Plex

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Links

Plex Add-ons
  • Sub-zero — an alternative to built-in subtitle finder.
Tools
  • Filebot A tool to rename media according to media center naming schemes (support Plex, Kodi...).

Install

Plex Media Player on Linux

See https://knapsu.eu/plex/. Use flatpak. Dependency on KDE [2]. 

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists kdeapps --from https://distribute.kde.org/kdeapps.flatpakrepo
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists plex-media-player https://flatpak.knapsu.eu/plex-media-player.flatpakrepo
flatpak install plex-media-player tv.plex.PlexMediaPlayer

... doesn't seem to work great on Debian Buster at least.

Kodi Plex Add-On

  • Select add-on from videos add-on.
  • Sign in to account.
  • In settings, enable direct play and enable h265.
  • Optionally, set add-on to autostart when Kodi starts.

Configuration

See also Shield TV and Wolverine.

Plex App on NVidia Shield TV Pro

  • Audio Passthrough:
  • Set to HDMI because it amplifies AC3 audio.
  • Todo: Note that passthrough is not advised [3], so maybe we should reconsider that.
  • Video quality - Adjust automatically:
  • Currently set to OFF.
  • Todo: Does that influence the quality of transcode?

Plex Server

  • Server - Settings - Library - Disable media deletion.
  • Languages - Prefer subtitles in Français.

How-To

Fix film metadata / bad matching

  • Go in server library.
  • Select movie, then Fix match....

If movie has several versions available, and one of these is not correct:

  • Select first split apart.

See also this post about upgrading the matching agent.

Use Plex add-on in Kodi

Advantage of using the Kodi add-on is that it has (currently) better direct play support (in particular AC3 audio).

To install Plex add-on in Kodi [4],[5]:

  • Go to Kodi add-on menu
  • Select Download, Videos Add-Ons.
  • Select Plex.
  • Install.

Some settings to consider:

  • Make sure direct play is enabled.
  • Make sure H365 is enabled if supported.
  • Set plex add-on to autostart when Kodi starts (to avoid to navigate to that add-on every time).

Prevent transcode with AC3 / EAC3 audio on Nvidia Shield TV

Although the NVidia shield TV supports AC3 / EAC3 natively, it is transcoded by the support [6], [7]

To prevent that:

  • Use Plex add-on in Kodi, instead of the Plex app on the shield.
  • ???

More on DirectPlay:

Naming convention

References [8]

Recommended folder structure: 

   /Media
      /Movies
         movie content
      /Music
         music content
      /TV Shows
         television content
Basic Naming - separate folder
   /Movies
      /Avatar (2009)
         Avatar (2009).mkv
      /Batman Begins (2005)
         Batman Begins (2005).mp4
         Batman Begins (2005).en.srt
         poster.jpg
Basic Naming - standalone files (slower scanning)
   /Movies
      Avatar (2009).mkv
      Batman Begins (2005).mp4
Split across multiple files
Use MovieName (release year) – Split_Name.ext, where Split_Name is cdX, discX, diskX, dvdX, partX or ptX.
   /Movies
      /The Dark Knight (2008)
         The Dark Knight (2008) - pt1.mp4
         The Dark Knight (2008) - pt2.mp4
Subtitles
Must enable the local media assets scanner. Recommended formats are SRT, SMI, SSA (or ASS).
Use
  • MovieName (Release Date).[Language_Code].ext or
  • Movies/MovieName (Release Date).[Language_Code].ext
  • Movies/MovieName (Release Date).[Language_Code].forced.ext
   /Movies
      Avatar (2009).mkv
      Avatar (2009).en.srt
   
   /Movies
      /Avatar (2009)
         Avatar (2009).mkv
         Avatar (2009).eng.ass

Troubleshooting

Collect logs

Plex Player

.Plex Server

  • Go to server page, manage, console or troubleshooting and click Download logs.

Rewind / FF issues

  • At least have that issue on Chrome / Debian Buster, with ShieldTV embedded player.
  • Trying fix:
  • Trying the official player from https://plex.tv, click launch.
  • Trying to enable Settings -> Plex Web -> Debug -> Use alternate streaming protocol for video playback. -> Much better!

30s startup delay

See Plex issue 30s delay.

MP4 container with VOBSUB subtitles triggers transcode

Test case: any DVD converted with Handbrake, using e.g. MP4 container, H264, any audio, VOBSUB subtitles.

MKV container with PGC subtitles triggers transcode

Test case: [zza]Lucy.2014.BDRIP.1080p.x265.AC3.mkv.

Quality quite bad when transcoding on Shield

  • transcoding quality is quite low (using shield plex app and shield plex server)
  • Note: in App, Video Quality, Adjust automatically is set to OFF, but Home streaming is set to Maximum.

Miscellaneous issues

  • 'Enhanced' - French SRT subtitles not showing
  • Because the SRT file was empty / corrupted.
  • 'Lucy' - Cannot play AC3 audio. Turns out there was an issue in that track anyway (delay).
  • Keep transcoding AC3 media.
  • Does not seem to be the case in our DVD tests. The delay is due to something else.
  • When transcoding on Shield TV server, the quality is quite bad. Why can't we boost the quality of the transcode to the max (say 4Mb)?
Ghost in the Shell (Anime)
  • Direct Play without subtitles, but transcode with subtitles.
  • MP4, but still 30s delay when using shield server.
Lucy
  • File [zza]Lucy.2014.BDRIP.1080p.x265.AC3.mkv, MKV, H265, AC3 audio, PGS and SRT subtitles.
  • Note that file has serious audio delay issues.
  • Playing with PGS subtitles trigger transcode, which fails (so transcode not due to using AC3 as initially thought [10], [11]).
1382:Dec 20, 2020 00:42:18.545 [23009] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: Lucy (2014): Direct Play is disabled
1383:Dec 20, 2020 00:42:18.545 [23009] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: Lucy (2014): media must be transcoded in order to use the hls protocol
  • Workaround:
  • Plex addon on Kodi [12].

To Do

  • Shield TV - Play with Shield audio passthrough settings. See if that enables the direct play of AC3.
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