I am new to MCEBuddy, and am struggling to get converted movies to rename to “movie name (year)” I…e: My movie (2017)
I tried using the example given under Custom File Renaming Pattern (v2.1.6+), but I keep getting an error
So when I enter Recording%ismovie%-Converted in the text box. I get an error.
Also, why is the audio profile for basic MP4 files so poor. Why not default to at least 384 kbs AAC
%ismovie% is a conditional operator and not a standalone operator. It’s correct definition and use is (from the documentation)
%ismovie%<RenamePatternIfTrue,RenamePatternIfFalse> - If recording is a movie rename using True pattern, else rename using False pattern
E.g.:
Recording\%ismovie%<Movies\%showname%,TVShows\%showname%\Season %season%\%showname% - S%season%##E%episode%##>-Converted
Will produce:
Recording\Movies\Star Wars-Converted.<ext>(for a movie)OR
Recording\TVShows\CSI\Season 1\CSI - S01E02-Converted.<ext>(for non movies)
See the documentation page for details:
As for the audio profile, most people cannot tell the difference beyond 128kbps but you can always customize it to your needs.
Hi folks,
But this doesn’t really answer the question…it gets in the correct direction…
I actually have the EXACT same problem.
How do we enter the “year” for a MOVIE in the Renaming Scheme? To import into Plex, it likes for it to be "moviename (year) format.
In the renaming guide, I see %premiereyear%, %airyear%, %recordyear%, and other TV Series-related options. What is the %parameter% for a movie’s year?
I’ve got the other arguments all figured out (%ifmovie%, etc).
Thanks!
Eric
%premiereyear%
That did it, thanks for the help
Fantastic!!
Thanks RBoy!!
I am having trouble naming movies. Ver 2.4.11
I have tried %premieryear% and %year% and %airyear%
“%showname% - %premiereyear%” and %showname% - %year%
The test file was "Hollywood Homicide (2003).mkv The result in both cases is "Hollywood Homicide - .mkv
I also have Media Information manager checked, with Movies, and IMDB. I would have expected the .nfo would have been more complete.
The .nfo reads After MCE processing-
Log File -
WARNING> 2019-08-25T22:26:09 MCEBuddy.MetaData.VideoMetaData --> Unable to extract meta data from file \\10.17.17.170\2ut\DVRMovie\Hollywood Homicide (2003)\Hollywood Homicide (2003).ts. \\10.17.17.170\2ut\DVRMovie\Hollywood Homicide (2003)\Hollywood Homicide (2003).ts (taglib/ts)
WARNING> --> Error retrieving IMDB AKA details
Error -> System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
at MCEBuddy.MetaData.IMDB.downloadIMDBAkas(String imdbId, Log jobLog)
WARNING> --> Error retrieving IMDB AKA details
Error -> System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
at MCEBuddy.MetaData.IMDB.downloadIMDBAkas(String imdbId, Log jobLog)
WARNING> --> Error retrieving IMDB AKA details
Error -> System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
at MCEBuddy.MetaData.IMDB.downloadIMDBAkas(String imdbId, Log jobLog)
WARNING> --> Unable to get match from IMDB
WARNING> 2019-08-25T22:26:15 MCEBuddy.MetaData.VideoMetaData --> IMDB failed
WARNING> --> Cannot find PremiereYear
WARNING> --> Cannot find PremiereYear
WARNING> 2019-08-25T22:26:15 MCEBuddy.Engine.ConversionJob --> SKIPPING FREE SPACE CHECK
WARNING> 2019-08-25T22:26:22 MCEBuddy.Engine.ConversionJob --> DANGER: Skip copying original files (skip original backup) is enabled. This could lead to conversion failures or unpredictable outcomes. Please DISABLE this option unless absolutely necessary.
WARNING> --> Cannot find PremiereYear
WARNING> --> Cannot find PremiereYear
WARNING> 2019-08-25T22:28:46 MCEBuddy.AppWrapper.Handbrake --> Handbrake failed, non 0 return code
WARNING> --> Cannot find PremiereYear
WARNING> --> Cannot find PremiereYear
WARNING> --> Cannot find PremiereYear
Hollywood Homicide -.nfo.txt (563 Bytes)
Set your log to debug and attach your conversion log (it’s currently set to warn). Don’t copy paste it as it’s difficult to read.
mcebuddy.zip (299.6 KB)
The thing just converted
Thank You
same situation described aboveThe Thing ().nfo.txt (6.0 KB) The.Thing.1982.1080p.DTS.HDDVD.x264-hV.mkv-Movies-2019-08-26T22-09-22.0181093-04-00.log (2.1 MB)
So it looks like it extracted the metadata correctly:
2019-08-26T22:09:31 MCEBuddy.MetaData.VideoMetaData → Updated Video Tags extracted after downloading details →
Title: The Thing
SubTitle:
Description: Man is The Warmest Place to Hide.
