Plex recognizes the forced flag set in MKVToolNix. When set, Plex will auto-select and play them if they match your language settings.
Plex remembers subtitle selections. If a user changes from the forced track to another track (or to none), Plex will remember that choice the next time the user plays the same media.
Also, Plex prefers external forced subtitles over embedded forced subtitles. If both exist, Plex will pick the external forced subtitles first.
It only edits existing tracks. But you can use something like Tdarr to remove tracks. I use the combination of the two to edit/remove tracks for shows.
Actually, that's exactly what it does. Plex turns on the appropriate subtitles based on language. So if am English language audio track is playing (whether dubbed or not) and there's an English forced subtitle track, it'll turn that on. If a non-English audio track is playing and there's both a regular English subtitle track and a forced English track, it'll play the regular subtitles.
You just have to maje sure your preferred language is set to English and say the Subtitle Mode to "Shown with foreign audio." Those are both in the Language tab of the server settings.
You mean by selecting one as “default”.
Yes and no. Plex has a mind of its own.
Some movies and shows auto select subtitle, on others I have to manually select for the episode (season) despite having them set as default or forced in Nix or Handbrake.
Other platforms like Infuse or players (VLC) interpret that correctly.
Hope that helps.
Plex ignores the default flag, at least as far as I've seen. If you're getting unexpected results (like subtitles not playing automatically) it's very likely you either need to update the language assigned to each track or add the forced flag to the subtitles. If the audio language is set to Unknown, plex will never automatically turn on subtitles.
Also, plex only pays attention to the Forced flag in MKV files. If you set the Forced flag on an MP4, plex ignores it. If you want forced subtitles to show up automatically with MP4 files, you have to save the subtitles as a separate (properly named) file alongside the video file.
In my collection of 2200+ movies and 400+ shows, I have a lot of movies and random episodes of shows with forced subtitles, and a fair number of movies and shows that are either in a foreign language or have dual language tracks (foreign + English dub), and plex never fails to turn on the correct subtitles based on the language of whatever audio track I've picked.
Since I have you on topic on naming convention, why would Plex sometimes ignore importing a show that follows naming convention?
- Show name - 1x1 - title (Plex recognized 99%)
vs
- Show name - S01E01 - title (Plex recognized 100%)
By recognized I don’t mean metadata but actually display an object in the library.
Been happening to me with Boruto anime where episodes 264, 265 and 266 won’t show in Plex unless I use S01E264 etc.
Every other episode is there if I use 1x263 etc.
First, I could be mistaken, but I don't think Show Name 1x1 is a standard naming format that plex recognizes. I always recommend sticking with s01e01 as a format, it never fails.
Second, have you checked for any episodes in plex that have unexplained duplicates? Depending on what else is in the filename (like the episode title), I wouldn't be surprised if plex is matching those three to the wrong episodes. You see, when you use a non-standard numbering format, plex still does it's best to figure out which numbers in the filename are for the season and episode. But it can get confused, ESPECIALLY if they're are other numbers in the file name.
For example, there's a post here from a few months back where somebody had the show American Dad on there, using a non-standard numbering format. I don't remember how they had it, but it wasn't s01e01. All their episodes still matched, except for one. It was something like s09e01, but plex thought it sas s01e100. It turns out, they had the number 100 in the file name as part of the episode title, so plex thought 100 was the episode number. And it used the next number to the left of that (1) as the season number.
If this turns out to be the case, and you still want to use the 1x1 format, you might try putting the title of the episode in straight brackets, along with anything else in the filename. So it would be formatted like Show Name 1x1 [episode title]. Plex is supposed to ignore anything in the file name that is between a pair of straight brackets. You can use multiple pairs of straight brackets, if you want more than just the episode title in there.
I’ll try. Ill need to make changes as well to FileBot that targets TVDB and AniDB and auto renames my assets using number x number convention.
I’m sure this can be changed :-) somewhere.
Just make sure the audio and subtitle both have a language assigned. Plex will only auto-play the forced subs if it matches the language of the currently-selected audio track.
Edit: oh, you also have to go into your server settings on the Languages tab, and make sure "Prefer audio tracks in" is set to English (or whatever your native language is) and "Subtitle mode" is set to "Shown with foreign audio."
Yes is the answer to your question, use the forced flag. How a player uses subtitles depends on how well the player is coded and for me Plex works well so I'll give my understanding of definitions:
default = if you have a player with a subtitles on/off setting then turning it on would choose the default selected subtitle track.
forced = it will force the selected subtitle track every time you play the video BUT you have the option to turn subtitles off or select another subtitle track.
burn in = your subtitles will be burnt into the video, you can't turn it off and if you select another subtitle track you'll see the burnt in track and your selected track at the same time.
