A little guidance from the WDTV Live SMP Community - Themes/Metadata(Moviesheets/linksheets)

WD Legacy Products WD TV Live Streaming
1

Hi everyone,

I’m a new user and i’ve been going through as many of the threads as i can and i still cant seem to find an answer that helps me in my setup. Essentially i want my WDTV LIve SMB folders to look better and display supporting metadata. Here is my set-up

  1. MAC Desktop (so any tools need to be compatible)

  2. QNAP-TS-221 NAS. Mediaserver & Twonky enabled

  3. Multimedia/Movies/Year/Movie Folder Name (Date)/Movie Title (Date)

  4. WDTV Live Standard theme on one box and osdmodhub theme on another attached to two seperate TV’s over WiFi

  5. WDTV Live media scource is ‘media server’

Im not sure what the best theme to use is, i guess its personal preference but the content is similar (Name, pics, year, synopsis, rating).

I would like to see when i open my Videos folder, my folder structure pointed to my data on my NAS. I used filebot to rename everything nicely with Title (year). how do i get the metadata to support what the extra info i would like, what theme should i use to display that content and should i continue to use Twonky as a media server, or should i move to a network share (NAS to Mac via SMB Share then network share via Mac?)

I probably havent given enough details, but i would appreciate some friendly guidance and step by step implementation walkthrough?

Thanks in advance!

2

ok, so since i posted this, i checked my filesystem and im not sure if XBMC on my Mac did this, or if WDTV Live did this (i switched one of them to bought to my NAS as a network share via my MAC).

Anyway, each movie tholder now has movie title (year).metathumb and movie title (year).xml files. Not sure how this happened, but i think its a positive thing. if i understood how it got there that woiuld be a bonus, any idea based off the first sentence on this reply?

next step, i seem to have the file structure and files needed. how do i display this movie goodness on my WD TV live boxes?

3

changing subject title from SMB to SMP. too many acronyms

4

hmmm continued investigation makes it look like the supporting data cannot be displayed when using a DLNA server? if thats true then i guess my only choice is to use  network share rather than media server?!?

that would mean from my NAS share via SMB to MAC, then from WDTV set network share as the source and then mac shares and then the NAS?

will this impact performance? will i get to see all the metadata or will i need to change my theme as well?

5

well you’ve got a couple of options

smb or nfs from qnap

with either of those you can add shares to the media library and moviesheets will be displayed

but only for files not for folders

or linksheets will work with smb/nfs/dnla

and works for both files and folders

but there’s a catch

maximum theme size of 30MB makes this unpracticle on the smp

unless you run custom firmware http://forum.wdlxtv.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=8707

it’s not officially supported

6

Thank you KAD79, I appreciate the response

OK, so the first step is fairly straightforward, but limiting with respect to my end goal, but i may be able to live with that.

I will investigate the second step, I hadn’t wanted to run custom firmware out of fear that if I break something, my wife and child will not be happy and no one wants to be subjected to that. Having said that, I have 2 WDTV Live boxes so i will play with one of them as my sandbox until i figure out what I need to do. I’m assuming that loading the FW should be straightforward, but I am unsure what linksheets are and how i generate them, Is there a thread you can point me at?

Thanks again for your help

7

AntMid wrote:

Thank you KAD79, I appreciate the response

 

 I’m assuming that loading the FW should be straightforward, but I am unsure what linksheets are and how i generate them, Is there a thread you can point me at?

 

Linksheets are the “backdrop JPGs” used in certain themes when you have selected a movie. Some themes use these, others use XML files to pull up metadata.

You probably just want to go to the theme forum on this board and take a look at the various options that are available. Even though the forum says “Hub Themes”, you can most of them on your SMP as well, especially if you are using the FW that KAD79 refered you to.

The WD TV Live Hub Themes Forum

Good luck, a nice theme will certainly enhance your user experience.

-P

1 Like
8

Thanks Pearl 

I just read some other threads, i really like the GBBM theme and I’ve seen that both you and KAD76 are active memebers which really is great for us new guys.

I think I will have a crack loading custom FW using a USB stick on my SMP. I like the GBBM theme and I have the thread with the walkthrough instructions of installing.

I think i will pull out my work laptop so i can use Thumbgen and some of the other tools mentioned. My mac looks preeedy but doesnt have the tools i need to get the job done. 

Any last advice / tips before i put on my lab coat?

