Could Multi-versions movies be less complicated?

[Oomek 3]

Currently to have a multi-version movie I have to make a folder and then the files inside must start with a folder name followed by space dash space and then whatever
For example:

Furiosa.2024/Furiosa.2024 - 1080p.[abc].mkv
Furiosa.2024/Furiosa.2024 - 2160p.[xyz].mkv

This requires in my opinion few unnecessary steps.

Are there any technical limitations that do not allow grouping movies by their original file name?
For example:
Furiosa.2024.1080p.[abc].mkv
Furiosa.2024.2160p.[xyz].mkv

This would be way more user friendly.

Edited August 13, 2024 by GrimReaper
Filenames masked

[ebr 16174]

1 hour ago, Oomek said:

For example:
Furiosa.2024.1080p.[abc].mkv
Furiosa.2024.2160p.[xyz].mkv

Hi.  In that example, how would we know which part is the match and which is the different version?

Our method is the same thing but with a defined "delimiter" of " - " to be sure we are matching things that are intended to be matched.

Your example doesn't have anything unique separating the item name from the other information.  The '.' is used in multiple places within the name.

[Oomek 3]

The matching string is the title and the release year, Furiosa.2024

I don't understand why this wouldn't be enough.

[ebr 16174]

26 minutes ago, Oomek said:

I don't understand why this wouldn't be enough.

Well, to a human's eye yes you can easily pick out the title vs the year and you are familiar with your particular naming scheme and probably have all the items named the same.  But that's a ton of limiting assumptions.

How does a computer know where the title ends when the same delimiter is used in multiple places?  Which delimiter is supposed to "count"?

For example:

The.10.angry.people.mkv
The.12.small.boys.mkv

Are those two versions of the same movie?

Then consider a folder with a random bunch of movies named many different ways - some with dots some without, etc.

Our naming conventions supply a unique way to identify that two items are, in fact, supposed to be different versions of the same thing and also a way to give unique names to those versions.

[Oomek 3]

I understand your point of view. But this simplified multi-version management could be a toggle for people with carefully curated movie list. When this flag was enabled files starting with a title string ending with a 4 digit year value could be treated as base, the rest could be treated a variant.

[Happy2Play 9780]

Will have conflict with some movies with years in their title like blade.runner.2049.mkv so there could/would be issues assuming 4 digits is the year of the movie and just part of the title.

Some others

Total Recall 2070

2001 Maniacs

2036 Origin Unknown

Death Race 2000

2012.2009

2010.1984

So parsing year can be problematic with 4-digit numbers but will get complicated of what is the year?

 

[Oomek 3]

I still don't understand one thing. If a scraper can identify 2 separate files with 2 different file names as the same movie why not allow to make it a multi-version movie?

Edited August 13, 2024 by Oomek

[Happy2Play 9780]

16 minutes ago, Oomek said:

I still don't understand one thing. If a scraper can identify 2 separate files with 2 different file names as the same movie why not allow to make it a multi-version movie?

Have to have some sort of rules but you can always use the plugin and not worry about naming or location.

 

[Oomek 3]

From the plugin description I assume it's making collections accessible from a separate group. If this is true it's not what I've had in mind.

Edited August 16, 2024 by Oomek

[GrimReaper 4740]

21 minutes ago, Oomek said:

From the plugin description I assume it's making collections accessible from a separate group. If this is true it's not what I've had in mind.

It doesn't. It merges items (with the same providerid) with the same net-result as if done by Emby core or merged manually: it combines multiple items into single item with multi-version dropdown. 

Edit: Note that the change is irreversible, i.e. do have a valid db backup. 

Edited August 16, 2024 by GrimReaper

[Oomek 3]

I'll check it out, thanks @Happy2Playand @GrimReaper

[Oomek 3]

Ok I feel like a total noob now. I've just discovered I can merge versions manually when I select 2 or more files 

[GrimReaper 4740]

1 hour ago, Oomek said:

I've just discovered I can merge versions manually when I select 2 or more files 

Correct, as said:

1 hour ago, GrimReaper said:

same net-result as if done by Emby core or merged manually

And as mentioned in numerous threads:

You can multi-version in either of three ways:

1) Put all different files in same folder and follow naming convention for multi-version movies

2) Multi-select and select "Group Versions" in three-dot menu 

3) Use community-made Auto-Grouping plugin

Edited August 16, 2024 by GrimReaper