

So far so good anyway...

Bye,
Dennis

3.106 Scraping all Blank Nfo's

feerlessleadr430 — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:32:09 GMT

Hi Billy,

I know you are on vacation, but I am having a problem adding any new TV episodes using 3.106.

Here is a copy of what the log says after it scrapes everything.

http://pastebin.com/m1bc72978

I can download the tvshow.nfo and fanart and banner no problem using 3.106 but not individual episodes

Windows 7 ....not working...

Nelsonpby — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:36:28 GMT

Hi guys. Cool app but can't get it working using Windows 7. Anyone have any luck? Working well on the laptop though (Vista). Any help would be appreciated.

Installation issues

feksteen — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 21:59:47 GMT

Hi there, I am eagerly anticipating using Media Companion, but I have some issues with getting started. I am not a programmer or developer, just a simple low-tech user. I am using a PC with Windows Vista (home premium) and downloaded media companion 3.098 1. Downloading: - So I download the zip file - can you include some download / installation instructions? or how about including a readme file in the zip file? What I could pick up on the forums and the "getting started" ...

Unable to add TV show folder

Turniphead — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 16:04:08 GMT

Firstly many thanks for such a great program. It is definitely the XBMC of media scrapers! Easy to use and has a good layout.

I have been unable to add my TV show root folder or single folder to MC. When I click the button MC acts as if I had not clicked it at all.

Is there a way I can add it manually to the config file. I had a look but was unsure of what to add.

Many thanks in advance.

Episode Thumbs Won't Scrape in 2.292

SmokeHacker — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 08:53:39 GMT

I understand support for TV shows in the next generation of Media Companion is coming soon, and I am very much looking forward to it, but until then I've been using version 2.292 to handle my episodes. In the past couple weeks I've noticed that it no longer scrapes episode thumbs despite the fact they exist on thetvdb.com. A question for everybody: Is anybody else experiencing this or am I the only lucky one? A question for the man himself: If this is a global problem ( most likely ...

Rescrape/Edit issue when nfo file is hidden

TK_Money — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 04:32:13 GMT

Not sure if it's really an issue a there are ways around it but I like to keep the nfo & tbn files hidden in my movie folder. Issue is when I find a problen in the info file and rescrape or manually edit the file (movie title etc) I get an error message saying Error Encontered at stage 34 Syste.UnauthorisedAccessException: Access to the path '*.nfo' is denied. Now I know all i have to do is change the attribute of the file back to normal and not hidden but I was wondering if there was ...

trailer problem

kukhen — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 23:28:20 GMT

Hi, First of all, great piece of software! Now to my problem. I've checked the "Include IMDB Movie Trailer url within the nfo file" option but when I do a scrape and create nfo's for my movies there never exists a trailer link. I see but nothing in between. I've tried it on alot of movies and none of them has a link. Is it just imdb that really lacks some trailers or is it something I did wrong? If it's imdb, is there a way to change ...

How to generate a config for gen 2?

tiwas — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:02:37 GMT

Hi,

Anyone know how to generate a config for this?

Cheers!

Stupid Question "Scan for new...."

esra — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 04:46:22 GMT

Ok i finally have a version working now!

I have added all my folders and can see my movies listed.

however i can't see how to scan the folders for new movies.

There was a button before but I can't see anything now.

Any ideas? I'm probably just having a 'mind fart'.

Thanks.

What happened to .info file support?

MRMOVIE — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 04:28:03 GMT

Version 2 contained the ability to create a moviename.info file, insert the IMDB url for the movie, thus allowing for a perfect lookup for movies. There was an option within the OPTIONS section to enable .info support.

Version 3 appears to have removed this option! I have over 400 movies with matching .info files to allow for accurate lookup. Can this option be reinstated into version 3?

Thanks for a GREAT product!

