Metadata setting, URLs in .NFO files don't work

If I leave the Metadata setting at "Online Metadata sources", there is a lot of automatic parsing that happens, but sometimes it gets things wrong (to pick a random example, Bambi and Bambi 2 both show up under Movies as "Bambi" -- and the budget cartoon collections with a random sampling of old cartoon shows are all over the map). I hoped I could just add metadata files (specifically, XBMC .nfo files) to assist its processing on a file-by-file basis, but it appears to be all-or-nothing (it ignores .nfo files if the setting is "Online metadata sources", and if I switch that setting to "XBMC .nfo files", it only shows data from those files it was able to process, meaning if I want it for one file, I have to create .nfo files for everything).

According to this documentation for .nfo files, a .nfo file could consist entirely of a URL (e.g., to the IMDB page), or it could have some data and end with a URL so that all data would come from IMDB except for what's specified. But when I do either of these, the metadata fails to load at all, and the file doesn't show up at all (except just by its filename in the "Folders" view).

What's the best way to proceed from here? I feel like I'm creating a lot of work for myself trying to create an .nfo for every file (that apparently has to contain complete metadata, not just a pointer to IMDB), but just letting Serviio make its best guess from filenames doesn't always work, either. (There are going to be some that will be impossible to guess, anyway, like those cartoon collection discs.)

I am looking forward to an answer to this as well. I followed the procedures on the wiki page and updated EVERY single video file to match the www.themoviedb.org and www.thetvdb.com file names using filebot, in the hopes this would make my files recognizable when using "Online metadata sources". This took a lot of time, and after numerous "Rescan video metadata" button pushes, my Genres directory has one file "unknown" and everything is in it. If I am missing something please direct me on how to fix this. I am still learning to use Serviio and really like it, just trying to make use of all the features.

I am using it on a WD TV LIve box, if that makes a difference.

thank you

[n3mmr]

If you want to use XBMC .nfo files, you can (I think) make XBMC keep updating those .nfo files, in much the same way as Serviio would, i e on file updates and files added or removed.


So you'd need xbmc to keep acting the metadata ferret and squirrel, in the background, and serviio would just serve up the files, transcode and such..

I came across a utility called Media Companion that will generate the .nfo files. It's nice in that I don't have to install the whole XBMC software package (this machine is a headless server, not connected to any display, so XBMC wouldn't give me any added benefits). It works pretty well; I was able to generate .nfo files for all of my movies and about half of my TV shows (the other half failed only because they're not collections of a single TV show, but random samples from other sources, like the "oldies cartoon collection" that have three or four episodes from a dozen different cartoon shows -- even then, it's going to be possible to identify them, I just haven't put the work into it yet).