Using nfo files and local media for fitness dvds

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
1

Long time Plex member and long time lurker. Only recently have I gotten serious about organizing all my content on Plex so have been working on this issue for nearly a week. I have read all I can find on the topic to ultimately categorize my fitness DVDs.
Based upon recommendations I currently have created a separate library that I’ve called “Fitness” and is of type TV Shows. I am using tinyMediaManager as my editor for the .nfo files and am using the XBMCnfoTvImporter agent for these .nfo files. So far, so good. The content has appeared in my library with the appropriate descriptions.

The issue is that I’m trying to set my own files for images since there is nothing available at tvdb to be pulled by tinyMediaManager (or any other for that matter).
Using the information for local media asset naming at https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200220717-Local-Media-Assets-TV-Shows I have created my content.
I have also made sure to set the Agent preferences for Shows->XBMCnfoTvImporter to use the “Local Media Assets (TV)” first. In addition I have clicked the gear and checked the “disable agents artwork support (use local media assets instead)” box as well.
At this point I would expect the images to appear. Still, nothing.
What am I missing? As a sanity check I also tried to set thumbs in the .nfo xml for the cast to see if it’s being read instead but I’m not certain that Plex will use this information. That said, maybe I should skip trying to use the local media assets and set all images in the .nfo file?
Thanks for any assistance.

2

NFO files are only supported by plug-in agents. If you use the ‘official’ names, PMS’s native LMA (local media assets) agent will always pick them up as long as it’s enabled . Perhaps there is some confusion?

Would you mind sharing a listing of 1 directory, the contents of the NFO, and the artwork?

I’ll create a quick test and see what I can craft as a viable solution.

3

Thanks for your response. I will provide the information once I arrive home and have access to the server.

So, it appears you are saying I cannot combine the XBMCnfoTvImporter to read .nfo files and also use local media assets? This exact scenario appears possible if only because I can check both items within the Agent setup and also there is a checkbox that would appear to provide the very functionality I am looking for.

As a test I will investigate the naming conventions for the XBMCnfoTvImporter media assets and see if anything is loaded.

4

You can layer the agents but combining them is what I don’t believe is possible. I don’t know that particular agent. Some use the PMS db API while others strictly look at the files. I know all the Plex agents use the API and therefore can access the DB. That would be the optimal way of integrating.

5

I actually found this is a bug in Plex as discussed here: https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/38402/metadata-agents-for-exported-xbmc-library. I’ll be waiting for the update but if you’d like more information from me in the meantime please let me know.

6

How about we start from the beginning with it since that actual code has long since been written from the ground up (AFAIK). That was very early on in the 0.9.7.x sequence. Here we are, 4+ years later and at 1.3.3

Please show me the data you have, the information you’re having trouble getting into PMS. Please help me understand so I can advocate further as needed.

7

Sure. Thanks. I did note near the end of the forum discussion I linked to, though, it does mention v1.3.3 is a problem as well. I am running Version 1.3.3.3148.

In any case, this is an example of the structure that I currently am using.

|-- banner.jpg
|-- fanart.jpg
|-- landscape.jpg
|-- logo.png
|-- Season 01
|   |-- Core De Force - S01E01 - MMA Speed Workout.mkv
|   |-- Core De Force - S01E01 - MMA Speed Workout.nfo
|   |-- Core De Force - S01E01 - MMA Speed Workout.png
|   |-- Core De Force - S01E02 - MMA Shred Workout.mkv
|   |-- Core De Force - S01E02 - MMA Shred Workout.nfo
|   `-- season01.jpg

The .nfo files are being read appropriately since I can see the information from within appear in Plex. As I mentioned, I was expecting the photos above to appear as well.
I tried the art for banners, etc, and also added an image within the “Season 01” directory to see if it would appear.
The screenshots show my current view in Plex. The images that are visible are generated from Plex, I’d assume, since I did not provide them and they are just random screen captures.


I’ve also attached a picture of my Agent configuration.


Thanks!

8

May I see the contents of the NFO? I’ve not used them. In order to write up and submit an issue, I need to understand it

9

I have been checking with staff and Ninjas. What it appears to all of us is you’re using the XMBC NFO inporter. This isn’t compatible with Plex. What you’ll need to do is either a) change the source you have to be compliant with the PMS API or b) see if that author can help you.

