Currently, Plex handles multiple episodes in a somewhat inconvenient way. If, and only if, your episode format begins with S## E##-E##, it will detect that the file is for multiple episodes and then, under the season folder, show entries for each episode in the range that all link to the same file. This means if you click on episode 2 out of a two part episode, it re-opens the file at the beginning. This really doesn’t provide any benefit to the user. Alternatively, if you don’t match the format exactly it will simply show a gap in your list and label the file as only being the first episode in the range.
My proposed solution is to, instead of re-listing the same file multiple times, simply allow one file to be listed as a multipart episode. Instead of having separate entries for each episode on the season list, have a single entry but list it as Episodes #-# when the file contains multiple episodes. As part of this, it would also be nice if Plex would concatenate the episodes’ data where appropriate adding tags, directors, summaries together with some sort of simple separator where appropriate.
Here’s a quick mockup of how the season page would look, if my explanation isn’t clear enough on its own.
Additionally, Plex would need to recognize other commonly used formats like 01x01-x03, 01x01-03, S01E01-03, etc. for multiple-episode files, like it currently does for single episode files.
Interesting. Plex could do what you depict in the picture but it will never be able to start playing part2 of a single multiple-episode file. I mean… It could but without any real accuracy on when episode1 ends and episode2 begins. Sure we can say ‘split the 60 minute episode down the middle’ but is that truly the spot the video should end and the other to start… Who knows… Plex isn’t about re-authoring someone else’s work.
Don’t get me wrong… I do understand your pain. I don’t like how Plex deals with multiepisodes. I ended up just splitting the episodes myself.
I don’t think you need to necessarily worry about playing the second episode in a two part file. Many times when this happens it is for one of two reasons; first it is a two part episode arc like the two part season premiere listed in the example above in which case you would likely just want to watch it all the way through anyway. The second possibility is it is a kids cartoon like PAW Patrol where they have two short stories in each episode thetvdb in which case you likely are just going to play the whole episode anyway as your little kids won’t care. This is how Netflix, Amazon, Google, etc example on Google handle those shows, they just have one episode but list both titles, they don’t make any attempt to split them or show them separately.
The second case it a big pain for myself and others. I have little kids and so I have kids cartoons, and while we don’t like to use the TV Sitter, sometimes you have to because you need to work or clean or something and being able to just start playing a show on auto play is nice.
This would be a great addition to the ability to mark shows to use DVD order like you did with Firefly.
I don’t mind having both episodes listed twice, but it would be good if Plex flagged both as watched once you finish viewing the double episode. Currently it only marks as watched the first one.
@NewPlaza said:
Well, see… That’s something that needs to be worked out. Some could even say that’s a bug.
It’s a bug now. It evolved into a bug from it’s original single-celled-organism after it grew legs and walked out of the primordial soup onto dry land some 2.2 million years ago. The buggy actions haven’t changed, but it has a completely different exo-skeletal configuration - and breathes air instead of water.
Plex hasn’t fixed it in 2.2 million years, so it’s probably not very high on the ‘list of things to do’.
Name and place the joined episode, skip one, then name and place the next one. Worrying about something that’s not going to happen isn’t healthy. The ‘Work-Around’ has been working for a long time and will continue to work. After you manually handle a few hundred of these things it’s as easy as falling off a log.
You can do that with MKVToolNix as well, but when you sit down to ‘create this new masterpiece’ and discover it’s been professionally edited with Frame Accurate Editing Equipment into one continuous 90 minute production, then discover that no software on Earth is capable of frame accurate editing of H264 material, or inventing the bits the professional editors left on the cutting room floor to put back in your post-processed masterpiece, you find out you have a chopped up ‘hack job’ not worth watching…
Then you add the first tandem episode, skip one and then add the next one. Pretty much like most of the rest of us are already doing and you say to yourself; ‘Oh yea, that’s why they do that’.
My hack jobs are very well. In-fact, I also include the intro and ending credits to both making it look very good.
I’ve never use Pavtube software so can’t say much about that.
SolveigMM Video Splitter is my goto tool. It supports multiple tracks, subtitle tracks, damn near frame by frame, on the spot removal of segments, etc…
99% of my media is downloaded off the newsgroups,
99% of the time they are already named correctly for Plex to recognize and identify
But there is that 1% that gets you .
My media is not open to the public, just friends and family,
so I have to fudge them like everybody else.
I dont get all fancy with credits and all, but kodos
if you have the time.
Toolnix works great but is format limited.
Haven’t found anything yet Pavtube wont edit.
