Plex Megathread: Your .ASS Is Getting Transcoded

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > Plex Megathread: Your .ASS Is Getting Transcoded

Roundboy: Oct 21, 2008

all a moot point, since microcenter is -crazy-. Turns out w/ mobo buying a i7-4770k was cheaper then the non k, and only $20 more then the i5 .. sooo yeah, i just got it

# ? Apr 8, 2014 18:06

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# ? Apr 16, 2024 18:41

Colt Cannon: Aug 11, 2000

When I cast to my Chromecast, using media that is on my Plex server, it sometimes locks up, and I have to hit the stop button, then hit play again to get it to work.

What is the best fix for this? Should I convert everything to MP4? A lot of my files are currently MKV.

# ? Apr 11, 2014 09:29

Roundboy: Oct 21, 2008

Are you running out of transcoding juice ? Tail the logs, grep for "speed" and see what you are arctually transcoding at. anything below 1 means you are stuttering. Depending on buffer you can handle a few occasionally, but not constant.

Before I upgraded my server, i found that it was better to raise the encoding level to MAX, and let my media play directly vs a blanket transcode to 4 MBPS 720p. Media that contains DTS, or anything unknown will always require a transcode regardless

# ? Apr 11, 2014 14:49

kri kri: Jul 18, 2007

Colt Cannon posted:

When I cast to my Chromecast, using media that is on my Plex server, it sometimes locks up, and I have to hit the stop button, then hit play again to get it to work.

What is the best fix for this? Should I convert everything to MP4? A lot of my files are currently MKV.

What media server version are you using?

# ? Apr 11, 2014 15:12

Parlett316: Dec 6, 2002; Jon Snow is viciously stabbed by his friends in the night's watch for wanting to rescue Mance Rayder from Ramsay Bolton

I don't know why I waited so long to get on this Plex train but it's loving sweet. I haven't dug deep yet but how does Plex react to weird one off videos that may not be in a TVDB library.

# ? Apr 11, 2014 15:17

MycroftXXX: May 10, 2006; A Liquor Never Brewed

Parlett316 posted:

I don't know why I waited so long to get on this Plex train but it's loving sweet. I haven't dug deep yet but how does Plex react to weird one off videos that may not be in a TVDB library.

I'm pretty sure it just sticks it on your library with whatever the file name is and a frame from the file as the picture.

# ? Apr 11, 2014 15:22

Parlett316: Dec 6, 2002; Jon Snow is viciously stabbed by his friends in the night's watch for wanting to rescue Mance Rayder from Ramsay Bolton

MycroftXXX posted:

I'm pretty sure it just sticks it on your library with whatever the file name is and a frame from the file as the picture.

Cool. Now I'm watching Ghostbusters at work on my iPhone. Good times.

# ? Apr 11, 2014 15:31

kri kri: Jul 18, 2007

Parlett316 posted:

I don't know why I waited so long to get on this Plex train but it's loving sweet. I haven't dug deep yet but how does Plex react to weird one off videos that may not be in a TVDB library.

I have a bunch of videos that thetvdb doesn't like, and it works fine. Google plex agents if you need further help I guess.

# ? Apr 11, 2014 19:06

Colt Cannon: Aug 11, 2000

kri kri posted:

What media server version are you using?

Version0.9.9.7.429

Roundboy posted:

Are you running out of transcoding juice ? Tail the logs, grep for "speed" and see what you are arctually transcoding at. anything below 1 means you are stuttering. Depending on buffer you can handle a few occasionally, but not constant.

Before I upgraded my server, i found that it was better to raise the encoding level to MAX, and let my media play directly vs a blanket transcode to 4 MBPS 720p. Media that contains DTS, or anything unknown will always require a transcode regardless

Nope, I am able to stream to everything else just fine. Only on my Chromecast do I have the issue.

I looked through the logs, and never see any issues with my speed. What logs should I look at?

My machine is on 8 GB ram, i5 4570 3.2G, and is pretty new.

# ? Apr 11, 2014 23:59

kri kri: Jul 18, 2007

Colt Cannon posted:

Version0.9.9.7.429

Nope, I am able to stream to everything else just fine. Only on my Chromecast do I have the issue.