In our collective memory, we think, long ago there might have been primitive use of NFO files to link to IMDB/theTVDB but never anything as exotic as XML. While PMS loves XML, the challenge for the plug-in developer is structuring the API calls to create entries, it’s FAR easier to extract from PMS than to insert into

I’ve been informed the agent does have a known problem with television series.

We collectively suggest, you continue there, with that thread & developer.

10

Since you asked for the contents of the .nfo file, would you still like it? Also, since you asked for it and mentioned that Plex has some ability to read them can you recommend a plugin that would provide this functionality that is compatible with Plex.
Thanks for all the time spent researching!

11

The only known NFO plug-in is the thread you referenced.

I won’t be needing the NFO thanks. Some of the loooooong time staff educated me in this. Thank you!

12

@ChuckPa:
I’m the current developer of the XBMCnfoImporter Agents. Saying they are incompatible is making it a bit to easy I think.

Up to Plex version 1.2.7 the agent worked perfectly fine for a lot of people. Since the next version after that, it shows the series poster instead of the season posters and doesn’t show user generated thumbnails for episodes, but plex auto generated ones. This bug hits other 3rd party agents too. So I can’t believe my agent is the only one doing things wrong.

Also all other things the agent does, still work perfectly fine. The tvshow poster gets imported and the info from the nfo files is put in the correct fields to appear in plex web frontend. That leads me to believe something changed in plex, that stops it from working correctly.

Long story short, if the one of the long time staff or Ninjas would tell me the correct api calls to make it work again, or what the agent is doing wrong in the eyes of plex devs, I would be gladly trying to improve the agent to comply to your rules. Also there was once an api documentation available for developers, that did show this info. But it is not updated anymore and only available as a pdf in a forum post instead of the dedicated subdomain it once hat on plex’ servers.

13

Responding here for continuity and paraphrasing a bit but already replied in the other thread.

My job is to be a liaison for the devs. More than a Ninja, less than full employee.

I’ll gladly work with you to get things sorted out and working properly. Again, as I stated there, I will ‘eat appropriate crow’ for being overly simplistic out of ignorance. I’ve spent the better part of the day looking internal to PMS and seeing what’s there. What I found, which is where my initial statements were based, is something you would laugh at because you know the API can do so much more.

So again, let’s team up and make it happen.

14

Just for clarification, all we want is to have media that isn’t in TVDB and IMDB in our plex libraries, that shouldn’t be too much to ask should it? Plex was made for more then this.

The only real way to do this is with the nfo importer and image support has been broken since 1.2.7.

It sounds like plex staff finally know about this issue so I hope its on the list of things to fix.

1 Like
15

PLEASE ADD OR FIX PROPER NFO SUPPORT.
Your web databases keep messing up my library, making a PLEX PASS WORTHLESS

Until a recent update (not all updates are good) my large movie database was fine. Unfortunately after the update my movie library was playable but the metadata was changed. Simply refreshing the library did not restore my files correctly. I tried deleting and adding the library again. Sadly, Plex hasn’t recognized the local data correctly since, meaning my server has been in constant flux updating from the web.

Movies that I had seperated manually like Stars Wars Theatrical versions, Special Edition and the Blu-Ray versions had reverted back to stacked format.(EX. All 3 Return of the Jedi movies under one logo, A REAL PAIN TO SORT INSIDE PLEX) Seems that this “PROPER NAMING PROCEDURE” only allows media to be grouped by the IMDB release date. I don’t know how many others have this issue, but judging by the forums I’d guess TOO MANY USERS.

I have used the xmbc importer and prioritized all the agents and turned off other agents that I can. However Plex still thinks it is smarter.

I’ve been using a NFO database manager because there are too many things that the PLEX AGENTS DO NOT FIND(ex. concerts, tv shows, home videos)! The NFO software allowed me to separate versions easier. The PLEX software it TOO SLOW to use inside the browser to modify hundreds of files. I don’t have all day to edit files that were incorrectly “fixed” by Plex. When I’m home trying to work on my library I’m sitting for a few minutes then off again. the ability to fix something on the browser is great but we need a faster solution offline that will sync with Plex.

