Hello,
Quick Thread because of something that’s quite bothering me: Why is it, that Multi Part Movies, i.e Lord of the Rings Extended Edition UHD, have to be transcoded? Like for what reason is it necessary to transcode something on the local network because it has to parts? I’ve never seen this before and only found out about it because my sever good loud for no apparent reason until I checked the Dashboard. To me it’s not understandable and also it does not make any sense, specially since transcoding 4K UHD HDR is not necessary with a Shield TV Pro & OLED LG.
Idk maybe someone from the forum or the devs can elaborate on it further but to me it looks like something that needs to be changed rather than kept the way it is now.
Attached are 2 Photos and a Screenshot.
Cheers
Alex
Server Version: 1.43.5.11079
Server Logs:
Plex Media Server Logs_2026-11-03_11-31-00.zip (6.2 MB)
The message “multi-part media must be transcoded” is saying what’s happening, your files are split into more than 1 file/part on disk. It asks the server to transcode as it’s much easier for the player to not have to handle joining the files together seamlessly.
To avoid this don’t split things across multiple files, rather remux them into a single file.
See: https://support.plex.tv/articles/naming-and-organizing-your-movie-media-files/ and https://forums.plex.tv/t/howto-joining-multi-part-movies-files-with-mkvtoolnix-gui/113211
Frist of all: Thank you for the fast reply and explanation on this topic.
Second: Technically I fully understand the reason why Plex does this and why it is better for the Server/Player to handle multi part movies/shows/etc. But there also lies the problem: Why does a Software like Plex, who’s capabilities have grown significantly over the years, need to transcode the media it wants to stream when both files are correctly labeled, sorted and marked within plex? I think it’s a bit of a missed opportunity for you/Plex to have it implemented it this way rather than to “just play the second or X part after the first, while keeping the session and metadata accurate”, for lack of better wording.
I’m not upset or pissed, quite the opposite actually, I’m just surprised about it.
The merging of two or more part movies with MKVToolnix is something I’d happily avoid since it would include a second pass through the system while, kind of, messing with the “original”.
Fun Fact: I’m not even splitting things in the first place, the LotR UHD Versions do come on 2 Discs, hence the 2 Part Naming.
Again: nothing against you or the way it has been implemented, I’m just a bit baffled.
