# Getting Show Metadata to Display



## jtcweb1 (Mar 21, 2011)

I have a bunch of TV seasons on DVD. I have been ripping each episode to it's own vob file and storing them on my Windows Home Server. I do have TiVo Desktop Plus. I'm looking for a way to browse the list of TV shows/episodes and see the meta-data, then when I see something I want to watch, request the transfer.

Everything works using TiVo Desktop Plus, except the show meta-data. I don't want to convert them to .tivo files as I also watch them on my computer using XBMC or Windows Media Center.


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## msmart (Jan 3, 2007)

Your ripped files don't have metadata in them.

I could be wrong, but I don't think vob (mpeg2) files have the ability to store metadata so I believe you'll have to manually enter it into the XBMC or Windows Media Center library.

If however, they do have metadata, MediaInfo will show it.


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

Your only choices are to convert them to .TiVo (which you already ruled out), or to use an alternative HMO video server that will allow you to attach metadata in a different way, such as pyTivo.


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

The combo of pytivo and vidmgr will do exactly what you are asking as well as disply cover art along with the file listings and metadata. You really should look into these great bits of software. Far better than the capablities of Tivo Desktop.


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## jtcweb1 (Mar 21, 2011)

I'll give pytivo a try. Is there a thread that contains the setup instructions for the current version under windows? Also has anyone set this up on Windows Home Server?


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## jtcweb1 (Mar 21, 2011)

And another question. Unless I make a .tivo file the show information will not show up while I'm watching it, only in the pytivo browse, correct?


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

No, not correct. pyTivo will transfer all the metadata. (Well, nearly all. There are some TiVo-side bugs that prevent a couple of fields from being transferred.)


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

jtcweb1 said:


> I'll give pytivo a try. Is there a thread that contains the setup instructions for the current version under windows? .....


The windows install instructions were recently updated on the pyTivo wiki:
http://pytivo.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Windows_Install
There is no longer a useful windows installer -- you have to follow the manual instructions given in the wiki.


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## jtcweb1 (Mar 21, 2011)

I'm getting close. I have pytivo up and running and I can transfer the files I want from the computer. However I'm not seeing the show descriptions. The format of the file names is Show.Name.S01E01.


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

I'm not sure why you're telling us the format of the filenames, but I hope it's not because you were thinking that the metadata would be added automatically, based on the name. pyTivo doesn't do that. You have to add the metadata yourself. (There are programs that will automate that for you, and some of them I think will indeed key off the filename. But they aren't part of pyTivo, and I'm not really familiar with them since I don't use them.)

pyTivo will read several existing kinds of metadata, as well as its "native" format, and I'm always looking to add more. But as msmart noted, VOBs ripped from a DVD don't come with metadata. Were you already seeing descriptions for these in XBMC or Windows Media Center after ripping them? If so, maybe there's something we can add support for.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

jtcweb1 said:


> I'm getting close. I have pytivo up and running and I can transfer the files I want from the computer. However I'm not seeing the show descriptions. The format of the file names is Show.Name.S01E01.


You can generate pyTivo metadata files manually for each file with Metagenerator:
http://pytivo.sourceforge.net/forum/metagenerator-version-2-beta-t555.html

Are you assigning these file names? If so do you know the Series Name ("Show.Name" I assume)? Do you also know either the Episode Title or the Air Date? If you can create the files with Series Name and Episode Title (or Air Date) in the file name, VAP (see link in signature) can parse the input file name and automatically look up metadata using theTVDB.com. VAP will automatically produce the pyTiVo metadata file as it processes your input file with VideoReDo, e.g., doing a Quick Stream Fix to produce a mpeg2 output file.


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## jtcweb1 (Mar 21, 2011)

Some of the programs I run on my computer can pull the meta-data from thetvdb.com if you name it to match what they have on record. For example The.Simpsons.S01E02 is season 1 episode 2 - "Bart the Genius". XBMC for example uses this system, I don't know where XBMC stores this information.

