How to manage multiple versions of same movie?

[ShoutingMan 101]

What is the recommended way to configure a library for multiple versions of the same content? I mean this in context of different versions of the same movie, where at any given viewing you might want to choose between different versions of the same movie: Theatrical Cut, Director's Cut, 2D, 3D, 25th Anniversary, Despecialized, etc.

 

(I'm not interested in multiple versions of the exact same content optimized for different playback devices. The multiple versions system solves this problem. I'm trying to understand how to manage the aesthetics of multiple versions of the same show.)

 

Thanks!

Edited October 9, 2016 by ShoutingMan

[ebr 15681]

Create them all as separate movies and put them in a collection.

[Guest asrequested]

Here's the wiki on how to do this, but I haven't actually got it to work correctly. When I set up the folder structure as instructed, the tile in the movies library says there are two, but when I go to the details page, there is only one choice. Am I missing something, Luke?

 

[Happy2Play 9460]

@

 

You must not have read the OPs other topic on 2d-3d.

 

But that topic still answered the question.  Basically each movie will have there own item in Emby and can then be grouped into a collection.

[Guest asrequested]

@

 

You must not have read the OPs other topic on 2d-3d.

 

But that topic still answered the question.  Basically each movie will have there own item in Emby and can then be grouped into a collection.

 

So ignore the wiki, and just make a collection?

[ShoutingMan 101]

Here's the wiki on how to do this, but I haven't actually got it to work correctly. When I set up the folder structure as instructed, the tile in the movies library says there are two, but when I go to the details page, there is only one choice. Am I missing something, Luke?

 

I've got another thread on this. I learned that this is for managing different encodings of the exact same content, and Emby will select the best quality for the playback destination. It's *not* about giving the user choice over Directors cut vs Theatrical cut. Edited October 9, 2016 by ShoutingMan

[ShoutingMan 101]

@

 

You must not have read the OPs other topic on 2d-3d.

 

But that topic still answered the question.  Basically each movie will have there own item in Emby and can then be grouped into a collection.

I missed in there the solution to managing different versions for playback control.

[ShoutingMan 101]

Create them all as separate movies and put them in a collection.

What's the naming convention for folders? What additions can you add to "Movie Title (YYYY)"?

 

What's recommended so they can be distinguished in the library view -- not all have the same artwork, which is the default behavior.

[Guest asrequested]

I've got another thread on this. I learned that this is for managing different encodings of the exact same content, and Emby will select the best quality for the playback destination. It's *not* about giving the user choice over Directors cut vs Theatrical cut.

 

Well the wiki is very ambiguous, then. I've made a collection and altered the cover art to reflect the version.

 

[ShoutingMan 101]

Well the wiki is very ambiguous, then. I've made a collection and altered the cover art to reflect the version.

 

I agree, the Wiki is accurate buy non-informative. It explains how to do a thing, but doesn't explain the intent of that thing and what the outcome will be. I assumed it would be for my use of multiple content versions. But it's actually for multiple encoding versions.

 

Hopefully the Emby team can add a Plex-like feature that allows the user to select which version to play (but better than Plex, by providing meaningful descriptions of the versions). That would seem to solve both goals simultaneously.

 

Until then...

Create multiple folders, one for each version of the movie. Create custom artwork for each version. I assume, with custom folder names, I'll have to manually identify the movie to get the right meta-data. (I'll need to find a simple process to find poster artwork and then make my modifications to it. I know it's not terrible hard, but I haven't done this sort of thing in too many years )

 

What folder naming convention do you use?

Edited October 10, 2016 by ShoutingMan

[Happy2Play 9460]

You don't need multiple folders as I have shown you in your previous post.  It is about the naming scheme that won't version group them.  And there is no provider that provides different metadata for (2d, 3d, Theatrical, Director, Limited, Extended) releases.  And no provider allows those modified images either.

 

So yes, multiple editions of the same movie is a lot of user work.

Edited October 10, 2016 by Happy2Play

[Guest asrequested]

You don't need multiple folders as I have shown you in your previous post.  It is about the naming scheme that won't version group them.  And there is no provider that provides different metadata for (2d, 3d, Theatrical, Director, Limited, Extended) releases.  And no provider allows those modified images either.

 

So yes, multiple editions of the same movie is a lot of user work.

 

Yup! I see, now. We can put them all in the same folder with different names, Emby will see them as individual movies, then we collectivize them.

 

The wiki needs more clarification.

Edited October 10, 2016 by Doofus

[ShoutingMan 101]

Oh! Gotcha!

 

I missed what you were illustrating there. I'll try that.

[Deathsquirrel 744]

What's the naming convention for folders? What additions can you add to "Movie Title (YYYY)"?

 

What's recommended so they can be distinguished in the library view -- not all have the same artwork, which is the default behavior.

