IMDB tt-ID from .nfo files

Dev Community Dev/API Corner
1

I am trying to do one simple thing (with the new Plex-Nine). I am trying to get the metadata search feature to use the IMDB tt-ID number I have stored in my .nfo files.



I have searched all the postings here and although there are claims that this should be do’able, I am unable to get it to work. I have tried several (at least 4) NFO file agents and none of them accomplish this (i.e., force a match based on the imdb number in my .nfo files).



Can I please get a definitive answer to the following questions:


  1. Is this supposed to work?


  2. If so, what (precisely, including links to the metadata agent) do I do to get it to work? Please also specify where and what in the

    “Metadata Agent Settings” screen do I set? I,e, under MOVIES I now have:

    Freebase

    Personal Media

    XBMC .nfo Importer



    And in the check boxes I have:

    Local Media Assets

    Rotten Tomatoes

    Freebase

    …



    I have thousands of movies with .nfo files for all of them and IMDB tt id’s in every .nfo file as tt1234567. There are hundreds of mismatches based on the movie titles even though I am using “title (year)”. Most are in VIDEO_TS format with the .nfo file as “title (year)/VIDEO_TS/title (year).nfo”

    I have been using Plex-Eight for years and very much want to use Plex-Nine, but this issue is blocking me.



    Can someone who has intimate knowledge of this issue please enlighten me?



    Thanks!

    Dick
2

Since I got no reply, I will reply to myself…



Elan stated in another thread referenced here: http://forums2.plexapp.com/index.php/topic/16989-my-musictv-showsmovies-arent-showing-up/page__view__findpost__p__113476



“The scanner does pass along the tt ID if it finds it in the NFO file, for the agent to use.”



Elan, do you still stand by this? Or are you referring to something else? By the above, do you mean that the tt ID is used instead of the filename to do a match, or just that the tt ID the scanner computes from a filename search is passed on to subsequent agents? And what “scanner” are you referring to, an nfo file scanner? And if so, which one?



Here is an example of my problem…



Filename: 7 Up Disc1 (1964)

Plex matches: A Fistful of Dollars

NFO File: 7 Up Disc1 (1964)/VIDEO_TS/7 Up Disc1 (1964).nfo

NFO File Contents:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>



tt0058578

Seven Up / 7 Plus Seven
7.8
1964
68,797
92 minutes

Michael Apted

http://movies:81/covers/B000SAGGLO.jpg
Rated NR - Not rated. This movie has not been rated by the MPAA.
When Seven Up was broadcast in 1964, it broke new ground and became the first segment of a laborious and momentous labor of love: an engrossing chronicle of the lives of 14 students from varied social backgrounds, beginning when they were 7 years old. The first meeting with the group of wide-eyed, innocent children invites viewers to take a look at lives in the making; the follow-up film, 7 Plus Seven, checks in on them 7 years later.

Subtitles () Sound (English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo) Full Screen 1.33:1
Documentary / Social & Cultural Documentaries


**The last three metadata agents I tried:**

xbmcnfo_2.0.plexapp
XBMCnfo_Agent.plexapp
xbmcnfo.plexapp

Is there some other way (other than .nfo file parser agents) that one can get a tt ID into the search routines (i.e., on a mass scale, for every movie automatically). Entering the tt ID interactively is not an option for me due to the large number of movies and mis matches I have encountered.

Thanks again...
3

As far as I know the agents gets the scanned name from the folder/filename and uses different sources to come up with a score of how certain PMS is that the movie is the actual movie you refer to. The found tt ID adds weight to the score, but it doesnt fully overrule everything else (I think).



That means that if you have named your movie wrong as you have in your case, this could happen. You can check which score “A fistfull of Dollars” got by looking in the log log file (I think it is the Plex Media Scanner.log but I might be wrong).



If you name your folder correctly I think this will work. According the Wiki you should name it "Movies/Movie name (year)/VIDEO_TS " and if you want to add “Disc1” you should to it AFTER (year). So name it: 7 Up (1964) Disc1

4

That was what I suggested in another thread (NFO agent thread). The problem is that rwk doesn't want to do that, to complicated for him. But I can confirm that renaming every movie to it's correct IMDB name and year solves this problem...

But again, what is then the purpose of scanning for tt-ids in the first place? I suggest that tt-ids in NFO files overrules everything, including filenames - as I stated before, tt-ids are unique, filenames are not :)


5

There is a reasoning behind it, but I seem to remember Elan at some point increase the weighting of the tt ID:s, but not to totally overrule it.

Anyway, at the moment rwk has to bite the bullet. If he has named the movie incorrectly (he is telling Plex that the movie is named something else than it really is), then he has to suffer the consequences B)

6

With all due respect...

This is just one of hundreds of examples I could have provided, and many other examples have their own distinct reasons they do not match, and there are many other situations where titles vary (especially with foreign films, of which I have many). If I had known six years ago that Plex would require that I name my movies in sync with IMDB I would have done so. However, at the time, I choose to name my movies in sync with Netflix.