Please Help! Movies won't scrape

nvaia — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:15:51 GMT

This is what happens when I scrape for the remaining movies that didn't scrape the 1st time for some reason

Poster Browser: Save Big vs Save Small

dbareis — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 09:39:33 GMT

Hi ya, Probably a stupid question but what do these buttons do (and why is there not a third "Save" option - thats the one I want)? I have only once seen "Save Big" increase the resolution of an image (and why would I want to do this?) ONCE, as far as I know all other times it simply saved it. It would be nice if MC used tooltips for more informative stuff, like in this case saying what clicking the buttons would do (I assume this is image dependant). Also ...

MC will not scrape...PLEASE HELP!

nvaia — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 21:33:09 GMT

I am not new to using MC, I stopped using xbmc for a while and have just now came back to it. I downloaded XBMC and MC and when I scrape for movies it doesnt find any of them. I put my movies in C:/users/movies and have also set that in MC as the folder to scrape. When I hit the scrape button, it finds 0 movies, even though there are 87 in the folder.

Any one have any ideas??

Drag + Drop in gen2 3.072

dbareis — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 22:03:49 GMT

Hi,

I tried dropping movies and folders onto the list box but as far as I can see that did nothing, am I missing something? I monitored the folder for .nfo etc to appear so wasn't just looking via the UI.

If I drop a folder I assume it will scan that whole subtree?

Thanks,
Dennis

Problems with XBMC 9.04.1 repack 2

tikitom — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 03:40:48 GMT

I'm updating and cleaning up my media library. I have XBMC 9.04.1 repack 2 running on a Windows vista 32 machine with my movie files stored locally. Using Media Companion 3.039 to update movies and nfo files. For, some reason XBMC 9.04.1 repack 2 is not reading cast(actor), Genres, Director, or studio data from the nfo files created by MC 3.039. If I just use the XBMC scraper not the nfo file the data is picked up. If I downgrade to XBMC 8.1 the data is picked up from the nfo file. Is something ...

HD Tags...

Ram2000 — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:58:09 GMT

Ok this time i had a good look through before posting as after posting my last question I found almost exact same question just underneath it DOH! I apologize if this is allready covered somewhere but I am dammed if I can find it. I have a large collection of BR Rips and notice that you say MC now adds the HD tags can I ask HOW ? is it a naming convention for the tags or am I just missing something simple again..... With that in mind is there any way you could add this to the edit movie ...

XBMC Not viewing movie info

drunkenmstr — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 22:52:31 GMT

Great software btw!

I've scrapped all the new info and deleted my source on XBMC and re-added it to find the new cover art, but none of the movie info shows up. Such as: rating, plot, cast, etc... How do I get XBMC to view this info?

New files only

probatus — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:34:39 GMT

Sorry if this is blatantly obvious to everyone but me. I am used to using 2.135 but since the scraping problems have moved to 3.019. I scrape my folder and would like to display the "new files only" like in 2.135 except I don't see that option anywhere.

Sorry for asking an obvious question.

2.291 - .nfo file 0kb with no data

Bacheus — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:23:41 GMT

Hello everybody i just start using CM. it looks great but i just can't figure out what is going wrong with me. every time i run "Media Search" CM find all my movies files and copy everything in the corret folder. but it looks like .nfo is not copied. MC creates the file but it is completly empty. (0kb) in MC i'm getting the name of the movie like "21 (2008) (0)" I already tried the following. - used version 2.135 = same issue - change the sec. ...

How do I clear out all config data?

dabonetn — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 03:21:46 GMT

Where is the config data located so I can clean it up?
File on the hd or in the windows registry?

Trying to use it after I've moved a bunch of directories is driving me insane!

Thank you.
Mark

Won't scrape episodes. Driving me nuts.

bearaids — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 05:09:44 GMT

I can't seem to figure this out. When I add my folders to be scanned it picks up the TV show just fine, only it doesn't list any seasons or episodes for these shows. I have played with the settings and can not figure it out.

The naming convention I have should work \Show\Season 1\s01e01

Please, any help or advice would be appreciated. I know I must be doing something wrong.

