[Powerful Feature] - AUTOMATED Video Optimization Engine-Allows Direct Stream/Prevents Transcoding

Feature Suggestions
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Feature - **Automated ** Engine for Plex Video File Streaming Optimization - Allows Direct Stream/Prevents Transcoding Need

This expands upon the ad-hoc optimization feature. This would extend it into a fully AUTOMATED optimization engine.

I’ve seen the ad-hoc optimized version feature and have also setup other scripts in other programs, but a native engine to convert non-optimized video files to Plex optimized MP4, direct stream ready would be fantastic. Unless I missed something doing this file by file is not feasible for large libraries.

You can likely use FFMPEG and qt-faststart to get this done without a slew of new code. (Guessing)

Feature Specifics:

  • Would convert all non-optimized MP4 files to them. Also ensure atom is properly placed (see qt-faststart)
  • Option to examine existing MP4 files for optimization, if not choice to auto optimize as well as non-MP4’s
  • Scheduled timing (for off peak processing);
  • Automated cleanup of original file or preserve, similar categories for quality (bitrate for devicetype1, bitrate for devicetype2, etc.);
  • Start with common filetypes and add others over time…MKV, AVI, WMV, MOV to start
  • Allow a library batch scan/convert using rules above as ad-hoc/one time option with a time scheduling option for off-peak execution

Benefits:

  • Simplified file optimization could allow much great ease of use from many low powered devices for non-technical users
  • Feasible to now optimize the entire library
  • Users could host more concurrent streams from existing hardware
  • No complicated scripting, configuration files, python/git installs…follows Plex’s winning approach to keep things simple and just work! :slight_smile:

Thank you all for your great work!

Rich
Lifetime Plexpass User

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You mean this: https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/sections/202670117-Media-Optimizer

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I think the emphasis was on the automated aspect. For media optimizer you need to choose which files to optimize manually. Automatic would require that it works whenever a new file is added, or on the entire archive of old files, without manual intervention. I would personally also value something that allowed deletion of the input file for those of us that import TV transport streams from other software. It would be particularly valuable on the shield, as scripted solutions there are more challenging.

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@karlmitchell said:
I think the emphasis was on the automated aspect. For media optimizer you need to choose which files to optimize manually.

No, you don’t. You can optimize a whole library, if you want. (and have enough storage)

Automatic would require that it works whenever a new file is added, or on the entire archive of old files, without manual intervention.

That’s what it does when you add an optimization job for a whole library.

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The Optimize Media feature can already do everything in the original post. Everything except the scheduling part, that is… (Or deleting the original, since Plex doesn’t like to mess with original media files.) It DOES put the process into a lower priority if there is a required transcode for a live stream. It may pause the OM job until the CPU is ready to start it again. But it will do everything automatically. (I’ve done this in testing. For a 2K movie library it took several days to finish it with an i3-4330 CPU.)

You can even put the OM versions into a different folder if you want, when you make the job. This can be a huge benefit if you want to make media conversions in advanced, for remote streaming limits. Then you just share only the new folder out as a new library to your remote users. They never see the original media, so it should never require transcoding in RT for their streams.

If you put the OM versions into a new folder, any folder structure you had previously won’t be respected, though… So separate folders for each item isn’t going to happen. At least not without some third party media manager doing a bit of work behind the scenes. (Which could throw off the whole OM feature.)

I think there is a lot of room for improvement with this feature, though. Honoring the original folder structures would be a start. Tying this with a user’s watched and “On Deck” so you can pre make 5 or 10 of the TV shows a user has on their “On Deck”. Deleting the OM version as someone watches it… There are so many things that COULD be done with this feature that would give huge benefits to so many people. It’s a shame that this hasn’t been developed further.

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Personally I would love to be able to auto optimize 4k movies that way I can set it to auto optimize and create a 720p for mobile version, that way when I try to watch on my cell phone it doesn’t peg out my server trying to transcode a 40GB file

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@tripflex said:
Personally I would love to be able to auto optimize 4k movies that way I can set it to auto optimize and create a 720p for mobile version, that way when I try to watch on my cell phone it doesn’t peg out my server trying to transcode a 40GB file

you can do that already, just filter your library by resolution

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“When you play something, the appropriate version will automatically be selected or you can manually choose it in many apps.”

Please enlighten the user base on the logic behind “the appropriate version will be automatically selected.”

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2021 clean-up: basic feature to optimize in place, overlap with related suggestions like