WDLXTV - Moviesheets Vs Linksheets

[The_King1]

Newby and first post…

Got a new WDTV Live and I hate the interface and lack of features.  Also recently auto-updated to the latest firmware which is **bleep**, buggy and causing issues with seeing my share and/or network password.

I started looking at custom firmware and came across WDLXTV which seems to be the way to go.  However, there’s a lot of conflicting info online about moviesheets, linksheets, Thumbgen, etc.

I have 30TB (yes Terabytes) of movies, tv, etc. and therefore - I am looking for an automated (or at least a less time consuming way) at adding these movie/link sheets for each file.  (We’re talking about a couple of thousand files & folders here, spread over 10 x 3TB drives on my network.)

After researching a fair bit, Linksheets seemed to be the way to go - but when I eventually got to the website, it turns out that you have to first PAY for the Linksheet program?  I deleted the link as a result, so can’t include it here.  But the linksheets I was looking at did not have a need for Thumbgen, etc…  From what I can remember, the movie title was changed to include the IMDB tag and then everything updated automatically!  Hence why I was looking at this, as creating thumbs for a couple of thousand movies is not worth the effort.

Does anyone hear know of a solution?

Thanks.

[Braumeister]

If you got a NEW WD TV Live then I assume it is the SMP and WDLXTV only has an early stage alpha version for the SMP  with little development in the last year and limited functionality.  Do your research well before deciding if you want to invest a lot of time and effort with very limited support.

[JoeySmyth]

Sounds like you have an SMP (and the only way to automatically generate Moviesheets is to use Thumbgen. Which is gonna take an awful lot and time and effort for 2000 movies/tv shows)

Also sounds like you were refering to " Moviesheets+"   which is homebrew software and only works on older devices*

 (The main feature of Moviesheets+ is Animated Backgrounds and also adding functionality)

http://www.moviesheets.ca/

*

If your device does not look like this … then you’re in the wrong forum.

SMP Forum here: http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Streaming/bd-p/streaming_discussions

[pearl]

JoeySmyth wrote:

Sounds like you have an SMP (and the only way to automatically generate Moviesheets is to use Thumbgen. Which is gonna take an awful lot and time and effort for 2000 movies/tv shows)

 

Agreed, but hopefully you have your naming convention down really clean. I have a simlar amount of movies and then TV series as well. Originally (back in the day) I had a mixed naming convention and hadn’t really followed a good standard and it took a long time. Once I corrected that, I was ablet to really just let TG go and it did a pretty good job for 85-90% of the stuff on it’s own, and then I could just check them an clean up the incorrect ones.

Lastly, I eventually got turned onto TGMD files that get made for each video and hold the metadata. That has been the true save for me on this whole thing now. Once everything was correct, now I can just tell TG to run from the TGMD files and it will work perfectly on it’s own while I am at work or sleeping. A great tool.

Get the naming straight (check thumbgen.org for info on that) and have TG make the metadata files when it runs. Then when you want to change themes, it will be a breeze in automated mode and they will all come out how you with the correct movies and TV Series names and episodes.

-P

[JoeySmyth]

theRenamer works pretty good to *clean* movie / tv show filenames (and it’s free)

for automatic scraping of … Movie Info / Posters /  Fanart / Actors / Boxsets etc  XBMC is still “The King”

[The_King1]

Braumeister wrote:

If you got a NEW WD TV Live then I assume it is the SMP.

Thanks for your reply.  I have no idea what SMP is?  I’m assuming ‘streaming media player’?  All I know is it’s brand new and was bought to connect to my NAS and my network as my old TviX-6500 wasn’t up to the job.

[The_King1]

JoeySmyth wrote:

Sounds like you have an SMP (and the only way to automatically generate Moviesheets is to use Thumbgen. Which is gonna take an awful lot and time and effort for 2000 movies/tv shows) 

---

I was hoping you weren’t going to say that! It’s gonna take even longer when we’re looking at a lot more files that 2000. (more like 5x that.)

---

JoeySmyth wrote:Also sounds like you were refering to " Moviesheets+"   which is homebrew software and only works on older devices*> * * *
Yep, Moviesheets+ - that’s it. Typical of my luck - only working with older devices. Thanks for the head’s up.> * * *
JoeySmyth wrote:

 

*

 

 

If your device does not look like this … then you’re in the wrong forum.