YAMJ and Media Companion: Apple Trailer wont download automaticly? How to use Trailer?

Shepardos — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 13:11:34 GMT

Hi,

If I use "Media Companion" the Apple Trailer which would be downloaded automatically will NOT be downloaded! I think this must be with the modified NFO from "Media Companion"

Is there a way how I can use Popornhour and Trailer witht "Media Companion"?

YAMJ and Media Companion Integration?

Shepardos — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 13:08:04 GMT

Is there a best practice for YAMJ and Media Companion integration? What settings should I use?

Thanks

Help no matches at tvdb,but info there

garyr — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:52:13 GMT

I used the tv scraper a number of times no problems.Ive recently added x files season 1 to the tv section,but it wouldnt scrape,i edit the title but still no matches,checked tvdb site and all the info there so im lost,any help please people

New user....some help please.

jz1276 — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 02:29:28 GMT

I just started using this and think it's very useful, but have some questions. First, since I first scanned all my movies, I have the same Local thumb for fanart come up for ANY movie that contains fanart. The correct fanart image will be the current thumb, but I'm getting the same thumb for local. I deleted the image from my hard drive and it is still there. Is there a way to fix this? Also, is it possible to scrape more than one fanart image at a time? It's only picking up one image ...

.Net Framework Error

mralphabet — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:20:21 GMT

Hi Folks, Was wondering if anyone has come across this one before . Media companion over the last two days when I Open it comes up with a .Net Framework Error will then proceed to open media companion but will not allow me to add anything and my existing library has dissapeared. Here is a screen shot of the error... The Error Listed in Details Is See the end of this message for details on invoking just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box. ************** ...

How to Integrate with XBMC

spe05081 — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 00:16:14 GMT

First of all thanks to the author for devoting time to this program, it is quite needed and I ope you keep developing! I understand how it works but I don't understand how to integrate the results of media companion with XBMC... Say I have an empty library in my XBMC and I map a drive that contains movie titles, nfo and posters as created by MediaCompanion. How do I tell XBMC to take this info to generate the library... how do I make sure it doesn't try to download the info from the ...

Is there a manual on MC? Just curious

tmternes — Mon, 18 May 2009 21:36:00 GMT

Even though I am able to get around MC now, was there a manual that I missed? For example when I open up the download, there was also an "ffmpeg.exe". What is this? Do I need it?

I am just trying to maximize all the options this powerful software allows me to do.

Setting Scraping Preferences for Posters. A little help required.

tmternes — Mon, 18 May 2009 21:32:25 GMT

By the way, I have to say, MC has saved me Sooooo much time, so thank you very much for all of your hard work! Question: I have a collection of 400 DVD's that all have high res cover art stored within the DVD file as "folder.jpg". Is there a way for me to get these to show up within the "Watch your Movies" section of the MediaStream skin? I am using Plex, and I do realize that MC is usually used with XBMC. However, I am told that overall, Plex's functionality ...

What to do when IMDB refuses to give the right information?

tmternes — Mon, 18 May 2009 05:46:38 GMT

I have 1 movie "The Eye (2008)" with Jessica Alba that IMDB refuses to find. For some odd reason, it brings up "Rambo (2008)".

As well, I do not know how to edit within MC to change this. Even if I edit all of the info, I cannot change the IMDB Number.

Can somebody please tell me how to do this.

Media Companion with xBox

MarkBray — Mon, 18 May 2009 15:37:15 GMT

I recently used Media Companion and found to work great with only one issue... the thumbnails don't seem to come up on the xbox... am I doing something wrong?

Please, I am an IDIOT! What to do when done scraping?

tmternes — Sun, 17 May 2009 09:55:48 GMT

I am sure the majority of you will be laughing at this, but here goes:

I am new to this. I downloaded Media Companion, read the instructions, let MC scrape my movies, NOW WHAT?

Do I save the file as an HTML?

What do I do with the file once I have saved it?

As well, I am also experimenting with Plex. Does anybody know if this will work with it?