9

if you do decide to go the custom firmware route

just be sure to follow the instructions

most problems/difficulties are caused by people not following the instructions

if you don’t understand or have questions ask at the appropriate forum

official stuff - here

custom stuff - http://forum.wdlxtv.com/

and yeah, preferred os for most of the tools is going to be windows or linux

depending on which tool, so mac, like you said looks, nice

but many of the tools available will not run on it

10

AntMid wrote:

 

 

Any last advice / tips before i put on my lab coat?

Just follow KAD79’s advice and you’ll be fine. GBBM is a great theme and DeVicious wrote a very clear guide on how to install the bundle in Thumbgen and make the sheets.

My one bit of advice for your first theme, is to make sure you make TGMD files along with your linksheets. They hold the metadata for each movie, so when and if you decide to change themes, you can have TG just use them to make the new sheets without much user intervention. Will save you a lot of time in the long run. In TG, You will find the option to make these along with your linksheets and thumbnails under “Options->General->Main/Extra Moviesheet Metadata”.

Good luck and enjoy the journey.

-P

11

ok so as i started messing with the other box, i have another one in the living room that my wife / kid primarily watch. So as i now have the correct file names and supporting .xml and .metathumb details (from an unknown source, was this filebolt or xbmc?). I went to Setup/System/Media Library/Media Library/Media Library Metashare then setting it to NASNAME(AFP)/MediaLocation. Then in the WDTV SMP Videos folder (stock theme) I selected source as ‘My Media Share’ and it started compiling. 

Sometime later i come back and and just with the standard theme, the thing looks awesome. Images not showing at the ‘Main Folder’ Level such as ‘Kids Movies’/Movie Name/Movie Title + metadata and xml. But images showing at the Movie Name Folder and then when i open that folder i get the same image and i get movie information! Now theres a few dislikes, there seems to be a background picture that changes every few seconds - i think i would prefer one picture and not multiple and for it to be different than the Movie image. Im assuming that is set in the .xml file?

do i just delete the rows i dont want?

<?xmlversion="1.0"encoding="UTF-8"?>

Animation

5559

<imdb_id>tt0389790</imdb_id>

Barry B. Benson, a bee who has just graduated from college, is disillusioned at his lone career choice: making honey. On a special trip outside the hive, Barry’s life is saved by Vanessa, a florist in New York City. As their relationship blossoms, he discovers humans actually eat honey, and subsequently decides to sue us.

2007-10-28

91

Bee Movie

Jerry Seinfeld / Renée Zellweger / Matthew Broderick / Patrick Warburton / John Goodman

Simon J. Smith

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFGaS6MDknY

http://cf2.imgobject.com/t/p/w1280/eKXTOIqSFrfN8WTTxrzHMBNiUpB.jpg

http://cf2.imgobject.com/t/p/w1280/2lBpQZevIJdL4vPrZ7Nnm7mrVlm.jpg

http://cf2.imgobject.com/t/p/w1280/qIdG4baO2pME0qNf3TDdzTVqpp.jpg

http://cf2.imgobject.com/t/p/w1280/zVjWSFA2KmWutYoL1yIxIlwfFum.jpg

http://cf2.imgobject.com/t/p/w1280/8Z1hdntIVqy3adx8D9mHgDGfGnJ.jpg

[http://cf2.imgobject.com/t/p/w1280/cGm0S9SbtUcsjK2gnI8hrG8W\*\*bleep\*\*.jpg](http://cf2.imgobject.com/t/p/w1280/cGm0S9SbtUcsjK2gnI8hrG8W bleep.jpg)

How would i add some kind of rating from rotten tomatoes or IMDB so i can see at a glance what the critics / viewers think?

One other thing im contemplating. My current setup is this:

//Multimedia/Movies/Kids Movies/Movie Name/Movie Title + metadata and xml

//Multimedia/Movies/Movies/Movie Year/Movie Name/Movie Title + metadata and xml.

I know some like genres instead of movie year etc, but i guess this would be agnostic to what i think is a better set up

if i remove the folder ‘Movie Name’ and then essentially just have an alphabetized list of which is essentially 3 files for each movie (movie file / metathumb / xml) then everything displays more cleanly and as soon as you highlight the movie on the UI, it just gives you what you want to see. I think first way is better if you have trailers in there as well or blooper reels and want to group them.

Any thoughts to my structure, will i have any issues? Also i would really love help with the movie ratings adding to the .xml (and even better if someone can tell me how that metathumb and xml got there in the first place!)

I will continue the other experiment as previously discussed and let you know how i get on

Thanks again!

