How to order different versions of the same episodes

[BenVenn 22]

Hello again all,

I am building up my TV library and want to meticulously organise my video files such as the example below. As you can see, this episode has three versions. Omnibus, Broadcast Version and Updated Special Effects. I wish to have them listed by default in the following order for the viewer:

1) Broadcast Episode

2) Updated Special Effects

3) Omnibus

I originally thought it would decide based on the videos alphabetised titles, but that theory got debunked when Omnibus got put above Broadcast Episode automatically. I then thought it would decide based on what order you imported the video files into Emby, but that still made no difference.

Regardless of what I do, Omnibus always ends up first.

I'm wondering, hoping perhaps, that there is some kind of manual override or way to name these files differently to stop this from happening.

If anyone has any ideas I'd be thrilled to hear them.

Thanks!

Ben

[Happy2Play 9783]

There is no way to order the version drop down list.  Emby tries to guess with version will play the best in the client.

[BenVenn 22]

I see. Oh well! It would be neat if this could somehow be considered for a future release, one day.

I understand it's a very niche feature!

Thanks for the quick reply as always  

[Happy2Play 9783]

Not positive if there is a feature question, but know this has been asked multiple times.

[BenVenn 22]

I think I found a way to manipulate Emby into doing what I wanted. Whichever it prioritised as the 'most important' version to show for the user, I then removed from the physical folder it was stationed in and re-scanned the TV show. It then picked the version back up but did not place it at the top. I repeated this method with all the other ones that I didn't want it prioritising until the one I did want was defaulted at the top.

Bit of a funny workaround, but at least it achieves the desired effect for now.

[DAVe3283 7]

On 6/8/2021 at 3:56 PM, BenVenn said:

I think I found a way to manipulate Emby into doing what I wanted. Whichever it prioritised as the 'most important' version to show for the user, I then removed from the physical folder it was stationed in and re-scanned the TV show. It then picked the version back up but did not place it at the top. I repeated this method with all the other ones that I didn't want it prioritising until the one I did want was defaulted at the top.

Bit of a funny workaround, but at least it achieves the desired effect for now.

I tried this workaround on server 4.6.7.0 and sadly it does not work for me. No matter what I do, the editions keep going back to the same order. I tried changing the name of the files, adding them in different order, manipulating the file times, etc. No luck

[Luke 42081]

6 hours ago, DAVe3283 said:

I tried this workaround on server 4.6.7.0 and sadly it does not work for me. No matter what I do, the editions keep going back to the same order. I tried changing the name of the files, adding them in different order, manipulating the file times, etc. No luck

Hi, are you talking about episode order within a season, or multi-version ordering within a single episodes? if it is the latter, there is no way to manually control the multi-version order.

[DAVe3283 7]

15 hours ago, Luke said:

Hi, are you talking about episode order within a season, or multi-version ordering within a single episodes? if it is the latter, there is no way to manually control the multi-version order.

It is the latter. I really wish there was a supported way to do that, for movies or episodes with multiple editions (directors cut vs. theatrical, etc.).

A prime example is Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which has the theatrical release and "Alt Universe Mode", which is a very different feature that would cause a lot of confusion if selected automatically. Luckily, that sorts correctly for me:

I was trying to do the same thing for Birds of Prey, but it puts "Birds Eye Mode" first no matter what. I ended up just making that an extra, which works, but isn't as slick of an experience IMO.

[gjames50 7]

I had this issue with TV Shows.

At least for TV Shows I have found a way to fix this that works for me. Maybe it will help someone else out.

If you have two versions of an episode (e.g. Release Episode, Alternate Ending, etc.) You just need to add letters to the end of your Season/Episode Naming/Numbering schema.

You will need to Delete the .NFO files before or after you change these file names. You will need to rename any associated bif or image file names to match your new filenames. Then go to Library and click the 'Scan Library Files' to have the server look for your changes.

Example (Original files could be):

Name of Show - S01E20 - The Season Finale.mkv
Name of Show - S01E20 - (Alternate Ending) - The Season Finale.mkv

Change these numbers by adding letters in the order you want them to be sorted in Version.

Name of Show - S01E20a - The Season Finale.mkv
Name of Show - S01E20b - (Alternate Ending) - The Season Finale.mkv

 

This works for me. I haven't tested this with Movies yet. I don't really have any Movies with multiple video files. This happens all the time with TV Shows however. 

Someone could test something similar with Movies to see if that has any effect.

Good luck!

[Arby 7]

I'm wondering why the big boss Luke doesn't know about this a/b scheme.

Edited September 17, 2022 by Arby

[Luke 42081]

On 9/17/2022 at 6:29 AM, Arby said:

I'm wondering why the big boss Luke doesn't know about this a/b scheme.

I would suggest using a numbered scheme. It is very easy to wrongly detect something as multi-part just because it ends with an 'a', b, c or d, so that is why we don't even try to do it.