 

As noted, you don't need separate folders but if you choose to use them the trick is square brackets.  The text in those is ignored so Movie (date) and Movie (date) [Director's Cut] will parse to have the same metadata but different source paths that make it easy to edit the images and metadata accordingly.  That's what I do.

[ebr 15681]

I just updated the wiki.

[ShoutingMan 101]

I think I'm starting to understand this.

 

I've bought both Blu-Ray and DVD copies of a favorite movie -- had the original back in 1999 and bought the blu remaster last month. I moved both versions in the the same folder and named them as

"Favorite Movie (1998)\Favorite Movie (1998) - bluray.iso"

"Favorite Movie (1998)\Favorite Movie (1998) - dvd.iso"

 

Emby shows just a single entry. And when I go to play the movie, Emby calls PowerDVD to launch the Blu-ray copy. Very good.

 

Now to work on the alternate versions.

Followup questions:

 

* How do I get to the artwork that Emby downloads, so I can make copies and modify it to distinguish between versions (3D, etc.)

* Anyone have template / clipart they'd like to share for labeling 3D, blu-ray, Director's Cut, etc?

 

And...

* Can I filter in Emby Theater on Blu-ray vs DVD or 3D vs 2D? The filenaming metadata lets Emby know what's what. Is that useable on the user end?

Edited October 15, 2016 by ShoutingMan

[ShoutingMan 101]

Metadata and Location:

 

Server -> Metadata Manager -> Library Folder -> Movie -> Some Movie Title -> Vertical Dots -> Edit Images

[ShoutingMan 101]

Making progress:

Name Alternate Versions as

"Fun Movie (2014)\Fun Movie (2014).bluray.iso"

"Fun Movie (2014)\Fun Movie (2014).bluray.3D.iso"

 

Then go into the Metadata Manager, select the 3D entry, and search the Primary image for a poster with "3D" on it. Done.

 

It's not as slick as creating my own poster art, but it works well enough to get me started. (I don't know what I'll do yet for Theatrical vs Directors Cuts, but one thing at a time.)

Edited October 15, 2016 by ShoutingMan

[ShoutingMan 101]

Is filename metadata limited to the few examples in the Wiki? Or is there anyway to add other text such as:

 

"Some Movie (YYYY).[Theatrical].mkv"
"Some Movie (YYYY).[Extended].mkv"

 

I'm trying that, and the movies get added as alternate versions. But the Extras (in the extras folder) are also all being added as movies in the library (rather than extras under Some Movie). Based on another thread, that's probably caused by violating the naming convention with the [TEXT] strings.

 

If I need too, I can create separate folders as recommended for the different versions.

[Happy2Play 9460]

3.2.36.2 - source selection

[ShoutingMan 101]

3.2.36.2 - source selection

 

Ok, will check this out. I missed this update notification.

[mbguy 40]

Sorry to dig up this old thread, but a question was asked that was not specifically answered.

 

Is it possible to have within a movie folders a version that is .mkv and another version that is a bluray folder?

 

Would something like this work:

 

/Movies

  /300 (2006)

      /300 (2006) - 1080p.mkv

      /300 (2006) - bluray  / BDMV

Edited January 30, 2019 by mbguy

[Luke 40151]

Hi, honestly that's not been tested. You could try it but my guess is that will not work.

[dml33 24]

Hi.

 

I'm running 4.0.1.0 Emby server.

 

I'm just trying the following naming for different versions:

 

X-Men Apocalypse (2016)\X-Men Apocalypse (2016) [1080p] Blu-ray.x264.DTS.mkv

 

X-Men Apocalypse (2016)\X-Men Apocalypse (2016) [2160p] Blu-ray.x265.AAC.mkv

 

But, they are seen as 2 different movies.

 

However, if I name them as:

 

X-Men Apocalypse (2016)\X-Men Apocalypse (2016) - 1080p.Blu-ray.x264.DTS.mkv

 

X-Men Apocalypse (2016)\X-Men Apocalypse (2016) - 2160p.Blu-ray.x264.AAC.mkv

 

They are seen as two different versions, but everything after the "-" is shown in the web.

 

Why the brackets-naming does not work?

 

Would it be possible to just limit what to show? It would be perfect that only the text within the brackets would actually be the text shown in the movie information web page.

 

Thanks.

 

Enviado desde mi CLT-L29 mediante Tapatalk

Edited February 3, 2019 by dml33

[Carlo 4552]

Sounds like it's working correct except for maybe one thing.

Both should be seen as the same movie but two different versions.

 

You first set should ideally identify the two versions as 

1080p

2160p

 

The second set should show:

1080p.Blu-ray.x264.DTS

1080p.Blu-ray.x264

 

https://github.com/MediaBrowser/Wiki/wiki/Movie-naming