Video Preview Thumbnails not being created on new install

[MediaFish 1]

Hello, I've been using Emby Server for years on a Windows host. I'm trying to move to new hardware and have been unable to have preview thumbnails generated for new media (mostly recorded TV).

For the library I record to, I have Video Preview Thumbnails set to "as a scheduled task and when media is added" and I have the interval set to 10 seconds. I've tried rescanning the library, refreshing the metadata and running the video preview thumbnail extraction task manually all with no luck. I've attached the server log file but don't see anything obvious in there.

Any clues on what I'm doing wrong here? I really appreciate the help and work you do on Emby!

embyserver.txt

[Abobader 3464]

Hello MediaFish,

** This is an auto reply **

Please wait for someone from staff support or our members to reply to you.

It's recommended to provide more info, as it explain in this thread:

Thank you.

Emby Team

[Luke 42077]

HI there, what exactly did it not create thumbnails for that you expected it to?

Can you please provide a specific example?

How to Report a Problem

Thanks !

 

[MediaFish 1]

Thanks for responding. On my old server, when a video is playing and you move the mouse along the timeline, you see a small thumbnail of that part of the video. On the new server, you only see the time marking (please see that attached photos). Thanks again!

[MediaFish 1]

Hello again. Any ideas what I might be doing wrong here? Appreciate any pointers.

[Neminem 1518]

Devs will need logs from when you imported the media.

[Luke 42077]

@MediaFish?

[MediaFish 1]

Sorry for the delay. Recorded the show "Raw Travel" and attached are the log files. Appreciate the help

embyserver.txt quick-extract-imageseries-1ECB1B3E28F6_1.txt ffmpeg-transcode-dbfaadeb-e262-4221-ab3b-863142a07554_1.txt

[MediaFish 1]

Any ideas what might be going wrong here? can I provide any additional information? thanks!

[Luke 42077]

Is it only an issue with .ts files?

[MediaFish 1]

Nope. Happens on mkv files too

[Luke 42077]

1 hour ago, MediaFish said:

Nope. Happens on mkv files too

@MediaFish

HI there, can you please provide a specific example?

How to Report a Problem

Thanks !

 

[MediaFish 1]

Thanks, Luke, but I'm not certain I understand what you're asking for. The original problem that I'm still trying to solve is that I set up live TV recording and, when a show is recorded, I don't get the video thumbnails (as shown in the images above). I believe I've provided all of the log files for a recording that was made. What additional information can I provide here?

thanks again! I really appreciate the help here.

 

[Luke 42077]

2 hours ago, MediaFish said:

Thanks, Luke, but I'm not certain I understand what you're asking for. The original problem that I'm still trying to solve is that I set up live TV recording and, when a show is recorded, I don't get the video thumbnails (as shown in the images above). I believe I've provided all of the log files for a recording that was made. What additional information can I provide here?

thanks again! I really appreciate the help here.

 

You said it happens on an mkv so I am asking to look at a specific example of that. Can we please do that? Thanks !

[MediaFish 1]

It does happen on mkv files as well but the primary scenario i care about is recorded tv. I just added an mkv movie and the thumbnails weren't generated. Attached are the log files. Appreciate any pointers as to what I'm doing wrong here. thanks for the help!

embyserver.txt ffmpeg-transcode-6a85eecb-0762-497a-80f3-4e5b484ec316_1.txt ffmpeg-transcode-9c3f990e-d8f9-48e4-a1f4-3c6cf23fe000_1.txt ffmpeg-transcode-0c2fd778-c5ba-4cbd-bf87-28f5ede1125b_1.txt

[Luke 42077]

Is the mkv in a different library? How is that library configured?

[sa2000 674]

On 29/10/2025 at 04:03, MediaFish said:

It does happen on mkv files as well but the primary scenario i care about is recorded tv. I just added an mkv movie and the thumbnails weren't generated. Attached are the log files. Appreciate any pointers as to what I'm doing wrong here. thanks for the help!

Was this test for new test library named "Movies" with this media file ? "C:\Media\Movies\Blade Runner (1982).mkv" ?

I cannot see any attempt to create thumbs

What did you have configured for this test library in the following options?

There are 3 different settings here to configure

 

Could you repeat this test but get me screenshot of this 

So suggest you delete the test library. keep debug logging enabled

restart the server and then recreate the test library with the 10 second option for thumbnails and have the library created for this test movie and then capture the logs and attach together with the screenshot to show the library settings that you use for this

 

 

Edited November 3, 2025 by sa2000

[MediaFish 1]

Thanks for the reply. You are right! when I set up the new library to test MKC files, I didn't set the options correctly. But still having this issue for TS files coming from an HD Homerun recording live tv. Double checked the library settings there... any clue what might be going on?

 

[sa2000 674]

58 minutes ago, MediaFish said:

ut still having this issue for TS files coming from an HD Homerun recording live tv. Double checked the library settings there... any clue what might be going on?

 

well ... I do not have an embyserver and quick-extract-imageseries log files from you covering the time of a recording ending and stored into a library that has 10-second thumbnails enabled and created when added to library

The earlier log file you provided does not have any recording completing 

I have just run a test and a .bif file was created for a recording .ts file and placed in a folder under programdata\metadata\library\

Does check that you have the library options correct and that recordings are going into that library, then do a short test recording and get the logs - both the embyserver and quick-extract- log files and you can also view the folders in "C:\Users\Neil\AppData\Roaming\Emby-Server\programdata\metadata" . Sort the explorer view by date and look at most recent and one that coincides with time of recording finishing and then open that folder and again do the same at the level below and sort by date and look at most recent and see if there is a .bif filename for the recording and provide logs and screenshot of the library options for chapters/thumbnails

My test was on beta 4.9.2.6 but i do not believe there were any changes in this area after 4.9.1.80 - the one your server is running on

Please wait a couple of minutes after recording ends before you check

Edited November 3, 2025 by sa2000

[MediaFish 1]

Great. thank you so much. will do that now and post when i have the logs.

 

[MediaFish 1]

Here you go... Recorded the news to Recordings library. The library is set for thumbnails. Log files attached. Really appreciate the help with this!

embyserver.txt ffmpeg-transcode-e999eab3-3c6d-4f88-a0b2-e165881e8364_1.txt quick-extract-imageseries-83275D406C01_1.txt

[MediaFish 1]

And there is a .bif file for the show in the thumbnailcache folder

[Luke 42077]

It looks like it was created:

2025-11-03 12:01:01.004 Info QuickImageSeriesExtractor: ProcessRun 'quick-extract-imageseries' Execute: C:\Users\Neil\AppData\Roaming\Emby-Server\system\ffmpeg.exe -f mpegts -threads 1 -skip_interval 10 -i file:"C:\Media\Recorded TV\KOMO 4 News 11 00am\KOMO 4 News 11 00am 2025_11_03_11_00_00.ts" -an -sn -vf "scale=w=320:h=180" -r 0.1 -f image2 -b:v 100M "C:\Users\Neil\AppData\Roaming\Emby-Server\programdata\cache\temp\91b11dc0abd14091baed2ca23ddda4e1\img_%05d.jpg"
2025-11-03 12:01:01.010 Debug QuickImageSeriesExtractor: ProcessRun 'quick-extract-imageseries' Started.

 

[MediaFish 1]

thank you. but they're not being displayed in the UI (same as initial images). I'm just seeing the time stamp, not the thumbnail

 

[Luke 42077]

46 minutes ago, MediaFish said:

thank you. but they're not being displayed in the UI (same as initial images). I'm just seeing the time stamp, not the thumbnail

 

Hi, where are you looking for it?