SMP Forum here: http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Streaming/bd-p/streaming_discussions

• • *No, my device looks more like this.>
    
    > Thanks. A Mod moved my thread to this forum - but in fairness, I wasn’t aware of the difference of SMP and the older device either. Do I ask a Mod to move it again or is it something I can do myself?

[The_King1]

 

pearl wrote:> Agreed, but hopefully you have your naming convention down really clean.> * * *
My naming convention is uniform throughout all 10,000+ files I have.  i.e. ‘Homeland - 03x01 - Tin Man is Down’> > * * *

pearl wrote:Once I corrected that, I was ablet to really just let TG go and it did a pretty good job for 85-90% of the stuff on it’s own, and then I could just check them an clean up the incorrect ones.

---

What the bleep is TG?

pearl wrote:> Lastly, I eventually got turned onto TGMD files that get made for each video and hold the metadata. That has been the true save for me on this whole thing now. Once everything was correct, now I can just tell TG to run from the TGMD files and it will work perfectly on it’s own while I am at work or sleeping. A great tool.

Eh?  Was that English :)  “TG to run from the TGMD files”?

pearl wrote:>  

Get the naming straight (check thumbgen.org for info on that) and have TG make the metadata files when it runs. Then when you want to change themes, it will be a breeze in automated mode and they will all come out how you with the correct movies and TV Series names and episodes.

Sounds like what I’m after, but can you elaborate a little - me being the FNG n’all?

[The_King1]

JoeySmyth wrote:

theRenamer works pretty good to *clean* movie / tv show filenames (and it’s free)

 

for automatic scraping of … Movie Info / Posters /  Fanart / Actors / Boxsets etc  XBMC is still “The King”

Thanks for the tips (and links).  theRenamer seems fine and I’ll look up Thumbgen for more info on how files should be named - if all of mine are not sufficient.

Looking at XBMC - it appears to be it’s own software media player - i.e. no real need for a WDTV Live.  It’s open source and can run on media PC, windows, Linux, Mac, etc.  No doubt a very good piece of kit (and award winning), but given that I shelled out for a WDTV, I’d prefer to run with something designed specifically for that - rather than running open source software throughout my entire network.

[JoeySmyth]

What the bleep is TG?

it’s an abbreviation … just like SMP (Streaming Media Player)  TG = (ThumbGen)

 

Eh?  Was that English   “TG to run from the TGMD files”?

http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Hub-Themes/Is-metadata-tgmd-needed-for-properly-show-moviesheets/m-p/328573/highlight/true#M5578 

Just a reminder … if you go the “Linksheet” path i hope you are aware the SMP is crippled with a 30MB limit for Linksheets ? 

There is beta / homebrew available and telnet hacks to bypass this

(but i know nothing about that stuff because i own a HUB  (WDTV Live Hub) which doesent have the 30MB limitation for Linksheets)

[The_King1]

Thanks for that JS.

Note sure which avenue to take now.  thought the whole Moviesheets+ thing was the answer, but due to my player/streamer, it’s obviously not.  Just tried ‘theRenamer’ on two folders just to see what would happen.  It changed ‘Homeland - 03x01 - Tin Man is Down’ to ‘Homeland.S03E01.Tin Man is Down’ (which I hate, but can live with).

I then went into my setting and changed the ‘get info’ settings to auto & manual (at different times) to see if my WDTV would automatically get any info at all on the file - but Zilch is happened?

so I’ve now got a renamed file to the S01E06 type format which I hate, but I’m still getting no info.  i.e. Read in another section of this forum ( http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Streaming/Automatic-Get-Content-Info-No-Longer-Works/td-p/601167) that the WDTV should be able to pull some form of info from sites like IMDB, TVDB, etc. on its own without even worrying about this Thumbgen and Moviesheets melarky. 

