Hot Plex Tips

Skip the Stacking and Start Merging Your Multi-File Movies

Maddox — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 22:57:39 +0000

Plex has a great feature called “Stacking”. By naming your multi file content, Plex will play it back as one complete file.

For example, you may have the movie Spider-Man broken in half and in two AVI files. By naming them spider-man.cd1.avi and spider-man.cd2.avi, and turning on stacking in Plex, you’ll be good to go.

But… stacking is a pain in the butt, annoying, and in the end, your video library is ghetto because you have ONE movie broken into TWO files. And you don’t have to.

So I’m going to show you a couple of ways to take your two part AVI and merge them into a single movie file.

Method 1

First, go download ffmpegX and install it. Now open it up and select the TOOLS tab, then the join tab below it.

You’ll be prompted for your two files. Add your movie parts and select join. After a few minutes your two part movie will now be a single file and ready to join the rest of your movie library as a first class citizen.

Method 2

Method two uses the command line and while it looks more complicated its actually a lot easier since it doesn’t need third party software.

Open up the terminal and navigate to the directory containing your two video files. Next, use the simple cat command following the conventions below:

After a few minutes it will complete and you’ll have your single video file!

Merging your movie files together into a single video file keeps your library simple and easy to maintain. If you have another favorite way to merge your files or a way to do it on platforms other than OS X, please tell us in the comments.

Adjust Quality Settings for Apple Movie Trailers

Maddox — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 07:31:38 +0000

The Apple Movie Trailers plugin defaults to 720p. Is your bandwidth lacking the oomph to keep up with them? Or do you want to go all out with 1080p trailers? Well you’re in luck, because you can adjust this option!

While making sure the Plex Media Server is running, open Safari on the computer that Plex is installed on, and visit this url:

http://localhost:32400/video/amt/:/prefs/set/VideoQuality/480p

Swap out “480p” with one of the following options: small, medium, large, 480p, 720p, and 1080p. These are the normal quality options you’re familiar with on Apple’s Trailer site.

POWER NOTE: When a trailer is only available in a resolution lower than your preference, the quality will fall back to that quality. But if a trailer is only available in a quality that is higher than your preference, it will not play.

Enable 480p Videos in Hulu

Maddox — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 06:47:56 +0000

Ok, so you’ve updated Plex, you’ve downloaded the Hulu plugin, and your life is great right? Well I’m about to make it even better.

Close Plex and open Safari. Go to http://www.hulu.com and log in or register for a new account. Once you’re logged in, go to your profile and choose Privacy and Settings.

Now scroll down and look on the left hand side for Video Settings. Select YES, that you want to automatically receive the 480p streams.

Voila! Now when your Hulu streams in Plex will have an instant quality upgrade!

Welcome!

Maddox — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 05:27:04 +0000

Hi guys. Maddox here. Welcome to the new blog. The plan here is simple, I’ll be posting awesome power user tips that help you get the most out of Plex. Plex has a lot of nooks and crannies that are very easily missed. I’ll help you find them.

Some of these hints will be simple and some might be complicated. The hints may involve Plex itself or they may involve your actual media. The bottom line is, if you want to get the most out of your Plex and really tweak it out, subscribe to the blog. And if you have anything to add to any of the hints, PLEASE leave comments so we can all learn more! I know a lot of you guys have been using Plex and media centers for a long time, so you surely have some cool tips as well.

Thanks!