I’m currently ripping my DVD collection, and am finally getting to the actual films vs. the TV shows. I read up initially how to add DVD extras for a film, and was able to do it without issue. Now, I cannot get Plex to recognize it. Perhaps Plex itself changed since I did the same thing 2 months ago, when I could add extras with no issue? Here’s the steps I’m taking–what am I missing?
First off, this is being done on a Mac, unless noted.
Rip the DVD via Handbrake (this is being done on a Windows PC).
Move the files to the Mac.
Rename the actual film file to match the official title.
Run that file through Subler to get metadata and optimize it.
Review the extras and see what I actually want to keep, then rename the files accordingly.
Import the actual film film to iTunes (I store my library in iTunes as I have another app pulling shows from my TiVo, and that’s where it lands). Usually, it will correctly add it to the Movie library.
Import the extras to iTunes, where they initially land as “Home Movies”.
Create a file subfolder at the same level as the movie file called “Featurette” (I’ve tried that with and without an “s”).
Copy the extras into that folder. (According to all I’ve read, that should make Plex recognize them).
Delete the extras still sitting under “Home Movies”.
In Plex, scan the Movie library.
At this point, I should find the extras listed on the detail screen for that film–but they do not appear.
I’ve tried the alternate method, putting a suffix on the file name of the extra, then placing it at the same level as the movie file. I’ve also given it 24 hours for Plex to do whatever it does over and above a regular scan, as I’ve read it sometimes needs to do that.
I’ve also run this with “Local Media Assets (Movies)” at both the top and bottom positions in the Plex agents settings, as I’ve read conflicting comments about which is correct–no luck.
Right now, the extra files are just piling up in a separate folder as the ripping continues until this is resolved.
Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
Mac OS 10.9.5 (older Mac that can’t be updated past that)
iTunes 12.6 (same)
Plex Server 1.20.3.3483
I’m not exactly sure about your step #7. Unless you actually want to watch those extras from within iTunes, you won’t need to add them. From other user’s posts in this forum I recognize that the iTunes organization does not always play nice with Plex.
Find below an example of how to structure local extras for Plex to pick them up. This example is based on the movie The Invention of Lying from 2009. The movie folder contained by the folder that’s linked to my movie library in Plex ([library folder] > The Invention of Lying (2009)).
… and how they’ll show up in Plex (I believe there’s currently a bug that’ll result in the extras showing in a weird order… otherwise 100% as expected)
Can a single Plex library have multiple sources? I would still want the actual film to be in iTunes, and I just figured it made sense to keep the film and the extras together. However, if I can store the extras separately and have Plex see both iTunes and a separate Extras directory, that would be great.
Each library can have multiple folders as sources. You can add folders by going to the manage library - edit library - add folders and then just add a folder.
I have never tried keeping extras in a separate folder from the original movie. I don’t see why it shouldn’t work. Give it a try and see what happens.
The only thing I can think of is you may need to create a dummy folder in your extras folder so that Plex can match the featurettes / Behind the Scenes etc… with the correct movie. For example.
Movies / Back to the Future (1985) / Featurettes / The Making of Back to the Future-featurette.mkv
So wherever you have your DVD extras, you would need to create a empty movie folder, then create a featurettes folder, and then drop your extra content there. Make sure to use the -extratype as the example in the plex support page. In theory this should work. But I have not tested it. Good luck.
Sorry, I had added the -featurette suffix as that’s how the example above showed it. I would prefer using the subfolder method only. I went ahead and removed the suffix, then scanned the Movie library again, with no success.
I have the actual movie in iTunes (…iTunes/iTunes Media/Movies/Being John Malkovich/Being John Malkovich.m4v). That’s the only placement of the main film.
Shouldn’t have any influence. Except over the order of the extras.
If LMA is at the top, then local extras will appear first, before the Plex-supplied extras.
Otherwise you’ll always have to scroll past those.
All of this has only relevance in a library which hasn’t been converted to the new Plex Movie agent.
Well, it seems like having any part of the movie in iTunes just won’t work. So, as a test, I moved a movie file to the separate folder structure alongside the featurettes, removed iTunes as a source for Movies, and rescanned the library. Eureka! It worked fine.
So, I’m going to move the rest of the movie files over–that should resolve it. thanks
