Multiple Episodes in a Single File (naming) -not working

[rjblake]

Server Version#: Version 1.19.1.2645
Player Version#: Version 4.31.1
As per Support article, a single file with multiple episodes should be named as follows:

Multiple Episodes in a Single File

If a single file covers more than one episode, name it as follows:

• /TV Shows/ShowName/Season 02/ShowName – s02e17-e18 – Optional_Info.ext

I have multiple series with multiple episodes named as such, and no matter what I do, they do not get added to the library (have removed, re-scanned, re-added, changed case, etc.)

For example:

S03E11-E12.mp4

Only show the episode 11 and not episode 12. Any ideas how to fix this?

[SE56]

I would try this tutorial from Otto.

[HowTo]: splitting multi-episode files with MKVtoolnix GUI

The purpose of this HowTo is to split videofiles which contain more than one episode of a tv show into single-episode files. So they show up individually within plex, can be played individually and don’t produce any of the weird things that multi-episode files are plagued with. The tool used is MKVtoolnixGUI it is freely available for all major PC operating systems. Therefore the container format of the output files will be MKV. The input format can be a multitude of containers like AVI, MP4…

Available on MacOS also

[anon18523487]

What OS is this running on? You’ve picked 3 different tags.

@rjblake

S03E11-E12.mp4

Where’s the show name?

[rjblake]

@anon18523487 - its the folder name (e.g SEAL Team -> Season 3)

[rjblake]

@SE56 - thanks. Seems that this is the only real fix. Plex Scanner used to work correctly, but no longer it seems

[ChuckPa]

If I may add here?

1. Multiepisode notation as shown by MovieFan.Plex above
2. Full proper naming.

[chuck@lizum SEAL Team.358]$ ll
total 40
drwxrwxrwx  5 chuck chuck 4096 Oct  2  2019 ./
drwxr-xr-x 45 chuck chuck 4096 Mar 30 01:57 ../
drwxr-xr-x  2 chuck chuck 4096 Aug  3  2019 Season 01/
drwxr-xr-x  2 chuck chuck 4096 Aug  3  2019 Season 02/
drwxr-xr-x  2 chuck chuck 4096 Apr  8 22:17 Season 03/
[chuck@lizum SEAL Team.359]$ ls -1 *01
SEAL Team.S01E01.Tip of the Spear.mkv
SEAL Team.S01E02.Other Lives.mkv
SEAL Team.S01E03.Boarding Party.mkv
SEAL Team.S01E04.Ghosts of Christmas Future.mkv
SEAL Team.S01E05.Collapse.mkv
SEAL Team.S01E06.The Spinning Wheel.mkv
SEAL Team.S01E07.Borderlines.mkv
SEAL Team.S01E08.The Exchange.mkv
SEAL Team.S01E09.Rolling Dark.mkv
SEAL Team.S01E10.Pattern of Life.mkv
SEAL Team.S01E11.Containment.mkv
SEAL Team.S01E12.The Upside Down.mkv
SEAL Team.S01E13.Getaway Day.mkv
SEAL Team.S01E14.Call Out.mkv
SEAL Team.S01E15.No Man's Land.mkv
SEAL Team.S01E16.Never Get Out of the Boat.mkv
SEAL Team.S01E17.In Name Only.mkv
SEAL Team.S01E18.Credible Threat.mkv
SEAL Team.S01E19.Takedown.mkv
SEAL Team.S01E20.Enemy of My Enemy.mkv
SEAL Team.S01E21.The Graveyard of Empires.mkv
SEAL Team.S01E22.The Cost of Doing Business.mkv
[chuck@lizum SEAL Team.360]$ 

Would result in

SEAL Team.S01E01-E03.mkv

-or

SEAL Team.S01E01E02E03.mkv

[rjblake]

@ChuckPa - thanks for the detail. As mentioned, I have renamed all sorts of combinations for the files (including spaces, dashes, periods, show names, etc.) as per the support page. None of these have worked with the latest versions of the Plex server for me. I have also done the ‘Plex Dance’ of removing the files, rescanning library, emptying trash after scan, optimizing library and then adding back and re-running scan. All in vain without any success. I have run same on a Mac, Linux & Synology server - results are the same. Sonarr on the other hand has no issues detecting the multiple episodes correctly

[rjblake]

@trumpy81 - thanks. Did a DB check, dump, re-import and then copied a folder to create a new Test library too. Oddly enough, it adds Episodes 1->5, but misses Episode 6 as below images show

Went back to folder and renamed all the *.MP4 files to *.MKV files and re-ran the scan and suddenly the Episode 6 appeared! Then went back and changed the extensions back to *.MP4 and lo and behold Episode 6 disappeared. Things are not well with the MP4 logic by looks, or something really weird is going on

[JuiceWSA]

I smell the need for an LMA Hack…:

Video File Naming

With LMA in priority, Embedded Titles within MP4/M4V files are preferred - even over a perfect file name. Local Media Assets should - AT ALL TIMES - remain enabled (unless specifically instructed to turn it off). Local Media Assets should be ‘Demoted’, to the bottom of the stack of active agents under ALL tabs in Shows and Movies, but should NOT be disabled. Local Media Assets is needed for many things - it doesn’t need to be given Tip-Top-Priority (as Plex has so hatefully placed it as it’s …