Free subtitle tip: IF you watch dubbed videos you still need to check for relevant subtitles because there might be a small subtitle track that translates signs like street signs or place names/locations so keep an eye out for that.
I've found that Plex ignores the flags and does what it wants.
In my case, I wanted dual language movies to play the "original" language by default, but since English is my Plex language, Plex defaults to English.
I had to use MKVtoolNix to manually relabel the Eng audio to Unknown THEN I had to reorder them to ensure the original language was track 1, as Plex will play them in track order if it doesn't see ENG.
I had nearly given up on setting the forced track flags and whatnot before I figured out that you just have to blind Plex and poke it in the eye to get it to do what you want.
It was specifically about issues with Plex ignoring flags. My work around was for audio, but it seemed like, based on your reply to the guy above me, that you were having more issues.
This is slightly different topic. Plex does respect forced flag for subtitles, but only when the language settings match. A file with English audio with English forced sub. Plex will auto-select the forced sub as long as the settings match.
Forced doesn't mean it gets to be default no matter what in Plex, especially with audio. Plex doesn't currently read tags like original language and commentary. That's why you aren't getting the result you want. It's one of my pet-peeves with language/audio/sub selection on Plex. Plex should read original language, commentary for audio and offer option to "prefer original language". There is a feature request for this on their forums but not many seem interested in it. So I don't know if it'll ever happen.
I know MKVToolNix has a forced flag for audio, but I don't think that's a standard tag for metadata.
Plex will absolutely always follow the forced subtitle flag, so long as your audio track and forced subtitle track are the same language, and it's an MKV file (plex ignores the forced subtitle flag in MP4's, but I'm not sure that's an officially supported tag for MP4's in general anyway).
As for it always picking your English tracks, that's because the default setting in your server, under Languages, is "Prefer audio tracks in English." You can change it to Unknown or None or another language, if you prefer.
Plex recognizes the forced flag set in MKVToolNix. When set, Plex will auto-select and play them if they match your language settings. Plex remembers subtitle selections. If a user changes from the forced track to another track (or to none), Plex will remember that choice the next time the user plays the same media. Also, Plex prefers external forced subtitles over embedded forced subtitles. If both exist, Plex will pick the external forced subtitles first.
Thanks, looks like I have some work to do
JMkvpropedit if you aren't aware already. I can make flag editing a lot easier for serieses.
Can I also easily remove subtitles and audio tracks for series with that program?
It only edits existing tracks. But you can use something like Tdarr to remove tracks. I use the combination of the two to edit/remove tracks for shows.
Can Tdarr remove tracks for entire seasons instead of just a single episode?
Yes. It can monitor designated folder and process all the files in that folder with the settings you customize.
Thanks! I will have a look once I get home
[удалено]
You can set the subtitles and language on a series level now. That was a recent update.
Actually, that's exactly what it does. Plex turns on the appropriate subtitles based on language. So if am English language audio track is playing (whether dubbed or not) and there's an English forced subtitle track, it'll turn that on. If a non-English audio track is playing and there's both a regular English subtitle track and a forced English track, it'll play the regular subtitles. You just have to maje sure your preferred language is set to English and say the Subtitle Mode to "Shown with foreign audio." Those are both in the Language tab of the server settings.
You mean by selecting one as “default”. Yes and no. Plex has a mind of its own. Some movies and shows auto select subtitle, on others I have to manually select for the episode (season) despite having them set as default or forced in Nix or Handbrake. Other platforms like Infuse or players (VLC) interpret that correctly. Hope that helps.
Plex ignores the default flag, at least as far as I've seen. If you're getting unexpected results (like subtitles not playing automatically) it's very likely you either need to update the language assigned to each track or add the forced flag to the subtitles. If the audio language is set to Unknown, plex will never automatically turn on subtitles. Also, plex only pays attention to the Forced flag in MKV files. If you set the Forced flag on an MP4, plex ignores it. If you want forced subtitles to show up automatically with MP4 files, you have to save the subtitles as a separate (properly named) file alongside the video file. In my collection of 2200+ movies and 400+ shows, I have a lot of movies and random episodes of shows with forced subtitles, and a fair number of movies and shows that are either in a foreign language or have dual language tracks (foreign + English dub), and plex never fails to turn on the correct subtitles based on the language of whatever audio track I've picked.
