How posters and info work
Providers often send movies and series with a bare file name and a poor picture. M3UTool looks each title up on TMDB, a large public database of films and TV shows, and stores what it finds with the title. Your customers then see a poster, a plot, the year, the genres, the rating, the running time, the cast and a trailer.
Where it lives
Movies and Series each have a Posters & info tab. The grid there shows every title with its poster. The Posters & info button in the top bar fills in many titles at once. Click a title to see what is stored for it and to fix it by hand.
What a lookup fills in
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| Poster | The official poster, in portrait shape. |
| Plot | "A thief who steals secrets from people's dreams is offered one last job: plant an idea in a target's mind." |
| Year | 2010 |
| Genres | Action, Science Fiction |
| Rating | 8.4 |
| Running time | 2h 28m |
| Cast and trailer | The main actors and a link to the trailer. |
How a title is found
- By its name: M3UTool searches TMDB for the title. Codes that it knows, such as "EN -" or "|DE|" at the start, are taken off first.
- With the year: When the name carries a year, like "Night Harbour (1987)", it picks the film of that year.
- In a language: Each title is looked up in the language of its group. More in Language of posters and info.
- Rather none than wrong: A title without a confident match is left alone. You can pick its match by hand. More in Pick the right match.
What a match may change
You decide how far a match goes:
- The name: A match gives the title its TMDB name, with the year when you want it. When you pick a match by hand, you can keep your own name instead.
- The poster: A match replaces the provider's picture with the TMDB poster. When you pick a match by hand, you can keep the picture you have.
- The group: With Sort into genre groups, a match moves into a group named after its genre, for example "|DE| Action". Without it, the title stays where it is.
Series
A series is one entry with its seasons and episodes under it. A lookup fills in the whole show. With Give episodes their real titles, the episodes get their real names too, for example "S02E05 - The Lighthouse". Click the poster of a series in its details to see all seasons and episodes.
What happens by itself
- New titles arrive bare after an update from your provider. Switch on the Posters & info step in Playlist automation to fill them in after every update. More in Playlist automation.
- M3UTool has its own TMDB key, so there is nothing to set up. You can use your own key instead. More in Fill in posters and info.
- Posters are sent to your customers' players from M3UTool, so they load quickly and keep working when TMDB is slow.