Overview

How to use My Films with the different movie catalog applications it supports. See the sub-pages for details on field mapping and special features or considerations for the each supported catalogs.

MediaPortal Setup

If you are new to MediaPortal and wish to set it up just to use My Films with your movie catalog, please see our MediaPortal Setup guide.

Supported Catalogs

My Films supports eleven different movie catalog and media center applications.

You do not need to re import your data, you can use your existing database right 'out of the box' including cover images and fanart. For catalogs other than Ant Movie Catalog (AMC), simply export your data to a XML file and use the Setup Wizard in MyFilms Setup to reference that file as your XML database file (see 'Using an External Catalog' below for details)

Click the links on the Catalog names below to access the reference pages for details on field mapping and special features or considerations for the supported catalog, including extended fields support for Ant Movie Catalog v 4.1.x.

Ant Movie Catalog

Ant Movie Catalog (AMC) is the default catalog for My Films because it supports the use of an XML database natively. It was the original catalog supported by My Films because it allows you to use the same database in both My Films and AMC.  Thus you can update your data, including images, either in AMC or My Films (either within My Films GUI or using AMC Updater) and changes occur in real-time in both applications because they actually use the same XML database file.

As of v 6.0.0, My Films supports AMC v 4.1.x (Extended) with additional extended fields such as Writer, Certification, Tagline, Studio etc.See Upgrade to AMC4 for details on converting your database from AMC3.

1. Ant Movie Catalog (AMC) (V3.5.1.2) - official website
2. Ant Movie Catalog (AMC) (V4.1.1) (default as of v 6.0.0)  - official website

You will find information on update features supported only for Ant Movie Catalogs throughout this wiki. In particular, see Import Setup, and AMC Updater.

Warning: AMC 4.2 is NOT compatible with previous versions, and thus not supported by My Films. For further details See the forum thread: WARNING - AMC 4.2 incompatibility. 

External Catalogs

External Catalogs allow you to export an XML file from an external database which can be used in My Films.  Most features are supported, but any updates you make in My Films are lost when you next export changes from your external catalog.  External catalogs do not usually support an update of the catalog by importing a XML file and matching on the correct record for each film.

My Films supports the following movie catalog applications:

Free:

1. Eax Movie Catalog (2.5.0) / (3.0.9 b5) - official website
2. Ember Media Manager NFO (EMM)/NFO (v 1.3.0) - official website
3. Personal Video Database (PVD) (0.9.9.21) - official website

Share/payware:

1. DVD Profiler (V3.7.2) (purchase required to export to XML after 50 DVDs) - official website
2. eXtreme Movie Manager (XMM) (V7.1.1.1) - official website
3. Movie Collector Pro[ |Movie Collector Pro](V7.1.4) (Pro required for XML Export) - official website
4. My Movies (Collection Management) (V3.18) - official website

Note: My Films has been tested using the versions listed above.  However, it may work with other versions of the above catalogs, if the export format is the same. 

Media Center Plugins

My Films also provides support for other Media Center plugins:

1. Moving Pictures plugin for MediaPortal, see Import Moving Pictures DB
2. XBMC - either by using NFO Files or exporting your XBMC database and selecting the XBMC catalog type.

Note: Once you have loaded your XBMC exported catalog, My Films converts it internally into the ANT Movie Catalog format. So you can use this option to migrate from XBMC to AMC if you wish to get the full advantage of My Films, including updating the catalog from within My Films GUI.

NFO Files

As of v 6.0.0, My Films supports NFO files such as those generated by XBMC, Ember Media Manager (EMM), MediaPortal MyVideos (1.3.0 or later), or MovPicNFO for Moving Pictures plugin.

You may be able to use any catalog type that supports NFO files although you may need to customize the nfo grabber script somewhat, depending on the NFO format the catalog uses. See Grabber Script Editor to learn how to customize the grabber.

When you use NFO files, you use the AMC4 catalog type and MyFilms actually imports the data to an XML database. Thus you can use all features supported for AMC catalog types - including updating, multi-user watch status, updating by field etc. You can also update your nfo files using AMC Updater.

See NFO Files for further details.

Using an External Catalog

You may use most of the features and functions of My Films with any External Catalog. However, update functions are not supported since these would be overwritten each time you export the XML file. Note: update options will be automatically disabled*.*

1. Export your external catalog to a XML file.
2. In My Films setup, create a configuration using the built-in Setup Wizard. Most options will be automatically preset for your catalog type.
3. If you create a config manually, on the General tab:
   1. Catalog Type - select the program you use as an external catalog.
   2. Catalog File (XML) - select the XML file you exported as your catalog file
4. Cover Images - be sure to check the path to your cover images on the Artwork tab especially if you use custom paths. In most cases the Setup Wizard will preset it correctly if you use default paths for the catalog.
5. Check the External Catalogs Tab and select any 'special' settings for your catalog type. 