Network: Universal Pictures
Network Affiliate:
Parental Rating: R
Media Credits: Kurt Russell;Wilford Brimley;T.K. Carter;David Clennon;Keith David;Richard Dysart;Charles Hallahan;Peter Maloney;Richard Masur;Donald Moffat;Joel Polis;Thomas G. Waites;Norbert Weisser;Larry J. Franco;Nate Irwin;William Zeman;Adrienne Barbeau;John Carpenter
Genres: Horror,Mystery,Science Fiction
Season: 0
Episode: 0
Banner: D:\Program Files\MCEBuddy2x\cache\The Thing.jpg
Banner URL: http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/tzGY49kseSE9QAKk47uuDGwnSCu.jpg
IMDB Id: tt0084787
MovieDB Id: 1091
TVDB Id:
Is Show Movie: True
Is Show Sports: False
OriginalBroadcastDateTime: 1982-06-25T00:00:00
RecordedDateTime: 1900-01-01T00:00:00
SeriesPremiereDate: 1900-01-01T00:00:00
CopyProtected: False
SageTV FileID:
SageTV MediaFileID:
Premiere only applies to Series (the year the series first started), for movies and episodes it’s Original Broadcast Date and Time.
Also I see:
INFORMATION> 2019-08-26T22:09:31 MCEBuddy.Engine.ConversionJob → Running custom commands
→ Custom Renaming Command → %showname% (%premieryear%)
WARNING> → Invalid file naming format detected, skipping : premieryear
→ Custom Renaming Command → %showname% (%premieryear%)
WARNING> → Invalid file naming format detected, skipping : premieryear
There’s no such command as premieryear, I think what you’re looking for is premiereyear, which anyways won’t work here since this is a movie.
What you’re looking for is airyear
- %airyear% - Year of air date
More details here under Custom Commands: MCEBuddy - Advanced Settings, Commands and Tweaking
I’m having the same issue trying to maintain the Plex folder and file name naming rules - movie name (release year). The movies that I’m trying to process with MCEBuddy are movies recorded via a TV cable station, HDNet, with the Plex DVR.
I tried %airyear% but that didn’t work. I’m also tried %premiereyear% as well to see if that would work, even though the post above mentions that it won’t work, but that also didn’t work.
Has anyone gotten something to work? Thanks.
I’m having this issue as well. Using v2.7.1 in 2026. I think there is some logic that is only making those parameters available for a series, and not for the movie type.
This is for an OTA recording transferred from a Tivo using KMTTG. The premiere year was in the title on the Tivo, but not after metadata replacement and naming (that includes the %premeireyear% and %airyear% tags and neither work - for movies). The converted file is places in the proper movies directory I have setup for the movie type of media.
Conversion log please. Start by seeing what metadata is embedded in your file. That determines if it’s a movie or series.
Uploaded as instructed. FYI - you might want to update the upload instructions.
To upload without any special client (all the browsers have disabled FTP support), in File Explorer, you add ftp://upload.mcebuddy2x.com as a new “Network Location”. Uncheck the “login anonymously” option. You have to use the right-mouse button to get the option to add a directory for your user profile name.
Here’s what’s in the log:
Show Type Selection → Movie
NFORMATION> 2026-03-22T18:18:48 MCEBuddy.Engine.ConversionJob --> Getting show information and banner from Internet sources
INFORMATION> 2026-03-22T18:18:48 MCEBuddy.MetaData.FileExtractMetadata --> Extracting pyTivo Tags
INFORMATION> 2026-03-22T18:18:48 MCEBuddy.MetaData.VideoMetaData --> Downloading Series details
INFORMATION> 2026-03-22T18:18:48 MCEBuddy.MetaData.VideoMetaData --> Recording Type Movie
INFORMATION> 2026-03-22T18:18:48 MCEBuddy.MetaData.VideoMetaData --> Checking TheMovieDB
INFORMATION> 2026-03-22T18:18:48 MCEBuddy.Engine.ConversionJob --> Checking for destination file skip reprocessing
WARNING> --> Cannot find PremiereYear
This is where I think MCEBuddy didn’t catch the missing PremiereYear…
INFORMATION> 2026-03-22T18:18:48 MCEBuddy.MetaData.VideoMetaData --> Not checking IMDB Movie since metadata is complete and overwrite from IMDB is not required
The metadata isn’t complete. And I’m pretty sure that the PremiereYear is available in TheMovieDB or IMDB or the other metadata sources.