[rjblake]

@JuiceWSA

[LMAHack-Year20]

…and I think you might have hit the nail on the head! All my MP4 files have metadata; however it was disabled and moving/enabling still hasn’t sorted things (perhaps need a restart). I’m going to create a set of small ‘dummy MP4’ files and see if this still occurs - will share files for others (e.g. @trumpy81) to try if you’re willing

[JuiceWSA]

If refreshing the metadata at the show level doesn’t do the trick - Plex Dancing the show will (probably):

The Plex Dance ™

The purpose of this is to remove all cached metadata and xml data for an item that Plex usually keeps. This helps when you want to “start from scratch” for particular item move all files for the media item out of the directory your Library is looking at, so Plex will not “see” it anymore scan the library library (to detect changes) empty trash clean bundles (in menu next to server name, when accessed under ‘More’) double check naming schema and move files back scan the library Support articl…

Trumpy’s right - the best metadata to have in any video file is - none.

[3limin4tor]

I had the same issue with 2 episodes in one file and after trying hundreds of different namings and agent settings, i reverted everything back to where i had it and simply used MKVToolnix and this tutorial here Plex Forum - Splitting Episodes MKV Toolnix Tutorial to split up the episodes into 2 different files. After doing so and naming the 2 new files accordingly, my issue was gone. Unfortunately, this is not solving the main issue here, i understand. But that’s a easy and without much effort doable workaround. If i ever face this issue in future again, i will use MKVToolnix and split them up. Less pain then doing the Plex Dance over and over again and wait for a fix from plex side.

[rjblake]

It was the IDv3 Tags causing the issue. Removed Tags and rescanned and all sorted. Odd that LMA assets still are getting picked up even when disabled

[JuiceWSA]

@rjblake

Odd that LMA assets still are getting picked up even when disabled

Whatever is causing that - you shouldn’t disable LMA - simply ‘demote’ it - and it must be ‘demoted’ under ALL tabs in Shows and Movies. ALL.

(probably doesn’t matter for Personal Media - probably)

(and it absolutely needs to be enabled for music - Music LMAs in Juicetown are all enabled, but demoted, and ‘Preferring Local Media Assets’… still working fine.

[JuiceWSA]

@trumpy81

I am not an advocate of masking issues by demoting the agent

Oh, I remove ALL metadata and use only MKV files.

I demote LMA to TAKE BACK CONTROL - in some small insignificant way important only to me…lol

If the default position for LMA was at the bottom of the stack of agents - it would work as intended for everyone and only negatively affect that microscopic minority who might actually NEED metadata within MP4 files to be in priority - instead of how it is now where LMA negatively impacts almost everyone, while that niche group of users (developer’s family members, obviously) benefit.

Such is the minds at Minolta… and Plex… apparently.

[Yanders]

I swear I had this issue resolved last year. I demoted LMA at that time as it was indeed finding incorrect metadata in many older files, especially files that had been exposed to apple players. (Never again!)
Now it has reared its ugly head again. I can not be sure at what version it changed, but I can confirm it was rectified, and now it is broken again.
By “broken”, I mean plex is reading the metadata of the file and will override any file naming convention used to name the file.
As I said. I addressed this previously with success, but now I can not get plex to ignore the metadata, as I once did.
Eventually, like @JuiceWSA I will strip all metadata from all of my files, but with close to 20TB of files, that will be a process I will visit carefully and methodically in the future.
My questions are:
@rjblake : Was removing the metadata the only way to have plex behave itself?
@trumpy81 : How do I get plex to ignore the metadata. (I aleady have LMA demoted)

Cheers

[JuiceWSA]

Is LMA demoted across the board?

It’s not in priority anywhere in Juicetown.

Not sure but some of these agents may talk to one another…

[Yanders]

@JuiceWSA Yes, LMA is demoted across the board, enabled but always last!
Thanks for your insight on this.
@trumpy81 I see no need to promote (nor use?) LMA. It is only enabled because it seems to be universally recommended that it be enabled. Why must it be enabled and what will I lose if I disable it?

Thanks for the suggestions on how to remove metadata. I run linux and between ffmpeg and exiftool, the task is not hard, but trying to minimise the flow on affects to backups and file synching with other servers becomes an issue, especially given the large volume of files. I have identified approximately 100 multi-episode files that are tagged with incorrect metadata (all from an apple app!!). I will start with those.
However, I firmly believe I should be able to tell plex to ignore it. I have done it in the past, something changed, and now I can not. Sigh!

[JuiceWSA]

You need LMA for subtitles and stuff - you’d never miss it until you need something it does.

LMA demoted shouldn’t read metadata in MP4 files and metadata in ANY other kind of file, apart from music, of course, can’t be read by Plex at all.

LMA is demoted in my music agents, just like all the others, but dutifully reads and reacts as expected to the embedded tags required - 'cause I have DISALLOWED Plex to have any further activity with my music, other than displaying it the way I have tagged it - then playing it.

I suspect some old bundles are in play and Plex Dancing an affected item may lead somewhere.

Plex is clearly doing something it shouldn’t do.
The solution - will be found somewhere above my pay grade.