PMS Movie Naming

[digitalpurchase999_gmail_com]

Server Version#:plexmediaserver_1.16.5.1554-1e5ff713d_amd64
Player Version#:Amazon Fire TV
I am a PLEX novice and need some help on understanding the PLEX interface. Most likely it is because I do not understand the nomenclature.

My PMS has an established directory structure for movies and music.

The movie directory is M:\MovieName. Inside the subdirectory for the movie name is an .mp4 file produced by MakeMKV/HandBrake when the DVD was ripped.

As I rip various DVDs I add the .mp4 file to a separate directory with the movie name – M:\NewMovie\NewMovie.mp4.

I thought that adding the new content in this way would result in the Movie info being updated automatically when the library was rescanned because it now has new folders.

Issue #1

For some reason as the new info is added in its own subdirectories, it does not reflect in the PMS Movies list.

I needed to remove the existing library and then add a ‘new’ library at the same location and it found most of the recently added info.

What did I do wrong with this approach?

Issue #2

I named a PMS Movie directory “Ginsburg Story” when in fact it was really titled “On the Basis of ■■■”. It showed up as the “Gettysburg Story”. So I renamed the associated directory and .mp4 file and did a rescan. It is still showing as “Gettysburg Story”. Again my notion of the directory name being all important was apparently wrong. How do I get the correct name to show?

Issue #3

There is one ripped set of DVDs that involved an HBO series – John Adams. It has seven episodes and each is in its own directory.

For some reason only the first episode shows on the system but I see a 7 in the upper left corner of the display. I cannot seem to get to the other six episodes.

There must be something I am doing wrong – any help would be appreciated.

[OttoKerner]

1. not wrong as such. But you should always add the original release year of the movie in parentheses to the folder name.

2. the Plex Dance

3. TV Shows require a strict naming schema and folder structure. They also need to go into a totally separate folder in storage and a separate library in Plex.

https://support.plex.tv/articles/categories/your-media/

https://support.plex.tv/articles/200264746-quick-start-step-by-step-guides/

[digitalpurchase999_gmail_com]

Clearly I do not understand something here…

HBO ‘Special’ – John Adams 7 episodes
Each episode is in a sperate directory with a unique name…

\Episode 1\ JA_EP01.mp4
\Episode 2\ JA_EP02.mp4
\Episode 3\ JA_EP03.mp4
\Episode 4\ JA_EP04.mp4
\Episode 5\ JA_EP05.mp4
\Episode 6\ JA_EP06.mp4
\Episode 7\ JA_EP07.mp4
According to the naming conventions I hare read, and apparently do not understand, we start at the ‘Senior‘directory…
\TV_Shows – this is the PMS Media directory

Then add the ‘season’ which for this example would be ‘Special’
\TV_Shows\Special
And finally the actual episodes
\TV_Shows\Special\Episode 1\ JA_EP01.mp4
\TV_Shows\Special\Episode 1\ JA_EP02.mp4
\TV_Shows\Special\Episode 1\ JA_EP03.mp4
\TV_Shows\Special\Episode 1\ JA_EP04.mp4
etc.

Added a TV Show library to PMS – Browsed to …\TB_Shows

PMS said it found no media at that location.

The solution is probably obvious but not to me.

Any help would be appreciated.

[OttoKerner]

All “episodic” content is a tv show in Plex – and therefore belongs into a tv show library.

You don’t do one folder per-episode.
Your file names are wrong.
I provided you above with the link to all the naming guides.
Here is the one for tv shows in particular https://support.plex.tv/articles/naming-and-organizing-your-tv-show-files/

[BigWheel]

@digitalpurchase999_gmail_com

According to the naming conventions I hare read, and apparently do not understand, we start at the ‘Senior‘directory…
\TV_Shows – this is the PMS Media directory

Then add the ‘season’ which for this example would be ‘Special’
\TV_Shows\Special
And finally the actual episodes
\TV_Shows\Special\Episode 1\ JA_EP01.mp4

I’m not totally sure what you mean by “senior directory” but if you mean that is the folder you added when creating the library, they way you have it Plex will think there is a show called “Special”

can’t think of any reason to have a separate folder for each episode in a season

Wrong

Right

[digitalpurchase999_gmail_com]

Thank you for your help. Let me reiterate what I believe you said…

The directory \TV Show is what I called the senior directory and it is the name of the library. Sorry for the confusion in nomenclature.