For my movies I run YAMMM which create an XML file in the directory that contains the movie. The XML file contains all the meta-data. YAMMM will also optionally download cover art.

Where does pyTivo store the meta-data?


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

pyTivo gets metadata from pyTivo metadata (text) files that are located with the associated video file or in a common subfolder. See the pyTivo wiki for more details:
http://pytivo.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Metadata


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## tomm1079 (May 10, 2005)

does metagenerator do images also? Would be nice to put those in the folder to.

if not any meta generator that will?


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

tomm1079 said:


> does metagenerator do images also? Would be nice to put those in the folder to.
> 
> if not any meta generator that will?


It displays cover art in its UI but where would you want it to put the image? A pyTiVo metadata file is text only and no metadata (including artwork) can be inserted in mpeg2 files.  Maybe pyTiVo has a way to handle cover art now (??). If so, I haven't kept up with the latest developments.

If you are willing to re-encode your videos to H.264 in a .mp4 container, both metadata and cover art can be inserted in the video. I know VAP will do this but you have to find your own cover art. Not sure what kmttg can do in this regard. I don't believe pyTiVo will display the cover art on the TiVo for those files however. But I believe StreamBaby will do so.


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## tomm1079 (May 10, 2005)

dlfl said:


> It displays cover art in its UI but where would you want it to put the image? A pyTiVo metadata file is text only and no metadata (including artwork) can be inserted in mpeg2 files.  Maybe pyTiVo has a way to handle cover art now (??). If so, I haven't kept up with the latest developments.
> 
> If you are willing to re-encode your videos to H.264 in a .mp4 container, both metadata and cover art can be inserted in the video. I know VAP will do this but you have to find your own cover art. Not sure what kmttg can do in this regard. I don't believe pyTiVo will display the cover art on the TiVo for those files however. But I believe StreamBaby will do so.


Yeah it is for streambaby so i was hoping to be able to save it from that program in the folder in the name that streambaby will accept.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

tomm1079 said:


> Yeah it is for streambaby so i was hoping to be able to save it from that program in the folder in the name that streambaby will accept.


So the question is what file format and naming convention that is. I see you're pursuing this in the StreamBaby main thread. There is some info in the StreamBaby wiki but some details aren't clear to me. I've contributed some code to the metaGenerator project in the past, and I think it should be possible to have it output the required image using the cover art it already displays in the UI, assuming I can locate the primary author of the program and obtain his permission. He has been inactive for the better part of two years now.

Am I correct that StreamBaby will use metadata from a pyTivo metadata file for mpeg2 files? I've used StreamBaby but always with .mp4 files that already had the metadata embedded.


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## jtcweb1 (Mar 21, 2011)

Can someone tell me the difference between streambaby and pytive?


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## tomm1079 (May 10, 2005)

dlfl said:


> So the question is what file format and naming convention that is. I see you're pursuing this in the StreamBaby main thread. There is some info in the StreamBaby wiki but some details aren't clear to me. I've contributed some code to the metaGenerator project in the past, and I think it should be possible to have it output the required image using the cover art it already displays in the UI, assuming I can locate the primary author of the program and obtain his permission. He has been inactive for the better part of two years now.
> 
> Am I correct that StreamBaby will use metadata from a pyTivo metadata file for mpeg2 files? I've used StreamBaby but always with .mp4 files that already had the metadata embedded.


Yeah it uses Filename.txt for any of the formats. As for the fileformat/naming conversion i do not know that yet. I am hoping someone will help in that thread. I am going to play around with it tonight and see if i can get it working any more. 
That would be wonderful if you could add it (assuming we can find the author)


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## tomm1079 (May 10, 2005)

jtcweb1 said:


> Can someone tell me the difference between streambaby and pytive?


I think this is really simplifying it but Streambaby only streams to the tivo. pyTivo always you to transfer to the tivo.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

jtcweb1 said:


> Can someone tell me the difference between streambaby and pytive?


