TV Episodes

These instructions cover importing, tagging and cover art for TV Shows.

TV Show Series are well supported byMC17. One thing to get clear is the terminology and hierarchy of terms.

Series

This is the top level term and is the parent name for the set of Seasons and Shows or Episodes. As I am a Frasier fan, I'll use that as my example. So "Frasier" is the Series name.

Season

Most Series have a number of Seasons which consist of sets of Shows or Episodes. A Season may be shown on TV over a number of weeks during a year. Often, the Season may be sold on DVD or Blu-Ray discs.

Episode

An Episode is an individual Show of the Season or Series. You may set up MC17 or your Set Top Box to record these shows with a Subscription.

Episode File Naming

Naming of the Episode files is important particularly for ripped DVD files because, on import, MC17 will parse the filename to identify that the file is a TV Show, extract the Series name, Season and Episode numbers and use this data to populate the relevant tags. Files for TV Shows recorded using MC17 TV should not need to be renamed as Series and Episode name will already be held in the Library.

The syntax for the file name is: Series_name.SxxEyy.Episode_name.File_extension where xx is the Season number and yy is the Episode number, e.g. Frasier.S01E01.The Good Son.mkv. Episode_name is optional as this and othe metadata will be downloaded from tvdb.com. Strictly speaking, all files can be stored in the same folder but, for clarity, it is helpful to create a Folder for each Series and sub-Folders for each Season. During renaming of the files, it is recommended to have MC17 server closed down so the files are not imported until the naming is correct, otherwise some clean-up of the library will be required.

Importing

The Folder where all your Series Folders are stored needs to be included in the watch list for the Library import. Go to File > Library > Import > Import a single folder and select the folder where your Series Folders are stored. MC17 will now import your TV Show files. In the left pane of Standard View, select Video then Files. To make viewing of the files simpler, right click on the field title bar and select Series, Season, Episode, and Media Sub Type. Click once on the Episode column title, then Season then Series. The files will now be sorted by Series, Season then Episode.

If you didn't include Episode name in your file names, the Name for each show will initially be SxxEyy. Series name, Season number and Episode number will have been filled.

Tags

MC17 has an extensive range of file Tags which can contain metadata about the files of Shows. Some of these are populated on import or on creation of Recorded Shows. Others can be populated manually or, preferably, by downloading/scraping data from reliable web sites. For TV Shows, TVDB is used by default by MC17.

The data from certain Tags is used to select and organise TV Shows for display in Theater View. For Shows to appear in Theater View, it is essential to have the Media Type set to Video and the Media Sub Type set to TV Show. These will be populated automatically for Shows recorded by MC17 TV and for Shows imported, provided the files are named as above.

TVDB

TVDB is a highly regarded Internet database with extensive coverage of TV Series. MC17 uses TVDB as one of its TV metadata sources.

MC17 will automatically collect TV Show data provided that certain Tags have been appropriately populated. Series Name, Season number and Episode number must be populated.

Cover Art

When viewing TV Shows in Theater View, the navigation levels are supported by relevant Art images. MC17 supports sepcific Art ate Series, Season and Episode level.

Series Art

Series Art must be stored in a specific folder. First, check the location of your Cover Art folder. Go to Tools > Options > Folder Location > Cover Art > Folder. This will show the current location of the Cover Art Folder. In Windows Explorer, go to this location. As a default, the Cover Art Folder should contain a Series Folder. If not, create one. Your Series art files must be stored here. Name the files SeriesName.jpg, e.g. Frasier.jpg. These images will now show in Theater View at the TV Shows Series level.

Season Art

As for Series Art, you need a Seasons Folder in the Cover Art Folder. This is not created by default so create it yourself. Your Season Art files must be stored here. Name the files SeriesName - Season nn.jpg, e.g. Frasier - Season 1.jpg. These images will now show in Theater View at the TV Shows Seasons level.

Episode Art

Work in progress!!

See detailed instructions for cover Art