There would be no reason I can think of to give tt-ID some kind of weighting. The reason for tt-ID is to avoid guessing games with titles, year, weightings etc... The tt-ID is like an index number and uniquely identifies a movie, as you well know. I seriously doubt that Elan would use it in the heuristic algorithm used to guess movies. Elan?

I am quite sure that if tt-ID is parsed from .nfo files (or in any other way, place or file for that matter), the search heuristic could be skipped entirely. If I am correct, then this remains the best way to solve this problem, and I am still waiting for someone in the know to explain if, why, or why not this feature is or is not available.

I fear that there is a design flaw which may force the search based on title before the nfo (or other) agent is called.

Thanks for your replies...
7

Try to summon elan to this thread - I’ve tried alerting him on Twitter, but he has yet to respond. Maybe you will have more luck :slight_smile:

8

OK, How do I do that?
9

Send him a polite tweet @plexapp :)
10

I don't think I am comfortable doing that. I have to assume that this just isn't the priority right now. From the interest shown in this thread, it does not appear that many (it any) have a similar need. I'll just have to live with Plex-8 I guess.
11

I don't think he'd mind - as long as you are polite :) In fact, looking at the tweets to @plexapp you'll definitely not be the only one trying to get his attention... :)

Anyway, if you can cope with Plex 8, then you should also be able to cope with having to rename your files "correctly" ;)

12

OK, saw the bat-signal.



What I would need to investigate is:



a] A library section created with the official movie scanner and agent (to verify there is a problem).

b] The exact path/structure/names of the files.

c] The attached NFO file.



Then I can reproduce over here and see what’s happening.



Thanks!

13

Thanks, elan, good to see that the batmobile is still in motion! :)

I'll let rwk upload his files but will supplement if need be...

14

Elan,

Thank you for your interest! Just to confirm what you are asking for, you want:

a] Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Plug-ins (Attached: in library.tgz in case this is correct)

b] The file-structure (for the example referenced here) is as follows:

7 Up Disc1 (1964)/VIDEO_TS/7 Up Disc1 (1964).nfo
7 Up Disc1 (1964)/VIDEO_TS/VIDEO_TS.IFO
7 Up Disc1 (1964)/VIDEO_TS/VIDEO_TS.VOB (etc...)

c] The .nfo file is attached as: 7 Up Disc1 (1964).nfo

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

tt0058578
Seven Up / 7 Plus Seven
7.8
1964
68,797
92 minutes

Michael Apted

http://movies:81/covers/B000SAGGLO.jpg
Rated NR - Not rated. This movie has not been rated by the MPAA.
When Seven Up was broadcast in 1964, it broke new ground and became the first segment of a laborious and momentous labor of love: an engrossing chronicle of the lives of 14 students from varied social backgrounds, beginning when they were 7 years old. The first meeting with the group of wide-eyed, innocent children invites viewers to take a look at lives in the making; the follow-up film, 7 Plus Seven, checks in on them 7 years later.

Subtitles () Sound (English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo) Full Screen 1.33:1
Documentary / Social & Cultural Documentaries


Please note that "XBMC .nfo Importer.bundle" is the last one I tried.
All others tried also failed to cause PMS to search based on tt-ID.

Thanks again, I very much appreciate your help!

Dick

P.S. I regret I am having trouble attaching the files. I am using Firefox 3.6.13 on Linux
and when I Browse... for the file, it correctly enters /tmp/library.tgz in the attachment input box
but when I click "Attach This File", it pauses for a minute, then displays:

"Error No file was selected for upload"

I also tried with Safari and Firefox (current versions) on OS X but both failed (flash and non-flash options).

I have instead uploaded library.tgz to hotfile.com at: http://hotfile.com/dl/102348031/cbfc83a/library.tgz.html
I included the .nfo file as plain text above. Just cut/paste...

I am looking forward to your reply!
15

Sorry for the delay. If you check for updates inside Plex Online, you should see an update to Scanners which detects and extracts the tt ID from the file and uses that to help a match.

16

Thank you so much, and no delay was detected here!

I am however having trouble finding the update. Can you be a bit more specific (maybe a link)?

Thanks again,
Dick
17

Why only "help"?
18

You need to go into Plex Online inside the Plex client (or maybe through the iOS app), select "More" and then "Check for Updates".
19

Thanks for the reply but...

When I start Plex and select the menu item "Plex Online", there are no further items listed. There is no "More" item, the list is empty.

When I select "Check for Updates" from the Plex main menu (i.e., in the top menu upper right of the whole screen), I get:

Software Update
You currently have the latest version of Plex (0.9.1.13)

Please advise...

Dick
20

Elan,



Is there any other place this update can be posted? I seem to be unable to access it (see my last two posts above).



I apologize if it is simply my ignorance causing this.



Thanks,

Dick