Some of you may be aware that Doctor Who; Power Of The Daleks has just been re-released as a cartoon production.
The original tapes were lost / destroyed by the BBC years ago, however some snippets and still photographs existed, which were once made into an older reconstruction along with the original soundtrack. This was the first reconstruction.
The recent cartoon release is the second reconstruction of the same series.
I got the new cartoon one on DVD for Christmas, but already have the older reconstruction in my PLEX library.
My file path and naming is as such for the older reconstruction:
Doctor Who (1963)/Doctor Who - Season 04 - (1966–67)/03 - The Power of the Daleks/s04e09 - The Power of the Daleks - Part 1.mp4
Is there a way I can add an alternative of the same series in PLEX? Will it get confused?
IF (and it’s a big one) those animated episodes are meant to match missing episodes of the Doc, then they’re going to have to go in the standard Doc Structure at TVDB - TVDB doesn’t have the animated episodes listed separately - not that I have found anyway.
Season 4 is in that void of Doctor Who Seasons I’m still in the process of acquiring to complete the collection (a life-long goal apparently 'cause I’ve been at it for 5 years now), but this is the way it’ll have to go:
If you are able to locate the Animated Episodes at TVDB then do, by all means use that info to name and structure your episodes. Plex simply will not (without a lot of fiddling) deal with non-standard names and structures and certainly not match episodes not listed at TVDB.
Here’s Season 04 of the Doctor at TVDB:
Using the above info at TVDB I was (and still am) able to perfectly name and structure Doctor Who for peace and happiness with Plex. I know this doesn’t make Doctor Who fanatics get a warm and fuzzy feeling, but I get one when Plex doesn’t explode while trying to index them.
You can name and structure these things in whatever way you feel appropriate if they are in an ‘Other Videos’ Library Type. Plex doesn’t care what you call 'em in that type of library and it also won’t try to match them with anything. You’ll have to hand edit each one and you’ll also have to place your own artwork.
So basically, for minimal fiddling around, what tvdb says goes. Therefore there is no room for alternative series.
So, my best option is to replace my existing files (the older remake) with my newly ripped animated files, but maintain the naming convention. I’ll keep the older files in a seperate folder for refrence.
Shame it couldn’t handle for example s04e09a along side s04e09b to allow for alternatives.
But you have answered my question, thanks for taking the time to give such a detailed response!
That link to the fiddling can produce what you are after, but yes it is just easier to create names for the missing whos and slide in the animated replacements. A little hand editing to denote what you’re looking at and you’re golden.
You could also start at S00E110 - a few episodes higher than the listed special episodes in a Season 00 folder, like this:
A TV Show Library/
…Doctor Who/
…Season 00/
…Doctor Who - S00E110 - The Name You’ll Give your First Episode.xxx
and continue on from there.
You’d start at S00E110 so you won’t bump heads with a listed Special at TVDB and as you add your new (unlisted) specials you’d do a little hand editing to tell you what you’re looking at when you go to Doctor Who Specials Season. There’s also the remote possibility that your animated episodes are listed as specials in that magnum list over there, but I’ll admit I didn’t look at it past scrolling down the page to find the last listed special: http://thetvdb.com/?tab=season&seriesid=76107&seasonid=23565&lid=7
There are several ways to skin this feline if you are so inclined.
Now PLEX recognises that two files are available of each episode by placing a little “2” in the corner of the thumbnails (I’ve updated the thumbnail posters):
Also the Media info box tells us there are two files available:
Just can’t see a way of choosing which one to play, but it defaults to the latest animated one anyway, which is fine for me.
As you say, shifting them into the Specials area may work, but his does contraviene the Specials rules laid down by TVDB: thetvdb.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special_Episodes so may or may not work with Plex..
There’s also a Play Version option in just about all the apps.
I think if you inspect your naming and structure a bit you’ll find out why there are merged items. Also if you explore this ‘fiddler’s extravaganza’ link and play around with it a little you’ll end up with something more attractive:
The ‘work around’ I used for the Special Season is the way we’ve been ‘tricking’ Plex into submission for a long time for TV Show DVD extras when there is no real way to handle it. It’s just one of those things the community invented long ago.
The good thing about visiting my God Daughter in the UK is enjoying a good, albeit warm, Pint. The bad thing is coming home to discover US Beer is nothing more than fizzy water with alcohol in it.
