They did think of that, and made it clear in the forums here that it was a work in progress and that this first implementation was what they could do without reengineering some things in Plex.
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For me the New Feature was exciting at first… Then I realized all it did was add a little sticker saying Director's Cut on the Details page. So pretty much it isn’t, yet, worth anything because if you have to change the name & the poster & have them as separate entities… it’s the same as we were manually doing before. But the fact that something was implemented at all & they say it a WIP is good because it means they are actively working on it & the things we critique in these discussions will likely have some impact on how it turns out.
I think most users wouldn’t make a new labeled poster, but rather give them different posters in the ones already available. Still a bit of work, but selecting Posters is already a staple of the tasks you have to be used to doing & intimately familiar with as a Plex Server Admin.
I posted earlier in Comment 97
A movie that actually has a different name in the US & International versions. It was easy to get easily identifiable posters. I’m hoping Plex eventually ends up with something more-or-less like this, but that can be *embedded within a collection. Unfortunately since we manually name our collections there’s not gonna be a way to automatically get different artwork & background art or descriptions for the different editions, but it’d be nice if the collections had an advanced option so the Edition Collection could be matched & get artwork metadata as though it were a movie.
Also if you uploaded your posters to TheMovieDB.org then if someone else does the same thing they can just choose yours for each of theirs. TMDB is pretty loose about what they accept for posters so long as it’s the right dimensions which is 2:3 but 680:1000 (Plex’s 17:25 or 2:2.94 ratio) is close enough that they accept them unlike TPDB which won’t accept 1000:1501 because it’s not exactly 2:3.
Eventually I expect people who like making posters will start doing that &, at least for popular movies, it’ll end up much simpler for the common folk
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Cool. Good stuff.
Are Edition differences “open-ended”?
(Meaning: whatever we put after {edition-examplehere} get reflected? Or is it a pre-determined list of allowed options?
The reason I ask is that neither of the main pages for this specify:
- https://support.plex.tv/articles/multiple-editions/
- https://support.plex.tv/articles/200381043-multi-version-movies/
For instance, do the following basic options exist (if pre-determined lists are used):
- Uncut
- Ultimate Director’s Cut
- with Commentary
- Rifftrax
Side note about encodes…
It’s nice (and appreciated) that y’all gave examples on the pages above, about using the (1982).1080p.hevc format.
The question I have is similar to the above.
Are these open ended? Or only pre-determined will be reflected?
It’d be nice to know for things like divx, which gives streaming problems if dx5 video was used (and has not yet been optimized) or if mpeg was used.
Do you also consider 265 the equivalent of HEVC, or only under certain conditions.
Etc
Thanks in advance!
You can specify edition names/tags to your own liking. There’s no predefined set of “allowed” edition tags.
That being said, your With Commentary option is probably more of an audio track to pick from… not a separate edition?
Plex isn’t considering any of your technical information added to a file name except they get in the way of matching your files. You should put those technical details in a set of square brackets to avoid any mix-ups.
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Given the examples they show in my links (1. and 2.) above, it implies to me that they are being used to distinguish characteristics between variants. Else, why would they have listed them in their examples? 
I do. =)
But before I go through the entire library by hand, I am just trying to understand what is or is not accepted by the system.
Up until now, most everything has been in ‘ignore ’ s. lol
I highly dislike the idea of having to do everything in the web app/interface. So I chose not to use that method of defining variations.
They’re not. That information is merely useful for you if you want to distinguish the files in your file browser. If you’re using different quality versions of the same item, Plex will use information from analyzing the file itself (e.g. resolution, bitrates) – no details from the file names.
The examples only show how you can use additions to the base file name to make Plex see it’s different versions of the same item.
These seem contradictory to me. (Not trying to be intentionally thick or play semantics mind you)
All I care about is how plex “sees them”. Or rather, what it takes to get plex to ID them correctly. (so they’re seen as variants of the same edition/version/etc.) So that’s the POV I’m approaching from if it helps. They do matter to Plex, as you noted. (So it’s seeing them.)
I can easily see the extraneous info via SSH or browser, or whatever else.
The point of having different encodes (and subsequently, viewing options at some point) is entirely because of streaming or hardware limitations (be it via location or device).
Tablet is old, and can’t handle what the phone does. Phone can’t do what FireTV4k can, etc.
Basic movie naming uses this schema
Movies
Movie Name (Release Year)
Movie Name (Release Year).ext
You can add arbitrary information to the file name. Adding it after the “release year in brackets” section SHOULD be ignored – given there could be some special situations where Plex might consider part of the arbitrary text to be a part of the movie name or release year, it’s good practice to include that additional text in square brackets.
If Plex finds multiple files for the same movie, it’ll treat them as different quality versions.
