Hey all, I’m having some issues trying to add multi-version movies to my existing movie library. 4K versions of some movies are added to the library, and they initially show up correctly as merged - 1 media item, 2 versions (1080p and 4K), with the ‘Play version…’ menu option available. I had to do the Plex Dance ™ for a couple of items, but other than that everyting was fine.
Unfortunately, after one day and (presumably) the nightly maintenance window and all scheduled tasks have run, the next morning the 2 items are suddenly split. The movie no longer shows as having multiple items, but as actual different entries in my library (more akin to 2 different editions). I’m not entirely sure why or where it happens, and the logs don’t show any meaningful events.
As far as I can see from the docs, this is the correct naming format (but perhaps I’m missing something). Before this, I tried using separate folders for 1080p and 4k content, adding both folders to the Plex library. Same thing: it worked initially, but split the items up after scheduled tasks had run.
Yes, I’m well aware. I have different versions of a movie, which, after initially being displayed as a single item, are separated and shown separately (not unlike if they were different editions) - despite still being the same media item with different versions - after scheduled tasks have run.
If I’ve used these two terms incorrectly in my post, please show me so I can correct it, but I don’t think so.
At first read, I only saw you’re using an edition tag in your file names. I’m only now seeing that it’s the same edition.
I think, the problem might be the difference in the file‘s base name. If you must have the technical gibberish in your file names, try placing it in a single set of square brackets.
Thanks, I didn’t know about this! It is in the documentation, but only at the TV show naming format (emphasis mine):
Many of our naming instructions mention having Optional_Info at the end of the file name. As the label suggests, it’s optional, but many people like to use it for information about the files in question. Such optional info is ignored by Plex when matching content with legacy agents, but it is used in the Plex TV Series agent to give a hint for matching. If you want info to be ignored put the optional info in brackets. e.g. /Band of Brothers (2001) - s01e01 - Currahee [1080p Bluray].mkv
However the instructions for naming multi-version movies doesn’t mention where in the name Optional_Info should go (before or after the version tag).
I’ve tried to stick as close as possible to the articles’ naming recommendations, placing the version tag right after the release year and before anything else. I tried one with brackets around the ‘technical gibberish’ as suggested, one without:
/movies_merged
/Dunkirk (2017)
Dunkirk (2017).1080p {tmdb-374720} {edition-IMAX} [Bluray-1080p][EAC3 5.1][x264]-hallowed.mkv
Dunkirk (2017).4k {tmdb-374720} {edition-IMAX} [Bluray-2160p][DV HDR10Plus][EAC3 7.1][x265]-HONE.mkv
/Fantastic Beasts The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022)
Fantastic Beasts The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022).4k {tmdb-338953} [[WEBDL-2160p][DV HDR10][EAC3 Atmos 5.1][x265]-HONE].mkv
Fantastic Beasts The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022).1080p {tmdb-338953} [[AMZN][WEBDL-1080p][EAC3 5.1][h265]-GRiMM].mkv
Both movies were split up again after the maintenance window. So the problem persists.
Is there actually reason to believe that will work, or is this just a case of “let’s throw some stuff at the wall and see what sticks”? Reason I ask is because this technical stuff is pretty important (I would argue essential) for records-keeping in my *arr stack. It’s not very unique or niche either; this naming scheme (or variations thereof) comes recommended by most online sources and is replicated by a myriad of users (here is an example guide that’s used by alot of people, and it’s not too far off from mine).
I don’t mean to sound ungrateful for the suggestions - and I suppose I will try this out tonight seeing as it’s the only thing to do at this point - but apart from this solution not being optimal to say the least, there’s also nothing in Plex’s official documentation to suggest that the stuff in between brackets must not contain brackets themselves. And while I obviously have no technical knowledge of PMS’ internal programming, it seems very weird to me that the matching algorithm would break down for this. On top of all that, the fact that Plex initially merges these versions into 1 media item correctly, suggests that the naming format is - at least on some level - correct. Which makes it even harder to believe that I should be looking at a solution within the names of my files.
Yes. There’s been many confirmations from Plex that the scanner will only ignores the first set of square brackets (technically: dropping that section from the file name before parsimonious in the subsequent steps). By keeping multiple sets, some of those will still be part of the „clean file name“ and can cause confusion — like in your case, where Plex is expecting multiple versions an edition to share the same base name (your cleaned filename).
It’s the same with the source suffix you still kept in your file names (1x outside of square brackets, 1x in a set of double square brackets).
to be clear - I know that the " Can I use Editions and Versions at the same time?" section of that support article calls out the “.” but that might be something we need to fix on our end in the support article if it is indeed respecting the “-” and not the “.”
If this doesn’t work then I’m out of morse code-like suggestions
What @McWanke was suggesting was trying using a dash instead of a period, so in your example it would be something like Dunkirk (2017)-1080p (…) instead of Dunkirk (2017).1080p (…). But you seem to be following the naming recommendations, which is likely why PMS picks it up when it first scans the files… so maybe there’s a bug in one of the tasks that run during the maintenance window.
Do you mind sharing logs of your PMS after the maintenance window so I can add them to an internal issue tracking this?
