Mediaportal 1 vs 2 (1 Viewer)

CSMR

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I have my media (music, video) organized in a folder hierarchy and want to browse that way, similarly to mediaportal 1. Does Mediaportal 2 have that now?

I always find that on a new installation tagging movies takes ages. So I should update my master collection of files so the imdb tags are there. (The tt... ids). I gather that with Mediaportal 1 I should put them somewhere in the filename. So "Some Film (2000) [some tag] [tt3947234].mkv" would be OK? Whereas with Mediaportal II, I wouldn't need to pollute the filename and can put it inside mkv tags?

Thanks!
 

ge2301

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    I have my media (music, video) organized in a folder hierarchy and want to browse that way, similarly to mediaportal 1. Does Mediaportal 2 have that now?

    I always find that on a new installation tagging movies takes ages. So I should update my master collection of files so the imdb tags are there. (The tt... ids). I gather that with Mediaportal 1 I should put them somewhere in the filename. So "Some Film (2000) [some tag] [tt3947234].mkv" would be OK? Whereas with Mediaportal II, I wouldn't need to pollute the filename and can put it inside mkv tags?

    Thanks!
    Much easier, just tag your files once and it's done forever. Run tMM or MediaBuddy over your collection. tMM renames all files and folders even automatically if you want and writes an nfo file with all the necessary information. If you switch off online sources during import in MP2, only those files read.
    ... But that's all described in the respective WIKI section of MP2.
     

    ge2301

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    Thanks @ge2301 . Does MediaPortal 2 allow browsing by folder structure (like MediaPortal 1)?
    You can browse through folder structure. If it's like MP1 I don't know, I never used it.
    But I do not recommend it, because you'll loose all the benefits of a library view, which make an HTPC software attractive.
     

    Lehmden

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    Hi.
    I wouldn't need to pollute the filename and can put it inside mkv tags?
    Yes, opposite to MP1, MP2 is able to read and use Matroska Tags. Media-Buddy is adding those tags automatically, if you run one of the wizards and/or use the "metadata" module and you've checked the tagging option... MP2 can read mkv tags since a long time already, that's why I've added mkv tagging support to Media-Buddy (and it's predecessor MKV-Buddy) since some years now....
    MKV tags are great because you can't "loose" them as they are stored inside the video file itself. But for a full set of metadata you better use .nfo files (parallel to mkv- tags) as you can put much more data (nearly everything you can find online) into the .nfo. Mkv-tags are able to hold all the basic data like IMDB-ID, description and so on, but e.g. metadata about actors, writers or directors can't be stored inside mkv-tags... That's why .nfo files are the best possible option. MP2 is supporting .nfo nearly everywhere, in movies, series, music and even video, if you've generated personal .nfo files for your e.g. home videos... The only part where no .nfo is used in in pictures, but there is no other tool out there who does, so it didn't seem to be necessary for images.
    I've named my movies solely with the movie title (e.g. "Avatar.mkv") and the folder where the movie is stored (I use the one movie = one folder scheme) then is named with the movie name and year , e.g. "Avatar (2009)". As there are duplicate movie names out there, like Godzilla 1998 and Godzilla 2014, I need something to separate those. This way I have nice and clean file names without all this clutter and still never had/have a single error while importing my collection into MP or Kodi or Plex or Emby or,... For series I also use mkv-tags and .nfo files in parallel. Here I use a series folder named exactly as the series is named on TVDB, if the series is available on TVDB at all. Many of my series aren't available on TVDB but e.g. on TMDB, then I named the folder as the series is named on TMDB. Inside the series folder there is a .nfo file named "tvshow.nfo" that is holding all the metadata valid for the whole series... Then I have a season folder for every season inside the series folder. This isn't necessary but makes things more manageable. Inside those season folders I have all episodes belonging to the season. The episodes are named SxxEyy - episodes title.mkv and are tagged like movies and the are having an own .nfo file too...
    Aside the metadata I've stored all fanart locally too. This way I don't need any online lookup during import into a HTPC tool as this may be necessary more often. My media I prepare one time only, when it's newly added to my collection and after that I never need to touch it again... All this (generating folder structure, renaming, tagging and nfo file generation) is done by Media-Buddy after a video file is processed (remuxed or transcoded to mkv depending on the file size and properties) with a single mouse click if you use one of the wizards. You can do all steps separate too, if you prefer. But after using Media-Buddy for years 99,9% of my usage is one of the wizards.

    I have my media (music, video) organized in a folder hierarchy and want to browse that way,
    You easily can browse by folder structure. Bus as told at least for music, movies and series this didn't make much sense as you loose all the benefits a HTPC tool has over a simple media player. On "other" videos it is very common to use the folder structure similar to images. Even if you've tagged all your images properly you also better may use the library view. I never tagged my images but I have them organized in a proper folder structure where I find everything in no time... So it's nice that I don't need to use the library view for images..
     

    CSMR

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    You can browse through folder structure. If it's like MP1 I don't know, I never used it.
    In MP1 you can browse specified movie folders on one side of the screen, and the info comes up on the other side about any currently selected film.
    Media-Buddy is adding those tags automatically, if you run one of the wizards and/or use the "metadata" module and you've checked the tagging option...
    Great I will try Media Buddy.
    But for a full set of metadata you better use .nfo files (parallel to mkv- tags) as you can put much more data (nearly everything you can find online) into the .nfo... (I use the one movie = one folder scheme)
    I very much prefer folder organization to tagging. And this would interfere with folder organization.
     

    ge2301

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    In MP1 you can browse specified movie folders on one side of the screen, and the info comes up on the other side about any currently selected film.
    MP2 is not based on MP1. BrowseMedia mode is similar to explorer not for nice visual appearance and seeing all infos.

    I very much prefer folder organization to tagging. And this would interfere with folder organization.
    What is the benefit for this? You are missing many information of the media item and can not use the filters, that make all the benefits.
     

    Lehmden

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    I very much prefer folder organization to tagging. And this would interfere with folder organization.
    Don't think so... Tagging is completely independent of any folder structure. It always is working and never disturbing.
     

    CSMR

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    OK looks like MP2 will not work for me then.
    I am not against tagging for display of information; that's very important and something I will use Media Buddy to help with. But I don't want to browse based on tags, but by a folder structure.
     

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