I cannot set the location for Optimised video files

[norman.cates]

Server Version#: 1.28.2.6151
Player Version#: 4.87.2

First, finding how to even set up optimisations for a Library is stupidly difficult. It is only available in one place for the Library. The three dots on the Library page. IT should be available in the hamburger menu for each Library. It should be available when CREATING the library. It should be available when MANAGING the library.

But then, it is impossible to change the location of the Optimised files.

Even looking at this article:

Auto create Optimized Versions for media in certain folder

Hi, I do understand the concept of Optimized Versions inside Plex Media Server. However it’s somehow limited to manually selecting the media to optimize. And in the settings of Plex Media Server you have to configure a limit on those Optimized Versions. Is there a way I can configure Plex Media Server to automatically create an Optimized Version of media, upon a library scan? In this use case, I have 4K footage from a GoPro 7 but my smart-tv can’t handle 4K video. I want Plex Media Server …

It simply doesn’t work. Of course that was 3 years ago, so who knows what may work now.

The main reason I want to move the location is that Plex DOESN’T ignore the Optimised Versions folder when showing the folders in a Library. Its just there, front and center.

For those of us who use some Libraries with the folder structure, it needs to NOT be visible.

OR, be able to change the location of the optimised versions.

Personally, changing the Optimised versions location is a bit better option, because it lets me put all those files in one place. Which can be deleted if necessary, without losing the original files.

I am highly frustrated here. Clearly Plex hasn’t tested that functionality with newer versions of the Server or Web interface. I bought (quite a few years ago) and continue to buy the Plex Season Pass because Plex was such a useful application. It was great. It let us import video files, and have matching happen on databases. And I could watch movies and TV shows, and videos.

That’s actually all I want. But with the adding of more functionality, bugs are falling through the cracks. The functionality beyond dealing with my own video files, I don’t need or want. But I can ignore it. (I wish I could just turn it off so it doesn’t appear in any menus on the client side at all.)

The help for Plex is of very little help.

https://support.plex.tv/articles/213095317-creating-optimized-versions/

The page on optimised versions says you have to create a folder and add it to the library?

Well, I did and that has had no effect. The folder does not show up in the drop down for setting the optimised versions location.

The page also makes no mention that you have to be in a Movies view (for Movies) not a Folders view to even get the hamburger menu.

Plex, you have fallen prey to the insidious siren call of “Add all the features we can think of! Damn the bugs!”. This is what large faceless companies are doing. Using users as their QA departments. Please don’t do that.

[nibbles]

Hello sorry to hear it’s a mess seeing all those folders.

What I would say first is: you can cause PMS to create only one Plex Versions folder automatically if you consistently choose the same Version Storage Location each time you do an Optimization. It makes the folder automatically. You don’t need to create it in advance if you just choose a path from the drop down list.

You had another question about using a custom Version Storage Location, because the Article you linked said:

Tip!: If you want to keep all optimized versions together in a custom location, add that location to your library by Editing Libraries, then select it here.

a custom location refers to a location not initially in that drop down list. The tip explains a kludge where you add another path to that list by Add folders to your library. No matter whether you create a custom location, you will always get a Plex Versions in folder view, because Add folders to your library does just that.

@norman.cates

The page on optimised versions says you have to create a folder and add it to the library?

Well, I did and that has had no effect. The folder does not show up in the drop down for setting the optimised versions location.

It worked for me and appeared in the list. I made sure it had the right permissions and ownership but didn’t do anything else.

[norman.cates]

Hey ya. Thanks for the reply.

So based on your reply, we are seeing very different things.

I go to the Optimise settings for the LIbrary. Here is where I got the Optimise settings for the Library.

In that Library Optimise interface, I ONLY have the option for “In Folders with Original Items”

No other path at all.

Here are the folder settings for my Movies Library.

You can see that I have added another folder for Plex Optimised files.

But that path does not show up in the drop down for Optimise, as you can see.

Theres something wrong. Plex isn’t saying what it might be. eg. If the permissions for the folders are wrong, theres no indication of it.

Are there some settings somewhere that I haven’t found?

And I just now tried selecting optimise for an individual movie. That DOES give a list of the folders for that Library.

Naturally, selecting every single Movie and setting the Optimise setting is unacceptable. It would take forever. AND it would not apply to new movies added to the Library.

So it appears that the problem is that the Optimise settings for a whole Library are broken?

Thanks for any more insight

[nibbles]

I should have looked for that global setting, but your analysis seems about right.
The individual optimize dialog where you choose the path each time makes sense.
The global optimize dialog is less that obvious whether it’s behaving as intended when it doesn’t let you choose a single location.

