Media Identification

Introduction :Media naming conventions have for long been a major headache for HTPC enthusiasts and Home Theater application developers, causing all kinds of problems when the user's media collection is not properly organized.

MediaFairy goes out of it's way to avoid dependance on the naming of the user's media files where it's applicable, but there is no such thing as a perfect world and there will be circumstances where other identifying methods will fail and the plugin will have to rely on the naming of your media files.

So let's discuss in detail how exactly MediaFairy will attempt to identify your media:

Movies ::'''What MediaFairy needs to get online details for this media type:''' ::: -IMDb ID

::'''Methods used to obtain it without relying on the file's naming:''' ::: 1) Parsing an .nfo file inside the movie's directory which contains an IMDb link to the movie in question. ::: 2) Matching the file's hash (fingerprint) to the online databases themoviedb.org and opensubtitles.org.

::'''Which information MediaFairy will try to extract from the file/folder name if alternative methods fail:''' ::: 1) Will extract the IMDb ID if it is found in the media file's name or the folder which contains it. This will give '''perfect''' matching accuracy. ::: 2) Will extract the movie's production year if it is found in the media file's name or the folder which contains it. Combined with extraction of the movie's title, this will give '''almost perfect''' matching accuracy. ::: 3) Will extract the movie's title found in the media file's name or the folder which contains it. Using this information alone (without being combined with the production year) will give '''good''' matching accuracy.

::'''How and where the information must be stored in the media file's name in order for MediaFairy to extract it:''' ::: '''IMDb ID:''' It must start with the letters ''''tt'''' followed by the film's IMDb id number. The IMDb ID can be anywhere on the file or folder name, before or after the film's title. ::::Example: Fight Club tt0137523.mkv

::: '''Production year:''' It's best to be contained within '''()''', '''.md''' or '''{}''' brackets to avoid false year recognition in the rare case where the actual film title contains a year or a similar number. It can be anywhere after the movie's title in the media file's name or the folder which contains it. ::::Example: Inception (2010).mkv

::: '''Film title:''' It can be anywhere in the file name or the folder which contains it. If the file name contains common keywords which describe the format, resolution, disc type or language of the media file, they will be ignored in order for the correct film title to be extracted. If the title contains dots instead of spaces, they will be converted to spaces.

TV Shows/Series ::'''What MediaFairy needs to get online details for this media type:''' ::: -TVDb ID

::'''Methods used to obtain it without relying on the file's naming:''' ::: Unfortunately none because there isn't an alternative proven identifying method that I know of.

::'''Which information MediaFairy will try to extract from the file/folder name:''' ::: 1) Will extract the Series name if it is found in the media file's name or the folder which contains it. Combined with succesful extraction of Season number and Episode number, this will give '''perfect''' matching accuracy. If any these three types of information could not be extracted, the episode '''will not''' be identified. ::: 2) Will extract the episode's Season number if it is found in the media file's name or the folder which contains it. ::: 3) Will extract the Episode number if it is found in the media file's name.

::'''How and where the information must be stored in the media file's name in order for MediaFairy to extract it:'''

::: '''Series name:''' It can be anywhere in the media file's name as long as it is located before the season and episode numbers.

::: '''Season number:''' It can be anwywhere in the media file's name as long as it is located after the Series name. Must immediately follow the ''''S'''' character ''or'' be immediately followed by the ''''x'''' character (case of both characters doesn't matter).

::: '''Episode number:''' It can be anywhere in the media file's name as long as it is located after the Series name. Must immediately follow the ''''E'''' character ''or'' immediately follow the ''''x'''' character (case of both characters doesn't matter).

::::Examples: ::::: Seinfeld S01E12.avi ::::: Seinfeld 01x12.avi

Music ::'''What MediaFairy needs to get online details for this media type:''' ::: -PUID (PUID or Portable Unique IDentifier is a unique identifier used by MusicIP and given by MusicDNS to identify a song).

::'''Method used to obtain it without relying on the file's naming:''' ::: Will analyze the acoustic properties of the music track in order to uniquely identify it and obtain it's PUID.

::'''Which information MediaFairy will try to extract from the file/folder name:''' ::: None, since music tagging is a much more reliable and proven method of organizing music. There are many good programs out there which can help you easily tag your music. But even if your music is not properly tagged, MF will do a good job automatically tagging it since the MusicIP database is very extensive.

Games for Windows ::'''What MediaFairy needs to get online details for this media type:''' ::: -The title of the game and optionally the company who developed it.

::'''Method used to obtain it without relying on the file's naming:''' ::: If there is manifest information stored in the game's main executable, MediaFairy will obtain the game's title and developer from there.

::'''Which information MediaFairy will try to extract from the shortcut's name if the alternative method fails:''' ::: Will extract the game's title from the name of the shortcut which points to the game executable. The shortcut's name must be '''exactly''' identical to the title of the game.

e-Books