How would you name these files for Plex to index them properly?

Plex Media Server Metadata & Adding Files
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Server Version#: 1.42.2.10156
Player Version#: 4.156.0

Not sure how to name my files (a mix of AVI and MPG extensions) so the TVDB database can properly populate the text, etc, since the TVDB (and IMDB) databases all show multiple episodes for each episode, if that made any sense. See this TVDB link, the IMDB link shows the same way: The Herculoids - Unknown - Season 1 - TheTVDB.com

2

Just saw someone mentioned a “TMDB” so I googled that, and it appears to be yet another TV episode database, and they number the episodes separately, so instead of 18 there are 36. Can I set Plex to use that for the indexing instead of TVDB for this series? If so, how? Note that the “IMDB” database does it wrong just like the “TVDB” database.

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I renamed the Season 1 files to S01Enn per the TMDB site then put “{tmdb-3578}” in the “Season 1” subdirectory name under the main Herculoids series directory, and did a scan and everything came out correct. So basically Plex used TMDB for Season 1 and TVDB for Season 2 just like I wanted!

4

Plex defaults to using TMDB ordering, naming for matching. A good resource to check for any future shows you choose to add to your library.

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@Norrin_Radd Here you go Silver Surfer :sweat_smile: . Best way to start, for example, is Herculoids 1x01. For specials it would be Herculoids 0x01. Using Filebot video renamer would save you a lot of time and frustration. This can rename entire seasons. Batch renaming. One point is that filebot will rename specials to specialx01. You have to rename them 0x01

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This is Kodi naming, not Plex naming. Therefore it is absolutely not the best way to start.

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@OttoKerner Very interesting. It’s been working very well for me for years. And with the aid of Firebot it works great and saves lots of time. It was the very best way for me to start, and has been working ever since. Filebot makes short work of naming files. But feel free to do you, in whatever way works for you. At least others know they have options. :smiling_face_with_sunglasses:

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Filebot can do “Herculoids - S01E01 - Episode 1.mkv” filenaming, which is what Plex prefers:

https://support.plex.tv/articles/naming-and-organizing-your-tv-show-files/

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If I may share how I use FileBot?

I use Linux so that path to my NAS is different than Windows but the structure works the same.

  1. From Linux, path to where TV is stored: /nas/media/tv
  2. Plex naming rule for TV series: {n}/Season {s.pad(2)}/{n} - {s00e00} - {t}
    – {n} = Name of series
    – {s.pad(2)} = Season number padded to 2 digits
    – {s00e00} = SxxExx episode identifier
    – {t} = Episode Title

In FileBot, combining both:

/nas/media/tv/{n}/Season {s.pad(2)}/{n} - {s00e00} - {t}`

In windows, if the NAS ‘Media’ share is mapped to drive M:

M:\tv\{n}\Season {s.pad(2)}\{n} - {s00e00} - {t}`
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Thanks for sharing. I have been using Filebot for some time now. It makes things a lot easier. Worth looking into if people are starting out or unsure how to name their files.

Samurai74 11