$4.99 one time activation fee (I am still confused)

General Discussions
21

You can use this for first month free on a monthly sub https://www.plex.tv/ad/free-trial-plex-pass/

( Just remember to cancel renewal before the month ends, so it does not charge a second month if it does not work out for you ).

22

You guys rock!

TWO more question and I am good to go as I have mastered alot thanks to you guys !

My powerful PC uses 1200 watts as there are 12 hard drives and a 18 core cpu

If my PC goes to sleep, can PLEX awaken it, if so, how or does PLEX does it automatically?

Also, if I move my root drive (Does each catgory have it’s own root folder) to a slave drive not primary, are thumbnail, etc transported or does it have to be rescanned? is there a setting backup file if i reformat my PC?

Thanks? By the way does PLEX have a donations tab, as the Plex support is 1st class, truly

Thanks again

Jeff

23

well


  1. I think in most cases, plex actively prevents sleeping, so this shouldn’t be a problem. I do not think plex supports any wake protocols to make a device wake up if for some reason it has sleeped or suspended itself.

  2. plex stores its metadata (files and databases) it it’s own plex data directory. When a library is created, it is created as a certain type (tv, movie, music, other video). Libraries can have multiple paths, so if you add/move/remove drives or paths, the library can be edited accordingly.

there is a process that should be followed if you are moving content around, in order to keep play history/counts/watched status, which is explained in various places in threads here and in the support articles.

The settings/plex data folder can be backed up, and main database is backed up automatically (if enabled) every few days.

The settings/data folder location is dependent on the OS, and the default paths can also be found in the support articles.

Keep in mind, the application installation folder, and the data folders are 2 different things and different locations. One is for the executables/dependencies needed for whatever os is running, and the other is the settings/library databases/metadata files.

The main details can be found in the support articles so I won’t repeat them here.

24

Everything, thanks to you guys works great !

Just a follow-up question:

I understand that media has to all be in a root folder, i get that and all works great.

However, once that drives become full, can I add a second, third, forth drive to expand my vast collection?

Thanks,

Jeff

25

Media should never ever be in the root folder. It should be in sub-folders and those sub-folders are what you add to a library.

You can add as many sub-folders to a library as you want therefore you can add as many drives as you want and as your system will support.

Media must be structured according to the Plex guidelines, this is particularly important for TV shows.

26

You guys rock as your advice has taken me on a great PLEX experience.

I am AMAZED that my TV shows where are labeled S01x01, S0102 and it names the episode, episode synopsis
WOW

Is this because how I lable the shows or is there metadat in the video file itself?

Again guys,

THANKS !!

27

Your naming may mostly work but it is incorrect for Plex. (or Emby for that matter) Instead try following this general guide:

TV Shows ← The TV library points here
_______ShowName (year)
____________Season 01
__________________ShowName (year) - s01e01 - Optional Name.ext
__________________ShowName (year) - s01e02 - Optional Name.ext
__________________and so on for the shows in season 01
____________Season 02 ← just like Season 01
____________Season 03 ← and so on for each season

____________Season 00 ← or “Specials”
__________________ShowName (year) - s00e01 - Optional name
__________________ShowName (year) - s00e02 - Optional name
__________________and so on for each special

Note: the eXX part of the specials must match EXACTLY what is found in TheTVDB

You can try other setups BUT Plex is very picky about TV show structure and it is best not to fight the great Plexisaurus.
https://support.plex.tv/articles/naming-and-organizing-your-tv-show-files/

28

PLEX is working great ! This forum rocks !

Soon I’ll be experimenting with music and tens of thousands of jpegs.

Is there a filesize limit as to how many files PLEX can manage?

I find it so awesome how PLEX adds episode info and thumbnails.

15 years ago I used Meedio and thought that was the best.

One question though, I convert all my media to MKV which works out to 1/4th the original file size. If I did not convert, would PLEX automatically take the original format and bitrate and transcode appropriately or must I convert on my own?

Thanks !

29
  1. there is no hard limit, but of course the larger a library gets, the more resources it will take (cpu/ram/disk).
  2. converting/transcoding is done one when needed, if the client can play a file without converting, then plex will just direct play it.
  3. just a clarification, but mkv is simply a container, it does not make files smaller, what you are doing is called transcoding, you are converting the video data inside the mkv from one quality to a lower and smaller quality so it uses less space.
30

Everything working flawlessly; one question though
My TV shows folder is on my desktop at 300gb. I wish to move it to a secondary drive I just added which can accomodate up to 14tb

How do I safely point PLEX to this new drive once I copy the TV shows folder over to it?