Movie
Movie Name (Release Year)
Movie Name (Release Year) - 4K.ext
Movie Name (Release Year) - 1080p.ext
Movie Name (Release Year) - Bob.ext
Movie Name (Release Year) - Bill.ext
or
Movie
Movie Name (Release Year)
Movie Name (Release Year) [4K HEVC HDR+ blah blah blah].ext
Movie Name (Release Year) [1080p h.264 AC3 blah blah blah].ext
Movie Name (Release Year) [Bob].ext
Movie Name (Release Year) [Bill].ext
In this example, Plex will show 4 quality versions for the movie. The version picker uses technical details derived from scanning the files. The arbitrary text after the base name isn’t used for any purpose inside Plex.
If you add editions to the game, none of the above will change. The only difference is that Plex organizes editions as individual instances of the movie. Each edition can have different quality versions.
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That helped somewhat! TY.
Using your last two examples (Bob and Bill) kind of brought one aspect home. It used to solely scan the files for certain details.
But I’m still confused by the specific examples they use involving the new ‘suggested naming’ format.
Using their example:
/Blade Runner (1982) {edition-Director’s Cut}
Blade Runner (1982).1080p.h264 {edition-Director’s Cut}.mp4
Blade Runner (1982).1080p.hevc {edition-Director’s Cut}.mkv
Blade Runner (1982).4k.h264 {edition-Director’s Cut}.mp4
Blade Runner (1982).4k.hevc {edition-Director’s Cut}.mkv
I can only assume that they are now scanning the filename as well (instead of just scanning the file: call this the legacy scan). Hence the distinction of adding the “.” immediately following the year). and then the specifics of each encode.
In post 125, all I was asking was about the new system, it’s format requirements, options, and current limitations.
I have always been clear on [anything here was, and still is, IGNORED by Plex scanner].
What they state flat out in the example, is that the ‘new scan process’ will make use of the entire line. AS CITED FOR EXAMPLE:
Blade Runner (1982).4k.h264 {edition-Director's Cut}.mp4
Blade Runner (1982).4k.hevc {edition-Director's Cut}.mkv
Meaning, even IF you changed the mp4 to an mkv file, the rest E would still be relevant data for the new scanning process. Example:
Blade Runner (1982).4k.h264 {edition-Director's Cut}.mkv
Blade Runner (1982).4k.hevc {edition-Director's Cut}.mkv
Because of the distinction following the year.
Not because it’s simply multiple files.
Now, again, I’m looking for clarification from plex. Not because it’s a ‘who’s right’ thing, but because of the unknown of how they’ve specified the format they want currently (if NOT using the web app/interface: app.plex.tv) but didn’t bother to detail what’s included or what’s omitted (as far as options go: see post 125)
I completely understand that this is basically an ‘initial release process’, and subject to revision according to community feedback and suggestions. That’s why I’m here. To try and get direct answers from them, about the current situation. As well as possibly toss suggestions/ideas into the mix (like everyone else).
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You’ll want your files name like this so that plex matches these as one entity. Basically how you would name it if you only had one copy. Then what ever your video/audio format indication you want. Plex will ignore it
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I think the scanner is still looking at the codec for version information. The information in the file names are just for human reference. The important part is they need to all have the same {edition-tag} to be considered a different version of the same movie.
No… They don’t… They give an example of how someone MAY name it, but they never say the whole line is being used. In fact they specifically say
ArbitraryTextcan be any text useful to you to identify the media from outside Plex. Plex will show you the ACTUAL resolution of the media if the app you’re using shows you a list or use the best file for a mobile app. The text you have there is not displayed.
The whole versions thing is happening by what Plex detects in the file codec when it does the scan. That’s what it means when it says Plex will show the ACTUAL resolution. If, for example, the encoding was corrupted, which does happen, though not as much as it used to, & the codec was marked with a codec & resolution that are not what it actually is, but it still plays fine, it will show what the codec information tells it, even if that is not what actually plays. The example with the .s is showing a different naming method, which is not the recommended one, but that people often use, & which does work. But the .2470p.HVEC is placed in the same category as the - 1280p.HEVC as Arbitrary Text. If both of those files are actually 1080p & H264, provided the codec information is correct, Plex will still show them as 1080p & H264 not whatever was labeled. Part of the labeling of the resolutions is to make it easier to explain, as Then they can say “So there are 2 versions at 1080p, 1 in HEVC & 1 in H264”. That section with that example is talking about
Can I use Editions and Versions at the same time?
Absolutely. You’ll need to make sure that each of the versions of the edition have the appropriate file naming to specify that edition.
In the above example, there are two different editions of Blade Runner , the original release and then a “Director’s Cut” edition. The “Director’s Cut” has four different versions available: H.264 and HEVC encodings at both 1080p and 4K resolutions.
It’s using those to show that if you want to have different versions of an edition they have to all have the same {edition-TAG} at the end of the file for them to be grouped together.
3 Likes
@LostOnTheLine Thank you for taking the time (and persevering the issue) in attempting to better my understanding.
OK, so I think I finally understand what @tom80H was trying to explain. (my apologies there) Tom, forgive me for being ‘short’ about wanting an answer from Plex. But it was starting to feel like we were in a loop. lol
Sorry about the miscommunication.
Basically, I was partially correct in my understanding of what Plex was trying to say on the 2 webpages I referred to above. But misunderstood how they were trying to convey which was arbitrary vs required.
