What is the best scraper for movies?
#1
Hi, I usually go with IMDB, but theres alot of movies that have very bad thumbs, or no thumbs at all, and alot with no fan art. TMDB couldn't even find half of the movies I have even with manual input. Is there a better one? or perhaps a scraper that scrapes all movie sites?
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#2
Go for Media companion.
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#3
There is blind overconfidence in the helper programs IMHO.
They really do not offer anything XBMC does not do on it's own. (Some people may like the approach they offer, but I am old fashioned that way).
Convince me otherwise by all means though Smile

IMDb is still the most versatile scraper.
For the biggest range of thumb possibilities, make sure you select all the thumb options in the IMDb scraper settings.

AFIAK all fanart is scraped from themoviedb, so whatever approach you choose, that will always be the limiting factor.
Anyways that's what the fanart request thread here is for.
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#4
Sho you need to try also Media companion and see all the extra stuff you can do.
-Resize Fanart- is needed for xbox
-Scrape cover multiple sites and save big
-Set howmany actors you want to scrape.
-Change .nfo file
-And so on.

Dont't get me wrong, XBMC scraper is good but media companion is easy to use and a has lot off extra options.
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#5
You bring up valid points, most of these were not available when I last tried it.
Do they allow a plain url? (no xml or mix of xml / url).
That's the way I prefer my nfo's.
Always read the XBMC online-manual, FAQ and search the forum before posting.
Do not e-mail XBMC-Team members directly asking for support. Read/follow the forum rules.
For troubleshooting and bug reporting please make sure you read this first.
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#6
Please try it out and see how much progress Media Companion has made.
edit.
Most recent version 2.141
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#7
@Waffa,

What are the most important differences between Media Companion and Movie Info Plus?

Have you tried them both?

-Wes
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#8
Yes, I Did.
They are both good and do the same thing.
But I prefer MC because don't have to instal it, very easy in use and gives the .nfo file the same name as i give my moviefolder/file.
I use IMDB moviename incl. (year) For movie folder and file.
MIP creates movie.nfo or moviename(IMDB name without year).tbn

That means that I can't use Both programs.
MIP can't see the .nfo files made by MC.
Or I have to change all Moviename (year).nfo's to moviename.nfo.


The best thing you can do is test for your self and make your own conclusion.
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#9
Thanks waffa, just wanted some opinions.

-Wes
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#10
sho Wrote:There is blind overconfidence in the helper programs IMHO.
They really do not offer anything XBMC does not do on it's own. (Some people may like the approach they offer, but I am old fashioned that way).
Convince me otherwise by all means though Smile

IMDb is still the most versatile scraper.
For the biggest range of thumb possibilities, make sure you select all the thumb options in the IMDb scraper settings.

AFIAK all fanart is scraped from themoviedb, so whatever approach you choose, that will always be the limiting factor.
Anyways that's what the fanart request thread here is for.

I'm gonna have to agree that for basic scraping of information, the build in tools are awesome, the helper apps are more like icing on the cake.

There are things that are different between MIP and Media Companion and how things are handled. And each has folks that love one over the other, choice is always a good thing.

Wide images, 3d box shots, are something only MIP does and full Media Image support is coming with Media Info Plus, the next gen of MIP as well as 2 new sites for images.

What MIP is shooting for is more then just a scaper for xbmc, sure that's a very key item that it does, but it's heading towards a complete media manager. Music is coming in the next version, options include sorting out the collection to a known format, renaming of music based on the tag data, modify the tag in the music for the entire album, the ability to inject images directly into the mp3 file, selection of fanart and artist images, full cover support for front back, cd image, inlay, insert. (for all media, movies and tv shows have this too). Tagging of images, resizing and making a poster directly from a high resolution cover of the front of the movie (show or music), these are either coming in the next release, or will be added soon after depending on how testing goes. And additional lang support might be coming with an additional member on the MIP team. Lots of what I consider neat things. MIP also works under wine, and the folks that are making wine have made a ton of improvements, 1.1.14 is really bridging the gap.

TV Shows are going to be getting more focus after the next release is out and stable. And I have gotten some great ideas on things to add to the manager side of things for those.

In the end, it's all about choice, and I don't think you can go wrong with any of them.
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#11
What would be cool is a linux command line scraper that scrapes TV and Movie information, genrerates Aeon stark media flags and stores the .nfo's and fanart.

Combine that with a download script and everything will be handled automatically Smile
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#12
Crewone Wrote:What would be cool is a linux command line scraper that scrapes TV and Movie information, genrerates Aeon stark media flags and stores the .nfo's and fanart.

Combine that with a download script and everything will be handled automatically Smile

MIP under Linux (using wine) has a command line tvshow updater that can be looped or ran once to update ..

I haven't build the movie one yet, but it's half way there.
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#13
Can somebody please point me to a OS X compatible movie/tv series scraper? Preferrably avoiding the Virtual Machine/Boot Camp overhead.
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#14
Here is a new program called MediaReader that works on Mac, Linux and Windows. I tried it out and it works pretty well. I still like media companion better but need some command line controls for these apps.

http://www.24hourloop.com/downloads/cat_view/18-code
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#15
Thumbs Up 
@everyone, please note that the initial question was specificlly which is the best scraper for movies, this is referring to XBMC's built-in scrapers, and not to standalone media manager software.

Death-Axe Wrote:Hi, I usually go with IMDB, but theres alot of movies that have very bad thumbs, or no thumbs at all, and alot with no fan art. TMDB couldn't even find half of the movies I have even with manual input. Is there a better one? or perhaps a scraper that scrapes all movie sites?
The best scraper for movies is the one for themoviedb.org (a.k.a. TMDb)

This is not because themoviedb.org contains more information than IMDb.com or any other site but because themoviedb.org is a free and entirely a community driven website, meaning you can register an account (for free of course) and add movies and change/modify the movie information, upload artwork and so on. So if the movie you are looking for does not contain all the information or the artwork you want then you can simply add it yourself by going to:
http://www.themoviedb.org

For the same reason TheTVDB.com (TheTVDB) is the best scrapers for TV Shows, URL="http://www.thetvdb.com"]TheTVDB.com[/url] is a also entirely a community driven website, you add or edit the information you want the site to have, then it is all picked up in XBMC when you scrape using this scraper.
http://www.thetvdb.com

Both themoviedb.org and URL="http://www.thetvdb.com"]TheTVDB.com[/url] also have their own forums where you can submit feature/function suggestions, make change requests, and generally give feedback on what you like these sites to contain and be. Just like how any open source project works, so same as for XBMC Media Center.

Nod
Always read the XBMC online-manual, FAQ and search the forum before posting.
Do not e-mail XBMC-Team members directly asking for support. Read/follow the forum rules.
For troubleshooting and bug reporting please make sure you read this first.
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