Procedure to replace DVD Movies with Bluray versions

General Discussions
1

Hello all

I have some DVD versions of Movies in Plex that I would like to replace with the Blu-ray version.

Can someone please tell me what the correct procedure would be to do this?

For example, can I simply Delete the DVD version and then Add the Blu-ray version or will there be leftovers in Plex, i.e. Metadata etc.?

Thanks in advance

Kevin

2

There are many ways, but I like this one:

I usually have a title like ‘16 Blocks (2006).xxx’ and when I upgrade I make the new title ‘16 Blocks (2006) [1080p].xxx (Filebot does that for me actually)’. Then I drag the new one in the same library with the old one. Plex ‘Merges’ them into a single item and for the moment they share everything. If my old version has commentary tracks I let them stay ‘Merged’ and select the version at Playback or ‘Split’ them (some of my clients won’t let me access an alternate audio track on the fly) and edit the description a bit to denote the differences and give them slightly different posters. If I don’t need the old version it gets deleted after Plex has indexed and analyzed it.

When all is said and done I update the library, clean bundles and empty trash (just in case) then optimize the database (or do so when I’m through adding new items in that session.
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200392106-Library-Actions <— update libraries, clean bundles, empty trash, optimize database.

3

Hello

Thanks for the reply.

I will not want to keep the DVD version so I guess that I can Delete it first, update the library, clean bundles and finally empty the trash.

After doing that I should be able to Add the Blu-ray version without any issues?

Thanks

Kevin

4

If you leave the old version there Plex can share the stuff that’s already been downloaded for it - posters, descriptions, data, etc… once Plex ‘Merges’ them and shares the stuff, delete the old one. Analyze the item, clean bundles, empty trash (just to be sure) then optimize the database.

Yea, you can whack the old one and sweep the server clear of it - then load the new one download everything again, but… why? You have a matched and populated item. Use the stuff that’s already there.

I’ll tell ya something else I do as well - I sometimes just name the new one the same as the old one and copy the new one right over the old one replacing it - then analyze it. Plex uses the old stuff. Easy. I’ve done that a thousand times without issue so there’s another way.

5

Hello

Thanks for the reply and the information.

I think your solution of naming the new version the same as the old one is ideal for me.

Thanks

Kevin

6

I usually just replace the lower-quality version with a file of the exact same name (since following the naming convention, it’d be the same) and then do a re-scan.

7

@sremick said:
I usually just replace the lower-quality version with a file of the exact same name (since following the naming convention, it’d be the same) and then do a re-scan.

That was the preferred method until I added
[{vf}]
to Filebot in order to add [Resolution]… and all the file names are DIFFERENT! Ahhhhhhhhh! :slight_smile:

I just let Plex merge them to share the stuff then delete the old one to save a ‘name/rename/rerename’
.