Changing episode numbers in bulk

[BenVenn 22]

Hello,

This may be a niche request but if there's a way to do this I would be very grateful.

I am currently building up a special features library for a TV show with many seasons, and many special features to boot. I am creating all my metadata manually since there is no online record of all the special features that came on the disks.

I've currently done one season's worth of bonus content which is about 60 odd files (it's important to note that it's not the first season of this TV show) and for the sake of an example lets say the specials start at 'My Show - S00E01 - Special Episode Title' etc. My concern is that I would preferably like all my special features to be in order, and when I get around to ripping and categorising an earlier season I won't be able to put those specials out in front of my existing ones without changing each episode ID manually (it sounds gruelling just thinking about it!). Does anyone know if there is a way to move, in bulk, a bunch of episodes to have later episode IDs?

If anyone has any advice that may be of help that would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks

Ben

[pwhodges 2012]

I use Bulk Rename Utility (on Windows):
https://www.bulkrenameutility.co.uk/

It's very flexible, and I have used it for this exact job.  In this case you need to tell it to delete the old sequence numbers (by position) and simultaneously insert new numbering (from any required starting number).  The two have to be simultaneous, otherwise you'll lose the existing episode ordering!

Other people use the same, but there are also other similar utilities.

Paul

Edited May 3, 2021 by pwhodges

[BenVenn 22]

Hi Paul,

An excellent idea! I have used this exact software but for a different use case entirely. It never occurred to me to use it for this job, too.

I will have a play around and see if I can get it working for me. 

Thank you!

[pwhodges 2012]

Sometimes you have to be a bit tricky with it - if, for instance, you want to go from 2-digit numbers (up to 99) to 3-digit number (100+).  But it still well beats doing it manually.  I've recently used it for renumbering a series that was in a single sequence from 1 to 167 into five separate season blocks, for instance.

Paul

Edited May 3, 2021 by pwhodges

[RanmaCanada 498]

You can also try renamer.