And is it just me or has the latest FW 2.01.86 just screwed everything up?  My WDTV was working fine until it updated, now it NEVER remembers by network password and it continually keeps changing my screen output on boot-up.  i.e. Always previously set to 1080p (50Hz), whereas now my startup screen has a pink hue and it’s either 480p or 720p.  When I go to ‘force’ 1080p settings, it says my Tv is not compatible?  (I have a brand new 65" 1080p 3D Smart TV and had no issues with this or my share password before the latest 2.01.86 FW update!)

[JoeySmyth]

well going a little off topic from Moviesheets / Linksheets i’m not sure what to advise…

i lost my content scraper (on the HUB) after the TMDB changed their API  (i just use TG to do that now for me … on the HUB at least … yes i got the PINK Screen issue several times with latest firmware … rolled back and it has never been an issue since)

It’s probably a HDMI handshake issue which can probably be solved if you set the Resolution to “AUTO”

(personally though, i prefer setting things manually … as i saw some micro-jitters on some movies, setting to a Manual setting resolved it)

just my 2 cents … when scraping TV SHOW’s did you change the *MetaSource* to the TVDB ?

eg.

Lastly if you’re having grief with the latest firmware … you could always try rolling back

http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5860

[The_King1]

Thanks again for your reply.

To be straight up, I don’t even know if there was a ‘manual’ with my WDTV Live - but I should probably flick through it.  Usually I breeze through these things and normally throw away all manuals.  I’m not an IT dude, but I did build my own PC and set up my entire Smarthomes Network with a couple of miles of Cat6.  Anyway, I say that because on the WDTV, there only seems to be one default metasource.  When I try to look for another one, it says something about not content connected or available, as if it’s looking for a USB drive or stick?  So I’ll have to figure that out.

I’ve just fooled around with TG for a few seconds and developed a gen or moviesheet (whatever it’s called for a season of say Homeland.  All is fine and I can see it on the WDTV Live when I head down to my conema room, but I don’t really see the point at the image on-screen is the size of a matchbox and despite changing the ‘view’, it’s never going to be full screen and readable.  (Hence where I thought the custom FW’s would come into play?)  Ooo yeah, and TG generated a jpg and a TGMD file automatically - whatever that is.

When you ask if I changed the *MetaSource" to the TVDB, do you mean on the WDTV Live, on TG or on theRenamer?

I suspected it may be a handshake issue but I doubt it as all my Baluns are HDCP compliant and I stuck an extra filter onto each of them and also onto my Matrix.  I’ll rollback to a previous FW release and disable ‘autoupdate’ to resolve this.  Any info/help you can give on obtaining a decent looking moviesheet (that’s big enough to read) would be much appreciated.  Thanks in advance for your help with this.

[Braumeister]

You can also use WD Live Info Editor. You can leave the naming of the file as you want you will just need to be more selective as to what you enter in the search window. E.G. for Inspector Morse S01E01 ******* just enter morse and it will provide broader search results, then pick morse, season then episode.

WD Live Info Editor

[JoeySmyth]

@The.King

You can select the language and download the user manual here

http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/library/?id=282&type=25

When you ask if I changed the *MetaSource" to the TVDB, do you mean on the WDTV Live, on TG or on theRenamer?

 

On the WDTV Live

[The_King1]

@JoeySmyth:

Thanks for your reply.

Yeah, the metasource on the WDTV Live is TVDB - there is no other option.  As per my last post - “I say that because on the WDTV, there only seems to be one default metasource.  When I try to look for another one, it says something about no content connected or available, as if it’s looking for a USB drive or stick?”  Therefore, I have no idea how to install/select a different MetaSource - even if I wanted to.

The bottom line now being that - (a) I have messed around with TG for a few seconds and seem to be able to develop sheets, thumbs without any issue, but (b) because I apparently can’t use moviesheets/linksheets via a custom FW [WDTVLX] (because of the type of newer ‘WDTV Live’ streamer I have) I have no practical way of displaying any sheets/thumbs I can create in TG that are readable.  i.e. When I flick through the 4 or 5 default display options on the WDTV (usually via the yellow button) the screen image display cycles through the list of TV programs I have in the folder from small tiles, to larger tiles, etc. (see below examples from Google) - yet none of them will give me a full screen where I can actually see and READ the sheets/thumb I generated with TG.