I looked through the logs, and never see any issues with my speed. What logs should I look at?

My machine is on 8 GB ram, i5 4570 3.2G, and is pretty new.

Do you have plexpass? Is so update your server.

# ? Apr 12, 2014 00:47

Roundboy: Oct 21, 2008

Colt Cannon posted:

Version0.9.9.7.429

Nope, I am able to stream to everything else just fine. Only on my Chromecast do I have the issue.

I looked through the logs, and never see any issues with my speed. What logs should I look at?

My machine is on 8 GB ram, i5 4570 3.2G, and is pretty new.

https://plexapp.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/200250417-Plex-Media-Server-Log-Files

Plex Media Server.log is what you want to look at (also make sure you have debugging on) .. examine that log for something with 'speed; in it

code:


Apr 11, 2014 21:55:37 [0x7f4e2a7fc700] DEBUG -  * progress => 47.7
Apr 11, 2014 21:55:37 [0x7f4e2a7fc700] DEBUG -  * size => -38
Apr 11, 2014 21:55:37 [0x7f4e2a7fc700] DEBUG -  * speed => 8.1
Apr 11, 2014 21:55:37 [0x7f4e2a7fc700] DEBUG -  * remaining => 4253
Apr 11, 2014 21:55:37 [0x7f4e2a7fc700] DEBUG - It took 0.000000 sec to serialize a list with 0 elements.
Apr 11, 2014 21:55:37 [0x7f4e2a7fc700] VERBOSE - Completed request: PUT /video/:/transcode/session/szqpgpcklxlayvi/progress?progress=47.7&size=-38&speed=8.1&remaining=4253: 2200

anything above 1 is transcoding fsater then realtime... below one you are lagging.. and supposedly 1.0 exactly is direct play no transcoding.

# ? Apr 12, 2014 03:09

Colt Cannon: Aug 11, 2000

Roundboy posted:

https://plexapp.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/200250417-Plex-Media-Server-Log-Files

Plex Media Server.log is what you want to look at (also make sure you have debugging on) .. examine that log for something with 'speed; in it
code:
Apr 11, 2014 21:55:37 [0x7f4e2a7fc700] DEBUG -  * progress => 47.7
Apr 11, 2014 21:55:37 [0x7f4e2a7fc700] DEBUG -  * size => -38
Apr 11, 2014 21:55:37 [0x7f4e2a7fc700] DEBUG -  * speed => 8.1
Apr 11, 2014 21:55:37 [0x7f4e2a7fc700] DEBUG -  * remaining => 4253
Apr 11, 2014 21:55:37 [0x7f4e2a7fc700] DEBUG - It took 0.000000 sec to serialize a list with 0 elements.
Apr 11, 2014 21:55:37 [0x7f4e2a7fc700] VERBOSE - Completed request: PUT /video/:/transcode/session/szqpgpcklxlayvi/progress?progress=47.7&size=-38&speed=8.1&remaining=4253: 2200
anything above 1 is transcoding fsater then realtime... below one you are lagging.. and supposedly 1.0 exactly is direct play no transcoding.

I just dug through all the logs I had. All of them have my speed way up there, 20+. The only time it went below that, was when I attempted to stream a twitch server, and it was at like .1, but I remember that the twitch stream took forever to load up for some drat reason.

I also do not have Plexpass.

# ? Apr 12, 2014 12:37

CRACK FIRE BEATS: Sep 11, 2001

Thanks for the thread, it finally motivated me to try Plex with my Chromecast and so far it's played everything I've thrown at it flawlessly. The discovery bit took a bit of tweaking to get all my media to show up correctly but the Plex interface is simple enough to use that it wasn't a pain in the rear end.

# ? Apr 12, 2014 19:43

UScr00ge: Mar 15, 2001

I just discovered the USTVnow plugin for Plex while searching for plugins that allow HDHomerun OTA plugin streaming throughout the house and my mind is sort of blown. I had to lie when I set up my USTVNow account and say I live in Canada (the service is for ex-pats I believe) but I'm now watching the Masters inside Plex for free. I'm seriously considering cancelling my DirecTV now and buying the USTVNow premium subscription because it has most of the channels I want for 30 bucks a month and I can use Plex on a ton of devices.