I’ll guess that it’s working as intended and that we’re experiencing a design choice they made.

At least we can gather previously optimized versions into a single folder by hand, then scan library and be gtg if your OCD won’t have it.

Mine won’t

EDIT: I was wrong.

[norman.cates]

@nibbles

At least we can gather previously optimized versions into a single folder by hand, then scan library and be gtg if your OCD won’t have it.

Mine won’t

Really? So Plex will recognise previously optimised files even if they are moved from the original location? And hook them up correctly with the original movie etc?

I am impressed and surprised

Given you are getting the same behaviour (thank you for your testing) it seems likely this is a design choice. A bizarre one (in my opinion), but I will see if I can put in some kind of feature request.

Cheers

[norman.cates]

I had a look in the Feature Requests section and found some posts that ask for a solution for this.

It does seem it may be some sort of bug though…

Unable to change optimized version storage location

Same problem here, you can specify alternate folders when optimizing as individual show, but when optimizing an entire library, the only available option is “in folders with original items”. I would also like to have the option to change the Version storage location when optimizing a library, not just an individual show/movie.

This has been pointed out for many months now.

[norman.cates]

AND I kept looking and found this:

Symbolic link support for 'Plex Versions' directory

Server Version#: 1.26.1.5772 I’ve just transitioned from Windows Server to TrueNAS Scale (Ubunutu) for my Plex Server. I used to store my media on mirrored drives and the optimized versions of said media on a stripped drive array (they can easily be recreated in case of hardward failure). I used a symbolic link in Windows to link the ‘Plex Versions’ directory to another physical path and it worked GREAT. On Linux, I can’t get it to work. I’ve verified that the symbolic link points to the righ…

Which towards the bottom has a Plex Team Member reproducing the problem and passing it to the developer team. Who acknowledge the bug and have it in the schedule.

[nibbles]

@norman.cates

Really? So Plex will recognise previously optimised files even if they are moved from the original location? And hook them up correctly with the original movie etc?

I was wrong and hadn’t tested what I said while working on another function, .plexignore, and thought I understood both.

Reading the threads you linked, I see I also didn’t understand how library level optimization worked, the way it could persist and operate weeks later on new items added. That sure is neat.

@ChuckPA would you please reopen thread → Symbolic link support for 'Plex Versions' directory - #36 by ChuckPa if that’s appropriate considering what’s been said here? Thank you sir.

[ChuckPa]

Reopened per request.

I have no information/status to report.

Regarding setting the location for optimized videos, I have always done the following.

1. Create the new directory to hold those optimized versions
2. Add the directory to the library section it’s applicable to.
3. Now, when I do optimize, I can pick the choice.

Does this not work?

[ChuckPa]

In this screenshot, for demonstration, I added the ‘naming’ test directory to the library section definition.

I now choose which to use.

I see discussion of symlinks. I don’t understand why symlinks are needed when you can put the optimized location anywere (including a NAS mount)

Can someone explain please ?

[norman.cates]

When you optimise a single file, it works as expected.

But if you try to do it for the entire library, we don’t get the extra directory options.

Have a look at my reply to nibbles. So the third item in the thread. You can see the differences between choosing the entire Library to optimise, versus a single file

[ChuckPa]

AFAIK, that was changed some time ago.

I am VERY sorry for having misunderstood

Is this what you want ?

1. Select the items you want (even if you select all of them)
2. Now Optimize
3. You are presented with the option where to place them.

I don’t think “Smart Optimize” is a feature anymore but will verify that (Please don’t get upset until I do )

[norman.cates]

Yes, we can select them and manually set the optimise. But this is VERY sub-optimal.

Because new files won’t get optimised automatically.

This post title does refer to Symbolic links, but the topic wandered slightly.

Symbolic link support for 'Plex Versions' directory

Ok, that is right, but, try selecting nothing, and hitting optimize, in other words, how we used to create library wide jobs to automate optimization. My apologies for posting in the wrong thread, but this is currently the only active thread with relation to this issue.

So its towards the end, around May 11 to Jun 7 that the information is shown. Oddly or fortuitously, it was you, Chuck, who had that conversation in the above post

And confirmed that it was a bug. not a feature

[ChuckPa]

TO ALL FOLLOWING HERE:

I’ve checked and chatted with a few folks.

There is an open issue/ticket on this.

I apologize for my mental lapses. I am not aging well lol

[John_67]

I’m missing this essential Plex feature as well. Why was this removed?

Its very convenient to automatically optimize all movies to a compatible high/low quality format for external sharing without transcoding. For this is it neccessary that optimized versions are not placed in the folder with original items and only share that folder.