That's it. The rest of setup and usage of My Films is the same as for Ant Movie Catalog types. You may define Custom Views or Display Items to display data from your catalog that is not displayed in My Films by default.

Tip: If your catalog supports command line export, you may use the Pre-Launching command on the General tab o export your catalog whenever you launch My Films so you always have the latest data displayed.

For further info on the options supported for each external catalog see the sub pages.

Fanart

My Films can display multiple fanart images in Detail Views, as many as you can find. However, fanart must be stored in a separate folder for each movie, by movie name.  Most external catalogs store fanart in different ways, usually not in a separate folder by movie name.  Therefore, if you already have fanart stored in your external catalog, My Films can normally only display one of these images.

However, you can download fanart within MyFilms (see Fanart).  My Films will store the fanart in the path you select in Artwork Setup. The images will continue to display whenever you use My Films, and you can add/update fanart.  In some catalogs you may be able to link these fanart images to your external catalog as well.

So, you have two options:

1. Use the fanart folder preset by the Setup Wizard
   If your external catalog supports fanart, the Wizard will use the default fanart folder for your external catalog. My Films will create sub folders for each movie within that folder and store any additional fanart you download within My Films in those folders
2. Use the Default My Films fanart folder =  

   ...\MediaPortal\thumbs\MyFilms\Fanart

   * *My Films will then create the fanart folders for each movie within this sub folder, which keeps your external catalog export folder or fanart folder 'clean'.  Of course, you won't get any fanart images already stored in your external catalog, but chances are you will get a lot more using My Films fanart scraper anyway!  This option also means your fanart will still work even if you happen to change catalog software and you will not need to download it again.

Watched Status

You must set the watched status in your external catalog.  Watched status is an 'update' function as it requires a change to your catalog data. 

Thus, automatic settings for Watched Status are disabled in MyFilms Setup because the information will be overwritten when you next export the file from your external catalog.

Although you can change the watched status within My Films, this information will be lost when you next export from your external catalog. So be sure to remember to update your catalog!

Supported Fields

Each catalog type may use different field names, or additional fields.  To see what fields are supported for your catalog, and how they are 'mapped' in My Films, see the sub page for your specific catalog.

Extended Fields

In addition to the internal supported fields, My Films supports extended fields for:

• Writer - preset as a Custom Display Item when you use the Setup Wizard and can be used to create a custom view 
• Certification (MPAA) - can be displayed as a Custom Display Item or mapped to either the Description or Comments field on the External Catalogs Setup tab
• Tagline - can be displayed as a Custom Display Item or mapped to either the Description or Comments field on the External Catalogs Setup tab
• Tags - can be displayed as a Custom Display Item, and/or used to create a custom view similar to Categories (Genres)

For further details how to display these fields see Customizing Display; and Custom Views.to learn how to create a view based on these fields.

My Films also generates several fields when you open the plugin in MediaPortal:

• IndexedTitle
• DateAdded
• RecentlyAdded
• AgeAdded
• Persons

These fields are supported for any catalog and can be used within My Films to create views, or as custom display items. However, the data is not saved when you exit My Films, and cannot be viewed/used in your movie catalog app,

Convert to MyFilms (AMC catalog type)

If you ever wish switch to MyFilms (using AMC catalog type) so you can take advantage of the import and update options and all the advanced features:

1. Find the 'tmp' file that MyFilms creates when it reads your exported XML. This file is already converted to MyFilms (AMC4) format The file will have the same name, and be stored in the same location as the export XML you select for Catalog XML on the General Tab in MyFilms Setup.
   • e.g. 

     ...\DVD Profiler\Databases\Default\collection_tmp.xml

2. Copy this file to a new folder/name to use as your MyFilms db XML
3. Create a new config using the Setup Wizard
   1. select the above file/location as your catalog/database
   2. select AMC 4 catalog type
4. If you need/or wish to extend or cleanup your data, you can either re-import (see Import Setup) or batch update records in your database using AMC Updater > Update Movies Tab.

Related

References

• Ant Movie Catalog
• DVD Profiler
• Eax Movie Catalog
• Ember Media Manager NFO
• eXtreme Movie Manager - XMM
• Movie Collector Pro
• My Movies
• Personal Video Database - PVD