StarkCovers

Stark Covers is a tool designed to allow users to customize the look of their posters/images inside MediaBrowser. It uses a GUI to let users choose which effects to apply to their images.

The Stark Covers GUI looks like this

The options are as follows

Media Location

• This is the location of the media you want to apply your selected profile to. It is best to leave this blank until you are happy with the preview image.
• Note: The preview will only work with the Base Profile

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Profile Choices

Base Profile

• This specifies the default profile that will be applied to images, unless they are covered by one of the other profiles. If you have selected profiles for all other image types then this profile will apply to movie posters only.
• Tip: Base Profile is not intended to run at the same time with any other profiles

Series Profile

• This specifies the profile that will be applied to TV show posters
• Tip: This can be run at the same time with the, Season, Thumbs and Banner Profiles

Season Profile

• This specifies the profile that will be applied to TV show season posters
• Tip: This can be run at the same time with the, Series, Thumbs and Banner Profiles

Thumbs Profile

• This specifies the profile that will be applied to episode thumbnails.
• Tip: This can be run at the same time with the, Series, Season and Banner Profiles

Banner Profile

• This specifies the profile that will be applied to TV show Banners
• Tip: This can be run at the same time with the, Series, Season and Thumbs Profiles

Artist Profile

• This specifies the profile that will be applied to Music Artist images
• Note: This requires Music to be setup in a Music\Artist\Album folder structure
• Tip: This can be run at the same time with the Album Profile

Album Profile

• This specifies the profile that will be applied to Music Album images

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Revert Options

Revert to folder.jpg

• This option will revert all processed images to their original folder.jpgs. This option can be useful if you want to stop using Stark Covers, or completely re-do all of your covers.
• Tip: To change images that have already been treated, just choose the new Profiles and check Revert to folder.jpg, and run.

Revert Specific

• This option will revert only the profile selected.
• Example: Running with Revert Specific, and Thumbs Profile, will only revert the thumb images and allow a new overlay to be applied, without having to redo all of the other TV Show images.

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Advanced Options

Use mymovies-front.jpg

• If you have used the MyMovies collection management application to collect your metadata and images then this option will use those folder images for the Stark profiles.

Don’t use glossy overlay

• This option will remove the gloss effect from the image.

Don’t round corners

• This option will prevent Stark from rounding off the corners of your images

Round all corners

• This option will cause Stark to round off the corners of your posters

ID Media by mymovies.xml

• This will cause Stark to use the information about the video in the metadata to identify what kind of media type to use on the poster. This option only works with profiles that display the media type

ID by codec

• This option will use the video codec to perform the above function instead of the metadata

ID by file extension

• This option will use the video file extension to perform the above function

Use Banners

• This option will append a banner to the bottom of the image, either displaying a user specified media type or one identified by one of the previous methods.
• Note: This is only for the ClearCase Overlay

Rounding Amount

• This option specifies how much the corners of the image will be rounded
• Note This is only for use with the Stark and Plaque Overlays

Scaling Amount

• This option specifies how much Glass to show on the Plaque Overlay

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Additional Info

Some of the Stark overlays will use the Backdrop image as the insert instead of the Folder.jpg

These overlays are

• Movie
• Movie2
• Movie3D
• TV
• TV3D

Stark uses this set of rules to decide what backdrop is inserted. In this order, whatever it finds available in the folder being processed, will be what becomes the insert.

• Backdrop (2).jpg
• Backdrop2.jpg

• Backdrop.jpg

• Tip: To use one of those overlays and have a insert that does not show up in MediaBrowser as a Backdrop. Place a backdrop of your choice in your folder and name it Backdrop (2).jpg, this will make stark insert that image in the overlay and stop MB from using it as a backdrop.

• Extra Tip: If you have a folder you would like stark to always skip. You can place a folder.dna into the folder and Stark will never process that folder.

A folder.dna can be created by creating a New Text Document.txt Then rename it folder.dna. Not folder.dna.txt. You must have file extensions showing

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You can experiment with these options and the preview image to get your desired look. When you are ready to apply your profile(s) to your images you can either do so from inside the GUI using the “Run on Media Location” button; or you can set up a profile, select the media location, and then copy the code from the text box into Notepad, using a new line for each profile. After you have done this for each profile you want to use you should have a text file with a number of Stark commands inside, you can then save this file as a .bat and put it wherever you like. Whenever you double click on the .bat the Stark will apply each of your profiles to your specified media locations automatically.

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How to: Setup a StarkCovers Batch Task Schedule

This is a pretty easy two part set up.

Part A:

• Step 1 – A: Open the StarkCovers folder and find the StarkCovers.bat
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

• Step 2 – A: Open the GUI and enter all of your info as if you were about to run it… but don’t press run.
  

• Step 3 – A: Now that all of your info is in the GUI, everything you need for the batch is in the lower command window.
  

• Step 4 – A: Now that you have copied the info in the lower window, you will need to paste it into the StarkCovers.bat window that we first opened.
  
  

If you have your media in more that one location, as I do. Just repeat Steps 2, 3, & 4 until you have all of your locations in the batch file. Once your done, Save the Batch file and close the editor.

Part B:

Now that the Batch is all set we need to set up Windows Task Scheduler.

• Step 1 – B: Open Windows Administrative Tools > Task Scheduler
  or you can just type “Task Scheduler” in the Start Window search box and windows will find it for you.

• Step 2 – B:
  

• Step 3 – B: Add in your info.
  

• Step 4 – B:
  

• Step 5 – B: Set your start time etc.
  

• Step 6 – B:
  

• Step 7 – B: Browse to the batch file and save
  
  

• Step 8 – B: Final Step… Double check all your info is correct and Save!
  

That’s about it. From now on stark will auto run and keep all of your files up to date.

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Stark Covers Download and Support

• The newest Stark Covers can be downloaded Here
• Help, Questions, and bug reports can be posted on the Stark Covers Forum

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Credits

• Author and Creator: tyborg
• Support Developer: FeLiX

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• Check all options are described correctly