The basic difference is pyTivo transfers files to the TiVo while StreamBaby streams them. When pyTivo completes a transfer, an entire copy of the file resides on the TiVo. Nothing is left on the TiVo after StreamBaby streams a file. There are many other differences. Consult the Wiki's for the two projects and forum posts to get more info.


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## jtcweb1 (Mar 21, 2011)

My preference is to do a transfer so I think I stick with pytivo.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

tomm1079 said:


> Yeah it uses Filename.txt for any of the formats. As for the fileformat/naming conversion i do not know that yet. I am hoping someone will help in that thread. I am going to play around with it tonight and see if i can get it working any more.
> That would be wonderful if you could add it (assuming we can find the author)


Searching the StreamBaby thread on "image" I found this post:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=7491911#post7491911
If this still works you should be able to just add a line something like:

Image : <path to image, relative or absolute>

to a pyTiVo metadata file. Maybe you could give that a try.

There also seemed to be some question about what path delimiters (e.g. / or \) were required so try variations of that.


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## tomm1079 (May 10, 2005)

dlfl said:


> Searching the StreamBaby thread on "image" I found this post:
> http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=7491911#post7491911
> If this still works you should be able to just add a line something like:
> 
> ...


This helped! I was able to get it.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=8593277#post8593277

now just need to see about getting that image in the directory with metagenerator.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

I'm trying to contact the MG author now. All I need is his permission since I already have the code for the most recent version.

Reviewing the MG thread on the pyTivo forum, I see other people had asked for this enhancement long ago.


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

dlfl said:


> I'm trying to contact the MG author now. All I need is his permission since I already have the code for the most recent version.
> 
> Reviewing the MG thread on the pyTivo forum, I see other people had asked for this enhancement long ago.


Yes, I was one of them. Would be great if you could add this functionaltiy to a very useful tool.

Its not just for Streambaby users. vidmgr HME tivo interface for pytivo uses the same image naming convention, ie videofilename.ext.jpg in the same directory with videofilename.ext.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

What are the size and format constraints on this image?


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## jtcweb1 (Mar 21, 2011)

I'm starting to re-think my stand. Much of this is for my kids and they are none too diligent on deleting shows after watching. Does streaming with StreamBaby allow the FF & Rewind? One thing that bugs me about NetFlix streaming is if I just want to back up a minute or two it has to reload.


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## orangeboy (Apr 19, 2004)

jtcweb1 said:


> Does streaming with StreamBaby allow the FF & Rewind?


Yes, but with some caveats. See next part.



jtcweb1 said:


> One thing that bugs me about NetFlix streaming is if I just want to back up a minute or two it has to reload.


Depends on the (StreamBaby) video. An "ideal" video would be less than 1.1GB so the whole video can be brought into the buffer, and encoded in h264 to provide the quickest transfer speed from the computer to the TiVo buffer.

If StreamBaby has to transcode the video into mpeg2, then yeah, FF/Advance will suffer, but RR/Replay should be fine, since that would still be in the buffer.


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

dlfl said:


> What are the size and format constraints on this image?


320x444 portrait in a jpg file for cover art.

Hope you get this going!


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

jcthorne said:


> 320x444 portrait in a jpg file for cover art.
> 
> Hope you get this going!


Thanks. The images returned by Netflix for movies seem to be fine for StreamBaby as is. The images currently displayed by MG for series, obtained from theTVDB.com, are "banner" images which are almost a 10:1 aspect ratio. They will display via StreamBaby but are horribly squished horizontally. It appears the "poster" images returned by theTVDB will work fine however. All the ones I've seen so far are 680x1000, pretty close to the 320x444 aspect ratio, and they look fine via SB. Obviously SB (or TiVo ?) is scaling the images to fit the window it uses.


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## tomm1079 (May 10, 2005)

dlfl said:


> Thanks. The images returned by Netflix for movies seem to be fine for StreamBaby as is. The images currently displayed by MG for series, obtained from theTVDB.com, are "banner" images which are almost a 10:1 aspect ratio. They will display via StreamBaby but are horribly squished horizontally. It appears the "poster" images returned by theTVDB will work fine however. All the ones I've seen so far are 680x1000, pretty close to the 320x444 aspect ratio, and they look fine via SB. Obviously SB (or TiVo ?) is scaling the images to fit the window it uses.


remember in streambaby their is hardcoded values on the image tags in theCSS. I removed that and just 214x317 (the images on IMDB) when i moved them over.

