[PatK]

one NFO file to make it a lot less tedious.

As noted in my previous post there was attempts to create an 'everything' local scraper, considering Kodi is an open source project and work continues and feature requests here, it's an open possibility. Consider that Kodi will play any file in video file mode and manage library contents. You can't expect a huge swath of videos to be anything but a giant list of available videos... and Kodi does that even if it's not in the library and Kodi will appreciate the Art (wiki) if inserted in the file folder. Nodes can be created even if the source is not designated; with a direct path to the folder and those options allows for more features.

I do appreciate your request, and in some respects in the past we have had patches/add-ons that answered the phone, dimmed the lights, text readers, PDF, Coimic book readers, games, hotels and just about everything but the kitchen sink. I suspect that amalgamating Pseudo TV Live, as 24hour Cinema Channel might be possible, check with applicable forums. In general Kodi does it's job well and fits into most home theatre enthusiast needs, and doesn't attempt to emulate a broadcast studio, video editor or programming operating system some of which you allude to want, and given the open source nature of the software anything might be possible.

Tinker away the future might be bright.

[emveepee]

It doesn't attempt to emulate a broadcast studio, video editor or programming operating system some of which you allude to want, and given the open source nature of the software anything might be possible?

Sorry I don't understand how wanting a simple way to add metadata on videos other than TV series or Movies equates to any of those things or bizarre ideas that I don't want Kodi to do.  In any case thanks for the feedback.

[PatK]

wanting a simple way to add metadata on videos other than TV series or Movies equates

It's not so simple but thanks for the feature request.

[emveepee]

wanting a simple way to add metadata on videos other than TV series or Movies equates

It's not so simple but thanks for the feature request.

If you read carefully I wasn't suggesting the coding was simple in Kodi or the skins.   This nfo file I foresaw (I just use the episodedetails here as an example)  for the new type was though, requiring parsing from a file with no online scraping, no attempt to "find" art and no real need for a database, just populating a few fields for display like simple music players do with id3 tags.   Anyway as you guys on Team Kodi are not interested I don't need to keep bothering you so thanks. 

Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
  <episodedetails>
  <title>Some subject</title>
  <showtitle>Group Title</showtitle>
  <plot>Some narrative</plot>
  <thumb>local thumb if desired rather than a random frame</thumb>
  <premiered>2022-11-12</premiered>
  <year>2022</year>
  </episodedetails>

[OzDrDj]

Well, hasn't this turned into a discussion.
I had a look at Embuary Media Manager and Tiny Media Manager, both of which just want to go and scrape data, obviously not what is needed.
and again, anything with an .nfo is going to need to be Movie, TV show, or MTV. So whatever I add, to use it in a playlist is going to have to have an nfo calling it movie tv or mtv. Thus back to the request for a miscellaneous media type, or just Other.
look at emmveepees nfo file there it could be easy to generate a default nfo.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
  <episodedetails>
  <title>Commercial</title>
  <showtitle>Commercial</showtitle>
  <plot>General Add</plot>
  <genre>Add</genre>
  <thumb>default.png</thumb>
  <premiered>2023-11-21</premiered>
  <year>2023</year>
  </episodedetails>

So then Kodi could have all the files in a directory, and a default nfo for all. As long as It didnt have to add them to its library, rather just play them from that folder.

Anyway, I tried to get these small clips to play in a Pseudo TV Live, by adding them to a channel, and taking the videos from youtube, that didnt work, and dailymotion, that didnt work either. I think the short clip problem may be in PTVL. I think I am fighting an uphill battle on this one. 

Anyway, thanks heaps for the discussion. Much appreciated.
Oz

[PatK]

Thus back to the request for a miscellaneous media type, or just Other.

Post #14 pointed in this direction https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=348686 please share improvements.

[OzDrDj]

This scraper I have, and I guess it would work, but then I am going to have dozens of silly things in my Movie Library which no one wants. Once again, Needing an "Other" media type.
This scraper could work perfectly here, changing the media type to "Other" and scrape the filename. 
Perfect, except for one thing..... "Other"
No one wants a whole heap of weird titles scattered into their Movie Library, TV Library or MTV Library, which I personally work at daily to make certain they are spot on. Including creating artwork to make certain every folder is populated with all relevant data and artwork.

Neeeeeeed "Other" (lol)

[jbinkley60]

This scraper I have, and I guess it would work, but then I am going to have dozens of silly things in my Movie Library which no one wants. Once again, Needing an "Other" media type.
This scraper could work perfectly here, changing the media type to "Other" and scrape the filename. 
Perfect, except for one thing..... "Other"
No one wants a whole heap of weird titles scattered into their Movie Library, TV Library or MTV Library, which I personally work at daily to make certain they are spot on. Including creating artwork to make certain every folder is populated with all relevant data and artwork.

Neeeeeeed "Other" (lol)

I've been watching this thread with some interest.  I think there may be a few ways to get to what you are looking for.  If I understand the ask, you'd like to have things appear in Kodi but not be part of the database with the flexibility for them to be anything from video clips, trailers and possibly even audio clips.  I think you want to provide your own metadata and artwork.  Am I generally close here ?

