Macro to copy YADIS fanart to Movie Folders

[matchorno]

You may have noticed that the latest mede8er firmware supports fanart.jpg files in your movie folders.  YADIS does grab "fanart.jpg" files when it scrapes your movie info.  However "Yadis for Mede8er" does not bring over these fanart files into your movies folders.  These fanart files appear as a background when using the media library (see rest of thread for discussion).

From what I understand (see below), Yadis for med8er is meant for jukebox only.  But with the way the mede8er works, YADIS is also integrated with the media library view as well.  So if you use YADIS to view info sheets in library view (press info button while selecting movie folder) , you might as well grab the fanart file as well so you can see it in the background after entering the movie folder.

When you use the mede8er internal scraper, it downloads fanart files for you and puts them where they need to go.  However if you're in this forum, it's likely because you want to use YADIS instead.

I wrote a quick and dirty vba macro in Excel to accomplish this task for myself.  However I thought I would share it in case anyone else could benefit from it.  Since it's an Excel vba macro, it unfortunately requires Excel 2007 or 2010.  I am working on porting it into a compiled Access project so you don't need any external program to run it.  For now...those without Excel 2007 or 2010, I'm sorry  

Please be warned...I am not a highly experienced programmer.  I know vba pretty well...but I mainly just write office macros.  I'd rather this be written in some other standalone language, but alas...vba is what I know...and it does work.

It works great on my computer.  However I can't guarantee that it will work on yours.  If you have a problem with it and want to let me know your error, i may be able to look into it.

It is very simple to use.
1. run "yadis 2.3" and scrape your movies as usual.  I personally use Mede8er profile as I don't really see any benefit to mede8er users when using the dune profile.  But you can use either one.
2. run "Yadis for Mede8er" like usual.  Now everything is good to go except for the fanart files.  There are fanart files in the Yadis workspace data folder, they just need to be brought over into your movie folders.

3. Open up the Excel file.  Make sure macros are enabled in your security.
4. Type in your YADIS workspace folder path (or hit the 'choose' button).
5. Type in your Movies root folder path (or hit the 'choose' button).
Defaults have been given for examples only.
6. There is a custom tab in the ribbon called, "YADIS Macros"  (it should be the first tab in your ribbon).  Simply click on the first button to copy your fanart files.  If it is successful, it will tell you how many movies/fanart files were processed.

You will notice that there's another button labeled, "Delete playlist.m3u files".  This is a completely separate tool that I made for myself.  There are probably not too many people who will find it useful unless you store trailer files in your movie folder like myself.

I don't know why, but apparently when you run YADIS, if you have more than one video file in the same movie folder, it creates a completely unnecessary "playlist.m3u" file.  Very annoying since I have a movie trailers in the same folder as the movie.  So this little tool just deletes the playlist files from each movie folder (if one exists).

Once again, it works great for me...but I stil can't give any guarantees.  The copy macro doesn't have any delete commands anywhere in the code, so there's no worries of anything getting deleted by mistake if the program doesn't work.

Please let me know if the link "breaks"...thanks!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wnbv4ni3zsvd8j5/YADISFanartCopy.xlsm

[jer1956]

Fanart is not required if you  engage jukebox as you never enter folders...just bring up  the "About" and play from that.   Sounds like your using Media Library even  with Yadis.

The internal scraper has to "build" the "about" in the folder as it has no workspace, and to  that  end downloads the background (fanart.jpg), and a larger version of the cover (cover.jpg).

[matchorno]

Understood.  You are right...I mostly use the Media Library which was the main reason for wanting the fanart.  It's really cool to now have a background while using the media library.  I find the jukebox to be kind of sluggish and arduous to navigate.  Of course, the jukebox is something you always break out when you're showing the mede8er off to one of your friends for the first time.  It definitely looks cool.  But when you're navigating over 500 movies, I find it easier to look at movie names instead of movie box art.  Plus the navigation is a lot quicker.  I can find my movies much quicker by using the media library.  

But in any event, you can still use Yadis in conjuction with the media library.  If you want to, all you have to do is hit "info" on the remote control and it will bring up the Yadis "about".  I prefer the Yadis templates over internal scrape.  When I want to look at the video specs...playtime, etc., that's when Yadis comes in handy.  It puts the time in hrs and min instead of just minutes...and it gives you the mpaa rating unlike the internal scrape.  If I don't need that info for a particular movie, I just enjoy the new fanart background along with the yadis scraped description.  So you can see...using Yadis, while adding the fanart, gives you the best of both worlds.

[jer1956]

Jukebox is all about using the data base search.  The start screen of All Movies is there because it has to  start with something.

[matchorno]

Sorry...i didn't mean to down the jukebox or anything.  It's cool and all, and I'm sure some people like using it over the media library.  I just still find it faster to navigate via media library despite the database search.  I hate on-screen keyboards...once again, sluggish.  Media Library...press #8 on the remote to get to the T's, page down a few times until you find your movie.  Press info and get your Yadis "about", or just enjoy the new fanart.  Very quick....like I said before, best of both worlds.

My goal wasn't to debate jukebox vs. media library.  I just wanted to share a tool with those who might use the mede8er the same way I do (which I don't think is all that strange).  I don't think there is a right or wrong way to get to your movie, or view the graphics.  I suppose it all comes down to a matter of personal preference. 

[jer1956]

You where implying the Yadis2mede8er coders had missed something out.  They have produced good code that helps create a Jukebox.  You  are chosing to  run Media Library,  which  was not their intention.

[matchorno]

My apologies.  Once again, didn't mean to offend anyone.  Perhaps I shouldn't have worded it in a way that made their program seem like it was missing something.  Perhaps I missed their intentions.  But intentions or not, like I've been saying, yadis can be used for more than just the jukebox view.  Perhaps I'm the only person who uses it this way, and thus no one will benefit from this post.  It's not going to bother me...but I also didn't think it would offend anyone else.

I think yadis for mede8er is a great program, and I absolutely need it for my purposes.  Many thanks and kudos to the author.  However if they added this feature, it would certainly make my life easier.  But I'm not going to ask them to only make some lives easier (I can't believe I'm the only one who uses it this way), which is why I made this tool.  I have to admit, I thought they might add this in the future...it would add more functionality for me at least (maybe I am the only user).  But if this functionality is not their intention, then no worries.

[_ShaiHulud_]

Hi,
I am going to try this. I am trying to get things right for 3 days now, and I finally understand the difference  between jukebox and library now. I was really frustrated why the background wasnt showing.
I hope this excelsheet of you works.
Thanks.

UPDATE: Thanks very much. It worked. I had to rewrite the VB part a little for excel 2003.
But thank again.