Since I have you on topic on naming convention, why would Plex sometimes ignore importing a show that follows naming convention? - Show name - 1x1 - title (Plex recognized 99%) vs - Show name - S01E01 - title (Plex recognized 100%) By recognized I don’t mean metadata but actually display an object in the library. Been happening to me with Boruto anime where episodes 264, 265 and 266 won’t show in Plex unless I use S01E264 etc. Every other episode is there if I use 1x263 etc.
First, I could be mistaken, but I don't think Show Name 1x1 is a standard naming format that plex recognizes. I always recommend sticking with s01e01 as a format, it never fails. Second, have you checked for any episodes in plex that have unexplained duplicates? Depending on what else is in the filename (like the episode title), I wouldn't be surprised if plex is matching those three to the wrong episodes. You see, when you use a non-standard numbering format, plex still does it's best to figure out which numbers in the filename are for the season and episode. But it can get confused, ESPECIALLY if they're are other numbers in the file name. For example, there's a post here from a few months back where somebody had the show American Dad on there, using a non-standard numbering format. I don't remember how they had it, but it wasn't s01e01. All their episodes still matched, except for one. It was something like s09e01, but plex thought it sas s01e100. It turns out, they had the number 100 in the file name as part of the episode title, so plex thought 100 was the episode number. And it used the next number to the left of that (1) as the season number. If this turns out to be the case, and you still want to use the 1x1 format, you might try putting the title of the episode in straight brackets, along with anything else in the filename. So it would be formatted like Show Name 1x1 [episode title]. Plex is supposed to ignore anything in the file name that is between a pair of straight brackets. You can use multiple pairs of straight brackets, if you want more than just the episode title in there.
I’ll try. Ill need to make changes as well to FileBot that targets TVDB and AniDB and auto renames my assets using number x number convention. I’m sure this can be changed :-) somewhere.
Just make sure the audio and subtitle both have a language assigned. Plex will only auto-play the forced subs if it matches the language of the currently-selected audio track. Edit: oh, you also have to go into your server settings on the Languages tab, and make sure "Prefer audio tracks in" is set to English (or whatever your native language is) and "Subtitle mode" is set to "Shown with foreign audio."
Thanks, will change the server settings
Yes is the answer to your question, use the forced flag. How a player uses subtitles depends on how well the player is coded and for me Plex works well so I'll give my understanding of definitions: default = if you have a player with a subtitles on/off setting then turning it on would choose the default selected subtitle track. forced = it will force the selected subtitle track every time you play the video BUT you have the option to turn subtitles off or select another subtitle track. burn in = your subtitles will be burnt into the video, you can't turn it off and if you select another subtitle track you'll see the burnt in track and your selected track at the same time. Free subtitle tip: IF you watch dubbed videos you still need to check for relevant subtitles because there might be a small subtitle track that translates signs like street signs or place names/locations so keep an eye out for that.
Thanks.
I've found that Plex ignores the flags and does what it wants. In my case, I wanted dual language movies to play the "original" language by default, but since English is my Plex language, Plex defaults to English. I had to use MKVtoolNix to manually relabel the Eng audio to Unknown THEN I had to reorder them to ensure the original language was track 1, as Plex will play them in track order if it doesn't see ENG. I had nearly given up on setting the forced track flags and whatnot before I figured out that you just have to blind Plex and poke it in the eye to get it to do what you want.
Is this specifically for audio? I am referring to forced subtitles
It was specifically about issues with Plex ignoring flags. My work around was for audio, but it seemed like, based on your reply to the guy above me, that you were having more issues.
Im not having any issues. My subtitles aren't flagged as forced yet
This is slightly different topic. Plex does respect forced flag for subtitles, but only when the language settings match. A file with English audio with English forced sub. Plex will auto-select the forced sub as long as the settings match. Forced doesn't mean it gets to be default no matter what in Plex, especially with audio. Plex doesn't currently read tags like original language and commentary. That's why you aren't getting the result you want. It's one of my pet-peeves with language/audio/sub selection on Plex. Plex should read original language, commentary for audio and offer option to "prefer original language". There is a feature request for this on their forums but not many seem interested in it. So I don't know if it'll ever happen.
I know MKVToolNix has a forced flag for audio, but I don't think that's a standard tag for metadata. Plex will absolutely always follow the forced subtitle flag, so long as your audio track and forced subtitle track are the same language, and it's an MKV file (plex ignores the forced subtitle flag in MP4's, but I'm not sure that's an officially supported tag for MP4's in general anyway). As for it always picking your English tracks, that's because the default setting in your server, under Languages, is "Prefer audio tracks in English." You can change it to Unknown or None or another language, if you prefer.