Server Version: 1.15.3.876
Player Version: 2.31.0.967-a95b6d76
Client OS: Windows 10 1809 - Zotac Mini PC
Server OS: Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard - HP ProLiant ML350 G6 - Dual Xeon E5540
Sony 7.1 AV Receiver
Hi.
This seems to be another new oddity that has been introduced in the last few PMS versions…
If I move a new movie into my library location, and the subfolder for the movie has ( ) in the name, chapter thumbnails are not generated.
Folder name example - MyMovie (2003)
Full path of movie - D:\Plex\Movies (Adult)\MyMovie (2003)\MyMovie.2003.1080p.DTS_5.1.x264.BluRay.mkv
If I rename the movie folder, removing the (2003), chapter thumbnails are now generated, and remain, even after renaming the folder back to include the (2003)
This can be replicated again and again.
What lead me to discover this, was a google search which turned up this reddit post…
I do also have a problem with the Extras not showing thumbnails, but this does not seem to be resolved by removing the brackets.
That is most definitely an oddity because the format you have is the correct folder naming format for plex. MyMovie (year)
The only thing I can think of is the movie did not match initially(year could of been wrong) and when you removed the year, plex found a match.
I like your example file. I sometimes find the year that the good people on-the-net add may not be correct. Check themoviedb to be sure.
Thanks @NewPlaza, but I’ve been using Plex a long time now and haven’t made those kind of naming mistakes for quite some time.
As an update… When I discovered this, I actually updated my server to 1.15.3.876 and toyed with existing content, however today is the first time I have added NEW content, and the problem is even more odd…
So I added a new movie - with brackets in the folder name - Plex scanned the file as usual, correctly recognized it, pulled in all the correct Metadata, but was NOT even aware that the file had chapters!
I play the file and there is NO Chapter icon…
I stop play, Analyze the file, and only now is Plex aware that the file has chapters, and of course… No thumbnails!
So now I rename the folder to remove the (year), refresh the library and now the chapters have thumbnails!
I’m so stupid. I updated to 1.15.3 in hopes it would fix my HOME hub screen on the roku… It didn’t and now got new issues. Where’s the emoji for slapping me?
I’ve just Added a movie called Hanna, with a folder name of… Hanna 2011 expecting the chapter thumbnails to just waltz on in, and guess what?.. Plex not aware there are any chapters for the file, and NO chapter thumbnails!
So I re-Analyze the file… Now Plex is aware of the chapters, but NO chapter thumbnails!
So I renamed the folder to simply… Hanna and Plex has now generated the chapter thumbnails.
So in fact it may not be ENTIRELY down to curly brackets… Will do another movie tomorrow and see what that does, but either way… There is A PROBLEM WITH CHAPTER THUMBNAILS!!
Add a movie with no curly brackets and no date in the folder name - Plex successfully grabs all the appropriate metadata, but is not aware of the chapters at all - No chapter icon when playing the file.
Analyse the file, Plex is now aware of the chapters, but no chapter thumbnails.
Rename the folder, adding the year but with no curly brackets - Plex generates the chapter thumbnails.
CONCLUSION - It seems to be the act of renaming the folder that ends up nudging Plex into generating the actual thumbnails. However, add a movie to the library and Plex is not even aware of the fact that chapters even exist in the first instance.
It is not fixed. Newly added material will now generate chapter thumbnails if setup, but already added media does not generate chapter thumbnails even when setup to do so with a scheduled task. This has bee “broken” for a while.
Doing a manually selected library analysis will at least generate the “chapters” that are there but no thumbnails … will have to see if now will generate thumbnails on scheduled task run.
It appears that Media analysis is NOT be performed during maintenance even though checked to do so.
@BlackJack007 - Unfortunately you appear to be correct!
I only have 1 example of this - Sin City - And beyond removing it from the library and re-adding it with the Plex Dance, I cannot get it to display chapter thumbnails. I have even tried renaming the folder, and that didn’t work.
I am going to try removing it from the library and re-adding it…
Ok, so it turns out that with this particular movie, where the chapters are there are approx 3 seconds of black screen - EVERY time! And so Plex is picking a frame around there and its black every time. Therefore unfortunately I have no more examples of broken chapter thumbnails to play with, as Sin City appears to be genuine! So I cannot confirm one way or another.
@BigWheel - It would appear that 1.15.5.994 once again breaks Movie Chapter Thumbnails!
Fantastic!
I do have to ask… Does anyone actually test this software before releasing it? If so, do they just install it and ensure they get to the home page and then consider that a pass?
I have now downgraded back to 1.15.5.993, and in all honesty, am getting closer and closer to the point where I can no longer trust updates!