Thanks so much !!

31

edit your tv library and add the additional drive path.

libraries can have multiple paths.
like so
tv library >

  • /media/tv1
  • /usbdrive/tv2
  • /sharedrive/tv3
32

However, I wish to move the existing library fro my C drive as it is almost full. If I move the existing folder to my D drive and issue a scan libraries command will the thumbnails and metadata b there since the original folder is no longer on the C drive.

Thank you !

33
  • Copy all the content from C to D (at this time, don’t change anything within Plex, yet)
    (Copy doesn’t mean move!)
  • Edit your tv shows library, go to the ‘Add Folders’ tab and add the new location to the library.
    Don’t remove the old folder, yet!
  • trigger a ‘Scan library files’ for your tv show library.
    Give it plenty of time to finish.
  • inspect your tv shows library. All your episodes should have a little 2 in the upper-left corner of their posters.
    If they do, continue. If not, remove the new path from your library.
  • Edit your library again and this time remove the old path to drive C
34

Will try shortly, thank you Otto

35

Otto, worked like a charm ! THANK YOU

One more question for the PLEX GURUS

I have Super highspeed download and upload at all my locations

Which is better with a ripped bluray: Let PLEX transcode the m2ts file or using HANDBRAKE to change into MKV Container? If Handbrake what are the optimal settings for best quality, bit rate and ease of access ( no buffering or stops)?

Thank you and please point me to PLEX $$ contributions page

36

A ripped Bluray usually has several m2ts files per movie. Which doesn’t work with Plex at all. And even if you only have one m2ts file, you will miss alternative audio tracks or subtitles in Plex.
Always use makemkv to convert BRs to MKV.

That way you will even be able to include most of the Bonus Content of the disc as Local Extras into your library (if you are into this sort of thing)

Whether you should recompress your ripped files is a difficult question. And ultimately only you can answer it.
Leaving the files in full size guarantees that you have the ultimate quality at your disposal.

On the other hand, recompressing the files will

  • reduce their size,
  • improve their compatibility with many client devices
  • will reduce or even completely avoid the need to transcode during playback, leading to a much lower server load (and also better looking movies, because you can tell Handbrake to invest more computing power [and time] to make the compression more efficient, which makes the file smaller. If the server needs to transcode on-the-fly during playback, it doesn’t have this luxury and needs to make quality sacrifices and cut corners)
  • take time and energy
  • will also reduce their quality

Now the last point is a crucial one.
And again, only you can answer it, after you have conducted several tests and have gained experience.
Make some test encodes and assess the visual quality using the biggest and best screen you have at your disposal.

If you search the web (or even these forums alone), you will find dozens of encoding tips for Handbrake.
(Let me warn you: there is not really a “one fits all” for all types of content. Anime and cel-animated movies need different compression parameters than regular movies.
Highly “grainy” movies need different paramaters than “clean” movies etc. pp)

37

just to help clarify

mkv is just a container, it doesn’t change the compression or quality or file size.

handbrake is the application that (can but doesn’t have to) re-encodes (ie transcodes) the video/audio data into different qualities/sizes/resolutions.

you can use mkv with or without transcoding the quality/size/resolution (then your file size would be about the same, but just with mkv file extention).

38

Just curious
why use tjhe mkv container if not changing any parameters?

Also why is makemkv preferred to handbrake? Make mkv crashes on my win 10 system.

Thanks !

39

not all devices support all containers.

mkv is a popular one that is compatible with most devices that aren’t apple.

mp4/m4v is a container that is compatible with apple devices, and also many other devices.

makemkv is a ripper/remuxer that converts dvd/bluray/4kbluray content into mkv containers without changing the actual video/audio data (you can remove extra streams you don’t want, like non-eng subtitles and audio).

makemkv doesn’t convert the actual data, that is what handbrake (and other apps) does.

most people who use makemkv use it to rip the disks and put the content in mkv so it can play back on other devices.

people use handbrake to further reduce the size/quality/resolution of the ripped content, this can go into mkv or mp4 or whatever containers you can choose.

so rip disk > makemkv > playable file with exact same quality as the disk > handbrake > convert disk quality to smaller size/quality/resolution as you see fit.

there is no one size fits all quality when converting your own media, you must decide the quality level that is acceptable for the size you want.

if you want high quality, then your file sizes will be closer to the original rip size.

if you want small files, then your quality will be less than the original rip quality.

you have to find the the balance that is acceptable to you.

or don’t convert at all (just keep the original huge rip in mkv)

40

Wow
thank you for that valuable primer