What is the ImagesByName folder and how does it work?

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The ImagesByName folder contains artwork that is used by MediaBrowser to enhance the overall look of Media Browser. The ImagesByName folder is often abbreviated as IBN.

Predefined Folders

As of Media Browser 2.2.1 (also called Firestorm) the ImagesByName folder has a predefined set of subfolders. These are:

Genre

This folder houses subfolders with icons and backdrops like Action, Comedy, Thriller, Horror, etc.
Subfolders with folder.jpg files in here will show up in Media Browser if filtering by Genre

People

This folder houses subfolders with icons and backdrops for Actors, Directors, etc.
Subfolders with folder.jpg files in here will show up in Media Browser if filtering by Actor or when viewing the Actors tab on a Movie details screen

Studio

This folder houses subfolders with icons and backdrops for Studios, TV Networks, etc.
Subfolders with folder.jpg files in here will show up in Media Browser if filtering by Studio or they will be displayed on a Movie details screen if the active theme supports showing them.

Year

This folder houses subfolders with icons and backdrops for Years.
Subfolders with folder.jpg files in here will show up in Media Browser if filtering by Year

General

This folder houses subfolders with icons and backdrops for Plugins, etc.
More details about this can be found here

MediaInfo

As of Media Browser 2.2.6 (also called Orion) the ImagesByName folder has a new subfolder MediaInfo

This folder houses subfolders with icons for MediaInfo.
The design of this folder varies from the other ImagesByName folders but it allows the user to apply custom MediaInfo Icon Sets on a per Theme basis.
A subfolder with the same name as the Theme and containing a MediaInfo Icon Set will display that set in that Theme (as long as the theme supports this functionality)
A subfolder named All and containing a MediaInfo Icon Set will display that set in any Theme that does not have a subfolder with the Theme name (as long as the theme supports this functionality)
If you wish to use the internal MediaInfo Icons built into the Theme instead of the set in ImagesByName\MediaInfo \All you can simply create a subfolder for that Theme but leave it empty.

Configuring the IBN Folder

Media Browser looks for the ImagesByName folder in C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName. By default, this folder does not exist after a fresh installation. You need to create it manually including the above subfolders.

Please note that the C:\ProgramData folder is hidden in Windows by default.

A simple script is available for download that you can use to automatically create the IBN folder for you. It’s very basic and comes without warranties, but hardly anything can go wrong with it.

Download here

A final directory structure would look like this:

C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName\General
C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName\Genre
C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName\MediaInfo    As of Media Browser 2.2.6 (Orion) 
C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName\People
C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName\Studio
C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName\Year

Example IBN Folder

For the record, here is an example ImagesByName folder with some contents to get a better idea:

    C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName\General
                                                 Favorites\folder.jpg
                                                 Music Library\folder.png
    C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName\Genre
                                                 Action\folder.jpg
                                                 Drama\folder.jpg
                                                 Thriller\folder.png
    C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName\MediaInfo        
                                                 All\aspect_133.png,aspect_137.png,....
                                                 Carbon\\aspect_133.png,aspect_137.png,....
                                                 Default\
                                                 Diamond\\aspect_133.png,aspect_137.png,....

    C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName\People
                                                 Mel Gibson\folder.jpg
                                                 Julia Roberts\folder.png
    C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName\Studio
                                                 BBC\folder.jpg
                                                 Universal Studios\folder.png
    C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName\Year
                                                 2009\folder.jpg
                                                 2010\folder.jpg

Moving the ImagesByName Folder

The location of the IBN folder can be moved to a different location.

To do this, if you have an existing ImagesByName folder then copy/cut it to the new location. If you do not currently have an IBN folder, then create a folder called “ImagesByName” in the location you would like to store it, and then create the subfolders listed above. If your existing IBN folder does not have those subfolders then you need to create them if you are using Media Browser 2.2.1 (Codename Firestorm) or later .

