TV Series

[MattO]

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum and know this question has probably been asked a million times so I apologize in advance. Having just bought the DVDPedia software (and loving it I might add!) from the App Store, I've been trying to figure out a way to cohesively add my TV seasons to my library. My biggest problem is I can't seem to figure out to do the following and I'll use 3rd Rock from the Sun as my example: I'm trying to put all the episodes from Season 1 into a single folder and then have all of those folders (Seasons 1 - 6) as subfolders under another Folder simply titled "3rd Rock From The Sun". Is there ANY way to do this? I just don't want to have 6 different folders under one collection or have all 139 episodes under a single folder. Thanks in advance!

Matt

[Conor]

Hi Matt,

Welcome to DVDpedia. There several ways to achieve this, but my personal choice is to create a folder named "3rd Rock from the Sun" and inside create 6 smart collections. Each smart collection has two rules "Series is equal to 3rd Rock from the Sun" and "season is 1" (second smart collection would be season 2). If you create the smart collection outside the folder you can always drag and drop it into the folder.

This setup allows me to just worry about having the season and series information correct and let the smart collections do the grouping instead of dragging. Also easy to catch an episode that is missing information when it does not show up in the collection.

Also in case you had not already figured it out, TV Rage and The TVDB both support appending "1x4" (season x episode) to the end of a series name to get an exact episode. Someday I want to incorporate a feature that would go ahead and automatically add the entire season episode by episode.

[bruno1810]

Dear Conor,

I am also new to DVDpedia and I am really lost when it comes to importing TV Series.
I have done what you suggested (folder and smart collections) but assuming that adding the data for a full season in one go is not possible, I assumed that adding one episode in the library would create the data in the smart collection as well hence your suggestion. But it did not.
I created a folder called "Game of Thrones" then smart collections for Season 1-3 (3 smart collections) with rules as you described.
But when I added 3x1 from the search, the name "Game of Thrones" does not appear in the imported episode data. I mean the Series name is in the bottom grey area with all info, but it's not in the list of movies in my library because in the column there isn't a "Series" field.

Could you please tell me how to add Episodes or Series so that they automatically appear in the Smart Collections created ?

Thanks

[Conor]

Hi,

Thank you for the details. I think the bit your are missing is switching to a search site that is dedicated to TV Series. For example I created the smart collection mentioned.



Then in the find window clicked on the magnifying glass and selected The TVDB. Then search for "Game of Thrones 01x01" and the first result should be what you are looking for.



You would then add that result and search again and only change the episode number to search for the next episode "Game of Thrones 01x02". To make it even faster you can then open the preferences DVDpedia -> Preference menu and check "Add first result automatically". Then keep increasing the episode number until it comes back with "No Match" in big red letters. Switch seasons and start over with "Game of Thrones 02x01". Here is a screenshot of the the results.



I do have it on the possible to do list to add an automatic way to get DVDpedia to download all the episodes for a certain season without having to search for each episode but there is no due date on that feature. Once you get used to the keyboard shortcuts: command-f, arrow right, delete, episode number, return, return, it can go by quite quickly. Specially with "Add first result automatically" checked as it takes away two steps.

I do hope that makes a little sense and your able to get up and running with DVDpedia. Let me know if you have any questions.

[bruno1810]

Yes your reply made a lot of sense. Actually, yesterday it didn't work because the number "3" hadn't been selected in the Smart Collections field so although the episodes were in my library, they were not in the Smart Collection.
Also, for sorting all this, I hadn't selected Season and Episodes in the Preferences/Fields, so that explains that !

Thanks a lot for your great App and your even better Support !

[audacious]

I know this is an older topic but I have recently begun adding those tv series that I own. I have been following along as listed in this string but have a few questions. Sorry for the list but just looking for some guidance for tv series as I try to settle on a flow.

1. While episode number appears within the detail, it does not appear within the add a column listings. How were you able to add it?
2. Not sure I'm crazy about each episode being listed within the library. Is that intended? As a look through the library of what I have I'd want to see Torchwood or Torchwood Season 1 (using the current example for me ... and an excellent series btw) but not each episode?
3. currently they are showing out of sequence within the season. Looks like an alpha by episode name. I assume I can resequence if I had an episode # field.
4. why is the delete option grayed out when attempting to delete an episode?
5. how would I edit information that may turn out to be missing or incorrect when it does not appear within the edit screens, episode # for example.
6. pulling in info from TVDB using the instructions provided but the link is not showing up. should it - or should I be doing something to insure it does?
7. I don't have anything showing up in the collection id field. How would I have that field filled? I assume this is just a sequential numbering for everything within the collection in the sequence added or similar.
8. suggestion for handling a purchased season. Each of the Torchwood seasons were purchased as individual boxed sets. If I wanted to add the price, maybe the cover art for the box - where might I do that. The smart folder might make a logical place for this info but it appears there are no data fields that can be attached to it.
9. Once a series has been created as a folder and filled with smart folders for each season containing episodes, should the series folder be dropped into the library, left where it is (looks kind of odd sitting in the main screen under Library) or dropped into another collection ... say one for TV Series.

Thank you. Guidance much appreciated.

Thank you.

[Conor]

Let see if we can get you going in the right direction, so that you can get the most out of DVDpedia.

