How do I force the Mezzmo Kodi-plugin to build itself into the Kodi DB?

[jbinkley60]

Yes, will check it. First I need to add this huge HDD to the Mezzmo server.
That will take damn long I think..

I have a question:

In the Kodi forum you said "My recommendation for metadata and artwork is to let Mezzmo scrape the metada and let it use your local artwork."
How exactly do you mean that? Do you mean I should scan them to my library by using the exported Kodi files (artwork + .nfo), and then after that let the scraper overwrite only the metadata in "Maintain Library"?

I am guessing you mean:
1. Add my media to Library
2. Let it scrape everything, by using the exported Kodi library (exported as single files jpg and nfo, placed in the same folder as the video files)
3. Go to Maintain Library and select there "Update information about media files in your Mezzmo library" > unckeck there everything except "Video files" and "Update media properties and metadata".

And what would I have to choose in the setting "Choose to update all attributes or only empty attributes"?
I am guessing it should be set to "Update all attributes", because the Kodi .nfo already added many things.


Also you said: "Mezzmo also has a lock feature where once you get the metadata / artwork how you want to you can lock it so that it won't be changed. This is a cool feature. It's at the top of the metadata editor there is a lock symbol for locked or unlocked."

But is there a bulk-locking?
Because I really can't do this with hundreds of files, each one by one..

Yes to your question on what I was referring to with scraping artwork except you need to check video files and update artwork. Also in the metadata retrieval settings settings uncheck Get Text and Metadata from Internet sites.

For bulk locking / unlocking you can do a multi-select in the Mezzmo GUI. Click on one video, hold the shift key down and then select the last video you want. That will highlight all of them and allow bulk updating. This again where Smart Playlists can help where you create one for a bunch of files you want to edit and then use multi-selecting to edit them. You an also do it in your folders, depending upon how many you created. Lastly, you can also use an SQLite database tool but for most the multi-select is fine.

BTW, you are going about this the exact right way. Play with a playlist or set of files till you are comfortable in how you want to set it up and then do the rest.



Jeff

[jbinkley60]

Just began scanning everything, then I saw that hundreds of completely unrelated files are downloading to my "backdrop" folder in appdata.

These files are thumbnails of media that is definitely not on my HDD.
Thse files begin with "cva_srch-ACTORNAME.jpg", each with the name of actors who I indeed have media from.
But why is it downloading these completely unrelated information?

And how can I disable it?

You need these. They are your actor images when you you display information in a video and then view the cast. Remember Mezzmo stores the artwork. The Kodi clients don't go to the Internet for this stuff. This is the power of Mezzmo. Don't get hung up on he Poster folder. Mezzmo will add / remove stuff thee as needed. It is database driven with dynamic capabilities. We have to unlearn some of our Kodi ways of thinking around managing artwork. I have an entire other utility to help manage actor artwork. This is a future topic.


Jeff

[Undertaker555]

Yes, I understood that the "cva_srch-ACTORNAMES" are supposed to be actor images.
But all the actor images are usually in the Poster folder, and contain pictures of the actor's faces.

But in that Backdrop folder, are only backdrops - and Thumbnails of some really strange Russian and Korean stuff with names like "cva_srch-

cva_srch-andy-serkis.jpg

This comes from AppData\Local\Conceiva\Mezzmo\Artwork\Backdrop
Filename is "cva_srch-andy-serkis.jpg"
I mean, what actually is that? Some kind of Korean King Kong, lol?
And why is it in my backdrop folder, and not even in the Poster folder, where all other actor thumbnails are supposed to be, if I am not wrong.

[Undertaker555]

It is literally downloading hundreds of these "actor" photos of things that I don't even have and there is no stop.
It keeps downloading and I am already close to 1GB, while it is not even close to being finished scanning.

Even if this is other stuff of actors I have media of, how would I prevent Mezzmo to download many gigabyte of these completely unrelated images?
I just want the actor pictures, and nothing else..

In the Poster folder all seems normal, though.
Only Thumbnails of the right media and actor pictures.


