Documentation

This utility is used to import TV Show "Metadata" from thetvdb.com database and convert it to a format usable by the WDTV Live Hub or WDTV Live Streaming Media Player (2011 model).

It also pulls the episode Thumbnails for you, too.

Depending on the options you select, this tool will generate either an XML file, and an optional JPG "Cover Art" file for each episode you save.

Make sure you have the Microsoft .NET 4.0 Framework installed. If not, install it from HERE.

To install this application, unzip the ZIP file and double click setup.exe and follow the prompts.

Begin by selecting your preferred language in the Drop Down provided (not shown in screenshots below). If the Series you're working with does not have data for your chosen language, you will see English content.

Step 1: Find the Series ID you want to import by surfing the website www.thetvdb.com

This makes it much simpler and much more reliable than expecting this application to match the names of your files to a TV Show name... The Human is a much more reliable searcher!

For this example, we'll use the TV Show "Space: 1999"

When you search for that title, the TVDB Website will indicate the Series ID is 76366.

Enter that number into the blank titled "Enter Series ID: "

Step 2: Provide a File Naming "Template":

The author named his files according to a common XBMC convention, as shown below:

So, the Basename in this example would be

Space 1999.S^SE^E (or, one could also use ^T.S^SE^E!)

More about the "^S and ^E" items in just a moment.

You can also put a trailing SPACE in there (but it's not going to be visible in the blank, but it'll be there nonetheless.)

The "Filename Template" is a new feature of version 1.1.0.2. Using the template, you can have this tool save the output files in variations that will more likely match the way you've saved your media files.

As you type a naming template, an example filename will be shown directly below to assist you as you edit.

Placing the following characters in the name will result in a substitution in the saved filename, as follows:

.T	This will be replaced by the Series Title, and all spaces in that title will be changed to dots "."
^e	This will be replaced by the Episode Number without any leading zeros.
^E	This will be replaced by the Episode Number with a leading zero for numbers between 0 and 9.
^s	This will be replaced by the Season Number without any leading zeros.
^S	This will be replaced by the Season Number with a leading zero for numbers betwen 0 and 9.
^t	This will be replaced with the Episode Title.
^T	This will be replaced with the Series Title.

Here's some examples for Space 1999, Season 2, Episode 7, "The Mark of Archanon," showing how the XML file will be named. The JPG file will be named the same way, but with a different extension, of course.

Space 1999 S^SE^E		Space 1999 S02E07.xml
^T- ^s ^e ^t		Space 1999- 2 7 The Mark of Archanon.xml**
^s^E- ^t		207- The Mark of Archanon.xml
Space 1999 ^e		Space 1999 7 *

* - This would generate a warning that the filename might not be unique since no season number is specified.

** Note: If ^t or ^T are used, and the episode name or series title, respectively, contain illegal characters for use in filenames, you will receive a warning. Those characters will be removed in the saved filename(s). In this example, the COLON from the name "Space: 1999" is stripped.

For your convenience, several popular naming formats are available by clicking the drop-down arrow.

Note: The substitutions are made in the order listed in the above table, and they are CUMULATIVE. Which means if a Series Title contains the characters "^s", then THAT will also be substituted for the Season Number. I doubt this will happen often since a caret symbol is fairly rare. But as a ludicrous example: If a series is named "Test ^t Series" and an episode in that series is named "Test ^S Episode," and the template ".T^S^E^t" is used, the resulting name will be:

Test.Test ^S Episode.Series0001Test ^S Episode

Confused? I know I am... Just be careful if the series has funky names that make use of the "^" symbol.

Step 3: Select a "Save To..." location

You can either press the button, and browse to the folder where you wish to save this data, or you can enter the path manaully. Do NOT provide a trailing "\".

c:\my shows\Space 1999\Season 1 is correct.

c:\my shows\Space 1999\Season 1\ is NOT.

Click the "Load XML" button, and the application will (hopefully) fill with all the specific information:

Correct any errors that may be displayed.

Step 4: Review the information

If there were any problems in steps 1 through 3, an error message might be displayed. Simply correct any errors and repeat that step.

Depending on your Internet Connection Speed, the speed of the TVDB Database, the size of the Series Database being downloaded, and other factors, this may take several minutes. You can see the current progress in the ACTIVITY LOG window.

If everything was correct in Steps 1 through 3, the screen should now contain...

... a SERIES DETAILS Block that shows the Name, Overview, Run Time, Genre, Rating etc for the SERIES. This information is not editable; it is only provided to help you ensure that the correct series was chosen.

... an EPISODE DETAILS block that contains the specifics for the first episode or record in the database. This data includes the Episode Name, the date of first airing, the Director(s) and Guest Star(s), an episode Synopsis, the FILENAME PREVIEW, plus an episode thumbnail and Season Cover Art if one was available.

Make any changes you wish to the Episode Details before proceeding.

Note that the DIRECTORS and GUEST STARS are separated by the vertical bar symbol, "|". If you edit those fields, make sure you properly separate individual names with that symbol.

Note the "File will be saved as" filename. You may change this name if you need, but it will only affect the ONE EPISODE DISPLAYED, not any other episodes saved with the SEASON or SERIES buttons.

You can change the Season Art by clicking the thumbnail. The available artwork will cycle through all available options. The chosen artwork will only be used for the currently selected season; if you use the "Save Series" option, then the first available artwork will be used for the later seasons.