Here's an example of something I recently release called Mezzmo Movie Trailers Channel 2.  This is an example of a way to do what I think you want.  In this case I did write my own scraper to grab content from the TMDB website and leveraged Mezzmo to share it across all my Kodi and non-Kodi clients and to leverage the power of Mezzmo's built-in library tools..   I am getting ready to release a second one of these for TV Trailers and I previously wrote a Mezzmo channel for all iHeart radio stations.  

Here's an example of what the Movie Trailers Channel looks like in Kodi.  In this case none of these trailers are in the Kodi database but appear just like other Kodi library elements (except they can't leverage Kodi nodes and smart playlists since they live outside of the Kodi databases).  If you did want these new items to be in your Kodi library then they would need to be mapped into the existing Kodi database structures (i.e. movies, episodes etc..).   I do this today for the Mezzmo Kodi addon where I map them based upon certain criteria.  However most things like home videos, trailers artwork and similar I leave on Mezzmo and don't map it but I retain full control if I choose to.  With an addon you could do similar without something like Mezzmo.

In the scenario above the metadata is kept in an SQlite database but it could just as easily be an Excel file, NFO file or similar.  If I am somewhat close with what you are looking for an option might be to write an addon which can parse the source format for data and then present it in a similar format to above.  There are a number of similar addons folks have written to do things.  If you run multiple Kodi systems then a sharing solution might be more appropriate than a stand-alone Kodi addon.

This type of approach seems more flexibility and maybe less limiting than trying to force a new media type into the Kodi database formats.  In the case of Mezzmo, which I use, I can create my own media types with any name I want and then use them in whatever fashion I like.  A solution which leverages Mezzmo or a stand-alone Kodi addon could accomplish the same.  Some development would be required but it isn't insurmountable.


Thanks,

Jeff

[OzDrDj]

@jbinkley60, thanks for the reply. I'm not sure if this will help, but I'll install and have a look. 
What I am trying to do, is add Anything I want to play, into a Kodi Smart Playlist. There are options in there to add a file or directory, but they don't work. This seems to be because you can't add anything into Kodi without it being scraped and having an NFO file.
for example I have My Standard Movie, TV and MTV folders, these are loaded into Kodi and scraped as per usual and can be happily added to a Playlist. 
I also have several other folders Id like to add. Old Commercials, Classic Movie Trailers, Old Short Retro Documentaries and several types of Bumpers, Things like Coming Attractions, Dolby THX and the like.
now to add these to a playlist, they have to be scraped. I can use the Filename Only Scraper, which would get them into Kodi's library, that's fine, they can be in the database sure, but they need their own place.
This is why I request an "Other" category next to Movies TV and MTV. No one wants 50 THX Bumpers mixed in their movie database or tv database.
So then scanned into the database they could be added to a playlist and played through KODI.
I also use Pseudo TV Live that has playlists as well. Then Getting really creative, I can create a TV Channel. Add Playlists in order of Bumper, Commercial, Coming Soon, Trailer, Documentary, Cartoon, Feature Attraction, Movie, MTV, Bumper, Repeat
Making a Cinema Like Channel amongst my other channels. But that's just my pet project.
I see there are lots of people out there who like to do similar, and have other media they would like to add to Kodi and play through its interface.
So short of allowing Kodi to add non NFO files into a playlist, which I don't think is an option we need an "OTHER" category, where weird stuff can be stored without interfering with the standard Movie TV MTV Libraries. 
So, Off to look at Mezzmo Movie Trailers and see what it can do!
Cheers and thanks for the input.
Oz

[jbinkley60]

@jbinkley60, thanks for the reply. I'm not sure if this will help, but I'll install and have a look. 
What I am trying to do, is add Anything I want to play, into a Kodi Smart Playlist. There are options in there to add a file or directory, but they don't work. This seems to be because you can't add anything into Kodi without it being scraped and having an NFO file.
for example I have My Standard Movie, TV and MTV folders, these are loaded into Kodi and scraped as per usual and can be happily added to a Playlist. 
I also have several other folders Id like to add. Old Commercials, Classic Movie Trailers, Old Short Retro Documentaries and several types of Bumpers, Things like Coming Attractions, Dolby THX and the like.
now to add these to a playlist, they have to be scraped. I can use the Filename Only Scraper, which would get them into Kodi's library, that's fine, they can be in the database sure, but they need their own place.
This is why I request an "Other" category next to Movies TV and MTV. No one wants 50 THX Bumpers mixed in their movie database or tv database.
So then scanned into the database they could be added to a playlist and played through KODI.
I also use Pseudo TV Live that has playlists as well. Then Getting really creative, I can create a TV Channel. Add Playlists in order of Bumper, Commercial, Coming Soon, Trailer, Documentary, Cartoon, Feature Attraction, Movie, MTV, Bumper, Repeat
Making a Cinema Like Channel amongst my other channels. But that's just my pet project.
I see there are lots of people out there who like to do similar, and have other media they would like to add to Kodi and play through its interface.
So short of allowing Kodi to add non NFO files into a playlist, which I don't think is an option we need an "OTHER" category, where weird stuff can be stored without interfering with the standard Movie TV MTV Libraries. 
So, Off to look at Mezzmo Movie Trailers and see what it can do!
Cheers and thanks for the input.
Oz