Once you have done this navigate to the directory C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser and use a text editor such as Notepad (not a word processor like MS Word) to open the file called “MediaBrowserXml.config”.

Look for an entry in this file that starts with <ImageByNameLocation>
There should also be an end tag that looks like </ImageByNameLocation>

Between these tags is where you need to put the path to your new ImagesByName location, e.g. \\Server\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName or D:\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName

So the end result will be:

<ImageByNameLocation>\\Server\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName</ImageByNameLocation>

<ImageByNameLocation>D:\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName</ImageByNameLocation>

Be sure to confirm that there is no hard return after the path and before . It must all stay on the one line.

Then save and close that file. MediaBrowser will now use your new location for ImagesByName.

Important Note: If you move the ImagesByName folder to a network location, this can cause a significant performance impact on Media Browser.

Additional Notes

If you're using MetaBrowser, you will need to configure MetaBrowser to point to the People folder since MetaBrowser only downloads Actor images.

In MetaBrowser, go to Options
In the Options window, set the path for “ImagesByName Folder Location” to C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName\People (or your custom location)

Currently, the same applies to MetaBrowser 2.0 (Trial).

MediaInfo Icon Sets As of Media Browser 2.2.6 (also called Orion)

The correct naming convention for a full set of MediaInfo Icons is:

ASPECT RATIO:

aspect_133.png   =4:3
aspect_137.png
aspect_143.png
aspect_144.png
aspect_150.png   =3:2
aspect_156.png
aspect_166.png
aspect_177.png   =16:9
aspect_178.png   =16:9
aspect_181.png
aspect_185.png
aspect_200.png   =2:1
aspect_220.png
aspect_235.png
aspect_239.png
aspect_240.png
aspect_255.png
aspect_259.png
aspect_266.png
aspect_276.png
aspect_400.png   =4:1

HD TYPE:

hdtype_720.png
hdtype_1080.png

CODEC:

Audio

codec_aac.png      
codec_flac.png
codec_mp3.png
codec_mpegaudio.png
codec_pcm.png
codec_vorbis.png
codec_wma.png

Dolby Digital

codec_ac3.png
codec_dd_10.png
codec_dd_20.png
codec_dd_30.png
codec_dd_51.png
codec_ddplus.png
codec_ddplus_50.png
codec_ddplus_51.png
codec_ddplus_61.png
codec_ddplus_71.png
codec_ddtruehd.png
codec_ddtruehd_50.png
codec_ddtruehd_51.png
codec_ddtruehd_61.png
codec_ddtruehd_71.png

DTS

codec_dts.png
codec_dts_9624.png
codec_dts_9624_51.png
codec_dts_ds.png
codec_dts_ds_10.png
codec_dts_ds_20.png
codec_dts_ds_51.png
codec_dts_es.png
codec_dts_es_51.png
codec_dts_es_61.png
codec_dts_hd_hra.png
codec_dts_hd_hra_51.png
codec_dts_hd_hra_61.png
codec_dts_hd_hra_71.png
codec_dts_hd_ma.png
codec_dts_hd_ma_30.png
codec_dts_hd_ma_40.png
codec_dts_hd_ma_50.png
codec_dts_hd_ma_51.png
codec_dts_hd_ma_61.png
codec_dts_hd_ma_71.png

Video

codec_asf.png
codec_divx.png
codec_h262.png
codec_h264.png
codec_mpeg4visual.png
codec_mpegvideo.png
codec_on2_vp6.png
codec_sorenson_h263.png
codec_theora.png
codec_vc1.png
codec_wmv.png
codec_wmv_hd.png
codec_xvid.png

MEDIA TYPE:

media_3gp.png
media_asf.png
media_avi.png
media_bluray.png
media_dvd.png
media_dvrms.png
media_flv.png
media_hddvd.png
media_iso.png
media_m2ts.png
media_mkv.png
media_mov.png
media_mp4.png
media_mpeg.png
media_ogg.png
media_ts.png
media_wmv.png
media_wtv.png

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