Maybe allow the user to enter his image size that they want?


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

tomm1079 said:


> remember in streambaby their is hardcoded values on the image tags in theCSS. I removed that and just 214x317 (the images on IMDB) when i moved them over.
> 
> Maybe allow the user to enter his image size that they want?


Not sure I understand your issue. It appears to me that the image displayed on the TiVo/TV is always the same size, regardless of what size image is in the meta image JPG file.  Based on this, the only really important thing is to get meta images with a reasonable portrait aspect ratio, roughly 2:3 (so they don't look squished on the TV).

The series poster images from theTVDB.com (1000x680) seem to display fine via TiVo/TV as do the movie images that MG already uses from Netflix in its UI.

I've got a version breathing that seems to be doing everything OK. For the movies, it just writes a JPG of the same image that appears in the MG UI. For the series it uses the same banner art in the UI as it always has, but downloads and saves the poster image for the meta JPG file. And it inserts the image tag in the pyTivo metadata file.

Not that it seems important, but I haven't found a way to use absolute paths for the image tag. I can get it to use a subfolder of the output folder by using this form:

```
image : <subfolder_name>/<jpg_file_name>
```
It might work with the backslash ('\') also -- just haven't tried it.

Does anyone have a strong preference for using a metaImage subfolder for the images? If necessary a checkbox can be used to select whether to do this. It would be simpler just to have it always do it one way or the other, of course, if that satisfies everyone.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

jcthorne said:


> 320x444 portrait in a jpg file for cover art.
> 
> Hope you get this going!


Was this a size for StreamBaby? As already mentioned it looks to me like SB can take any image size and will fit it into the fixed size Tivo/TV display window it uses, although a portrait aspect ratio near 2:3 is preferable.

I'm wondering if there are more stringent size constraints for (an) other app(s) that might use the same system, however.


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

dlfl said:


> Was this a size for StreamBaby? As already mentioned it looks to me like SB can take any image size and will fit it into the fixed size Tivo/TV display window it uses, although a portrait aspect ratio near 2:3 is preferable.
> 
> I'm wondering if there are more stringent size constraints for (an) other app(s) that might use the same system, however.


That was the optimum frame size for vidmgr. Images larger than this will scale to fit automaticly but should be about this aspect ratio to scale down properly. Images much smaller than this will not display well as vidmgr does not scale up. From your discription above, I think what you have now may work just fine. Time for some wider testing?


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

I've had no reply after emailing Master Cephus and I believe he was agreeable to having me take over support of MG when last we talked. Thus I've enhanced it by adding the Cover Art JPG generation option with incorporation of the image tag in the text file. There is now a "Save with Art" button in addition to the "Save" button. If cover art was not found, the button is disabled (grayed out).

Some other clean up included getting TVRage and TheMovieDB data sources working again -- their API URL formats had changed. I removed IVT as a source selection -- it was never hooked up anyway.

TVRage provides very little information -- no description or cast names and no cover art. TheMovieDB frequently returns cover art with non-english text, although I'm specifying english to it.

You can download it for testing here:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?5q43a4ub1pkt9qi
I'm going to start a new thread on this in the pyTiVo forum. I think that is the logical best place to discuss it, although it can be discussed here too.


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

Thanks. Really appreciate the efforts to update and the new features.

I have noted a problem with the metadata saved for tv shows in the new version. I left an indepth discription with examples over at the pytivo forum but basicly the new version does not display the show name correctly, only the episode name. Could you please look into it and get it working like the previous version?

Thanks!


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

A new version of MG3 is available. Please track the MG3 thread on the pyTivo forum for details and updated download links.


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## tomm1079 (May 10, 2005)

Removed my request from here so everything is in one place in the pyTivo forum.


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