Day to day · Chapter 11

Managing series and anime.

A series is made of seasons and episodes, and each version of the series decides for itself which of them it monitors. nexcrate searches for a season pack where that fits and episode by episode otherwise. How a release counts can differ from TMDB, above all for anime. This chapter shows how to monitor episodes, how nexcrate tells packs from single episodes and what to do when a file fits no episode.

Adding a series

1. Search for the series

   In the “Library” click “Add” and choose “Search a series”. Type the title. nexcrate searches TMDB. That needs the TMDB token, see TMDB.

2. Choose the versions

   Tick the versions the series should have, for example Full HD and 4K. You can choose among the versions for series you have created, see Versions.

3. Say what each version monitors

   Under “Monitor:” for each version you can pick “All episodes”, “Future episodes only”, “Missing episodes only”, “From season …” and “None”. Below, nexcrate counts what that makes: “Monitored: 26 episodes, 26 of them aired.” Specials are not part of it, you switch those on one by one later.

4. Add it

   The series is in the library. If the automation for series is on, nexcrate searches the aired monitored episodes at once and new ones from the day after airing, see Automation.

If the series is already on disk, choose “Read series folders” instead. nexcrate reads the files, assigns them to the episodes and downloads none of them again.

Monitoring per version, season and episode

The page of a series shows the seasons with one column per version. Each column says how many episodes are there and how many are still to come. A click on an episode opens its file, its numbers and the switch “Monitored”.

• For a whole version you change the rule with “Change what it monitors”. The dialog shows beforehand how many episodes come in or drop out and how many switches set by hand it overwrites.
• For a season there is “Whole season:” at the top, with one switch per version.
• For an episode the switch in its dialog applies. That is how you skip an episode you never want.
• For many series at once choose “Select” in the library, mark the series and pick a rule, for example “Only future”. It applies to every version of the selected series and overwrites switches set by hand.
• Specials exist only one by one. They sit under the season “Specials”, and a special that TMDB does not know cannot be searched.

If TMDB adds episodes later, nexcrate does not monitor them by itself. They carry the tag “Added late”, and a notice with the button “Monitor” switches them on.

Series › Seasons

Season pack or single episode

On the page of the series you search the whole series, a season (“Search” in the season's row) or one episode (“Search this episode”). For each version it then says what it would take, for example “Season pack, fills 8 episodes” or “S01E03 on its own”. “Download all” hands the shown selection to the download client.

The automation follows the same rules. nexcrate takes a season pack if it fills gaps or improves at least half of its episodes. If it would bring little, equally good smaller releases do. The season then shows “Only available as a pack” with the size, and you download it yourself. A pack of a season that has not fully aired yet is refused with the reason “Season not fully aired yet”.

Numbering: TMDB, TVDB and the scene

Releases count some series differently from TMDB. Then seasons are shifted, or double episodes are listed as two numbers. The dialog “Numbering” on the page of the series decides how nexcrate searches and assigns.

• “Use the scene numbering” makes nexcrate use the scene numbers that TheXEM or Sonarr supply. Off, it reads and searches releases without them. TheXEM is on out of the box and sits under “Settings › Online services”. The dialog shows whether the series is “mapped” there or “not listed”.
• “Episode group” is for when releases count by DVD or another order. TMDB keeps groups for that. nexcrate never picks one by itself.
• “Search titles” are further names under which releases of the series appear. nexcrate asks for them first.
• “Correct the number” on an episode says what it is called in the release. You enter season and episode, for a double episode “To episode”, and can let the following episodes count on. The preview shows the result. The correction carries the tag “local correction”.

If TMDB lists a long double episode as one while the releases count two numbers, nexcrate notices from the running time and also searches for the shifted number. The episode name in the release says which count is right. A release without a name stays ambiguous there and is not downloaded by itself.

Anime and daily shows

Under “Kind of series” you find “Ordinary series: season and episode”, “Daily show: episodes by date” and “Anime: counted through as well”. TMDB suggests a kind for every series. nexcrate recognises anime by the TMDB keyword “anime” or by animation in Japanese, and daily shows by talk shows and news. In the library “Check types” lists the series whose kind differs from the suggestion. Only what you tick is taken.

Anime are often counted straight through (“episode 148” instead of S05E03). nexcrate then searches under both ways of counting, assigns releases with the scene numbers and files them with the number counted through. If a number is wrong, enter the “Number counted through” in the window “Correct the number”. The profile for anime can carry rules of its own after TRaSH's anime profile, see Profiles.

Files that fit no episode

What nexcrate cannot assign to an episode with certainty it leaves alone and does not guess. Such files are listed on the page of the series under “Not assigned”. Until you assign them, nexcrate fetches only new episodes for that version.

1. Look at the proposal

   Under each file you see the reason, for example “The name holds no episode number” or “The file counts differently from TMDB”, and where possible a proposal: “Probably S02E05”.

2. Assign

   “Assign like this” takes the proposal, “Another episode …” lets you choose, “No episode” leaves the file alone. “Take every proposal” does them all at once and warns beforehand how many proposals come from the file name alone.

3. Read again if needed

   “Read the folder again” reads new files in the series folder. Known ones stay as they are.

nexcrate offers the same help when a download arrives whose files it cannot assign with certainty. The card under “Downloads › Problems” leads to “Assign by hand”, see Downloads. If a file carries the name of an episode, that episode is preselected and marked “by episode name”. nexcrate has compared the names with those on TMDB, German and English. Common names such as “Pilot” decide nothing. Check the selection before you file anything.