1. Do make sure that it's checked in "DVDpedia -> Preferences -> Fields" for the add edit window. This will enable it for the edit window as well as a column option. Looks like it's enabled for the details view only.

2. You can place episodes in an excluded collection, so that they are not within the library. Create a regular collection and then flip it to excluded with "File -> Exclude Collection from Library". If you have hundreds of shows you can use smart collections to get a handle on which episodes need to go into the excluded collection. If starting anew you can add them directly into this collection. You will need to enable "Include excluded collections in smart collection" in the preferences to make sure the series and season smart folders continue to work.

3. Once (1) is solved you can make episode number be the sub sorting after season, to have them list correctly in order.

4. Your likely in a smart collection. To delete from a smart collection hold down the option key and then press delete. This will remove the entry from your entire database.

5. See (1).

6. The link to TVDB should be added to the URL field if empty. The URL field, like the episode field is not shown by default, so do turn that on in the Preferences -> Fields as well. Although not shown it's always available by clicking the title in the details view to visit the main URL link.

7. Collection ID is personal ID field. You can have it sequence new movies automatically, by turning it on under "Movie -> Incremental Collection ID". From the same window you can also apply a sequence to the current selection to modify it. Although all you want to do is list by when the item was added, the date added field is sufficient for this.

8. You can't meta data to the folder for a whole season. But since you want to remove the individual episodes from the Library, you could add the overall box set to the library with the season information and price and then link the individual episodes to the box set. This way your library will be only seasons information (as they are the more standard way of buying series). The episodes are then just references that you can click and pull up the info on in the excluded collection.

9. Complete matter of preference. The most common I have noticed (in the few databases I get for debugging) is a tv show folder by year. E.i. "TV Series 2013" , "TV Series 2014", ... I guess it all depends on what the number of total series is.

Do play around with adding a series or two to get the feel of what works best. If you want you can backup your database base file in the data folder at ~/Library/Application Support/DVDpedia/Database.dvdpd and then really move and play with everything to find the proper solution. Then to undo all the changes you can replace that file with the backup copy without DVDpedia running.

[audacious]

1. I totally missed this. I had been assuming I was seeing everything available for display with my alt-click and that it was in this spot I was determining what should and should not be displayed.
2. I noted that I cannot just alt-click and add smart folder episodes to an excluded collection. I created one but if I drop the eps into it - they are no longer in the smart folder. Are these options mutually exclusive, meaning I would have to look at the excluded collection as the place to store tv episodes? Or should I just bail on the smart collections? Not quite sure I am seeing what smart collections is doing for me short of pre-populating the search field (which appears to occur even when the collection is not a smart one).
3. thank you
4. I was. thank you.
5. thank you
6. check. thank you
7. check. how is this field intended to be used? seems like a way to count the total # of films, episodes etc owned. If so - how would I # everything that has already been done to date?
8. good ideas. curious - do you leave individual episodes in your library? I know the application is flexible, just trying to learn from what others have already
9. makes sense. I already utilized something like your Game of Thrones example. Torchwood folder > Torchwood 1, Torchwood 2, Torchwood 3 etc smart folders. Just wondering if, when complete, I drop the main Torchwood folder into the library or leave it where it is - viewable from the shaded section on the left. In my view, this section is too high level for a series, which should be in a library. Any chance you might provide a screenshot of what you've done?

Thank you Conor.

[Conor]

If you use the excluded feature, don't forget to check the "Include excluded collections in smart collections" under Preferences -> General as otherwise smart collections ignore excluded entries and no episodes would show up.

Using the smart collection is a question of preference the use of smart collections, the use of regular collections works just as well. Or dropping them all in one big excluded collection and using them as references from the season box set only.

The collection ID is meant as an internal ID to match physical location of an item with the digital version. For example a lot of users keep movies alphabetically in a binder. The collection ID might be "A5" referring to the binder letter and the page. Some users do use it as a way of counting and even sorting their collection in a very specific order that has nothing to do with any of the regular fields such as title and director.

To number the episodes already done you would sort them in the order yo want them number, such as by date added or seasons and episode and then select them all, open the Incremental ID pane and then set the starting number and press the "Apply to Selection" button. It will go through and number all the selected entries in order based on the starting number. You could do section at a time without changing the number, as it will keep incrementing the number each time that it sets if for an entry.

I do not have individual episodes in my library. I keep one giant excluded collection with individual episodes in it, and it's not complete. It only has episodes for series I really really like and want that specific information for. I keep season box sets in the library as reference of what I own and have watched (I use a custom column to mark things as watched but not owned).

I place the season in the excluded collection and then I select all episodes, then the season (while holding down command, to append to the selection) and then drag the selected items from list view over the details view for the season. This creates a link from the season to each individual episode. I then drag the season back into my main library. Whenever I want to find season info I click on the episode title in the details view. This is pretty much the only way I use it. But the other solution above of actually grouping seasons and series, gives you a lot more detail, such as total running time for the entire seasons. This is where I use smart collections for when I want to gather that information. I use smart collections sort of as temporary collections that are smart filters sorters, that the regular filter search can't do. As you mention the information is always there, so it's easy to leverage when I need to group those episodes together.