Versions
A version is part of the title.
Anyone who collects films in Full HD and in 4K has so far run two Radarrs for it. In nexcrate a film has as many versions as you add, each with its own profile, its own folder and its own waiting time. This page explains what a version is, how search decides for each one on its own, and what nexcrate shows you while it does.
What a version is
One film, two editions, one page.
A version is one edition of the same title, such as Full HD and 4K. It belongs to the title, and it has settings of its own. Without a version no film can be added, because nexcrate has to know what to look for. A title needs at least one.
Charade.
- Profile
- HD Bluray + WEB
- Folder
/media/movies
- Profile
- UHD Bluray + WEB
- Folder
/media/movies-4k
Each version has five things that you set one by one. Out of the box the naming and the protocol have usable defaults, and the profile and the folder are yours to choose.
| What | Where you set it | Out of the box |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Settings › Versions | You choose it, such as “Full HD” or “4K”. Each name exists only once per kind of media. |
| Profile | On the version, “Set up profile” | None. Without a profile nexcrate judges nothing for this version. |
| Default folder | Settings › Folders and naming | None. Without it nexcrate searches and loads nothing for this version. |
| Naming | Settings › Folders and naming | A usable default, taken over from Radarr or Sonarr if you like. |
| Protocol and waiting time | On the version, “Protocol and waiting time” | Usenet wins a tie, and there is no waiting. |
Instead of a second instance
The same collection with one program fewer.
Radarr and Sonarr solve Full HD and 4K with a second instance, and that works. It only costs a second program that you run and look after. In nexcrate the same collection sits in one place.
Two instances
- Two libraries that know nothing of each other. Whether a film is already there in 4K, neither of them can tell.
- Indexers, download clients and profiles entered and kept up in each program on its own.
- Two queues, two calendars, two interfaces.
One version per edition
- One title, one page. All versions stand side by side with their state.
- Indexers and download clients once, profile and folder per version.
- One queue, one calendar, one interface. Your media server still sees the folders apart.
When you switch over, every Radarr or Sonarr connection becomes a version
Examples
Three ways to use versions.
Full HD and 4K
The version “Full HD” takes Bluray and WEB up to 1080p and lives in /media/movies. The version “4K” takes UHD with HDR and lives in /media/movies-4k. You switch 4K on only for the films you want in 4K.
German and original
One version asks for German audio, the second for the original language. In the assistant you choose per language whether it is “Required” or “Preferred”. Both versions can have the same resolution and live in separate folders.
Series in 1080p and 4K
The TRaSH Guides advise 1080p for series, and that is your main version. Only the series that exist in 4K get a second version in 4K. For each version you decide which episodes it monitors.
Adding one
How a version comes about.
- Add the version
Under “Settings › Versions” choose “Movies”, “Shows” or “Music” at the top, then “Add version” and give it a name. One version per kind of media is enough to begin with. You can add a second one, such as 4K, at any time.
- Set up a profile
On the version you find “Set up profile”. The assistant asks what you want and builds the profile from it. Further down you can see what that looks like.
- Choose a default folder
Under “Settings › Folders and naming” you choose a folder for each version. Only folders the container can see are on offer. If nexcrate refuses a folder, the reason stands above the buttons of the dialog.
- Add titles with versions
When you add a title you tick which versions it should have. Later “Change versions” on the title page changes the choice. Versions that come from a Radarr or Sonarr connection only go when you remove the title there or delete the connection.
Good to knowA version you no longer need can be removed again. That works once no title and no connection to Radarr uses it any more.
States
Each version tells you how it stands.
On every poster and every title page each version shows a state. In the library you can filter by it.
| State | What it means |
|---|---|
| Available | The file is in the folder of the version and meets the profile. |
| Wanted | The version has no file yet. With automatic search on, nexcrate looks for it, otherwise you search by hand. |
| Downloading | A download for this version is running. |
| Upgrade possible | There is a file, but by the profile it could be better. Whether nexcrate improves it depends on the profile and on automatic search. |
| Problem | A download has failed or waits for you. Under “Downloads › Problems” you find the reason. |
| Not monitored | You switched the version off with “Leave it alone”. nexcrate searches nothing for it any more. “Watch it again” brings it back. |
When a file is good enough
You decide that in the assistant with the question “When is a movie good enough?”. “As recommended” swaps the file as soon as a release with more points appears. “Happy early” stops as soon as a file in the target resolution fits. Every upgrade is a new download, which is why there are both.
For series and music
For series every season and every episode has its state per version. For music there is also “Tracks missing” for an album that lacks single tracks. If nexcrate searches nothing for a version, the version also says why, for example because the default folder is missing.
Profiles from questions
You say what you want, nexcrate builds the profile.
An assistant after the TRaSH Guides
The profile says which releases a version takes and which ones are better. The assistant asks for it in everyday words, and from the answers nexcrate builds the whole profile with qualities, custom formats, scores and sizes. The rules behind it come from the TRaSH Guides, already worked in.
- Simple or detailed: “Simple” asks about resolution, source, language and size, and the recommendation covers the rest. “Detailed” also asks about sound, picture, special cuts and streaming services.
