How to use a third party tool to grab metadata

Media Browser has it’s own built in metadata providers so it can retrieve metadata like movie descriptions and artwork.

This however has it’s limitations and requires exact folder name matches. More details about that can be found here.

There are several third party tools however, that offer a more granular way of retrieving metadata. They offer abilities like choosing posters, backdrops and movie matching based on searches.

The most commonly used metadata grabbers are:

Metabrowser

1) Install Metabrowser

2) Start Metabrowser and open the Options window

3) On the General tab click “Add a new Location” and browse to the StartupFolder (C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\StartupFolder by default) and press enter

4) On the General tab click at “ImagesByName” use the browse button to select the ImagesByName\People folder. (C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName\People by default)

5) Click Save

6) Click Refresh List. The virtual folders are now indexed.

7) Select a movie from the list and click “Fetch Movie Metadata” and select the correct movie from the search results.

The metadata will now be populated.

After that click fetch for both the poster and backdrop images.

Be sure to hit the “Save Metadata” button to save your changes.

Alternatively you can right click a movie folder and press process movie. It will automatically be populated with the Metadata and the first available poster and backdrop.

8) Repeat step 7 for all movies with red text, red text means that the movie has not been matched to an entry on themoviedb. Two red dots next to the movie title means that it is missing both a folder and backdrop image, one red dot means that it is missing one of these images. If a movie has green text then its metadata is complete.

9) For TV Shows the steps for fetching data are similar to movies, but with some extra steps required.

10) In addition to folder and backdrop images, TV shows support banner images, an extra red dot will show next to shows which are missing this image.

11) When you have fetched the main show data, you need to select images for each of the seasons you have for that show.

12) Once you have selected season images, you need to either click fetch data for each episode, or right click the season and click Process. MetaBrowser will then fetch the data for each episode under that season. Red dots will show next to each episode that does not have an image associated with it.

13) As with a movie, when all the required metadata fields, posters, thumbs and backdrops are present for a tv series and also for each season/episode, the entry will turn green, indicating all required fields are complete.

Media Center Master

Windows Vista & Windows 7 compatible.

Support for the built-in Windows Media Center Video Library strip (dvdid.xml) as well as MediaBrowser extension (mymovies.xml).

Movies, television, and adult title search from a variety of configurable meta data sources.

Built-in, fully-automated episode torrents from multiple sources. Keep your T.V. series updated through the internet for free.

Full meta-data editor with tools to automate movie and T.V. episode renaming.

Theatrical trailer downloader with options for automatic re-encoding.

Extendable fetcher system allows other programmers to write fetchers — sample source code included in the forums.

Configurable to download actor/actress thumbnails and movie/T.V. posters, fan art, backdrops, and banners.

Flexible post-processing allows command-line operations after a movie title has been fetched — works great with Stark Covers.

…and a whole lot more…

Basic use:

1) Download & install Media Center Master. Updates are checked and installed upon every use if use auto-update is selected.

2) Select Application/Settings & Preferences/General/Store actor and crew thumbnails in: (default) C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName\People)

3) Movies tab – select Rename folders during fetch (There are also many options to LOCK data you already have)

4) Trailers tab – select in a /trailers/ subfolder as trailerX.ext Also select Automatically download trailer videos. You can re-encode if you wish.

5) Press Save.

6) Select Application/Set scan folders. Point to all your collection locations and save.

7) Select Application/use auto-scan. This will auto-start metadata retrieval upon every use. I suggest using this function for 1st run and after that turning it off. When new titles are added, they will appear red. Right click will bring up a context menu for this individual title containing many choices.

Media & Tools tabs contain many specific functions. Exploration for personal use suggested. ‘Fetch meta data’ does it all and keeps your collection up to date.

Mode tab selections for Movies, T.V. & Adult fetching.

YAMMM

Official Website

[improvement needed]

Tip: After you started using a third pary metadata grabber, consider disabling the internet providers in Media Browser. This can be done on the configuration menu. More details about that can be found here.
It is possible to continue using internet providers in Media Browser, so if you aren’t managing all of your collections' metadata with your chosen third party grabber, Media Browser will still acquire metadata for your other collections.

Note: based on community feedback, the general consensus is that Metabrowser is easiest to work with.

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We need the following improvements:

  • basic instructions on how to use the third party tools

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