I’m wondering which is better to use IMDB or The Movie Database. I’ve got a handful of movie files that the art work occasionally will disappear. I have edited the movie metadata by hand on several occasions. It’s very tedious and frustrating to do. Included is the way that I have my Plex server agent settings. Also included is an example of the missing cover art.
If it is needed…
Here are the file names for the movies with missing cover art.
\Movie_2 (F:)\Movies\13 Hours The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016)
\Movie_2 (F:)\30 for 30 The Birth of Big Air (2010)
First, drag the local media assets agent to the bottom, otherwise Plex will use any embedded metadata instead of online sources. Second, did you just have a typo in your above post - is 30 for 30 The Birth of Big Air (2010) in the root directory?
Do you have your media separated - TV shows in a different directory than movies? All of your media follows the naming rules that Plex expects?
I’ve dragged the local media agent to the bottom.
No, I have 4 separate drives in my PMS. The movie / tv shows each have their own drive.
C: - root/OS
E::\Movies\movie files stored here (1.5tb)
F:\Movies\movies files stored here (1.5tb)
G:\TV shows v shows are stored here (2tb)
Yes, that is the naming convention that I have been using for years. The movie name (year).xxx
The naming convention that I use for the TV shows are…
G:\TV Shows\Arrow\Season 1\Arrow - s01e01.mkv…I have all 5 seasons, and each season is its separate folder. File is named the same way.
Plex Movie goes to IMDB - notorious for getting it WRONG, but primarily this agent is the replacement for Freebase and the place PPers get those valuable and repeating 240p Movie Trailers automatically. Plex Movie is correctly shown in the top spot under it’s tab and the BEST place for Local Media Assets is strapped down nekked in the desert over an ant hill, but there are a few things it’s needed for so leave it checked, but put it at the bottom of every Agent List you can find if you ever want to use an MP4/M4V file for as long as you live.
The Movie Database - is not immune to the idiot contributors (I’m one of them), but some of us actually do a little bit of research before adding one, and also offer a correct ‘alternate’ title or release year when the previous idiot didn’t bother to check - or only offered the Czech Release info. TMDB should be atop the list under it’s tab with LMA demoted to digging latrines with a plastic teaspoon.
I guess the idea is that if one doesn’t have it the other one will (might), but in conflicting circumstances or for no reason at all, occasionally you will have to fix match. Out of 10s of Thousands of items I have had to fix match about 8 times.
In the ‘Shows’ section, TVDB is basically the ONLY TV Database so, of course, that wants to be at the top with LMA, again and always at the bottom.
The thing is called simply:
https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/54741-the-birth-of-big-air
The Birth of Big Air (2010).xxx
https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/300671-13-hours-the-secret-soldiers-of-benghazi
13 Hours The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016).xxx
If renaming/restructuring and Refreshing doesn’t work - The Plex Dance® will.
The Plex Dance®:
- remove show/movie from library
- update library
- empty trash
- clean bundles
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200392106-Library-Actions <— update library, empty trash, clean bundles - bring names and structures into compliance, fiddle with LMA or Agent priorities, etc
- replace corrected show/movie into library
- update library
All Steps. In Order. No Shortcuts.
The way you get these things right the first time (or fix your entire library in 5 seconds later) is with FileBot (link in my signature). FileBot goes to the appropriate database armed with the original file name failure and either sniffs it out, or offers some to choose from - then names it perfectly for Plex in mili-seconds. There is virtually no guesswork. It’s been to the database and got the name they used.
Unfortunately this is a giant slice of Fail Cake when FileBot goes to TVDB and correctly matches ‘Doctor Who’ for instance, then you find out Plex has planted a funny little bomb in the ‘Alternate Versions’ process by defaulting all calls for Doctor Who to the latest ‘Version’ - Doctor Who (2009).
FileBot can only do what it’s told and ‘Doctor Who’ is the name TVDB uses for the classic episodes, so you have to go to TVDB yourself, look around and find the year the Doc first came out - (1963) - then stick that manually into the show folder name thusly; Doctor Who (1963).
Thanks Plex - that was a great thing you came up with there and we really appreciate it. Destroying the efforts of the #1 Plex Companion when it comes to naming TV Shows with your ONLY TV Show Database was a brilliant move only you could have dreamed up.
http://thetvdb.com/?tab=series&id=76107&lid=7
See what I mean?
Anywho, that’s about all of that for now, but I will ■■■■■ about it later and often.
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Even if following the tips above (thanks a lot BTW) there are movies that doesn’t match nor they can be forced. ie http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6151244/
I made sure all metadata was empty, tried forced matching by searching with tt6151244 in search options, but it simply keeps saying no items matches or just bring other titles that aren’t what I wanted and manually pointed to.
Is there any other way of forcing the match?
Thx.
Plex Movie will regularly fail to deliver meta data for anything other than ‘Cinema Movies’.
Your example is a ‘TV Movie’, for instance.
I recommend you to use TMDB for anything else than Cinema movies.
If you have only very few of those, use the ‘Match/Fix Match’ command on each affected item to switch to the TMDB agent just for them.
(Match - Search Options)
Consider creating a separate library for documentaries and other videos that don’t exactly match the description ‘Feature Film’.
This separate library can then switched to a different default metadata agent.
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Thanks @OttoKerner. I do have a separate library for those documentaries, but the problem is that TMDB doesn’t list many of them, and IMDB does but it’s impossible to force them to be matched even entering the tt index in search options… extremely frustrating.
@WolfganP said:
Thanks @OttoKerner. I do have a separate library for those documentaries, but the problem is that TMDB doesn’t list many of them, and IMDB does but it’s impossible to force them to be matched even entering the tt index in search options… extremely frustrating.
I feel ya. Though it is kind of expected. Plex is unfortunately only allowed to fetch data for ‘Cinema Movies’ from the IMDb.
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When I run onto one of those I want to watch/delete - I put it in my Other Videos Library.
When I run onto one of those I want to keep - I go to TMDB and add it to the database, grab the poster from IMDB (or create one) then add it to TMDB and use it as local artwork - because it takes ages for Plex to update their proxy.
The only reason Plex invented Plex Movie was so they could drag those 240p trailers in from IMDB and call them ’ Plex Pass Movie Extras’… You know the ones… you watch them over and over and over and over… lol
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