Happy holidays to the dev team. Hope any time off was spent well.
Is there any update on M4B resume support?
I realize itâs only been (almost) 3 months since Elan said theyâre working on adding audiobooks. Iâd like to request that the Audiobook library type also support video files. (For video training courses) The primary reason is that an Audiobook library, as opposed to the TV library, should support variable playback speeds, and background play, while keeping the ability to resume play from where the user left off.
Either way, anxiously awaiting audiobook support in plex. Will be a genuine life changer for people with long commutes, who like to learn while theyâre on the road.
@tcrimsonk said:
Iâd like to request that the Audiobook library type also support video files.
You might want to read what your source said because he only mentioned a resume feature as far as I can tell. If there was a new library then presumably this would offer nothing new compared to the audio one which already exists, unless it provided scraping.
Fingers crossed for a full audio book library but Iâm not reading into the comments that much.
Oh, man, Iâm already prepping my collection of audiobooks for when this update drops!
+1 for this!
+1 please.
Any updates here? Been a while since weâve heard anythingâŠ
I really hope we get this feature! Would allow me to start reading again (well, listening).
All for Plex and Plex for all!
can we get an update from a ninja?
Anxiously awaiting this feature!
Iâm also waiting since a long time for this feature. Please keep going. I donât want a hybrid solution with converting files and make them TV show like available. A real Podcast and audiobook support is really a big thing for Plex.
From the German view, please consider podlove (podlove.org | https://github.com/podlove).
I guess itâs not worthwhile to ask, but Iâll try. Is there something like a schedule for this feature or a percentage you can announce?
Budwyzer very much wants a resume feature added for audio files! It seems silly that this doesnât already exist from the start.
i do not think that a simple resume function is enough for audio book section, i personally prefer to listen audio book at higher speed, 2.1 to 2.3 times faster. there is a very good audio book player for android which does that with out distorting pitch of audio.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ak.alizandro.smartaudiobookplayer&hl=en
if that program would support webdav i wouldnât even bothered with distant hopes of plex ever supporting audio-books
But lets just get the basic audiobook facility in though - its taking a long long timeâŠ
Iâm slowing getting my disjointed media library more centralized and integrating it into Plex.
No resume on audio (for audiobooks especially) is turning into a big :((
If a dedicated audiobook library type gave full(er) audiobook functionality, thatâd be pretty âwowâ and definitely :x
The user and all related content has been deleted.
@elan said:
Itâs being actively worked on, but will take a while to get it into all the clientsâŠ
Any chance we can get a status update?
Until the Audiobooks section is officially supported I have a working fix for getting Audio Books into Plex that will work on phones and roku as well! Obviously it is not as good as official support but this is probably the best you are going to get for now. It is fast too, only takes a few min to get your book into Plex.
Items Needed:
MKVToolNix
Dummy Video Track (custom 10 min blank video) tiny file @ 124 KB
BulkFileChanger (optional)
Audiobook maker like Markable or Chapter and Verse (optional)
I use Markable to convert the audio files into an m4b using the âspoken podcastââ settings in itunes import settings. But this is optional, separate mp3âs will work fine with these instructions.
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Bring your imported file(s) into MKVToolNix. If you are using multiple audio files you will need to add them with âAppend Filesâ option (right click in the files section)
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Add the dummy video track I created. This track is 10 min long but we will use the âStretch byâ field to make it fit the audio.
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You need to compute the stretch factor of the video to fit the audio. If you use my video track then use this formula ((Hours x 60 x 60)+(Minutes x 60)+Seconds)/(10 x 60). This will give you the scaling factor of the 10 min video file to the length of your audio book.
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Select the video track from the âTracks, chapters, tags and attachmentsâ box and paste the computed value into the âStretch byâ field on the right.
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âStart muxingâ your file which will quickly produce an mkv file without re-encoding anything.
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Edit the mkv file in BulkFileChanger or other program of your choice to set the creation date on the file to the proper year of the book. If you donât do this now then Plex will import it with todayâs date and cannot be changed without removing and re-adding the file later.
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Place the video and cover art in a folder the way Plex likes. I prefer to use the âHome Videosâ library type but you may choose to do it differently. Just make sure the library scanner is set to Personal Media
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Edit the imported file in Plex to add descriptions
Is it really necessary to insert a video stream into the file?
It depends on your use case. It will play fine through the Web client without a video stream and retain your place to resume if you rename the extension from m4b to m4v or mp4. Unfortunately that is the only place it will work correctly. It will appear to be stuck on loading with your phone but you may hear audio and it will not save your place to resume layer. Plex will return an error when the book is attempted to load through Roku without a video stream. For universal support you will need a video stream and since there is no re-compression it only takes a couple of minutes to do.
