Serviio - free DLNA media server for Windows, Mac and Linux

Media Streaming Server

Metadata extraction

Serviio supports priority-based configuration of metadata extractors. The idea is that all (enabled) extractors will run for each media file and try to get as much metadata as possible. Metadata found by an extractor with higher priority overwrite metadata found by an extractor with lower priority. The current release includes these extractors (by priority):

  • Embedded metadata
  • Online metadata sources
  • Swisscenter
  • XBMC
  • Media Center Master
  • Local poster

Embedded metadata

Some media files may include metadata stored in the media files themselves. This is the case of audio files (ID3 tags, WMA tags, etc) and some image files (EXIF tags). For video files this extractor generates the video's thumbnail.

Online metadata sources

This is currently only supported for video files. Serviio can retrieve metadata for movies (using www.themoviedb.org) and TV series (using www.thetvdb.com).

It will parse the name of your media file (and its parent folder) and try to make out the movie/series name. If found the metadata is stored in the media library. These are the file name patterns that will identify an episode of a series (season 1, episode 2):

  • file name includes S01E01, S1E2 or S1E01 (e.g. MySeries S01E02.avi)
  • file name includes S01.E01, S1.E2 or S1.E01 (e.g. MySeris S01.E02.avi)
  • file name includes S01_E01, S1_E2 or S1_E01 (e.g. MySeries S01_E02.avi)
  • file name includes 01x02, 1x2 or 1x02 (e.g. MySeries 01x02.avi)
  • file name starts with 1 02 (e.g. 1 02 MySeries.avi)
  • file name starts with 01 02 (e.g. 01 02 MySeries.avi)
  • file name includes 'season 1 episode 02' (e.g. MySeries season 1 episode 02.avi)
  • file name includes 01-02 -, 01 - 02 -, 1 - 2- (e.g. 01-02 - MySeries - EpisodeTitle.avi, MySerie - 1 - 02 - Episode name.avi)
The other files will be treated as movies.

In a case there are other movies with the same title, but different release years, you can include the year in the title of the video (or the parent folder), e.g. 'My movie (2005)'.

If your video cannot be recognized try to name your file or folder more accurately and double check if the video is present in the above online databases. If not, feel free to contribute to them and add or edit the metadata. Alternatively you can give Serviio a hint by including the IMDb ID in the file name.

Swisscenter

Serviio supports importing XML files generated by Swisscenter media center. Using this extractor will enable you to completely manage your media library metadata via Swisscenter.

XBMC

Serviio supports importing .nfo XML files generated by XBMC. Using this extractor will enable you to completely manage your media library metadata via XBMC.

For movie metadata, Serviio looks for a file movie.nfo or [video_file_name].nfo. For episodic content, Serviio looks for [video_file_name].nfo and tvshow.nfo (in the same or any parent folder).

Media Center Master

Serviio supports importing Media Center Master metadata files.

For movie metadata, Serviio looks for a file movie.xml. For episodic content, Serviio looks for series.xml file in the parent folder and metadata/[filename].xml for the episode details.

Local poster

If there is a local image file representing a music album or a video it can be used. These are the files that will be looked for:

  • Audio: folder.jpg, AlbumArt.jpg, cover.jpg, front_cover.jpg, {something}[front].jpg
  • Video: dvdcover.jpg, movie.jpg, name including "poster".jpg, {media_file_name}.jpg, {media_file_name}.tbn, {media_file_name}.thm, {media_file_name}-thumb.jpg, {media_file_name}-poster.jpg

Metadata management tools

bliss!

There are some 3rd party tools that can help you manage your media files' metadata. You can, for example, easily manage your audio metadata using bliss!