Server Version#: Latest For Netgear ReadyNAS
Player Version#: Latest For Windows 11
I have the movie “The 33” ripped to an MKV file. It is already added to my movie library on NAS1 that runs its own PLEX server. I have copied that movie folder to a second NAS2, that also runs its own PLEX server. I cannot get the movie to add to the library on NAS2. Here’s what I’ve tried:
- Rescanned movie library.
- Updated metadata.
- Deleted the movie folder from NAS2. Rescanned library. Emptied trash. Copied same movie from NAS1 back to NAS2. Rescanned library.
- Deleted entire movie library from NAS2. Created new library and let it scan all the movies again.
Nothing seems to work. I’ve also tried to look for a posible movie that could be merged with “The 33” so that I could split it out. I am out of ideas. Does anyone have additional tricks I should try? This is so frustrating. I wish there was a way to just modify the database manually and not have to pray that the scanners work properly.
How is the movie named? Movies with numbers in the name can be difficult for Plex to correctly recognize. For such movies, be sure to add the release year in parenthesis. You can also add the imdb/tmdb ID to tell Plex exactly which movie to match.
Try this naming and perform the Plex Dance if necessary.
/movies <-- folder added to movie library
/The 33 (2015) {imdb-tt2006295}
/The 33 (2015) {imdb-tt2006295}.mkv
The movie is named “The 33 (2015) (BD).mkv”. It is placed in a folder with the same name. I always add a (BD) or (4K) after the year to distinguish if the movie was ripped from Blu-ray or UHD. That hasn’t proven to be a problem with any of my movies so far. Maybe I should remove the (BD) or add the imdb/tmdb ID?
I’m surprised that didn’t work, since you have the year in parenthesis. That is usually enough to get a good scan and match.
The above naming is from my server. I don’t remember if I tried it without the IMDB ID.
It is OK to keep comments like BD, 4K, etc., but put them in square brackets at the end of the folder/file name. Plex will then ignore them when scanning/matching.
The IMDB/TMDB ID (or TVDB/TMDB for TV shows) tells Plex exactly which movie to match. It overrides the name, year, etc. If Plex does not see the movie when using the ID, then something strange is going on.
/movies
/The 33 (2015) {imdb-tt2006295} [BD]
/The 33 (2015) {imdb-tt2006295} [BD].mkv
Thanks. I will give that a try tomorrow and report back. Should the 4K brackets be square or squiggly like your examples above? (I don’t know what you call a { }. 
Plex Documentation → Your Media
→ Naming & Organizing Your TV Show Files
→ Naming & Organizing Your Movie Files
→ Multiple Editions (Movies)
Curly Braces, { }, are used for IMDB/TMDB/TVDB IDs and for Movie Editions (editions not available for TV shows).
Square Brackets, [ ], are use for “commentary” items. It is not in the documentation, but Plex ignores such info when matching. You should have only one set of square brackets holding all of the “commentary” info.
Parenthesis, ( ), are used for the introduction year of the movie or TV show.
Example:
/movies
/Avatar (2009) {imdb-tt0499549} {edition-Director's Cut}
/Avatar (2009) {imdb-tt0499549} {edition-Director's Cut} [4K.HDR10.TrueHD.Atmos.yada.yada.yada].mkv
Thank you FordGuy61. I will revise my naming system for movies as you’ve explained. I still haven’t made the change on The 33 and rescanned. Life’s always busy. But how do you find the IMDB number? I went to the website for The 33 and don’t see an ID number listed.
Usually in the URL itself.
For The 33 on IMDB:
For The 33 on TMDB is the highlighted section:
For The 33 on TVDB it’s listed in the details screen (or in the search, #5899):
At least that’s where I grab 'em from.
I have the exact same problem, not with that spicific movie, but with all newley add movies , just made a post about it
Perfect! I wasn’t even aware of TMDB and TVDB. Do you think that one of the three databases is better for PLEX or does it not matter? Also, I guess the three choices for my movie would be added like this:
{imdb-tt2006295} or {tmdb-293646} or {tvdb-5899}. Or do you need the # sign for tvdb?
Thanks!
@XrayDoc88 - check the naming for movies files article FordGuy61 linked earlier and it has examples for the format but you’ve got it right.
It doesn’t really matter which one you use as far as I’m aware - it’s just for identifying.
Movies: TMDB or IMDB
TV Shows: TMDB or TVDB
As @Insomnic_1 writes, it is only for identification. It does not matter which one you use.
Plex gathers metadata info from multiple sources then combines it together on their own servers. When you add a movie or show to your server, it queries the host at Plex, not IMDB/etc.
The ID tells Plex exactly which movie/show you want to match. If you follow Plex naming guidelines, the ID is usually not needed. However, there are some cases where it is useful, such as movies with numbers as their name or movies with the same name released the same year (rare, but happens).
It’s alive! It’s alive!
Thank you very much to everyone who posted. I thought I had done the “PLEX Dance” properly before starting this thread. However, I knew nothing about cleaning “bundles”. I knew nothing about adding database numbers like imdb to my file names. I also didn’t know there was a difference when using ( ), [ ], or { }. I did a complete PLEX dance and added the imdb ID to my movie name. I rescanned my library and…it magically appeared! Thanks again. Hopefully when this happens in the future, I will remember these steps and solve the problem on my own.
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Hey, two last questions since everyone understood this better than me.
- I like to choose my posters for my movies. Do I understand correctly that if a poster has already been chosen, rescanning the library should not change the poster? But a metadata refresh might change the selected poster?
- Is there is any way to transfer your selected posters to a completely new movie library? I assume your only recourse is to manually set the poster for each movie if you don’t like what was defaulted. But this is obviously a pain!
Thanks!
Caveat for all of this: Libraries should be using the Plex Movie scanner & agent. Unknown what will happen if using the Plex Movie (Legacy) agent.
If you manually choose a poster for a movie, it should not change if you rescan or refresh the metadata for that library.
Some users are saying this is not always true. Plex is investigating, but cannot reproduce the problem. See Stop. Changing. My. Posters .
See Move Media Content to a New Location.
Basically, copy the files to the new location and scan to pick them up before removing them from the old location. Read the doc, as there are some additional steps.
This should keep poster selections and any other customizations you’ve made (collections, etc.).
EDIT: I just tested this with my server. It did not keep the same manually selected movie poster. The poster in the new library is the default chosen by Plex.
FordGuy61, thanks for the information. I’m sorry if your test messed up your movie library. It sure would be nice if there was a method to transfer a library and retain poster choices, etc. My movie library has 781 films. Trying to adjust that many customizations for each film is just too crazy tedious. 
Just a note - you might confuse people since it’s no longer called “Plex Movie (Legacy)” - and the current list is certainly confusing since you would have to know to google for what the differences are to choose one, if you change the default. It’s just called “Plex Movie Scanner”
Agent lists it with “(Legacy).” If you select it, the scanner changes to “Plex Movie Scanner.”
And you’re right, it can be confusing. Thanks for mentioning it.
No worries. It did not. I’ve a second server that I use for testing features, new PMS releases, etc.
I don’t know what you’re trying to say. It looks like what I just posted. There is no (legacy)
