Library Not Correctly Populated with Latest Update

Plex Media Server Metadata & Adding Files
1

Server Version#: 1.16.6.1592
Player Version#: (I don’t know/and may not be relevant)

I have a large video collection from a number of sources. Some are from webinars, others from TV shows, still others from online classes.

I’ve tried using all the 3 different types of categories (Movies, TV Shows, Other Videos) and all 3 produce incorrect results.

For classes, my structure is like this:
[name of source]
_____[name of class]
__________lesson 1, 2, 3, etc files

For TV Shows:
[name of show]
_____[season number]
__________[XXX 9999 Name]
_______________XXX = show name, sometimes abbreviated
_______________99 = season number
_______________88 = episode number
_______________Name = episode name

Not all craft shows, though, have seasons/episode numbers, just names. In which case it looks like this:

[show name]
_____[episode name]

A few sources have both TV episodes AND mini classes and I’ve ordered as follows:

[source]
_____[episodes]
__________[season number]
_____[programs]
__________class name (if just one file for the class)
__________[class name]
_______________class name, part 1,2, etc.

Until the last update, I simply created different libraries.

  1. If the source had episodes, I used the category TV shows and selected the Personal Media Shows for the agent.
  2. If no episodes, I used the Movies category and also used the Personal Media Shows; and
  3. for the webinars, I just used the category for other media

This was working perfectly until today. Most of my videos simply no longer showed up in the libraries. In the end I had to delete them all and try to recreate.

No matter what combination I use, I don’t get all the subdirectories/files and am at a loss as what to do.

Any and all suggestions would be most appreciated.

2

You mean something like this?

/TV Shows
   /Grey's Anatomy
      /Season 00
         Grey's Anatomy - s00e01 - Straight to the Heart.mkv
      /Season 01
         Grey's Anatomy - s01e01 - pt1.avi
         Grey's Anatomy - s01e01 - pt2.avi
         Grey's Anatomy - s01e02 - The First Cut is the Deepest.avi
         Grey's Anatomy - s01e03.mp4
      /Season 02
         Grey's Anatomy - s02e01-e03.avi
         Grey's Anatomy - s02e04.m4v
1 Like
3

Sort of. More like:

/TV Shows

/GA

  /Season 00

     GA 0001 Straight to the Heart.mkv

  /Season 01

     GA 0101 The Name of the Game 1.avi

     GA 0101 The Name of the Game 2.avi

     GA 0102 The First Cut is the Deepest.avi

     GA 0103.mp4

  /Season 02

     GA 0201-03.avi

     GA 0204.m4v

File names get too long otherwise.

4

Correction:

/TV Shows

/Grey’s Anatomy

  /Season 00

(rest is as I wrote)

5

The filenames above will NOT work.

It must be like @NewPlaza posted:

6

That ONLY works for traditional TV shows.

These are classes, webinars, etc., and not TV shows in the normal sense,
and that format doesn’t encompass the material nor will it support the
names as they become FAR too long.

It looks more like this:

/Movies
/TV
/Crafts
/America Sews, Sue Hausmann [category TV Shows]
/Season 24
AS 2405 More Couture Sewing.mp4
AS 2406 Fun with Needle Felting.mp4
/Season 25
/American Sewing Guild [category Movies]
ASG Bound Buttonhole on the Embroidery Machine.mp4
/School Name [category like TV Shows, but CLASS NAMES not SEASONS]
/Class Name #1
01 Intro.mkv
02 How to do something.mkv
/Class Name #2
01 Background.mkv
02 How to do something.mkv
/Web Site Name [category Movies]
2019.05.07 Webinar Name 1
2019.05.28 Webinar Name 2
2019.07.16 Unrelated Webinar
/National Sewing Circle [category Movies]
Effective Tips for Every Sewer.mov
Organization Ideas and Designer Tricks.mov
/Streaming Service Name
/Episodes [category TV Shows]
/Season 0100
SSN 0101 Episode Name.mp4
SSN 0102 Episode Name.mkv
/Season 2000
SSN 2001 Episode Name.mov
/Classes [category like TV Shows, but CLASS NAMES not SEASONS]
/Class Name #1
01 Lesson Name.mkv
02 Lesson Name.mp4
/Class Name #2

Before the latest update, I created a library for each of the above (eg
Library named “America Sews”) and then gave it the relevant category.

For “Streaming Service Name” I actually created 2 libraries. As long as
I selected Personal Media Server and within the application displayed in
FOLDER order, then all classes could be found and viewed in order (or
not) as chosen.

This worked perfectly. Now it’s broken since the update which occurred
(for me) yesterday.

What I found with the current version is that not all videos/components
are being added to the library regardless of the category selected,
something is always excluded or Plex reports no media found at all.

7

In all truth, I just barely understand how Plex works …

Having said that, is the following article discussing a similar problem:

If it is, would the “Extended Personal Media Agent/Scanner” solve my problem?
https://bitbucket.org/mjarends/extendedpersonalmedia-agent.bundle/src/master/

And if it would, where would I get help installing and setting it up? I’m only kind-of-sort-of understanding what I’m reading. (Age and memory loss are taking it’s toll)

8

That’s sounds very promising! I would at lease give it a try.

The site itself. I suppose we could help a little. But if I help it’s gonna be as I learn it too.

1 Like
9

I managed to install the scanner and agent. Turns out it was fairly straight forward. However, if
anyone would care to jump in — it’s not behaving as described. I still have to add the equivalent of the whole class name (eg TV Show), season and episode numbers.

On the other hand the format can be much abbreviated. The separators (eg
dash, period) are optional. In my case, it looks like this (so far):

/Class Source Name

/Class Name
/L1 [or S1 or C1]
e1 Lesson name

e2 Lesson name

e3 Lesson name

So far, that is working. But I’ve only tested on a few small uncomplicated sources. With 5,658 files across 654 folders, this is going to take me quite a long time …

Also, the .metadata file seems to only read the 3 example values (release, studio, genres) and I can find no others (eg title, sort title, original title, tagline, collections)

Directions and examples:

10

It’s a work in progress. Maybe in time there will be more options. In the interim, you could use embedded information within your MP4/M4V files. But, I’m have not played with this scanner agent…

Ironically, studio & genre are probably the last thing people might use for class lessens.

Your best bet on understanding and using this agent would come from the dev that released it.

11

As I reported. I did install both the scanner and the agent. I played with it a bit and it does not work as reported in the documentation. I still have to rename everything. However, I do NOT have to use such long names such as “season” but just “s” and that shortens it. The metadata is not being read from the MP4 files as expected either and the .summary files only work with the 3 mentioned metatags. Wish there was someone to contact on that product for support as well. Guess should close this topic. How do I do that?

12

Just wait. Topics close after 3 months of the last reply.

13

This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.