I would like to see an optional item in libraries to write metadata changes back to the original media files. For my use case in particular my primary interest would be in ID3 tags for MP3 files and iTunes style tags for MP4 files.
I have spent quite a bit of time properly tagging my media files and those tags are what allowed Plex to quickly make sense of my collection. So it bothers me that if I make a quick edit in Plex it is permanently locked into Plex’s internal database and not written back to the file where it could help other players, in the same way that Plex was helped by it being there in the first place.
For instance I use Plex and Kodi side by side. I point both directly to the media files. If I change some metadata in Plex that change will never be visible to Kodi. However, if I change metadata in Kodi I can do a library refresh and the change is visible in Plex.
In short I want my metadata to be free, not permanently locked away inside Plex as I use quite a few media players other than Plex.
Yes! This could save a lot of valuable time, resources and bandwidth if you only have to use plex once to get the metadata and then link it to the file in case of a database crash/unrecoverable backup.
I’m fine with it being proprietary to Plex if that’s the way it has to be. It’s better than nothing.
if your plex library is in german you have to make a lot of corrections. there are wrong-matched movies, mistakes in the summary of just wrong covers and sortnames. for years i spend many time to correct all this and make my plex library look perfect. when i changed my server from mac to synology i wasn’t able to move my library and so i had to do all the work again
it’s about one year now and it’s almost perfect again. i really wished all my corrections would have been uploaded and helped me and others to match content better and improve your library metadata.
There have been some discussions about this, and most of those who have commented on it (myself included) are against it. If it happens, there should be an option to disable the feature.
Also, Plex has made it known that they made a conscious decision to not modify media files. I think the only exception to this is the option to allow the server owner to delete media files from within Plex.
That’s probably why this request has not gotten many votes.
I think the difference between “does it automatically” and “does it on user request” is germane here; the best source of data about the files in my library is Plex, so if I want to coerce my files into a nice tidy naming structure I have two options:
Side-by-side Plex, stepping through the info view and naming each file by hand (eugh)
Writing and running a script that connects to Plex and does it for me, then refreshing.
Otherwise there’s nothing that does this. And especially if Plex Cloud is a thing, I sure would like to have my media lose all the various scene specifiers and source information on the way to uploading it.
@beckfield said:
Plex has made it known that they made a conscious decision to not modify media files. I think the only exception to this is the option to allow the server owner to delete media files from within Plex.
The built in metadata editor in plex has made it very easy to correct an error on the fly on any player, without having to open another program or a file explorer window to change a tag. I have been using the feature for a while without realizing that it does not change the metadata in the files.
Writing metadata back to files should be an option in library settings. Example:
Sense PMS is already downloading the meta data & artwork for any given media file, could the ability to save/append that data directly into the media file be added to the the server edit screen, as an option.
To be clear, not that it would do this automatically, but rather when in the Edit meta data screen, have the option to merge this meta data with the associated media file, like the meta data editor identify 2 did, (no longer supported) not creating a new media file, but rather appending or merging it to the existing media file.
When meta data becomes a part of a media file, and if you have to rebuild a database, then PMS would be able to import that meta data without having to hunt down that data again in PMS’s match screen.
I have several unique media files, that are not easily found by PMS and being able to add this meta data to a media file, (without having to use a stand-alone meta data editor) would be extremely helpful.
All that would be needed, is adding the ability to append meta data to the associate media file your currently editing.
I have multiple servers that share a common media storage system. I also have built and torn down many servers for many reasons, (corrupted profiles, new systems, testing, boredom) As a result the files have gotten scanned, indexed, matched, analyzed repeatedly.
I think it would be very beneficial to have the option to store those results in the folder with each file as a way for Plex to be able to avoid duplicating work that another server has done.
My idea would be for Plex to store a file with each item that essentially is an export of the regular database. I’m not saying to use this as a replacement for the database but as a way to share metadata and file details without having each server start from the begining.
Example: Server Alpha scans the library and writes the matches to the file in the folder. I go on Server Alpha’s library and fix any broken matches, and custom posters, Alpha then updates the metadatafile with the changes.
Server Bravo adds the same folders as a library. When it does the scan if finds the metadata file and accepts the information and adds it to the library without having to run an agent scan.
Server Bravo is set to do file analysis and intro finding. It runs those tasks and saves the details to the metadata file. When server Alpha rescans the library it reads the metadata file and sees the changes and adds those details to it’s own database. Server Charlie has better processing so it does chapter thumbnails. It stores a copy of those with the media and adds it to the metadata file. Servers Alpha and Bravo, see the metadata change and import the chapter screenshots and don’t have to do the processing over.
Yes I know it would use more storage space. But there are already warnings about things like thumbnails taking more space.
I would also suggest to include an option to remove all metadata files if you want to start over.
(Copied from my suggestion that was deemed a duplicate)
I disagree that @halcyonforever’s request was a duplicate, since it wasn’t about updating the tags on the media files (which is far harder, and I really don’t want Plex rewriting my files automatically), but storing chapter thumbnails and other metadata locally with the media
Personally, I would love if all thumbnails were stored by MD5 or similar next to the media:
/Movies//Movie.mp4
/Movies//.plex/meta.xml (or json, yaml, toml, etc. Just any non-binary format)
/Movies//.plex/Poster.jpg
/Movies//.plex/thumbnails/Movie.mp4-/thumb-00:00:00.jpg
/Movies//.plex/thumbnails/Movie.mp4-/thumb-00:00:15.jpg
In my dream world, the meta.xml would include stuff like the intro timings for the skip intros feature, and anything else Plex stores about the media.
I would very much like two levels of options, which would help me with my music library immensely.
Editing the meta data in each file is laborious - Plex does it far easier. I would like the option to write back the meta data where possible (I know not all file formats allow for it).
As a second level, Plex has its standard for folder and file structure. If I move things around, then the PMS database sees it only as files disappearing and new ones being added (along with play history, etc.). It would be incredibly useful if there were a function (or an option to do it automagically) to rearrange the files in the library according to Plex naming conventions, while keeping the “links” in PMS to the individual files.
