I have a couple of media files that aren’t showing up in my media library. I don’t understands whats wrong with it. I can play it on my Macbook and iPad without any problems but not stream it thru Plex. Its HDTV, 720p, x264 and .mkv-format.
I have tried using Handbrake to encode it to .mp4 with a preset that I use on others files that might not work. But still nothing. What could be wrong?
Exact file names and directory structure as you have it?
Did you rename them Before or After PMS scanned them the first time? (IMPORTANT)
Where does the server run?
Exact file names and directory structure as you have it?
What do you mean? I just download the files to my Movies-directory as I do with all the other files.
Did you rename them Before or After PMS scanned them the first time? (IMPORTANT)
I dont rename them at all, I just download and when it didn’t work I tried to encode. So I try to scan without doing anything at first. How come this is important?
Where does the server run?
On my Synology NAS
You really should read the how to guides on naming your media.
If it’s a step too far for you then Plex won’t really be an option for you.
The reason it’s identified so much correctly is just one of those things and you got lucky I guess.
Just give an exact example of how a tv show episode is named Ang maybe a movie too.
On this page, you’ll find some examples about how to name your media files.
It is always best to name them before PMS scans the first time. This avoids incorrect matches or false ‘no-match’ conditions.
I didn’t know the naming was so important for Plex, I just thought it search for media files whatever the name is. The names that isn’t included is:
Den.Fjarde.Mannen.S01E01.SWEDiSH.720p.HDTV.x264-xD2V
Den.Fjarde.Mannen.S01E02.SWEDiSH.720p.HDTV.x264-xD2V
Den.Fjarde.Mannen.S01E03.SWEDiSH.720p.HDTV.x264-xD2V
And its stored in …/Movies/Den.Fjarde.Mannen.S01.SWEDiSH.720p.HDTV.x264-xD2V
Its short serie
The names now is:
Den.Fjarde.Mannen.S01E01.SWEDiSH.720p.HDTV.x264-xD2V
Den.Fjarde.Mannen.S01E02.SWEDiSH.720p.HDTV.x264-xD2V
Den.Fjarde.Mannen.S01E03.SWEDiSH.720p.HDTV.x264-xD2V
And its stored in …/Movies/Den.Fjarde.Mannen.S01.SWEDiSH.720p.HDTV.x264-xD2V
Is this totally wrong?
Try losing all the dots (.)
The part Plex wants to see would be
Den Fjarde Mannen - S01E01.ext
Episode names are also OK
If you wanted to keep all the other info I think perhaps
Den Fjarde Mannen S01E01 [SWEDiSH.720p.HDTV.x264-xD2V]
I may be wrong but I’m sure I read that the [ ] square brackets will tell Plex to ignore everything inside.
There are programs that will help you quickly rename lots of files correctly such as The Renamer or Filebot
I tried just to rename to Den fjord mannen Part 1 and so on, works perfectly.
Why is the name so important? I would understand if Plex used the name as a playlist if you look att series or something. But why does it ignore a file completely just based on the name?
Proper format (which FileBot or TheRenamer) will help you create
Series name - SxxExx - optional title.ext
e.g.
Den Fjarde Mannen/
Season 1/
Den Fjarde Mannen - S01E01 [- optional title].ext
Den Fjarde Mannen - S01E02 [- optional title].ext
The FileBot renaming rule for this is
{n}/Season {s}/{n} - {s00e00} - {t}
Honestly you will still run into issues in the future.
It will work for a long time and then may stop working.
You made the naming clearer and so Plex is better able to take a shot at what it is.
But only as @ChuckPa says is the correct way to make sure it ALWAYS works.
The name is important because Plex uses the name, exactly as you give it, to find the data on the internet databases. If Plex cannot make sense of the naming, it won’t know what to ask for
But I have a lot of other movies that have the same structure of the name and they works fine, or is it the “S01” thing that makes it think its a serier and not a movie?
I understand de need for a proper name for meta data etc, but necessary just to enter the library? Feels more restricting than needed
Library “Type” is the deciding factor. You create a Movie type Library or a Television Series type library first.
You cannot mix content type in the same library type. (no series in a movie library or movies in a series library
From this foundation, the naming rules apply. This is because PMS needs to know what it’s looking at (the file name) when it parses it for information.
You must be careful of a movie which are shown on television and a TV miniseries. These are the two ways you can get tripped up.
A ‘For Television’ movie, which is shown in parts, goes in movies.
A “TV Miniseries”, which also shown in a limited number of parts (usually 3), goes in Television.
You need to know how to classifiy what you have.
PMS’ scanner is good but it’s not all-knowing and definitely not infallible. When the naming conventions are followed, it doesn’t miss. As stated earlier, tools like FileBot, which lookup the perfect naming for you and help you automate both renaming AND placement in your media libraries, is well worth its cost ($5 ? ).
The problem with the series is fixed. But I also have a lot of documentaries. Some of them are just one file like a movie and some of them are series. It gets very messy. Is the only way to fix this to move them to the normal Movie and Series categories? I can’t have just one Documentary with the combine structure of movie and series-type?
Use a tool like FileBot and it won’t be “messy” any more.
Drop the files into the left pane,
Attempt the lookup as movie, look at the results. If it comes back correct then use that. If not,
Attempt the lookup as TV, look at the results, If that now comes back correct, you’re done.
Click “Rename” and it will put the whole set where and how it belongs.
I have the same scenario.
It’s easiest just to create a Documentary library via TV Shows and a Documovie library via movies.
The problem is that I would like that Plex would combine single movies and documentaries that are a serie. Right now, when I chose “TV Series”-type it find every I name “Season 01” etc but not the single movies, even the one named correct. And if I chose “Movies”-type it just find the one with movie-names (Movie (Year).mp4) and not the series. If I chose “Other videos” every file is presented as one film each and not with the serie-structure.
Is there no way to get a structure where the Series are structured like a TV-serie and movies like movies but in the same library? Do I need to create one “Movie-documentaries” and one “Serie-documentaries”?
Yes. I think that’s what you will need to do.
Creating Movie-documentaries and Television-documentaries libraries will be the most clear.
For Plex to combine single movies and or series with documentaries, possibly attaching and grouping with regular movies or series, you’re asking Plex to know what your media is and how you want it organized automatically. It’s good at organizing and grouping but that’s a level of AI not yet available. It needs direction from you. Currently, that direction is in the forum of Library type and the folders associated with that particular library section.