I would like to go from these…

To this…

i.e. TG seems to be one part of the puzzle - creating sheets/thumbs - which I can do without issue.  But I appear to need something else to change the default display or theme or something in order to get away from the crappy default WDTV display, so that I can actually display what TG has generated.  Hope that makes sense?

[JoeySmyth]

in addition to everything i said … you also have use a modified (custom) theme to display Linksheets

(search the Live Hub Theme Forum and the SMP forum for themes that support them)

“Linksheets” will not display using the Default (Mochi) Theme

“Moviesheets” will … but they only work in Gallery View / have 3 Second Delay / They Only Work for Files they won’t work with Folders / Path Links to Moviesheets must be included in Movie.xmls eg. <backdrop>The Worlds End_sheet.jpg</backdrop>  (there is a setting in TG for this)

Here’s how Linksheets work in Theme XML code: Linksheets work with Files and Folders / Display Instantly / Movie.xml’s are not required for Linksheets

 

SHEETS FOR FILES:  Rename the Moviesheet with a File Extension that matches your Movie File.
eg. If you have… Watchmen.mkv  then Rename your Moviesheet to Watchmen.mkv  then cut and paste it into your Theme Folder.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHEETS FOR FOLDERS:  Rename the Moviesheet with NO File Extension
eg. If you have… MYMOVIES folder  then Rename your Moviesheet to MYMOVIES  then cut and paste it into your Theme Folder.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The File Path to Place Moviesheets is the Root of your Theme folder (ie. where all the XML files are)
  .wd_tv\theme\My Theme\ [Place Movie/LinkSheets here]

This relates to the WDTV Live Hub … WDTV SMP users must zip the theme with no compression and upload it via a web browser

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally the “Theme” designer includes these lines of XML code into their Theme which makes the “Linksheets” appear

 For Gallery View: <image image=“@@browse_text” x=“0” y=“0” w="1280"h=“720” scale=“100” bg=“1”/>

 For All Other Views: <image image=“@@focused_title” x=“0” y=“0” w=“1280” h=“720” scale=“100” bg=“1”/>

 

 

_ don’t forget what i said about the 30MB Limitation for Linksheets on the SMP
_

_   _

That requires hacks to bypass… (that will allow the theme to run off a thumbdrive)

http://forum.wdlxtv.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=8707

In closing … generating a Moviesheet/Linksheet is not difficult … but  *HOW* it gets displayed on the SMP

is the critical factor.  (as decribed in the 2 two different implementations above)

_ phew … _ have a good read 

[The_King1]

Thanks again - I think :)  My brain is hurting after reading all that, but I appreciate you helping me out and responding.

Looks like Linksheets is the way to go as you say they will work with files and folders.  Will defo require the hack though as I doubt 30mb will get me very far?  Pity I can’t use any of the 30TB I have for this, but the hack will work fine I’m sure.

I did have a look around the forum and found something called ‘goodbye Black Mamba’ which was a custom something or other.  Not sure if that will work with my WDTV Live though?  Once I start seeing all that ‘code’, I begin to get worried though.  Pity there’s not a decent YouTube video for how to do exactly what I’m after - which if I’m right is the following…

1. Custom Theme such as ‘goodbye Black Mamba’ - if it will work with my WDTV Live.

2. Renaming stuff and figuring out where to add the codes above.

3. Using TG in conjunction with the custom theme above.

4. Implementing the hack to get past the 30mb limit on my SMP.

Pity they don’t just have it working like this out of the box - would save a tonne of time researching and reading pages and pages of stuff.

[KAD79]

I think your in luck, if your going to look at the hack

check this first http://forum.wdlxtv.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=8707

[The_King1]

@KAD79,

Thanks for your post.  There was a lot of into in there which made my head hurt and the sight of scripts usually scares me off.  As per your advice - “Don’t Change system files, unless you know what you’re doing”, I wouldn;t be entirely up to speed with the capabilities of a WDTV Live SMP, but I don;t intend to stay a novice for long.

Am I right to assume that you have developed/amended a workable version of WDTVLX for a Live SMP?  If so, happy days - many thanks.

I’m just downloading it now - can you tell if there are instructions contained within the zip?  I’m hoping there’s some tutorial in there to get me started - especially if scripts are involved.

Thanks.