- The questions: Which resolution you should end up with. Whether to take what is there first or wait until the target resolution exists. Which source: “Good encodes”, “Remux” or “Streaming only (WEB)”. Which audio tracks, each as “Required” or “Preferred”. Whether HDR is preferred. When a movie is good enough. How large a file may be at most, in GB per hour of runtime.
- The overview: Before you save, “Overview” shows what nexcrate takes, what is preferred and what is avoided, how large a file may be and when improving stops. If an answer needs a note, for example a size limit below the minimum size of the TRaSH Guides, it stands under “Please note”.
- Series, anime and music: Series have questions of their own (the TRaSH Guides advise 1080p for series), plus a question whether anime are judged by TRaSH’s anime profile. Music asks about quality, 24 bit and source.
- Sharing and keeping current: “Export” writes the answers to a file, “Import” reads such a file. If there is a newer state of the TRaSH Guides, the profile says “Outdated”, and saving takes it over.
By hand
Set every number yourself, if you like.
Expert mode
If you want to know exactly, choose “By hand” on the profile, as you know it from Radarr and Sonarr. The building blocks for this are under “Settings › Quality”. There are “Sizes” in MB per minute for every quality, with “At least”, “At most” and “Preferred”, and “Custom formats” from the guides or your own, with conditions such as release title, release group, source, resolution, language or size. Each format can be tested there against a release name. Out of the box the sizes carry the numbers of Radarr and Sonarr.
- Qualities: in your order, with a tick for whether one is taken. Equal ones stand together in a group.
- When it ends: “Good enough from”, “Minimum score”, “Upgrade until” and “Smallest step”, plus a switch for whether upgrading is allowed at all.
- Score per format: You give every custom format a score or zero, and then it does not count.
- Language: A release has to carry the chosen language. Further scores for languages come from the custom formats.
- Anime: A series version can hold rules of its own for anime, filled from TRaSH’s anime profile if you like.
Good to knowWhat you save by hand holds until you save in the assistant again. Then the assistant builds the profile anew, and your scores, groups and ticks are gone. nexcrate warns you about that in the assistant.
From Radarr and Sonarr
If you have already set it all up, read it in.
Taking over profiles, custom formats and sizes
Under “Settings › Import” each Radarr or Sonarr connection has “Fetch the quality and the profiles”. nexcrate reads the quality profiles, the custom formats and the sizes per quality, and shows a preview first. What you confirm is taken over. It only reads, nothing changes in the other app.
- Where they go: Profiles that came over stand under “Settings › Quality › Profiles”. Which profile a version uses you set on the version.
- Release profiles: There are none here. “Must not contain” and “must contain” become custom formats, which every profile that comes over scores minus 10000.
- Delay profiles: Here they are called “Protocol and waiting time” and live on the version. The profile without a tag can be read in there.
- What works differently: If a file is already there in a quality the profile does not allow, nexcrate leaves it alone, even if it is better than allowed. Radarr and Sonarr would replace it. Qualities nexcrate does not know are left out, and it tells you so.
How search decides
Every decision with a reason.
For every version nexcrate shows which release it would take and why, and for every other one, why not. Automatic search makes the same decision, and it can be read back.
Charade.1963.2160p.UHD.BluRay.x265.HDR-EXAMPLEBluray-2160pWould takeCharade.1963.2160p.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.HDR.H.265-EXAMPLEWEBDL-2160pFitsCharade.1963.1080p.BluRay.x264-EXAMPLEBluray-1080pQuality not allowedCharade.1963.2160p.WEB.H.265-EXAMPLEWEBDL-2160pToo smallWould take: It fits the profile and comes first in the order. This version has no file yet.
First, does it fit at all
A release fits a version if the profile allows it. Otherwise it gets a reason. If nothing fits, nexcrate names the most common reasons:
- Quality not allowed, too few points
- Too small, too large
- Required language missing, burned-in subtitles
- Too few seeders, protocol of the version switched off
- Older than your news servers keep it
- Title does not fit the movie, on the blocklist
Then the order
nexcrate orders the fitting ones the way Radarr and Sonarr do. The first step that tells two releases apart decides.
- Quality
The place in the profile, higher first.
- Score
The sum of the custom formats, more first.
- Protocol
The one the version prefers.
- Priority of the indexer
The lower number first.
- Seeders or age, then size
Seeders for torrents, age for Usenet. Last the size that comes nearest to the preferred one.
What it takes
“Would take” is the first release in that order that the version has to take: as its first file, or because it is better than the file there. If none is better, it says “Keeps the existing file”. If a fitting release lies below the target of the profile, it counts as “For now”. nexcrate replaces it as soon as a release in the target resolution comes.
When it waits
nexcrate never takes a blocked release on its own. If the version has a waiting time, automatic search waits to see whether a better one comes. What waits is listed under “Downloads › Waiting”. Whoever presses “Load” or “Search automatically now” gets the release at once.
To be honest
What versions cannot do.
Movies and series have as many versions as you add. Music has exactly one for now. An album as FLAC and as MP3 at the same time is not possible yet.
A version without a profile judges no release, and one without a default folder searches and loads nothing. nexcrate tells you both on the version.
Every upgrade loads a new file. If you do not want that, choose “Happy early”, hold back upgrades in automatic search, or set a version to “Leave it alone”.
It can only be removed once no title and no connection to Radarr uses it. A title needs at least one.