Featurettes and Trailers on SOME not showing up as Extras

[DracoChronicles]

Server Version#: 1.21.3.4046
Player Version#: Not Applicable - Is player independant.

I have named my movies in accordance with Plex naming convention. And while the movies show up all the time, I have huge issues with extras. It works on so many movies. But there are alot of movies it does not work on.

Actions taken:

• Renamed files for shorter names.
• Tried in same directory as movie with -behindthescenes.mkv or -trailer.mkv extensions.
• Tried long and short extras names - in subfolder /Featurettes /Trailers and /Interviews
• Done the Plex Dance.
• Removed Country specific foreign letter perhaps not supported? (æ ø å. Æ Ø Å)
• Removed all hyphens in extra names in subfolders.

Now I am at a loss, as to how to get my extras up in the list.

I have seen so many post about this spread out through the years, and no clear sense of what is wrong.

Any tips?

Thanks.

[BigWheel]

Can you tell me the exact file names of the media and extra files of one of the movies it is not working for. Outside of a permissions issue I can’t think of what it might be if some are working.

[NH022]

I have been having the same problem. I just discovered a solution, by accident. You have to paste the movie folder with every properly named file. Into the directory that Plex scans for movies as a whole. Or Plex will not see the extras added later as extras.

I can watch Plex scan the folder from a browser. When I add extras to the directory, but it never sees them as extras. And they can’t be seen in Plex anywhere.

I just confirmed this with 2 more folders. By cutting & pasting them out of the movie directory. Confirming they were gone form Plex. And then pasting them back. And it worked. Why I have no clue.

Ned

[leelynds]

If you add the extras after the movie has already been properly matched, Plex doesn’t seem to pick up the local extras (sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t.) Usually, a “Refresh Metadata” action on the movie will work to show the extras. The same is true if you happen to add an external subtitle file or poster image.

Not sure if it’s a feature or bug, but the agent/scanner stubbornly holds on to the pre-existing local metadata. I imagine it would pick them up during the maintenance period if you have the option to “Refresh local metadata every three days” enabled in Scheduled Tasks

[JuiceWSA]

@leelynds

Not sure if it’s a feature or bug, but the agent/scanner stubbornly holds on to the pre-existing local metadata.

It’s definitely new behavior - and quite annoying.

If I upgrade files by just copying one file over the other, Plex used to hang on to ALL old metadata - INCLUDING VPTs. Now Plex doesn’t do anything. Just sits there waiting for the user to hit the Analyze button before generating new VPTs and since it’s not using the old VPTs, if you don’t hit Analyze you don’t have any VPTS 'cause it has chucked those in the bin.

As for Extras - I’m not surprised some aren’t being added and some are. It depends how you’re adding them and it depends if Plex thinks it’s time to refresh, or analyze.

So nothing can be just added, or updated any more. IF that’s what you want you have to either REMOVE/DELETE the old material entirely - and wait for Plex to see it go and remove it from the database, so Plex sees it as new…
OR
You need to Refresh/Analyze EVERTHING that’s been upgraded/added - unless you want to witness Plex just sit there doing nothing.

Plex Devs either think this is a good idea - or they have no idea what they’ve done, or how it should be done properly.

I can say without any hesitation the New Way - is a right bloody PITA. <—and I assume that’s how Plex wants it. <—it’s pretty much on par with everything that’s been done recently.

[NH022]

Refresh Metadata never works for me. And some movies it just never works on. I moved a bunch of folders in & out of the Movies directory today. I got many to work, but some just wouldn’t.

UPDATE

Like this:
Description.of.extra-behindthescenes.mkv works
Description.of.scene-deleted.mp4 doesn’t work
Jane.Doe-interview.mp4 doesn’t work

Don’t Work
-deleted
-interview

These work
-behindthescenes
-featurette
-scene
-short
-trailer
-other

From this page

Local Files for Trailers and Extras | Plex Support

Also, if the movie is not in the movie data base (TMDB). So it can’t be matched. Extras will not work. ‘For All Mankind 1989’ isn’t in the database.
It’s on IMDB, I used custom posters and added all the data for it. But extras won’t work.

Ned

[NH022]

Also, having subtitles and extras in the same folder with the movie.
Does not work, either.

Ned

[JuiceWSA]

For All Mankind

That’s a Documentary.
TMDB lists it - and that’s where my match for it came from.

Do this and your MP4 files will work the same as your MKV files:

Video File Naming

With LMA in priority, Embedded Titles within MP4/M4V files are preferred - even over a perfect file name. Local Media Assets should - AT ALL TIMES - remain enabled (unless specifically instructed to turn it off). Local Media Assets should be ‘Demoted’, to the bottom of the stack of active agents under ALL tabs in Shows and Movies, but should NOT be disabled. Local Media Assets is needed for many things - it doesn’t need to be given Tip-Top-Priority (as Plex has so hatefully placed it as it’s …

With LMA in the top slot Plex is preferring the embedded title field in an MP4 - which isn’t named even remotely like an extra should be, I would imagine.

External subs and extras can live happily in the same neighborhood (folder):

Note: that second version of the movie doesn’t live in the same folder as the movie version with the extras - and that second version must go in after the first one with the extras. <—at least that’s how I had to do it a couple of years ago - and haven’t had to mess with it since then - until just a few minutes ago when I stripped out a Sub, named it and placed it in the folder with the movie and the extras - to find it works fine… 'cause I didn’t know… until right now…lol

[NH022]

Thanks JuiceWSA,
My space documentaries are in their own category. And I hadn’t checked the agents. My bad.

I was just guessing that external subtitles and extras don’t work in the same directory. Because it is a pattern that I am seeing. In my movies category. My Plex server is running headless on Debian 8, if that makes a difference.

Thank you,
Ned

[JuiceWSA]

Do the LMA Hack - and Plex won’t do so many unexpected things.
If you have to use dots for spaces in your world - note to self - don’t go to that world…I won’t like it there…lol

[NH022]

I moved TMDB to the top agent. If that is what you mean. And For All Mankind was matched and the extras seen no problem. I remove bad metadata from files before putting them on the server. I had a lot of problems with matching & bad metadata, before I found Agents under settings. I had just not setup the Space-Docs category correctly. Because you have to setup the agent under advanced when you make the category.

Thanks,
Ned

[JuiceWSA]

I use TMDB Agent exclusively, but you don’t have to.
You can just change agents during a Fix Match when you need to.

I change from TVDB to TMDB on a per idiocy basis - like when TVDB is whacked out on airplane glue for a show, but TMDB’s air has a little more Oxygen in it.

Like this:

That will use the selected agent this one time without changing the library default agent.

[NH022]

Spaces work in the linux gui, no problem. You have to \ them or use quotes in command line though.

I try the TVDB same as you when manually matching or fix match. When I think of it. But the Space-Doc category was setup wrong. With personal media as the agent. In edit category / advanced. Once I changed it to TMDB. It matched with out a problem. I checked all my categories after that. Just to make sure they are setup correctly.