12

file structure I think is a mater of preference

personally, I use genre’s

as for the rotating backdrops

yes, you can remove backdrops you don’t want or change the backdrops by simply editing the xml

however with official firmware it’s one of the frustrations many have

even if down to one backdrop it still has the rotating effect, even though it’s the same image

as for movie rating

no way to my knowledge to add to the xml

thumbgen can imbed the rating into a moviesheet

so you’ll see it when moviesheet is displayed but you can’t sort or search by it

1 Like
13

Thanks KAD79

Ok, well the backdrop feature isn’t the best as you say. Rotation will happen regardless, is there a way i can slow it down at least or is that firmware vs. script? If i remove the backdrop that will leave it blank ?

ok so the .metathumb file is generated by ThumbGen which i dont have or use. Another tool pulled that in for me either FileBot (which is AWESOME by the way) which updated all my file names (~3k TV/Movie files), or it was XBMC when i pointed that to the updated file structure? any idea? And can i edit that .metathumb file using an editor at all (on my mac)? 

If metathumb is supplying the content, does it call the xml script as part of that? just wondering what the purpose of the xml if metathumb is the content source?

last question (for now…).  Don’t worry i will pay it forward with a noob noddy guide/tutorial based on my experience. Sometimes its easy to take certain steps for granted when you’re a seasoned pro and certain assumptions are made such as the OP having batteries in the remote, having a display attached to WDTV, having a power scource, having content on a drive and not getting content it automagically…  Joking aside, I really appreciate you guys helping out, this forum has taken our viewing experience from a file structure to something visual that we can relate to. WDTV SMP as a box that can take my dumb panel to a smart display is incredible. I love having native apps like Netflix and the media client is gold. However, as you guys all know the UI could be better. It has all the tools to get the data to support content, it’s free online, even if they dont want to embed links or align with someone like TMD/iMDB/Rotten Tomatoes they could allow a customizable meta data source manager and if you provide the permissions on your source all they would become is a facilitator to write to the source, and to display the content. Seems easy, but im sure its not with licensing / copyright. Best to be a facilitator than an administrator, but if theres a collection going to raise funds to get XBMC to write an App - im in :smiley:

question, once the library is compiled when i go to the video folder and related view for my content structure its taking a lot of time to pull the content. i thought that would be done in the compiling, but i guess this is rendering content pulled by metathumb/xml? i can speed it up by removing backdrops i assume… Does it cache this information? or does it rebuild everythime i exit a menu and then renenter? 

14

The “Rotating” or “Slideshow” of the backdrop pictures in Gallery View is controlled by Photo Settings

Press Setup > Photo Settings

Slideshow Seqeunce    =    Normal

Slideshow Transition    =    Normal

Slideshow Interval        =    5 Minutes         (so this will virtually be a static backdrop image for 5 Minutes)

1 Like
15

JoeySmyth wrote:

The “Rotating” or “Slideshow” of the backdrop pictures in Gallery View is controlled by Photo Settings

 

Press Setup > Photo Settings

 

Slideshow Seqeunce    =    Normal

Slideshow Transition    =    Normal

Slideshow Interval        =    5 Minutes         (so this will virtually be a static backdrop image for 5 Minutes)

 

oh, yes,

I had forgotten about that

1 Like
16

Ok thats great, so i can drop to one image and keep it set to a 5 min rotation. Thats perfect!

ok the final piece is to get the movie rating into the .metathumb file. Does anyone know what program would have pulled those files down. I renamed everything using filebot, but not sure what created the xml or metathumb file.

is there anyway of editing the metathumb file from my mac to include the movie rating?

17

actually i just read that WDTV Live SMP actually creates the .metathumb and .xml, is that correct? if so how do i set it pull movie rating as well?

18

AntMid wrote:

actually i just read that WDTV Live SMP actually creates the .metathumb and .xml, is that correct? if so how do i set it pull movie rating as well?

you have to use an external progra like thumbgen

to burn the rating into the .jpg

19

ah got it. ok i guess thats a nice to have feature for me. is that a limitation in the stock theme? for instance if i used another theme and recompiled the library would it populate the fields for that particular theme?

20

AntMid wrote:

ah got it. ok i guess thats a nice to have feature for me. is that a limitation in the stock theme? for instance if i used another theme and recompiled the library would it populate the fields for that particular theme?

it’s a firmware limitation

if you look at the xml tags

firmware is only able to create a read those tags

so a different theme will not help with that