The appropriate organization would be

TV Show\JohnAdams\Season 01
Inside that directory would be …
JA_EP01.mp4
JA_EP02.mp4
JA_EP03.mp4
JA_EP04.mp4
etc.
Is that the essence??

[AmazingRando24]

I believe you’re right. The missing element is the actual file name you’re using. It should follow the following format: “showname - S00E00 - episodename.ext”

You can use a program called FileBot to rename your files in a manner in which Plex expects to see them in bulk. An invaluable tool for a Plex server admin.

[ChuckPa]

If I may show a working example?

Please note, I use Name.SxxExx notation (.) being delimiter. The other (and most recommended is to use
SeriesName - SxxEss - Optional Title here.ext

As long as their are no conficts with the use of ., then it’s ok. Care must be used to not confuse the parser automaton.

[chuck@lizum tv2.69]$ cd Game\ of\ Thrones/
[chuck@lizum Game of Thrones.70]$ ls -la
total 48
drwsrwsrwx 11 chuck chuck 4096 Aug  3 03:39 ./
drwsrwsrwx 44 chuck chuck 4096 Sep 29 18:07 ../
drwsrwsrwx  2 chuck chuck 4096 Aug  3 03:39 Season 01/
drwsrwsrwx  2 chuck chuck 4096 Aug  3 03:39 Season 02/
drwsrwsrwx  2 chuck chuck 4096 Aug  3 03:39 Season 03/
drwsrwsrwx  2 chuck chuck 4096 Aug  3 03:39 Season 04/
drwsrwsrwx  2 chuck chuck 4096 Aug  3 03:39 Season 05/
drwsrwsrwx  2 chuck chuck 4096 Aug  3 03:39 Season 06/
drwsrwsrwx  2 chuck chuck 4096 Aug  3 03:39 Season 07/
drwsrwsrwx  2 chuck chuck 4096 Aug  3 03:39 Season 08/
[chuck@lizum Game of Thrones.71]$ ls -la *01
total 56669044
drwsrwsrwx  2 chuck chuck       4096 Aug  3 03:39 ./
drwsrwsrwx 11 chuck chuck       4096 Aug  3 03:39 ../
-rw-r--r--  1 chuck chuck 9044160099 Aug 31  2018 Game of Thrones.S01E01.Winter Is Coming.mkv
-rw-r--r--  1 chuck chuck 6058807457 Sep  1  2018 Game of Thrones.S01E02.The Kingsroad.mkv
-rw-r--r--  1 chuck chuck 5375982319 Sep  5  2018 Game of Thrones.S01E03.Lord Snow.mkv
-rw-r--r--  1 chuck chuck 5508231489 Sep  2  2018 Game of Thrones.S01E04.Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things.mkv
-rw-r--r--  1 chuck chuck 5269442617 Sep  2  2018 Game of Thrones.S01E05.The Wolf and the Lion.mkv
-rw-r--r--  1 chuck chuck 5806453545 Sep  1  2018 Game of Thrones.S01E06.A Golden Crown.mkv
-rw-r--r--  1 chuck chuck 5898220204 Sep  1  2018 Game of Thrones.S01E07.You Win or You Die.mkv
-rw-r--r--  1 chuck chuck 4264644434 Sep  6  2018 Game of Thrones.S01E08.The Pointy End.mkv
-rw-r--r--  1 chuck chuck 4264939905 Aug 31  2018 Game of Thrones.S01E09.Baelor.mkv
-rw-r--r--  1 chuck chuck 6538101844 Sep  2  2018 Game of Thrones.S01E10.Fire and Blood.mkv
[chuck@lizum Game of Thrones.72]$

For Movies,

Movie (year)/
  Movie (year).ext`

This allows me placing extras in with the parent movie folder to make curating the media easier.

[digitalpurchase999_gmail_com]

Thanks to everyone who helped

A big shout out to AmazingRando24 for pointing me to FileBot – great tool that will be invaluable in future.

And lots of kudos to ChuckPA – your explanation was great and very helpful.

My only suggestion for the administrators is to mention FileBot in the PLEX discussion of naming.