Where are these strange "actor pictures" supposed to be showen in the client? I don't even find them in Mezzmo, not in Kodi and not even in the Server.
It is just files that unnecessarily bloat my drive and waste space..
Can I simply disable that section, and prevent Mezzmo from downloading it, and instead just download the Actor pictures (portrait)?

Sorry if I am ignorant, and if that is some kind of useful stuff, but I certainly don't need it if I am honest..

[jbinkley60]

It is literally downloading hundreds of these "actor" photos of things that I don't even have and there is no stop.
It keeps downloading and I am already close to 1GB, while it is not even close to being finished scanning.

Even if this is other stuff of actors I have media of, how would I prevent Mezzmo to download many gigabyte of these completely unrelated images?
I just want the actor pictures, and nothing else..

In the Poster folder all seems normal, though.
Only Thumbnails of the right media and actor pictures.


Where are these strange "actor pictures" supposed to be showen in the client? I don't even find them in Mezzmo, not in Kodi and not even in the Server.
It is just files that unnecessarily bloat my drive and waste space..
Can I simply disable that section, and prevent Mezzmo from downloading it, and instead just download the Actor pictures (portrait)?

Sorry if I am ignorant, and if that is some kind of useful stuff, but I certainly don't need it if I am honest..

Try deleting the actor active playlist in your Mezzmo library and see if that stops things. If it doesn't then Peter may need to weigh in again to explain. The Mezzmo folks decoupled the actor active playlist awhile back at my request and most folks with larger libraries don't search for actors that way. . You can always download my new tool and run it against your Mezzmo library and it will tell you all of the mappings.

You will never see the Mezzmo artwork on your clients except in Kodi textures caching which the Mezmo addon manages the cache timers. Mezzmo hosts the artwork. This is how it is shared across clients. If you want to try an actor, open up a browser and try something like this:

http://192.168.0.34:53168/content/im...illiam+Shatner

Change the IP address to your Mezzmo server and the actor name to someone you know is in your library. This is how Mezzmo hosts actor artwork.


Your database folders with artwork can get a little large due to the artwork it hosts. I don't know how big your library is but I have 17k movies / TV episodes, 10K audio files and 70k actors. My library is around 13GB with the artwork.




Jeff

[Undertaker555]

I have about the same amount of stuff.
But how did it get up to 13GB?

For example, my current Kodi library just has 1.5GB, with all actors, thumbnails, etc.
What does Mezzmo download that Kodi doesn't? Possibly these "actor files" in the backdrops folder..


Also a new problem..
Well, movies are added now correctly to the Kodi DB, and it is just perfect, except for these strange "actor" files in the backdrops folder.
But series are not added at all. How can I trigger the series to be added to Kodi DB, too?


EDIT:
I am seriously thinking about skipping the whole Kodi stuff and begin to use the plugin by itself. It just makes more and more problems.
Now even some thumbnails are missing again in Kodi DB, while in the Mezzmo addon they work fine.
Is there any way how I can get the look and feel of the Kodi starting screen, with all the promoted tiles, and nice overview?
Literally this is the only thing on why I wanted to use Kodi UI instead of the addon, but now I rather go to the addon, like you said from beginning..

[jbinkley60]

I have about the same amount of stuff.
But how did it get up to 13GB?

For example, my current Kodi library just has 1.5GB, with all actors, thumbnails, etc.
What does Mezzmo download that Kodi doesn't? Possibly these "actor files" in the backdrops folder..


Also a new problem..
Well, movies are added now correctly to the Kodi DB, and it is just perfect, except for these strange "actor" files in the backdrops folder.
But series are not added at all. How can I trigger the series to be added to Kodi DB, too?


EDIT:
I am seriously thinking about skipping the whole Kodi stuff and begin to use the plugin by itself. It just makes more and more problems.
Now even some thumbnails are missing again in Kodi DB, while in the Mezzmo addon they work fine.
Is there any way how I can get the look and feel of the Kodi starting screen, with all the promoted tiles, and nice overview?
Literally this is the only thing on why I want to use Kodi UI instead of the addon.

