I’m having file naming issues with Space Above And Beyond. Episodes one and two are the pilot episode and they have been combined into a single file. Even though the files are physically named correctly. (Not sure about this particular file) Plex messes it up. Episode names are off by one and the last episode has no title. Is there a way to fix this. I can’t split the file because there is no clear start/stop between the two episodes. I’m sure this isn’t the only case like this. Any help you can provide is appreciated.
I am guessing you have TVDB (aired) order selected either as your default episode ordering or for this particular show. TVDB shows the 2-parter episodes. TMDB shows episode one as an hour & 30 min Pilot, episode 2 is “The Farthest Man From Home”, and so on. The last episode is episode 23 “Tell Our Moms We Done Our Best”
Or do i have it backwards? Now that I re-read, I think I do. I think you need to select TVDB (aired), episode ordering, you just won’t see an episode 2. You you click on this show, click on the pencil icon, select Advanced You should see a selector box for episode ordering.
Ok, I know I wasn’t super clear in my reply, so I’ll try to do better here.
If you are using TMDB (aired) order, assuming the 2hr pilot in one file…. , I would name them like this. With a toplevel folder, a Season 01 folder, then all the files below that. Obviously with the correct media extension depending on if they are mp4, mkv, avi, etc
TMDB (aired)
Space Above and Beyond (1995)
\Season 01
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E01 - Pilot
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E02 - The Farthest Man from Home
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E03 - The Dark Side of the Sun
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E04 - Mutiny
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E05 - Ray Butts
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E06 - Eyes
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E07 - The Enemy
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E08 - Hostile Visit (1)
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E09 - Choice or Chance (2)
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E10 - Stay with the Dead
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E11 - The River of Stars
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E12 - Who Monitors the Birds?
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E13 - Level of Necessity
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E14 - Never No More (1)
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E15 - The Angriest Angel (2)
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E16 - Toy Soldiers
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E17 - Dear Earth
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E18 - Pearly
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E19 - R & R
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E20 - Stardust
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E21 - Sugar Dirt
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E22 - And If They Lay Us Down to Rest… (1)
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E23 - …Tell Our Moms We Done Our Best (2)
Then like so, if you are using TVDB (aired)
TVDB (aired)
Space Above and Beyond (1995)
\Season 01
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E01 - Pilot
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E03 - The Farthest Man from Home
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E04 - The Dark Side of the Sun
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E05 - Mutiny
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E06 - Ray Butts
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E07 - Eyes
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E08 - The Enemy
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E09 - Hostile Visit (1)
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E00 - Choice or Chance (2)
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E11 - Stay with the Dead
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E12 - The River of Stars
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E13 - Who Monitors the Birds?
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E14 - Level of Necessity
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E15 - Never No More (1)
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E16 - The Angriest Angel (2)
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E17 - Toy Soldiers
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E18 - Dear Earth
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E19 - Pearly
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E10 - R & R
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E21 - Stardust
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E22 - Sugar Dirt
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E23 - And If They Lay Us Down to Rest… (1)
\Space Above and Beyond (1995) - S01E24 - …Tell Our Moms We Done Our Best (2)
Does this make sense? Did you find where to select the episode ordering?
Of note: Plex libraries - **by default - use TMDB episode ordering. That means if your media is NOT numbered exactly as it appears on TMDB, then you are going to see your episodes off by one. You can change (Edit) your library to set the default episode numbering to use TVDB (Aired) instead, or you can change (Edit) the show itself to use TVDB (Aired) while leaving the rest of the shows on the library default.
Plex does NOT care what your episodes are. It only looks at your file’s “episode number”, and compares that to whatever episode numbering system you have chosen. Which, I repeat, by default uses TMDB.
If you knew all this and it’s irrelevant, sorry. It still surprised ME to find out this, and I find it is probably the main reason for people to have numbering issues like this…
You are right. For my tests, I usually just use files named s01e01, s01e02, etc since that is all Plex cares about for matching. . For my own library files, I like to append the episode names just for my own sanity.
Oh yes, absolutely include the episode name for your own records, especially if TVDB or TMDB change their organizational system. The name is the best way for you yourself to know for sure what the contents of a file is, while the season/episode number is for Plex to know what episode it is due to it ignoring names.
I’d like Plex to pay attention to names, but with so much variation in possible names (including foreign language translations), it makes sense for the system to focus on the numbers and ignore the user’s file episode name.
I looked at the episode list on TMDB since it had the pilot listed as one episode and adjusted my episode numbers to match theirs. They didn’t. So I removed the files from my library, fixed the episode numbers manually then ran Filebot against my files to make sure they lined up, then added them back to my library. Thankfully it was just one season otherwise it would have taken forever.
Plex can get sticky when you try to rename files in-place. The final step in most naming reconfigurations ought to be the Plex Dance. This simply involves moving the media to outside of the folders monitored by Plex, scan, empty trash, then move them back, and scan again.