Here's the plugin in case anyone is interested.

https://forums.plex.tv/index.php/topic/60268-rel-ustvnow-plugin/

# ? Apr 12, 2014 23:43

Roundboy: Oct 21, 2008

Colt Cannon posted:

I just dug through all the logs I had. All of them have my speed way up there, 20+. The only time it went below that, was when I attempted to stream a twitch server, and it was at like .1, but I remember that the twitch stream took forever to load up for some drat reason.

I also do not have Plexpass.

The only other thing it could be is spotty interweb or interference. I have awesome transcoding,but had stuff stuttering due to my bandwidth being eaten up by torrents.

Internal I would check for what signal strength the cc gets. Im not aware of band with tools for it though.

I highly suggest killing off cable. I have an ooma box coming, and I got a roku 3,to supliment my video from Plex.. But I'm debating on keeping it since I would quite often lose sound, forcing me to mute and unmute the TV. The android Plex interface is nicer then the roku one though.

# ? Apr 13, 2014 01:23

Skeezy: Jul 3, 2007

This is going to sound pretty lame because it involves anime but I have a question concerning anime and seasons.

I'm trying to get the series Fairy Tail to work through Plex without it labeling it under "Season 01". The series has 177 episodes currently and while I know some places have them labeled under different seasons I would rather have it so when I click the Anime folder it goes "Anime > Fairy Tail > all episodes".

Is there a way to ditch the "season 1" thing, or on the flip get it to be labeled under seasons properly?

# ? Apr 13, 2014 23:19

kri kri: Jul 18, 2007

I don't believe Plex can flatten folders like that, at least yet.

# ? Apr 13, 2014 23:38

Skeezy: Jul 3, 2007

kri kri posted:

I don't believe Plex can flatten folders like that, at least yet.

I thought so, just wanted to double check. For the meantime it works fine, everything will just be labeled under Season 1.

# ? Apr 13, 2014 23:40

teagone: Jun 10, 2003; That was pretty intense, huh?

Skeezy posted:

I thought so, just wanted to double check. For the meantime it works fine, everything will just be labeled under Season 1.

TheTVDB has the proper season/episode listings and metadata for Fairy Tail: http://thetvdb.com/?tab=series&id=114801&lid=7 so you can match it using the TVDB agent. Just be sure your file names can be properly fetched from.

# ? Apr 14, 2014 00:08

Stugazi: Mar 1, 2004; Who me, Bitter?

Try SickBeard with post processing rules.

I believe by default it deletes all anime. :cheeky:

# ? Apr 14, 2014 01:40

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

Anyone having issues with Plex on your FireTV? It'll work great and then randomly will say it cannot play a file that I was just watching. I need to unplug and restart the FireTV to get it to work right again. Alternatively, is there an option to restart it or Plex through the UI? That'd be a fine work around at least.

# ? Apr 16, 2014 02:17

FunOne: Aug 20, 2000; I am a slimey vat of concentrated stupidity; Fun Shoe

Roundboy posted:

Are you running out of transcoding juice ? Tail the logs, grep for "speed" and see what you are arctually transcoding at. anything below 1 means you are stuttering. Depending on buffer you can handle a few occasionally, but not constant.

Before I upgraded my server, i found that it was better to raise the encoding level to MAX, and let my media play directly vs a blanket transcode to 4 MBPS 720p. Media that contains DTS, or anything unknown will always require a transcode regardless

Where do I change this setting?

# ? Apr 16, 2014 03:35

Roundboy: Oct 21, 2008

FunOne posted:

Where do I change this setting?

Plex.TV/web. (The place you watch shows via browser). Settings ==>web--->player

This is the maximum that will play before transcoding. If you have a SD low birrate content, 720p will not transcoded,but direct play (unless something is not compatable). High 1080p 10mbs content will ALWAYS transcode at the 720p setting. This is the up too setting.

Individual devices can also request bit rates up to this max setting. If you cast content, you must set first, then cast.