Ok, I reread your earlier post and the "actor" files in the backdrop will need to be answered by Peter. I was referring to actors in the poster folder. I believe they might be actor fanart from the actor active playlists, He can confirm.

You should be able to get the Mezzmo addon UI to look pretty darn close to the Kodi native interface. You'll want to do two things, first play with the view settings in the addon settings. Start with the Top Folder view setting for the skin you are using. Not sure what skin that is. Next you can add / delete stuff in the Mezzmo GUI to get exactly what you want in your library and how you want it to look. This is the real power of Mezmo. Second, organize your library by creating Smart Playlists for anything missing that you might want, Recently added, Last 100 played etc... One thing I do is create a blank playlist in my Mezzmo library called Old Indexes. Anything which Mezzmo creates by default that I don't want to see at the top level view I cut / paste into it, just in case I need it later.

I am glad you are wanting to use the addon view. Thre are so many things which wouldn't have worked with the native Kodi interface because Kodi only reads from the Kodi database in that mode and so many Mezzmo features which require speaking uPNP wouldn't have worked you'd likely have had a disappointing experience over the long run. The Wiki highlights all of the addon capabilities and the Logs & Stats viewer will tell you everything going on.

Jeff

[Undertaker555]

I am using the "Estuary" skin in Kodi itself.

When I open the addon, it only shows Music, Video and Photos categories, but no tiles with new media, suggestions, etc.
In the addon are only 2 Viewtypes "IconWall" and "WideList", so how can I get that?

apps.31780.13510798887593391.b56db251_b7e2_4390_b4c9_02d137ef894d.8039b7b1_ca66_4223_855a_8eeec.jpeg

How would I get that view inside the Mezzmo plugin?

[jbinkley60]

I am using the "Estuary" skin in Kodi itself.

When I open the addon, it only shows Music, Video and Photos categories, but no tiles with new media, suggestions, etc.
In the addon are only 2 Viewtypes "IconWall" and "WideList", so how can I get that?

apps.31780.13510798887593391.b56db251_b7e2_4390_b4c9_02d137ef894d.8039b7b1_ca66_4223_855a_8eeec.jpeg

How would I get that view inside the Mezzmo plugin?

I think you were looking at the skin setting and not the addon view settings . The addon view settings allows the addon to override the skin for consistent views. Under Estuary there's also a Top Folder view mapping option which allows you to map the Top folder view to something else like Movies to get more options. This is to get around Kodi skin view limitations.

I suggest we create a new view point in your library under Video and add the appropriate content and layout to get close to what you want and likely more. I don't recommend deleting or moving the top level Music, Video and Photos playlists. Once we create this new view you can add a favorite for it in Kodi or have the addon autostart to it. It will start by doing a Create Playlist --> Playlist called My View. This is a blank Playlist to where we will add other stuff like Smart playlists and such. You can even move your folders there if you want. We can always rename it later if we don't like the Name My Views.

Give me some time and I'll add this to the Wiki with more step by step instructions and create it on my test system so you can see it. It is actually pretty easy and with this approach you can make it look almost anyway you want.


Jeff

[Undertaker555]

Oh please not another problem...

All the Season 0 Episodes are not correctly places within the Series..
How does actually Mezzmo manage special seasons aka Season 0?

All the series were scraped with TVDB and have the folder structure like that.
Please don't tell me that I need to rename all the series and follow now a completely different system or ordering the series.......
I tell you honestly, this will be the moment when I just give up and use Kodi with UPnP without any artwork...

I was going for TVDB, because other scrapers had completely wrong orders of many series.
And TVDB was much more reliable, but this is also why TVDB has a completely different structure and order than all other scrapers.
TVDB also has mostly the system of adding "Specials" such as Christmas Episodes to a Season 0.
And if Mezzmo can't handle Season 0, then I really don't know what else to do.

Kodi for example accepts Season 0 and adds the episodes to the appropriate Season automatically.


And how do I prevent Mezzmo from adding the media to Kodi DB?

Thank you with the patience btw.
I think still think it is getting closer to be finally be like I want, if we can find solutions for these problems.