Need help with movie matching before I decide to uninstall Plex!

General Discussions
1

I have been fighting this issue with Plex since I first started using it two years ago. It became more of a problem when my old server crashed and I built a new one and restored 2856 movies off the back drive to the new server. Because of this issue all my family that use my media server had stopped using Plex clients and switched to using Emby (yes, I have both installed, it’s about user choice) so I canceled my Plex pass for now. This is just one of many issues, but is one of the big ones and since my loved ones found it the most annoying. Before you ask yes, I have the proper file naming and folder structure. Each movie is in its own folder and the folder is the named with the movie title space the year (which is in parenthesis) and the movie file it’s self is named the same as the folder.
So here is the issue Plex is having a hard time matching movies. Since building the media sever seven months ago restoring old files and adding new files I have had to correct 387 movie mismatches in Plex (yes, I have been keeping count) and only 4 times in Emby. Here are 18 examples (from when I spent the time to record why I had to fix mismatches):

  1. Plex thinks Max (2015).mp4 a movie about a dog and Mad Max - Fury Road (2015).mkv are the same movie despite being in separate folders, had to spilt apart then fix incorrect match of Mad Max.
  2. Plex would not ID Empire Strikes Back until I removed Star Wars from the file name, Emby had no issue with Star Was – Empire Strikes Back.
  3. Plex would no ID Return of the Jedi until I removed Star Wars from the file name, Emby had no issue with Star Was – Return of the Jedi.
  4. Plex thinks Arthur (2011).mkv and Arthur Christmas (2011).avi are the same movie had to spilt apart then fix incorrect match.
  5. Escort West (1958).mp4 not found in movie database by plex when doing a manual search to fix incorrect match but found in plex database but with date of 1959 even though IMDB has it as 1958 and so does a google search
  6. Fear City (1984).mkv not found in movie database by plex when doing a manual search o fix incorrect match but found in plex database but with date of 1985 even though IMDB has it as 1984 and so does a google search
  7. Interview with the Vampire (1994).avi not found in movie database by plex when doing a manual search to fix a no match but found in plex database
  8. The Last Time You Had Fun (2014).avi not found in movie database by plex when doing a manual search to fix a no match but found in plex database but with date of 2015 even though IMDB has it as 2014 and so does a google search
  9. A Lego Brickumentary (2014).mp4 not found in movie database by plex when doing a manual search to fix a no match but found in plex database but with date of 2015 even though IMDB has it as 2014 so does a google search
  10. Second Sight (1989).avi I miss typed the 1989 as 1999 in the file name orginally plex could not id it but Emby did.
  11. Plex thinks Looper (2012).mkv and R.I.P.D. (2013).mkv are the same movie had to spilt apart then fix incorrect match.
  12. Plex thinks Black & White & ■■■ (2012).mp4 and Men in Black 3 (2012).mkv are the same movie had to spilt apart then fix incorrect match of Men in Black.
  13. Sweet 16 (1983).mkv had to match it with the name sweet sixteen even though IMDB has it as sweet 16.
  14. Tron Legacy (2010) it put 2010 in the title even though the year is in parenthesis in the file name and folder name.
  15. Death Race 2000 (1975) it would not match till I manually changed the title to Death Race 2000 and the year to 1975 it had the year as 2000
  16. The Double (2013).avi During fix incorrect match it matched it as The Double 2014 even though IMDB has it as 2013 and so does a google search
  17. The Fluffy Movie had to do a fix incorrect match
  18. Kill Me Three Times (2014).mp4 During fix incorrect match it matched it as 2015 even though IMDB has it as 2014 and so does a google search

I can understand why my family stopped using Plex, it’s really annoying to be told a movie is on the server but not be able to find it or browse movies and see a blank box/wrong title. I also know that examples 2, 3, and 10 are sort my issue but the fact the Emby had no problems is sort of telling, and the other examples are more of the norm. So how do I fix this issue or is Plex just that bad? I like Plex Clients better then Emby but if the family will not use it because Plex cannot name movies right it may be time to give up on it.

2

I see you have predominantly trouble with mp4 files.
Could it be embedded ‘Title’ tags spoiling the proper match here?

Settings - Server - Agents - Movies - Plex Movie
grab the line ‘Local Media Assets’ with your mouse and drag it downwards, so it ends up at the lowest position

do the same also under
Settings - Server - Agents - Movies - TheMovieDatabase
Settings - Server - Agents - Shows - TheTVDB
Settings - Server - Agents - Shows - TheMovieDatabase

Then Plex Dance one of the troublesome “movie pairs” which were lumped together previously

3

All Ready had the Local Media assets unchecked and moved the the bottom. I use a tool that removes the tags from MP4 files then run them trough filebot before placing them in the movies folder. Example 10 was one of the movies that I had to manually name but it was the only one that was like that.

4

I just go in and manually choose the proper title when that happens. It is a bit annoying (I have over 1,000 movies on my server), but it isn’t a deal breaker to me.

I wish there was a better way for the system to choose the title, as it sometimes comes up with some odd choices.

5

@MaverickCCIE said:
All Ready had the Local Media assets unchecked and moved the the bottom. I use a tool that removes the tags from MP4 files then run them trough filebot before placing them in the movies folder. Example 10 was one of the movies that I had to manually name but it was the only one that was like that.

Are you using additional arbitrary subfolder levels, like ‘index letter’ or ‘genre’?

Are there .nfo files present in your movie subfolders? If yes, open the nfo file from one of the mismatched movies. Does it contain a IMDb ID (tt1234567) and if so, is this ID actually correct?
Verify by inserting it into this URL: "So You Think You Can Dance" The Top 14 Perform (TV Episode 2008) - IMDb

Which is the default Agent for your movie library?

6

@MaverickCCIE said:
Escort West (1958).mp4 not found in movie database by plex when doing a manual search to fix incorrect match but found in plex database but with date of 1959 even though IMDB has it as 1958 and so does a google search
Fear City (1984).mkv not found in movie database by plex when doing a manual search o fix incorrect match but found in plex database but with date of 1985 even though IMDB has it as 1984 and so does a google search
The Last Time You Had Fun (2014).avi not found in movie database by plex when doing a manual search to fix a no match but found in plex database but with date of 2015 even though IMDB has it as 2014 and so does a google search
A Lego Brickumentary (2014).mp4 not found in movie database by plex when doing a manual search to fix a no match but found in plex database but with date of 2015 even though IMDB has it as 2014 so does a google search

I no longer rely on IMDB for movies. The goto place for Plex is TheMoviedb.
Examples…But not all…From https://www.themoviedb.org

Escort West 01/23/1959
Fear City 02/16/1985
The Last Time You Had Fun 04/07/2015
A Lego Brickumentary 07/31/2015

It’s doesn’t matter if IMDB or GOOGLE show a different date. Plex does not match from those sites.
Most if not all your incorrect matches can be fix using the title/year themoviedb has.