I’m using the following scheme, but the TV show is not appearing on Plex no matter what I try.
\Media\TV Shows\The Simpsons\The Simpsons - S01E01 - Title Text [YEAR].mp4
I would like to avoid using season folders, and I have read that it’s not a req’t; some TV series show up just fine. What could be the issue?
Tried posting here but comments woundn’t show:
Thank you in advance.
If you want any reliability with TV Shows you need to follow the guide to the letter:
\Media\TV Shows
…The Simpsons
…Season 01
…The Simpsons - S01E01 - Title Text [YEAR].mp4
Anything else will produce unpredictable results. May work, may not. May work today, may not tomorrow.
If you enjoy that feeling of adventure and the unknown do whatever you like, but if you want to name and place your shows once, then watch them - stick to the guidelines.
The added ‘unknown adventure’ when using MP4/M4V files includes, but is not limited to:
Possible and non-compliant names embedded in the Title Field of MP4/M4V files. Plex will read this info and prefer it over a perfect file name/structure, but you can combat that situation by moving Local Media Assets to the bottom of every agent list you can find. All tabs in TV Show and Movies here:
Just drag LMA to the bottom of the lists and drop it.
If you do have embedded metadata this will cure the issue, if you don’t it won’t matter. LMA will do what it has to from the bottom.
Renaming/restructuring is best performed OUTSIDE the library and you’ll need to write a new bundle for the show so The Plex Dance® was invented:
The Plex Dance®:
All Steps. In Order. No Shortcuts.
This response shows me a user that is entrenched in the limitations of a tool.
Plex is too inflexible still; I plan to use it infrequently to browse my collection, but VLC player is my go to and it plays every file flawlessly.
@macarius said:
This response shows me a user that is entrenched in the limitations of a tool.Plex is too inflexible still; I plan to use it infrequently to browse my collection, but VLC player is my go to and it plays every file flawlessly.
There is no good reason for not producing Plex compliant naming and structure as that naming and structure works in every setup and with every player I know of.
As far as VLC vs Plex that is your decision. Plex’s main use is for a client server system the primary clients are not computer but devices like Rokus, Fire TVs, Shield TVs and many other set top boxes. Computers used for playback, although they work very well for most of us, are not the primary way Plex is used.
Even rarer still is using a Plex client (web, OpenPHT or PMP) on the same computer that the Plex server is running on. That is what it sounds like you are doing as VLC is primarily useful as a playback tool for media on locally connected devices.
If you are playing your media on the same computer that the media is connected to then VLC is a better choice, playback wise, than Plex. But, even better still is Kodi. Once setup, when limited to one device, Kodi has all the power of Plex but does not need the server part and is much more configurable in most ways.
So, while Plex may not be a good choice for you, Kodi might even be better than VLC as it also has a more powerful and flexible playback engine built into it and its UI can be as fancy or as simple as you want.
Hmmm, using a VPN I have access to all my media remotely… VLC Player apps are available on most devices including but not limited to any device running the latest version of iOS {AppleTV, iPad, iPhone}, Windows {phones, tablets, laptops, PCs, set-tops boxes}, Xbox, most Android devices, even Chromecast, which play files off a local network as easily as a remotely with–or without–a VPN. Browse the file structure or use the search bar–simple enough. VLC Player can decode almost any file you can throw at it without worrying about conversion during play.
Plex looks amazing, but for me it is not robust-enough yet to get my subscription. I have a light list of use cases that if you integrate into PMS–well, shoot I’ll be a full-time Plex evangelist.
There is no good reason for not producing Plex compliant naming and structure as that naming and structure works in every setup and with every player I know of.
Sure is–I don’t wanna…
I named every file properly (according to Plex, even wrote my own scripts to maintain and mod new files), but Foreign and TV shows are a fail on Plex. Also, requiring a file structure dependent on subfolders for each season instead of simply parsing “SXXEYY” into season XX and episode YY is beyond me… That would be the first bug I would patch.