# ? Apr 16, 2014 03:47

me your dad: Jul 25, 2006

I currently have Plex running on my laptop, with output to our Roku. Currently we just use it to stream channels but I'd like to start ripping DVDs we buy for our daughter.

Edit: It takes a pretty powerful computer to serve media from a ripped source, right? I don't think my laptop can do it but our desktop computer upstairs certainly has the capability.

Can I run two Plex servers and have the Roku connect to the laptop for streaming and the desktop for local media?

me your dad fucked around with this message at 16:04 on Apr 18, 2014

# ? Apr 18, 2014 15:45

Maneki Neko: Oct 27, 2000

me your dad posted:

I currently have Plex running on my laptop, with output to our Roku. Currently we just use it to stream channels but I'd like to start ripping DVDs we buy for our daughter.

My laptop probably isn't powerful enough but our upstairs desktop computer is.

Can I run two Plex servers and have the Roku connect to the laptop for streaming and the desktop for local media?

Should work fine. I don't have a Roku, but I do have multiple servers and they just show up as an additional set of libraries.

# ? Apr 18, 2014 15:49

FCKGW: May 21, 2006

If you rip the DVDs into a format that Roku can natively play then Plex will DirectPlay it from your laptop with no issues.

http://roku.yt1300.com

# ? Apr 18, 2014 16:14

me your dad: Jul 25, 2006

FCKGW posted:

If you rip the DVDs into a format that Roku can natively play then Plex will DirectPlay it from your laptop with no issues.

http://roku.yt1300.com

Cool, thanks for that. My laptop hard drive is fairly meager so I could use a 500gb USB drive I keep downstairs. I don't keep the drive hooked up to the laptop all the time though. Would there be any problems in Plex detecting it if I only hooked it up when needed?

# ? Apr 18, 2014 16:25

FCKGW: May 21, 2006

me your dad posted:

Cool, thanks for that. My laptop hard drive is fairly meager so I could use a 500gb USB drive I keep downstairs. I don't keep the drive hooked up to the laptop all the time though. Would there be any problems in Plex detecting it if I only hooked it up when needed?

It should work, yes. Plex builds a database of all your movies and tv shows in whatever folders you tell it they're in. It stores the database on the local machine so it should have pointers to where they are on your external hdd. If you unplug the drive it will still load up the library fine but will throw an error when you try to play. Plugging the drive in (as long as it retains the same drive letter) will have a correct path to the file again and play.

# ? Apr 18, 2014 16:45

teagone: Jun 10, 2003; That was pretty intense, huh?

Came across this post on reddit regarding Chromecast Plex playback efficiency by replacing the default Chromecast XML profile: http://www.reddit.com/r/Chromecast/comments/237vka/plex_how_to_improve_server_and_video_performance/

Just replaced my XML profile and the fix works great. Not sure why that Plex Chromecast profile isn't the default.

[edit] What it does

quote:

the issue is that almost all MKV files you get off the web are sent straight to the transcoder. This is due to the way the Plex XML limits bitrate and h.264 profile support. For example, the "max bitrate" is set to 4000Kbps. In actuality, the CC is capable of ~30 000kbps.

So when running this improved XML, you will experience better video quality (because of Direct Play) as well as reduced power consumption from the Plex server (due to no need to transcode video)

I found that post after noticing a certain video looked way better on my Roku than on my Chromecast. Now the quality is the same

teagone fucked around with this message at 09:06 on Apr 19, 2014

# ? Apr 19, 2014 09:02

teagone: Jun 10, 2003; That was pretty intense, huh?

Here's a link to the improved XML file: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/78410/Chromecast.xml

# ? Apr 19, 2014 09:30

Roundboy: Oct 21, 2008

I always suspected the cc profile was bunk. Does this affect android in general vs cc? Like, if I play a movie on my phone its one profile, then cast it its another?

# ? Apr 19, 2014 13:27

teagone: Jun 10, 2003; That was pretty intense, huh?

Roundboy posted:

I always suspected the cc profile was bunk. Does this affect android in general vs cc? Like, if I play a movie on my phone its one profile, then cast it its another?