Ok.  Thanks for the clarification.  This helps.  The Mezzmo Movie Trailers Channel type approach won't quite solve what you are looking for since you do want to leverage smart playlists and such.   Mezzmo channels are designed for more orderly content although with labels or similar you could get somewhat close with a stand-alone Kodi addon version and some structured data management. 

A full Mezzmo solution with the Mezzmo Kodi addon will do what you want since it has full smart playlist support, unlimited media / category types, a file name scraper from NFO files (although I prefer the GUI editor vs. NFO files) and so much more but unless you are running multiple Kodi instance this might be a bit overkill. 


Thanks,

Jeff

[PatK]

seems to be because you can't add anything into Kodi without it being scraped and having an NFO file.

Think you guys might want to check this, I consider it a must have. Multiple shortlists with various name can be created (favoured), and the plugin appreciates files NOT in the library and not scanned with posters and fanart showing. You do need to have access path to tag the files, then using the context menu, flag them in one of your designated shortcuts.

[OzDrDj]

Hello Again @PatK
Looked into Shortlist and a few other addons. There are some things there that are very interesting and useful, however, none really sole the problem of having Extra Content added to the Kodi Database for playing alongside the standard media.

Kodi has from what I gather 4 Media Types.

Movies
Television
Episodes
Music Video

Now to add extra content, whatever that may be is technically possible by adding the media as one of these 4 media types, (really 3 isn't it, TV Shows and Epidsodes), an other type of media would then be added into your TV Database, Movie Database or Music Video Database, and I am certain that no one would want their movies database cluttered with , random videos that don't fit in that category.

If I have a Video Folder of "Other" divided up into subdirectories of lets say, "Home Movies", "Commercials", "Local Band", "SuperBowl Commercials" etc, and each of these folders had a single Default.NFO in their folder, this would make these Other videos happily available to Kodi, available to put into a playlist and able to integrate with other addons suck as Pseudo TV Live.

A Simple Default NFO Could Be....

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes" ?>
<episodedetails>
    <title>Other</title>
    <showtitle>Superbowl Commercials</showtitle>
    <genre>Other</genre>
    <dateadded>2000-01-01 0:00:01</dateadded>
</episodedetails>

This could then be the NFO for all the files in that directory and happily scan them to KODIs library, and not interfere with the Movie TV or Music Video databases.
I can see from the forums that this could be a great addition to Kodi and a well used feature amongst our users.
I hope this can be a great addition to the new builds, hopefully it is an easy implement and not to tricky.
Thanks to everyone for your input and Comments. Fingers Crossed.
Oz

[Hinarangan]

yes

[OzDrDj]

Oh yeah, one more thing, How would one know, If their suggestion was going to be implemented hopefully in future builds, or whether his idea was going to go nowhere?

[jbinkley60]

I suspect it is unlikely Kodi will add this in the near future but I could be wrong.  I believe we may have discussed this in the past but if folks want the functionality described above it is available today if Kodi is used with Mezzmo and the Mezzmo Kodi addon.  I have a huge private video collection from vacations, railfanning and more where I have the full,ability to have any media type I wish to create, folder level metadata data, file level metadata, choose what to sync with Kodi vs. just browse, full metadata presentation in Kodi and more.  My main challenge is taking the time to add the metadata to my collection.

Here's a sync report from one of my Kodi clients:

info <general>: Mezzmo sync beginning.
info <general>: Mezzmo selective sync not enabled. Syncing all records.
info <general>: Mezzmo daily sync process flag reset.
info <general>: Mezzmo total Kodi DB record count: 21355
info <general>: Mezzmo total Mezzmo record count: 21673
info <general>: Mezzmo total Live Channels count: 0
info <general>: Mezzmo total nosync videos count: 336
info <general>: Mezzmo total movie trailer count: 8665
info <general>: Mezzmo sync process in sync at 100.0%. Real time updates disabled.
info <general>: Mezzmo autosync is enabled.

I have 336 videos which I don't sync to Kodi's database but are fully available for Kodi to browse.  I am on a cruise right now and will likely add a few more when I get back

You can read a little bit about how it works here for managing content.  I could add more to the Wiki if there is more interest. 

I realize Mezzmo isn't the answer for everyone but just wanted to raise awareness that solutions do exist without additional Kodi development.  That is the beauty of Kodi ecosystem.  There are often multiple ways to solve a need but they all likely have some trade-offs.  The nice thing about a sharing solution like Mezzmo is that is works across all Kodi clients, if you have more than one.


Thanks,

Jeff