HOW-TO:Movie universe

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1 Introduction


A few of the more common universes are...

Movies TV Shows
DC Extended Universe... wikipedia:DC Extended Universe Buffyverse... wikipedia:Buffyverse
Marvel Cinematic Universe... wikipedia:Marvel Cinematic Universe Stargate Universe... wikipedia:Stargate Universe
Star Wars Universe... wikipedia:Star Wars
Wizarding World... wikipedia:Wizarding_World

The method detailed in this guide satisfies the following:

  1. Allows for any sorting as required by the user
  2. Does not interfere with Movie Sets and library listings and their sort orders
  3. Is permanent which allows recreating the Universe with minimal effort

Note: Movies and TV Shows cannot be combined. For single feature movies that are prequels or sequels to TV shows, such as Stargate (1994) or Serenity (2005), consider moving it into the TV show as the first or final episode of the show.

Not sure where to find accurate sort orders for your franchise, then try this site... All Timelines

2 Steps

The example used in this guide is the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Canonical sort order

The steps apply equally to Movies and TV Shows except when stated otherwise.

If the movies or tv shows are already scraped into your library, they will need to be deleted from the library. Exporting to Separate Files will preserve your data for rescanning into the library. Delete the library entries before starting the steps.

2.1 Source

Ideally the Universe should be in its own Source. - eg a folder named Marvel Universe containing all the movie folders.

This is not a requirement, but does make maintenance easier.

2.2 Folder Names

For this setup to work, Movie folders are required

For TV Shows, the standard TV Show > Season > Episode structure is all that is required. (Season folders are optional)

Important: Folder names should be clean and simple- eg Captain America The First Avenger (2011)

2.3 File Naming

This naming scheme enables the unique sorting which is not based on the common Date and Alphabetical sorting. The ability to sort the playlist using Date, Title or any of the other common methods still exists from the Left Sideblade Menu

The filenames require a prefix containing a playlist identifier and sort position, followed by the standard naming. See the following example:

MCU150-Captain America Civil War (2016).mkv


MCU Playlist identifier
150 Sort position
- hyphen
Captain America Civil War (2016) Standard filenaming
  • Each movie in the Universe will have the same user nominated Playlist Identifier, but a unique Sort position.
  • Increasing the sort position numbering by 5 or 10 between movies allows adding new movies to the universe without the need to adjust the numbering of the existing movies in the library. Use as many digits as you require. If creating the Arrowverse playlist you may need a 4 or 5 digit sort position prefix.
  • When deciding on the playlist identifier prefix, ensure the prefix does not resemble the start of a movie or tv show name. eg Using AV for Arrowverse, may be confused with the Avatar TV show (if one is ever created) and picked up by the smart playlist. Using AVU, AVS or AVQ removes the chance of conflict with a movie or TV show title.
  • If you have NFO Files and local Artwork, ensure the names of these files are also modified to match

Expand the following table to view the Marvel Cinematic Universe renaming:

2.4 Update Library

Now that you have removed the original entries from the library, renamed the video files and moved them into movie folders, it is time to add them back to the library.

Important: The setting Movies are in separate folders that match the movie title must be Enabled in the Set Content screen for the Source.

Use your normal preferred method to update the library.

See: Adding Sources and Scraping
See: Updating or Removing Videos

2.5 Smart Playlist

Create a Smart Playlist as shown in the images below.

Once the Rule has been created using the playlist identifier, ensure the following items are set..

  • Order by - File
  • Order - Ascending

Your Universe is ready.

2.6 Main Menu

For easy access to your Universes, consider creating a new Main Menu item named Universes or similar and adding each of your franchises as sub-menu items.

See: Custom home items

3 Common Universe Orders

Below are suggested filenaming for common franchises. Feel free to add other franchises.

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