I believe that profile is exclusive to the Chromecast, so I think yes.

# ? Apr 19, 2014 14:04

Parlett316: Dec 6, 2002; Jon Snow is viciously stabbed by his friends in the night's watch for wanting to rescue Mance Rayder from Ramsay Bolton

Nice find, thank you.

# ? Apr 19, 2014 16:41

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

Do you have the location for the file on Mac installs?

Thanks!

# ? Apr 20, 2014 00:27

teagone: Jun 10, 2003; That was pretty intense, huh?

TraderStav posted:

Do you have the location for the file on Mac installs?

Thanks!

I think profiles are packaged inside the actual app. Right click the Plex Media Server app in whatever folder you put it in, and select "Show Package Contents". Should be somewhere in the Resources folder.

[edit] Apparently editing the XML files that way will get overwritten with each update. According to the Plex forums, in the ~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server folder make a folder called "Profiles" and put a copy of the Chromecast.xml in there. The server will use the profiles you put there before it looks for one in the app package.

So the path is ~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Profiles/Chromecast.xml

teagone fucked around with this message at 01:29 on Apr 20, 2014

# ? Apr 20, 2014 01:26

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

teagone posted:

I think profiles are packaged inside the actual app. Right click the Plex Media Server app in whatever folder you put it in, and select "Show Package Contents". Should be somewhere in the Resources folder.

[edit] Apparently editing the XML files that way will get overwritten with each update. According to the Plex forums, in the ~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server folder make a folder called "Profiles" and put a copy of the Chromecast.xml in there. The server will use the profiles you put there before it looks for one in the app package.

So the path is ~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Profiles/Chromecast.xml

Interesting as I don't have a PMS directory there. If I remember though, there's two library folders in OS X. It may be under the profile library which isn't readily visible in finder... Will do some digging. Thanks!

# ? Apr 20, 2014 02:01

teagone: Jun 10, 2003; That was pretty intense, huh?

TraderStav posted:

Interesting as I don't have a PMS directory there. If I remember though, there's two library folders in OS X. It may be under the profile library which isn't readily visible in finder... Will do some digging. Thanks!

Sorry I couldn't be of more help

I don't have PMS installed on my Mac. At any rate, is there a WatchESPN plugin for Plex? My googlefu is failing.

# ? Apr 20, 2014 04:35

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

teagone posted:

Sorry I couldn't be of more help I don't have PMS installed on my Mac. At any rate, is there a WatchESPN plugin for Plex? My googlefu is failing.

Thanks, I figured it out. The users library wasn't viewable in the Finder but I found it in terminal. For future reference it was located right where you said it, here's the full path that I did a 'cp' to:

/Users/USERNAME/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Profiles

The ~ is shorthand for username directory, IIRC. It's confusing because there's also a /Library/Application Support/

# ? Apr 20, 2014 13:46

UncleGuito: May 8, 2005; www.ipadbackdrops.com daily wallpaper updates deserving of your iPad

So I just built a HTPC and love running Plex on it so far. However, I've noticed the video quality is better when I stream a file through Chromecast than playing it locally via the Plex home theater software. Is that normal? Seems like it upscales better via the Chromecast, PS3, etc for some reason.

# ? Apr 20, 2014 18:54

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# ? Apr 16, 2024 18:41

Irritated Goat: Mar 12, 2005; This post is pathetic.

Skeezy posted:

This is going to sound pretty lame because it involves anime but I have a question concerning anime and seasons.

I'm trying to get the series Fairy Tail to work through Plex without it labeling it under "Season 01". The series has 177 episodes currently and while I know some places have them labeled under different seasons I would rather have it so when I click the Anime folder it goes "Anime > Fairy Tail > all episodes".

Is there a way to ditch the "season 1" thing, or on the flip get it to be labeled under seasons properly?

Hi, welcome to TheTVDB's major problem. They have 0 clue how to handle anime. They're so annoyed by anime nerds that they lock 99% of them and just won't answer posts to fix them without an act from congress. Plex addons for other scrapers don't work half as well so it's 1 giant irritation.

# ? Apr 20, 2014 19:18

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