16

You know… I’m so glad to know that I paid good money for software that I can’t get support for. After all, everytime I’ve put my “1984 Kingston Trio Concert” that was purchased from their site on my sever, IMDB and other agents take a great big dump.

I know what the Metadata is… only problem PLEX still keeps trying to overwrite.

17

To be clear, having chatted with the developer,

PMS natively searches for tt[0-9]+ (regex) to aid in the lookup of the metadata. It uses no other information from the NFO file.

This applies to movies only…

18

I understand the code is currently written this way, but if it doesn’t work for the people who pay for the software FIX IT. Why use something that’s not going to do what I need?

There is a NEED TO MANUALLY EDIT METADATA. PLEX DOES NOT NEED TOTAL CONTROL OVER MY MOVIE COLLECTION! ESPECIALLY WHEN HALF OF WHAT IS AUTOMATICALLY SCRAPPED IS WRONG!

I have yet to see the locks work for art, names or any other setting in Plex. Giving the software the ability to overwrite my settings at will. The only way I was able to get around these down falls of PMS is to maintain the metadata through a NFO client because PLEX likes to change things.

AGAIN ADD OR FIX NFO SUPPORT!

19

@rebelworks said:
I understand the code is currently written this way, but if it doesn’t work for the people who pay for the software FIX IT. Why use something that’s not going to do what I need?

There is a NEED TO MANUALLY EDIT METADATA. PLEX DOES NOT NEED TOTAL CONTROL OVER MY MOVIE COLLECTION! ESPECIALLY WHEN HALF OF WHAT IS AUTOMATICALLY SCRAPPED IS WRONG!

I have yet to see the locks work for art, names or any other setting in Plex. Giving the software the ability to overwrite my settings at will. The only way I was able to get around these down falls of PMS is to maintain the metadata through a NFO client because PLEX likes to change things.

AGAIN ADD OR FIX NFO SUPPORT!

Kindly show me why / how it’s broken and I will take it forward. Respectfully, Yelling in caps does nothing. Solid, repeatable, data is what I need.

1 Like
20

@ChuckPa said:
Kindly show me why / how it’s broken and I will take it forward. Respectfully, Yelling in caps does nothing. Solid, repeatable, data is what I need.

@ChuckPa
Respectfully, I’m the client and paid for the software and gets to decide what I consider broken/doesn’t work. I work in IT and unfortunately it doesn’t matter if the software is working fine, it’s the perception of the client. That’s always where a little overtime comes in.

In this case lack of support for a feature that did work at one time. What I think most people including myself are looking for is support for a standard that has been around for a while, so our time correcting our files isn’t wasted. Speaking from experience your in a lousy position being the middle man between the developers and us.

Which exact data can I provide for you?
Logs? The NFO’s from outside PMS to see how things aren’t matching up. Or something else? If it will help make Plex more efficient then sure.

So far over 2 years I have carefully named all my folders and files according to the PLEX best practices. https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/categories/200028098-Media-Preparation

The issues I keep having is with the heavy dependence on web agents that don’t pull data correctly regardless of the agents specified! This should be more optional especially for PLEX PASS users.

I’ve already described issues that everybody has faced separating different versions of Star Wars theatrical, SE, BD, or LOTR theatrical or expanded. Either of these will stack if left to web agents. Also after reloading my movies library somehow Deathly Hallows part 2 got scrapped and sorted as “2” in the begining of the list. Thanks again to a web agent.

You asked to be shown how Plex is “broken” try using any web based agent to find the “Good Time Reunion at Devil’s Lake” see what you get. It will either come back wrong or empty. My problem is I have several of these type of videos that I have to manually edit. Trying to do this through the Plex browser is TOO SLOW. Again if the NFO agent worked correctly then ALL metadata fields Plex supports should be allowed to import.

There needs to be an easier way to save TIME! Currently I’m spending more time fixing or trying to get Plex fixed than enjoying it. Simply editing the files needs to speed up. Unfortunately I can’t redo my library if the NFO importer doesn’t work any more. It’s not worth my time currently when trying to spend as much as I can with my Family.

The biggest benefit of Plex was I had my child’s TV and movies were in a playlist so they could go in and watch their stuff safely. Hopefully all metadata hasn’t been lost.

Thank You for your Time and Support!