NOTE: TVDB convention puts "Special" episodes in SEASON 0, so watch out for that. Sometimes Season 0 can be quite large, and you don't want to save that data unless you actually need it.

Step 5: Choose your options

DVD Order	The TVDB maintains a different "Sort" order if the DVD ordering of episodes is different than the AIRED order of the series. By checking this box, the tool will use that order, if available. NOTE: This is a rather un-maintained specification on the TVDB website, and may cause errors in some situations, particularly if the ordering is incorrect, incomplete, or absent.

Include Regular Cast in Actors List	The TVDB maintains TWO separate lists of actors. The first is the "Regular" cast for the entire series, and the second is the cast for a specific episode, which is usually only the list of Guest Stars. If you wish to include the Regular Cast in the Actors list displayed by the WDTV, ENABLE this option. If not, leave it disabled.

Exclude EPISODE THUMBNAIL from Backdrops	By default, this tool will include the Epsiode's Thumbnail in the backdrop list used by the WDTV's Gallery View. If you wish to exclude that, ENABLE this option

Exclude FAN ART from Backdrops	By default, this tool will include all the FAN ART included in the TVDB database for this series. If you do not wish to include it, ENABLE this option.
	** NOTE: By ENABLING BOTH OPTIONS, you will DISABLE the BACKDROPS entirely.

Use SEASON ART as Cover Art (instead of Episode Art)	If you ENABLE this option, then the "Cover Art" jpg file included will be the "Season Cover" provided by the TVDB for that season. If you DISABLE it, then the Episode's Thumbnail will be used as the cover art

Prepend Overview Text with Episode Title	If you ENABLE this option, then the episode's title will be included in the OVERVIEW TEXT visible in the WDTV's Gallery View. This is ENABLED by default.

Don't save ANY JPG files to disk	If selected, this tool will not save ANY JPG cover art at all. This is useful if you're only updating the XML data and have no need to update already-existing JPGs, or if you just don't want any JPGs for your files. If this option is selected, the "Use SEASON ART..." option will be disabled

Hide Thumbnail JPG Files	If you have WDTV Live / Live+ devices sharing the same files, ENABLING this option will prevent the Live/Live+ devices from showing the JPG Thumbnails as VIDEOS, while allowing them to be used as thumbnails. HOWEVER, this will also PREVENT the WDTV Live Hub and SMP from showing the large Thumbnail in the GALLERY VIEW (though the small thumbnails at the bottom of the screen will not be affected.)

Save Backdrops Locally	You can enabled this option to have the Thumbnails saved to your hard disk (to the Save To location), and the XML written to reference the local files. There is additional documentation on this subject HERE.

.. in a hidden folder	I prefer to keep all my backdrops in ONE FOLDER, and that folder is a hidden folder. More documentation HERE.

Backdrops are (x) folders up from video.	If "0" is selected, backdrops are expected to be in the SAME folder as the VIDEO file. If you prefer to collect ALL thumbnails in a specific location, then you must tell the program how high up the directory tree they are, relative to the video file. More documentation HERE.

Title Format	Be careful which choices you make, as it may affect how the WDTV sorts the episodes when the TITLE is actually examined. The WDTVs sort purely alphabetically; they do not use a "natural" sort order like Windows and Macs do when sorting filenames or titles. The formatting here uses the same "Tokens" as the Filename Template described above, and there are several pre-defined choices in the drop-down.

Preferred Language	You may choose a preferred language from this dropdown. If data are not available in your preferred language, English will be substituted.

Step 6: Choose how to proceed.

You can save ONE EPISODE by selecting the button marked "Save THIS EPISODE Only." When you click, the JPG and XML files will be saved to the location you specified in Step 3.

You can save a whole or partial SEASON by pressing "... the SEASON" button. The program will begin wih the episode currently displayed, and then continue to the LAST EPISODE of the SEASON specified.

You can save the whole or partial SERIES by pressing "... the SERIES" button. The program will begin wih the episode currently displayed, and then continue to the LAST EPISODE of the LAST SEASON.

Reminder: If you use the "SERIES" option, your choice Season Art thumbnails will not be recalled. In this case, the program will choose the first available season artwork available as it advances through each season.

Regardless of which option you choose, if you had selected the Save Backdrops Locally option, the Fetcher will now fetch ALL backdrops and store them in your chosen location. If this had already been done, this is quickly skipped. It is not currently possible to STOP this function, you must wait until it completes.

The STOP button will be activated when you select SEASON or SERIES. If you need to abort the process, click that button until it stops. It may take two or three tries.

Usage Examples:

If you have your TV shows all lumped together in one folder, you should probably select the "Save To..." location for that folder, and then click "The SERIES" button.

If you have your TV shows divided by SEASON, you should select the "Save To..." for the FIRST SEASON, and select SEASON ONE (or whichever season you wish) and click "The SEASON" button. Then, change the "Save To..." location to the next season, select the next season from the Episode Details button, then press "The SEASON" button again, and repeat as often as necessary.

My preference is to select a SAVE-TO to a TEMPORARY folder on my PC, then I save the entire season, and then manually move the files to their appropriate folders later.

If you simply want to review all the data and make minor changes to the details, or only have a few TV episodes, using the SAVE THIS EPISODE ONLY button is probably the best choice.

When you are done, you may go back to Step 1 for additional TV Series, or just click QUIT.

That's all there is to it!