Not to revive a dead (?) thread but I’d like to throw my hat in here as well. Multi-episode stuff is pretty common with cartoons and I’m stumbling upon this difficulty with Paw Patrol in particular. Is it possible to have multi-episode files be represented by one episode entry, showing info and details for each “episode”? In my mind it doesn’t even need to offer any kind of logical split between each episode as long as the info page that comes up shows info for each part. It’ll be obvious enough that clicking ‘Play’ results in seeing each part of the file as it plays back. Plex already knows they are multi-episode files; I think devs just need to change how they are viewed in the library.
How Plex handles multi-episode files has easily been my biggest frustration since day 1 of spinning up my Plex server, and I’ve had it running for something like 3 or 4 years now.
A TV Show Library/
…TV Show Name/
…Season 01/
…TV Show Name - S01E01-E02.XXX
They will show in the library as two episodes. They will draw info from TVDB as two episodes. When Plex plays them it plays the file, you see episode 1 and episode 2, but Plex still thinks you need to watch episode 2. Of course when you play episode 2, you start the file over again, so you have to mark episode 2 as watched.
We cover this on a regular basis ad-nausium, but the BEST way to deal with episodes that have been joined is:
A TV Show Library/
…TV Show Name/
…Season 01/
…TV Show Name - S01E01.XXX <— edit this episode to contain both descriptions - or don’t worry about it.
…TV Show Name - S01E03.XXX <— Plex plays this episode as the next unwatched episode - no funny bidness.
‘Feature Requests’ going back YEARS are already in existence.
Every few weeks a new ‘Feature Request’ is created - nothing is done.
Irate Users show up and ■■■■■ about it - nothing is done.
Irate Users threaten to leave Plex - go ahead - Plex doesn’t care - nothing is done.
Use one of the two methods above.
If you use method one - watch the joined episodes and mark the next episode as watched - manually.
If you’re a Fan of that Wonderful AutoPlay, as soon as you watch the first episode you’ll get the same episode rammed down your throat automatically. Sound Good? Oh yea, Man… it’s great!
Most of us just use method two. We know nothing is going to be done, but it’s easier then marking what Plex thinks is an unwatched episode, watched, in order to continue.
@mstrswrd06 said:
I’m stumbling upon this difficulty with Paw Patrol in particular.
Oh, I know your pain. This show took me about an hour to split. And the worst part is…
Form time to time people change up the episode formation on thetvdb by merging segments together into one episode or separating a single episode into many. Sometimes the new formation is approved and other times it’s not but gets overlooked. Either way your series can get all out of whack.
Surely just marking both episodes as watched when the joined episodes are watched wouldn’t be THAT hard to do and would probably remove the biggest bug bare we have?
I quite agree there’s a lot more that COULD be done but I’d be happy with just that as the virtually universal use of “previously…” means I often spend several minutes watching the next episode before my poor old brain realises its the same damn file and I mutter disapprovingly at the media player box as I reach for the remote
@borg10,
Plex will flag each episode as watched. The issue here is how does Plex know at what time index to start episode 2 at? It doesn’t. It replays the file from the beginning for both episodes.
Take a look at my above comment(way above)
For the lazy -> https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/comment/1412183/#Comment_1412183
Hell, I wouldn’t be opposed if Plex automatically ending the episode at the half way mark then displaying something like (e01 of e02) has ended then go back to the auto-play screen.
@NewPlaza I think you missed the point I was making or got confused, plex DOESNT flag each episode as watched in a 2 episode file.
I dont really care about where ep1 ends and ep2 starts in a joined 2 episode file. I’m more than happy if plex thinks I havent finished the first ep when I am 3/4 of the way through the file because when I stop and resume it will go back to where it left off, which is fine even if technically someone wants to anally point it its really the second episode because the scene belongs to the second episode.
However, what I REALLY REALLY wish plex would do is when if finishes PLAYING the 2 episode file is mark them BOTH as watched (or Played as seems to be the new lingo!) and therefore DOESNT automatically start playing the same damn 2 episode file because the second episode hasnt been marked as watched. This is surely an easy fix as plex knows its a 2 episode file and it knows its just finished playing the file. If PMS doesnt retain a list of episodes associated to the file (most likely doesnt!) just lookup in the database all episodes associated to that file and mark them watched rather than just the 1.
It might not please every troll on the net but its good enough for gen pop.
Because of your comment, and just to check I wasnt going mad, I have just tried Plex Web version 3.5.3.7.
2 part Lewis file S08E01-E02
Play Ep1 to the end, after which it marks S08E01 as watched and automatically queues S08E02 to play.
I want S08E01 and S08E02 both marked as played as I have completed watching the file S08E01-E02, so the next episode queued should be S08E03.
Surely not that much to ask!
@macravin - thanks, thats 2 of us on board good ship simplefix