Correct me if I’m wrong here, but:
-
{edition-Director’s Cut} is REQUIRED under the new system (IF you are not modifying file attributes [in this case: version info] via app.plex.tv interface)
-
All else is arbitrary (beyond the traditional “Name (year)” format.
Given the above, the program still scans the file itself for all relevant and pertinent data with respect to the video and audio portions. NOT the file name. (Which is the way it appeared to read to me when reading the webpage on the new naming structure.)
The file name will now require some form of:
{edition-Unrated}
{edition-colorized}
{edition-Director’s Cut}
{edition-Theatrical}
for Plex to correctly group the files.
Why they specify a naming format at all for anything other than the title, year and now the edition, only serves to add confusion IMO.
I think part of the reason I got so hung on the naming format was solely because that’s been an issue for other aspects in the past (ie: extras, specials, etc for TV shows especially).
Last question:
Given they primarily only mention ‘Director’s Cut’ and ‘Theatrical’… Has anyone seen or raised the question of acceptable edition names?
(or do you guys think that this is also arbitrary and wide open? So long as each of the groups are named identically…)
Acceptable edition names are entirely up to you.
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No, unless you want this movie to have an “Edition” badge on it.
Most movies don’t need that.
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Since it’s created by the user input it can be whatever you want & it will show what you put. As I mentioned earlier, this means that there will never be any auto-generated or auto-tagging of editions because even if a bunch of people use {edition-Director's Cut} some may enter it {edition-Directors Cut} while others {edition Director Cut} & others {edition-director's cut}
I myself sometimes will take a movie that is only R rated because of a single or maybe 2 non-essential scene or purely language & edit the video to make a {edition PG-13 Cut} & I actually tried out both that & {edition-Family Cut} & {edition-Family Edition} & went with the PG-13 Cut because I liked the way it looked better & thought it was easier to distinguish even though that version I edited to have a PG-13 rating.
You could even have a {edition-fdglkd;ymutrfdlfsj;eroytum98587tgreghktrlnk} if you wanted to. It’s a completely open field limited only to what your Operating System’s file system limits for file names & even those can be used if you manually enter the edition in the Web UI
It’s required to get the badge without editing it through the UI, BUT it’s also required if you want to have multiple resolution versions of a specific Cut. Because you can’t separate the different resolution/codec versions in the WebUI.
In sort Plex Movie Scanner (not the Plex Movie Scanner, because that’s different lol) will look at all the text in the name that isn’t in [square brackets] & give that information to the agents, though from some of the comments about using square brackets for the editions it may take those as well. Once the agents have that information it will look for what it thinks is the name of the movie, what looks to be a year, taking preferences for 4 digit numbers in ( ), & anything that matches the {edition-#%$#} format or the -special_features-tags. Nothing is actually required. You can literally have a file qwerty.mkv & Plex will try to make it work. The more information you give it the more likely it will make the correct match. If you have the file blaDE Runner.avi Plex will most likely match it correctly to the movie Blade Runner (1987). The agent will pay less attention to anything after a - as well as anything that follows a (YEAR). But unless it’s in [Square Brackets] It will try to use that information if it is not sure. For example if you have BR (1987) - Blade Runner.mp4 The agent would probably see BR (1987) & not find a good enough match to stop there, so it would see Blade Runner after the (YEAR) & after a - & use that to match. The difference is that IF it got a match to BR (1987) it would stop & not look anymore for matching. So if say you for some reason named your copy of Blade Runner Bring It On (2000) - Blade Runner It would never see the Blade Runner part because it already got a match & stopped looking. It looks like the {edition-} part is a separate stage that happens after the match is complete for the purpose of adding the badge.
I know that was a lot, but I think that should clear everything up pretty well.
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It did indeed! And I can’t thank you enough!!!
Noted. And since I now have a clearer understanding of the implementation, I’m grateful they set it up this way (I’m all for user freedom of choice, while still providing a framework for utility of function).
It’s funny you touch on this because I almost went there myself. lol
But I thought ‘people are already struggling enough with my phrasing’ (and vice-versa) that I was reticent to throw in another possible tangent, and risk widening the gap. I definitely understand what you mean though! TY again.
I’m indebted.
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I agree. I think the freedom of making your own names is better, especially since I don’t think the auto-edition idea was very practical, but there are some who want it so I feel it needs to be addressed.
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Until PLEX PlexMediaServer-1.28.2 you could add Editions and they came up as Duplicate.
- If you seperates them and rescan Media then you could replace it with the original added date and watched state.
Now with PLEX 1.29 this opportunity is disabled what is really senseless.
- You could manually merge and seperate them again, the right Date would be taken but the “Edition” Field will stay empty.
- If you add it first as duplicate, seperate it and add the edition tag after, it also will change the date into a new movie.
Conclusion, Until PLEX 1.28.2 it was fine and now the feature is broken or sensless.
- Every user would have to mark each played movie again, at least you have to write in a seperated list when you can’t remember this over years.
Is there any fix (or workaround like until 1.28.2) in sight to preserve the original added Date and Watched state?
