Thumbnails for TV episodes

**Frankski** · September 12th, 2011, 09:54 AM

Hey all

Two questions:

Where does boxee box get the thumbnails for the individual TV episodes (it doesn't seem to be thetvdb.com)?

How do I change an individual tv episode's thumbnail?

I am currently putting my Futurama DVDs onto my boxee (which is such a headache, as thetvdb insists on using the 'aired' order and 'aired' seasons, instead of the DVD release order and seasons -- so I am creating NFOs for all the episodes indiviually). However, I found that for all my season 2 eps and later, there just isn't a image at all for the episode. I tried adding a <thumb> tag, but it just gives me a small portion of the main futurama thumb zoomed it.

See below for my original nfos and the one I added a <thumb> to. ANy help is appreciated.

Original (Futurama.s02e01.nfo):
<episodedetails>
<title>I Second That Emotion</title>

<rating>10.00</rating>
<season>2</season>
<episode>1</episode>
<plot>Professor Farnsworth installs an empathy chip in Bender after the inconsiderate robot flushes Nibbler down the toilet. With his newfound emotions, a concerned Bender ventures into the mutant-infested sewers to rescue Leela's beloved pet.</plot>
<runtime>21 min</runtime>
<aired>1999-11-21</aired>
</episodedetails>

Added (useless) thumb tag:
<episodedetails>
<title>I Second That Emotion</title>

<rating>10.00</rating>
<season>2</season>
<episode>1</episode>
<plot>Professor Farnsworth installs an empathy chip in Bender after the inconsiderate robot flushes Nibbler down the toilet. With his newfound emotions, a concerned Bender ventures into the mutant-infested sewers to rescue Leela's beloved pet.</plot>
<runtime>21 min</runtime>
<aired>1999-11-21</aired>
<thumb>http://thetvdb.com/banners/episodes/73871/131187.jpg</thumb>
</episodedetails>

**war59312** · September 12th, 2011, 12:03 PM

It appears that BB generates thumbnails from the files instead of getting from any online source. Which seems like most devices do.

I'd forget using all that...

Just add a .tbn file in the directory with the same name as the video file.

For example:

\\192.168.1.193\raid\Boxee\TV Shows (HD)\True Blood\Season 1\True.Blood.S01E01.mkv
\\192.168.1.193\raid\Boxee\TV Shows (HD)\True Blood\Season 1\True.Blood.S01E01.nfo
\\192.168.1.193\raid\Boxee\TV Shows (HD)\True Blood\Season 1\True.Blood.S01E01.tbn

So .mkv is the video file of course. The .nfo file is of course the .nfo file that belongs to this episode. And the .tbn file is used as the thumbnail for this episode.

Note: DO NOT MANUALLY IDENTIFY TV SHOWS (See: http://jira.boxee.tv/browse/BOXEE-9908)

YOU WILL GET THE WRONG THUMBNAILS, YOU MUST DO A COMPLETE SCAN OF THE SOURCE

I recommend you check out Ember Media Manager @ http://forums.boxee.tv/showthread.php?t=33055 if you are running Windows. It can do all if this automatically for you.

**Frankski** · September 12th, 2011, 01:03 PM

Do I need a <thumb> tag in the nfo file if I include a .tbn file?

**Mike Hock** · September 12th, 2011, 01:06 PM

Nope. Just make sure not to manually identify the show as the .tbn functionality is broken and will display the series main thumbnail folder.jpg instead of the tbn file.

**Frankski** · September 12th, 2011, 02:09 PM

Originally Posted by Mike Hock

Nope. Just make sure not to manually identify the show as the .tbn functionality is broken and will display the series main thumbnail folder.jpg instead of the tbn file.

Is this something (the tbn functionality) that is on deck for the boxee crew to fix (just a curiosity)?

**Mike Hock** · September 12th, 2011, 03:50 PM

There is this JIRA issue: http://jira.boxee.tv/browse/BOXEE-9908 and I believe there was another for the same issue. They know about it but with the laundry list of other fixes they need to make in addition to new functionality they need to implement who knows when or if they will ever get to it.