Is there any way to disable the auto-generated thumbnails for video files? When I watch sports files through Plex, the thumbnail always manages to grab a thumbnail from the end of the video and ruin results for me.
Even if you can’t disable the thumbnails, why are they being pulled from so late in the file? Shouldn’t they only generate thumbnails from the first 1/3rd of a video file so that they’re not spoiling movies / sports?
Plex is totally deaf to that request. I remember it being asked for at least two years (probably closer to three) ago but it has never been addressed at all. I guess the Plex people do not watch sports using Plex. I have pretty much given up on it ever getting fixed and I keep Roku media player active on my Rokus just for that one issue. I watch sports through RMP and everything else through Plex.
Plex does a wonderful job with many things but responding to even the most reasonable requests like this one is NOT something Plex does well at all.
And they have never said why it is so hard to fix.
Edit: I would think the DVR feature would make this even more important but what do I know?
That’s pretty unfortunate. Today I went to watch a race through my Plex and the thumbnail it chose was a picture of the podium…
@andcoffee said:
why are they being pulled from so late in the file?
Plex is not, these thumbnails are most likely coming from thetvdb.com.
@daeks said:
Hope that helps: http://forums.plex.tv/discussion/241713/rel-static-media-assets-agent/p1
Would it not be easier to enable local media assets? It’s already there, ready to be used. That way you can skip the installing of a channel plugin.
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200220677-Local-Media-Assets-Movies
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200220717-Local-Media-Assets-TV-Shows
Have a picture with the same name as the video file.
e.g.
MyVideo.mkv
MyVideo.jpg
The Best Show on Earth.mp4
The Best Show on Earth.png
Oldest Show in History (Billions of Years Ago) - s01e01 - Life or Imagination?.mkv
Oldest Show in History (Billions of Years Ago) - s01e01 - Life or Imagination?.jpg
And you can use the same picture for every episode. It can be any generic picture of something.
Whenever you add another video, copy the pic over and rename it the same name.
@NewPlaza said:
@andcoffee said:
why are they being pulled from so late in the file?
Plex is not, these thumbnails are most likely coming from thetvdb.com.
Nope! It is Plex because it happens to videos that have absolutely no entry in a database. ex. I record a game from ESPN and place it in an “other videos” library and Plex still generates a thumbnail by scanning the video and pulling a frame from it.
The problem is that the thumbnail is always from late in the video and for a lot of game the score is always on the screen so the game’s result, or at least the score from late, is exposed to view when you go to select the video to play.
The fact that Plex has know about this problem for over two years and has taken no action says a lot about their attitude toward anything that does not fit in their little world. The fix is easy! Either select the frame from early (in the first five minutes say) or allow the generation of the preview that is use for videos to be turned off for a library. Sports videos do NOT need any icon at all.
BTW: The idea of installing a different agent may work, I do not know I have not tried, but it should not be necessary to do so to fix such a basic bug that has been around for so long and not every platform allows the installation of that kind of add on. Plex is just too lazy or too incompetent to fix this issue.
@Elijah_Baley said:
@NewPlaza said:
@andcoffee said:
why are they being pulled from so late in the file?
Plex is not, these thumbnails are most likely coming from thetvdb.com.Nope! It is Plex because it happens to videos that have absolutely no entry in a database. ex. I record a game from ESPN and place it in an “other videos” library and Plex still generates a thumbnail by scanning the video and pulling a frame from it.
The problem is that the thumbnail is always from late in the video and for a lot of game the score is always on the screen so the game’s result, or at least the score from late, is exposed to view when you go to select the video to play.
The fact that Plex has know about this problem for over two years and has taken no action says a lot about their attitude toward anything that does not fit in their little world. The fix is easy! Either select the frame from early (in the first five minutes say) or allow the generation of the preview that is use for videos to be turned off for a library. Sports videos do NOT need any icon at all.
BTW: The idea of installing a different agent may work, I do not know I have not tried, but it should not be necessary to do so to fix such a basic bug that has been around for so long and not every platform allows the installation of that kind of add on. Plex is just too lazy or too incompetent to fix this issue.
lol, you’re right. I forgot thetvdb doesn’t do sport events.
@daeks said:
Hope that helps: http://forums.plex.tv/discussion/241713/rel-static-media-assets-agent/p1
Thanks! That worked like a charm.
