I want to create a folder for documentary type recordings.
The problem I have is that some shows are listed in the TVDB while others are listed in the MovieDB.
I know that if I put them in my main "Movie" or "TV Shows" folder, they will show in Plex with the appropriate metadata.
I could create two documentary folders; one a TV show structure and the other Movies structure.
I want to create one folder with all of my documentaries. It is appearing that isn't an option in Plex as the folder must be one or the either and the file names in that folder must comply with the appropriate (TV vs Movie) naming convention or they won't be listed.
After searching the forums, I thought I found a workaround. I noticed that TVDB listed some documentaries under the heading of "History Channel Documentaries", etc. I didn't know that originally since the search engine on the site doesn't find those instances when searching for just the show title.
Problem with that method is that cover art is generic and then different shows all get lumped under that channel or other channels as appropriate. I thought about updating cover art, but then decided they probably don't want hundreds of posters loaded for each individual documentary.
Mixed media library sections are not currently supported by Plex. Hopefully someday - until then the only real solution is to have two documentary library sections; Documentary Films & TV Documentaries.
As for scanning... Finding TV Docs listed in the TVDB can be a chore, I know from experience as I watch and have hundreds of TV Docs in my Plex. Though sometimes series do have their own sections, more often times you'll find TV Docs listed under the network in which they air or as specials. As you said for example, History Channel docs, BBC Docs, Discovery Channel specials etc. and unfortunately they are not always well supported with metadata. This tends to mean a lot of finding, renaming and editing your own metadata for TV Documentaries. Like it or not, this is how TV Docs are listed and is now the standard on TVDB.
While adding your own metadata and album art is indeed a chore, these databases exist and are useful because of users who do just that. If you have a documentary series you like and keep in Plex but it does not match or have proper metadata on TVDB, I encourage you to add it yourself so others can benefit.
I don't mind adding the metadata as I know that it is user supported effort. I've done that with audio CD's in the past. I just figured that it was inefficient to have 200+ separate poster images under the Hist Chan Docs section.
As an example, I had "Desperate Crossing: The Untold Story of the Mayflower". It shows up under TVDB with very little metadata and no images. However MovieDB has images and more metadata.
I was in the process of updating TVDB and copying the imagery over too. That's when it dawned on me that having several hundred plus poster images didn't really make sense.
I figured it couldn't hurt to post my dilema on the off chance there was solution out there.
I’m wanting to do the same thing. I have video folders for Documentaries, Concerts, and Fitness. Some titles in each will be recognized in IMDB as movies. Others are just straight video files that I would have to tag manually. Is the only solution to save everything as a video and tag manually?
If a file has an IMDB entry, can I start it in Movies, and then move to one of my video libraries and keep my metadata intact?
No, add all these files into a library of the type ‘Other Videos’.
Unfortunately, you cannot determine if a video is ‘match’-able by looking into the IMDb. Plex/(precisely the ‘Plex Movie’ agent) will only fetch metadata for genuine ‘Cinema Movies’ from the IMDb.
For any of your above mentioned material, it is more likely to get a match on TheMoviedatabase - if at all.
If you know that there is a record up in TheMovieDatabase for one of these, use the ‘Match’ command.
click on ‘Search Options’,
then select ‘TheMovieDatabase’ as the ‘agent’
don’t forget to set a ‘language’!
‘Search’
(I do not recommend to set the library’s default agent to ‘TheMoviedatabase’, because this will reset your manually edited metadata on movies which are not ‘match’-able with one of the online metadata sources.)
