Movies using multiple files and how they are treated by server Library

[mothball 1]

Question for the community - I have a number of multiple part movies (Lord of the Rings series and Girl With The Dragon Tattoo series to name a couple) and I only see the "part 1" movie in the library. The "part 2" file does not appear in the library or the metadata manager. I do not have the "group items into collections" switch turned on. In prior versions i saw both movie files (parts 1 & 2) but in the last few version of the Server (Linux) I only see the part 1 movie file.

Is this the "file stacking" function feature that see in the knowledge base and feature request are of the forum?

is there a way to turn this off so that each part of the multi-file movies shows?

example of my naming convention

title name_encoder_type_[resolution].m4v/mkv

"LORD_OF_THE_RINGS_2_[THE_TWO_TOWERS_EXT_PART_1]_X265_[1080P].m4v"

is this type of naming convention enough to trigger the file stacking function?

thanks

Scott

 

[Happy2Play 9780]

Yes having "Part X" in the naming scheme will most likely trigger file stacking and depending on the client should see the "Additional parts" in the UI.

[mothball 1]

thanks - i see that now - i usually chose to play from the poster in the library so i was missing the "additional parts entry". there isn't a lot of documentation on this feature, and personally i think you should have the option to turn it off.

[Happy2Play 9780]

Theoretically it should be transparent in playback but not as much wanting start from the additional part.

How would you turn this off?  What do you want to see as it you have two items that should be one.  But do not use terms covered in "File Stacking" and they will appear as individual items creating additional issues as it is one movie.

Most would recommend joining the parts but in this case the media itself is two separate items and has been mentioned before.

[mothball 1]

Sorry for the terminology confusion. Let's call it "multi-part movie files" since as far as i can tell its an undocumented feature. My suggestion would be to have a flag/switch in much the same way there is one for "group items into collections" that you find in the setting ellipsis. if you check it on or off the feature presents or not in the same way the grouping feature works

[GrimReaper 4740]

Or simply change your naming scheme as suggested and have them shown separately. 

2 hours ago, Happy2Play said:

do not use terms covered in "File Stacking" and they will appear as individual items

 

[mothball 1]

2 minutes ago, GrimReaper said:

Or simply change your naming scheme as suggested and have them shown separately. 

 

yeah - i get it thanks for the obvious recommendation. since its not documented feature (as far as i can find) maybe the emby gods will see fit to document the feature.

[Luke 42078]

Hi, did you notice the file stacking section of our movie naming guide?

https://support.emby.media/support/solutions/articles/44001159102-movie-naming

[mothball 1]

Thanks Luke, I did but the section on File Stacking would lead you to believe that file stacking only works when the files you want to stack are in their own discrete folder. I have all my movies in one folder so my storage structure would appear to violate the requirements for stacking to occur (but apparently they still stack...). Also - don't get me wrong the stacking function is a nice function, I just think it is the kind of function that one might want to be able to turn on and off as the naming triggers used to activate are pretty logical I suspect that most people will create names that encroach upon the naming triggers by happenstance.

[Luke 42078]

Hi, yes I agree an option to disable would be helpful. Thanks.

[mothball 1]

Final follow up to this saga - so i am using fire cubes and sticks as clients for my screens and the server (Version 4.7.11.0 on Ubuntu) well serves all of the devices on my home network. I had a chance today after sorting out this issue and I decided to go with a naming convention that activates the file stacking feature and it appears that the client software for the firesticks does not display the "additional parts" as you see in the above screen shot that @Happy2Playposted above. This aprt is missing form the client. when i use my PC/Laptop and log into the server directly the "additional parts"shows just fine. Fire client not so much... so i have changed back my naming convention to one that does not trigger the file stacking and all is well in Mudville... You might want to look into the Fire clients and see if that is a feature or a bug - i would hope that the client interface is functionally equivalent (for playback purposes) as a direct web session with the server - otherwise it defeats the purpose of the client server imho.

Happy New Year to all ****

[Luke 42078]

Hi, the apps will catch up to this feature, but for the best experience possible we recommend joining the files.

[luser 37]

Quote

Split video files (file stacking)
Split videos require all parts be in the same movie folder with no other videos present in that folder.

Referencing the Movie Naming documentation, the above statement does seem to be inaccurate. The underlined portion is not true for me. File stacking continues to function even if other files, with differing names, exist in the same directory.

 

On 12/29/2022 at 9:48 AM, Luke said:

Hi, yes I agree an option to disable would be helpful. Thanks.

This would be appreciated, thanks. Having this as a library setting would be nice.

[Luke 42078]

On 2/10/2023 at 12:38 AM, luser said:

Referencing the Movie Naming documentation, the above statement does seem to be inaccurate. The underlined portion is not true for me. File stacking continues to function even if other files, with differing names, exist in the same directory.

OK yes you are right. This is due to improvements in file scanning, and documented had not been updated yet to reflect. Thanks for reporting.