Plex Home Theater Questions (Post Plex Q's and Links Here)

[gkarris]

New to Plex!

http://www.plexapp.com/

PLEASE USE THIS THREAD FOR PLEX Q & A's, as well as links to the answers at Plex.

I was just wondering.

I have my iTunes library on my PC Server running Windows. I assume I can just have Plex point to the iTunes folder on the server to get to the content?

Will it pick up all the artwork?

Any other pointers?

 

[gkarris]

Can anyone help with what's going on?

I had it scan my iTunes folder on my Windows server and it seems to have put the whole folder, Movies, Music, and TV, under "View Videos" and will play Music, even though it really belongs under "Music". There is nothing under "Music".

Thanks for helping....

 

[DAMAC3]

Can anyone help with what's going on?

I had it scan my iTunes folder on my Windows server and it seems to have put the whole folder, Movies, Music, and TV, under "View Videos" and will play Music, even though it really belongs under "Music". There is nothing under "Music".

Thanks for helping....

You need to add Movies, Music, and TV separately. Read the Plex FAQ on their website and/or click on the help button on the Plex app and watch the streaming videos on adding your movies, music, and TV. If will walk you through exactly what you need to do.

 

[gkarris]

You need to add Movies, Music, and TV separately. Read the Plex FAQ on their website and/or click on the help button on the Plex app and watch the streaming videos on adding your movies, music, and TV. If will walk you through exactly what you need to do.

Thanks. Started reading it. I was underneath the impression that it would be able to resolve the different file-types on its own.

Free software, I guess.

 

[DAMAC3]

Thanks. Started reading it. I was underneath the impression that it would be able to resolve the different file-types on its own.

Free software, I guess.

I forgot to mention that it is library mode that will solve your problems. The videos I mentioned show you exactly how to do it. The Wiki at plexapp.com probably does, too. I'm sure Plex could differentiate the different file types, but to have proper descriptions and box art it is probably more efficient to require the user to separate your content.

 

[gkarris]

Thanks, I'll look into that back home.

I've also been doing my own DVD rips forever since videos were first introduced into iTunes (I had the first 5th gen iPod with at the time, Music Videos only, but put my own shows into them), and since then, Apple has added support for more tags for file/folder management.

So, it looks like it's more important in Plex to have the media in the proper iTunes folders (Movies, TV Shows, etc.).

(I cringe at this - have to go through everything to make sure all the tags are there).

Worth it in the end though - Plex is so incredibly awesome....

 

[fastgraham]

file names

Also very important for plex is to name the movie files correctly. Must be like: Dark Knight (2007).avi

Anything else and it will not know that it is a movie, thus it will not pick up the imdb stuff, etc.

 

[bigbossbmb]

yeah, I don't have any of my movies in iTunes... I have them in a single folder on a drive attached to my airport extreme. I just added the folder as a source in the Videos section, set the content as movies, and made sure to name the files correctly (as fastgraham demonstrated... although Dark Knight would be 2008)

 

[Sky Blue]

Also very important for plex is to name the movie files correctly. Must be like: Dark Knight (2007).avi

Anything else and it will not know that it is a movie, thus it will not pick up the imdb stuff, etc.

I wouldn't say it's important at all. I never put the year on my movies, I usually just leave it as whatever MTR calls it.

 

[akm3]

Also very important for plex is to name the movie files correctly. Must be like: Dark Knight (2007).avi

Anything else and it will not know that it is a movie, thus it will not pick up the imdb stuff, etc.

How does plex deal with m4v rips? (Which don't end in .avi)

 

[Bye Bye Baby]

I have tried to use plex twice now and I must say that I have been absolutely disappointed with it.

If they update front row to connect to the iTunes store then I will be happy.

But plex for me is a no go.

 

[Sky Blue]

How does plex deal with m4v rips? (Which don't end in .avi)

Plex will play many formats, not just avi. Plays VIDEO_TS folders and VOB files too.

 

[gkarris]

I have tried to use plex twice now and I must say that I have been absolutely disappointed with it.

If they update front row to connect to the iTunes store then I will be happy.

But plex for me is a no go.

The new version allows you to invoke Front Row from Plex, so you can switch between that and YouTube, Hulu, Tivo, etc., etc...

 

[jw2002]

But plex for me is a no go.

What threw me off with Plex in the beginning was that it does not respond to the mouse. Only keyboard and IR commands can control it upon first install.

 

[crazyxzer0]

there is a pretty good learning curve on this app but I think it is very useful for watching my 1080p movies on my HDTV

 

[Capt Crunch]

What threw me off with Plex in the beginning was that it does not respond to the mouse. Only keyboard and IR commands can control it upon first install.

There is an option to turn on the mouse.

 

[aidricksdad]

plex does not play my local movies and tv shows thru bluetooth headphones....but the internet stuff(like hulu and whatnot
) play fine thru them any ideas?

 

[akm3]

there is a pretty good learning curve on this app but I think it is very useful for watching my 1080p movies on my HDTV

Is there a 'one best resource' for how to properly configure Plex and what not? The wiki's I've seen haven't been very helpful. Maybe I'm missing an obvious resource

 

[Cave Man]

The Getting Started page is the best place to start, IMO.

 

[jrm27]

I've just started coverting all my movies to mobile formats and am planning to use plex as my mobile solution. I prefer plex's interface to that of itunes and I like the way it scrapes the IMDB daabases for all the info I need. I think it is a pretty good solution!

What I'm trying to figure out is if I can install plex on an external hard drive where I store all my movies and tell it to create the library resources on the same drive. That way I can just take my little hard drive with me and plug it into whatever mac is available and watch movies when the mood strikes me, witout having to instal plex on another computer.

 

[bigbossbmb]

don't think that's possible... the library database is stored in the user's Library folder. If you put the app on the external, it would potentially rebuild/rescan the library on each new computer (and take the time to look up each item on imdb/tvdb).

 

[jrm27]

That makes sense. I wish I could have it build that library folder with all the IMDB info somewhere else! That would be great.

 

[bigbossbmb]

well you could potentially copy that support folder to the external and just copy it over to the computer before you launch Plex. not 100% sure that'd work, but it might.