stevezau/plex_generate_vid_previews

Table of Contents

• Known issues
• Features
• Requirements
• Environment variables
• Guide for Docker
• Guide for running locally
• Guide for Unraid
• FAQ, Support and Questions

Plex Preview Thumbnail Generator Overview

This script is designed to speed up the process of generating preview thumbnails for your Plex media library. It utilizes multi-threaded processes and leverages NVIDIA/AMD GPUs and CPUs for maximum throughput.

It supports

• Accelerating preview thumbnail generation using GPU and multi-threaded CPU processing
• Remote generation of previews for your Plex server
• Customizable settings for thumbnail quality, frame interval, and more
• Easy setup with Docker and Docker Compose

Known issues

• AMD GPU Support was recently added, this is untested as i don't have an AMD GPU. Please log an issue if you find problems

Requirements

• NVIDIA GPU + NVIDIA Container Toolkit (if using Docker)
• AMC GPU + amdgpu (if using Docker)
• Plex Media Server

Environment variables

You can customize various settings by modifying the environment variables. If you are running locally you can create a .env file

Variables	Function
PLEX_URL	Plex server URL. (eg: http://localhost:32400)
PLEX_TOKEN	Plex Token. (click here for how to get a token)
PLEX_BIF_FRAME_INTERVAL	Interval between preview images (default: 5, plex default: 2)
PLEX_LOCAL_MEDIA_PATH	Path to Plex Media folder (eg: /path_to/plex/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Media)
THUMBNAIL_QUALITY	Preview image quality (2-6, default: 4, plex default: 3). 2 being the highest quality and largest file size and 6 being the lowest quality and smallest file size.
TMP_FOLDER	Temp folder for image generation. (default: /dev/shm/plex_generate_previews)
PLEX_TIMEOUT	Timeout for Plex API requests in seconds (default: 60). If you have a large library, you might need to increase the timeout.
GPU_THREADS	Number of GPU threads for preview generation (default: 4)
CPU_THREADS	Number of CPU threads for preview generation (default: 4)
PLEX_LOCAL_VIDEOS_PATH_MAPPING	Leave blank unless you need to map your local media files to a remote path (eg: '/path/this/script/sees/to/video/library')
PLEX_VIDEOS_PATH_MAPPING	Leave blank unless you need to map your local media files to a remote path (eg: '/path/plex/sees/to/video/library')
LOG_LEVEL	Set to debug for troubleshooting

Guide for Docker

Important

Note the extra "z" in the Docker Hub url stevezzau/plex_generate_vid_previews. stevezau was already taken on dockerhub.

GPU Support

NVIDIA - Install NVIDIA Container Toolkit

To enable GPU access inside the Docker container, you need to install the NVIDIA Container Toolkit on your host system. Follow the installation instructions for your distribution from the official NVIDIA documentation: NVIDIA Container Toolkit Installation Guide

AMD - Install AMDGPU support

In order to access GPUs in a container explicit access to the GPUs must be granted.

Please follow the steps outlined here https://rocm.docs.amd.com/en/docs-5.0.2/deploy/docker.html

docker-compose (click here for more info)

---
version: '3'
services:
  previews:
    image: stevezzau/plex_generate_vid_previews:latest
    environment:
      - PLEX_URL=https://xxxxxx.plex.direct:32400 
      - PLEX_TOKEN=your-plex-token 
      - PLEX_BIF_FRAME_INTERVAL=5
      - THUMBNAIL_QUALITY=4
      - PLEX_LOCAL_MEDIA_PATH=/path/to/plex/media
      - TMP_FOLDER=/tmp/previews
      - PLEX_TIMEOUT=60
      - GPU_THREADS=5  
      - CPU_THREADS=5
    volumes:
      - /path/to/plex/media:/path/to/plex/media
      - /path/to/plex/videos:/videos
    deploy:
      resources:
        reservations:
          devices:
            - capabilities: [gpu]
    runtime: nvidia

docker cli (click here for more info)

Important

Note: If you are using AMD GPU, you'll need to modify the docker run command and remove NVIDIA add in AMD as per the instructions here

docker run -it --rm \
  --name=plex_generate_vid_previews \
  --runtime=nvidia \
  -e NVIDIA_VISIBLE_DEVICES=all \
  -e PUID=1000 \
  -e PGID=1000 \
  -e PLEX_URL='http://localhost:32400' \
  -e PLEX_TOKEN='XXXXXX' \
  -e PLEX_BIF_FRAME_INTERVAL=2 \
  -e THUMBNAIL_QUALITY=4 \
  -e PLEX_LOCAL_MEDIA_PATH='/config/plex/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Media' \
  -e GPU_THREADS=5 \
  -e CPU_THREADS=5 \
  -v /your/media/files:/your/media/files \
  -v /plex/folder:/plex/folder \
  stevezzau/plex_generate_vid_previews:latest

Guide for running locally

1. Install Dependencies

Make sure you have the following dependencies installed and available in your system's PATH:

• FFmpeg: Download FFmpeg
• MediaInfo: Download MediaInfo

2. Clone the Repository

Clone this repository to your local machine:

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/plex-preview-thumbnail-generator.git
cd plex-preview-thumbnail-generator
pip3 install -r requirements.txt

3. Configure Environment Variables

Copy the .env.example file to .env:

cp .env.example .env

Open the .env file in a text editor and set the environment variables:

4. Run

Run the script

python3 plex_preview_thumbnail_generator.py

Guide for Unraid

Note: In this example, the server is named server for the network share on Windows, and the SMB share has user-accessible permissions to your media folder. This guide follows the TRaSH Guide for folder naming structures & was done using the linuxserver plex docker image.

Steps

1. Add a Second Container Path:

   • In your Plex Docker container settings, add a second container path for /server/media/plex/.
   • Map the host path as you normally would (e.g., /mnt/user/media/plex/).

2. Update Plex Library Path Mappings:

   • Open Plex and delete all of your current library path mappings.
   • Replace them with paths following this format (you must add a second / yourself, as Plex will only show the mount with one):
     //server/media/plex/<name-of-media-folder>.
     • Example: //server/media/plex/tv

3. Modify the Script's Environment File:

   • The script’s .env file only needs one specific adjustment for Unraid:
     • Set PLEX_LOCAL_MEDIA_PATH as follows:

       PLEX_LOCAL_MEDIA_PATH=\\SERVER\appdata\plex\Library\Application Support\Plex Media Server\Media
       

4. Grant Script Permissions to the Media Folder:

   • In order for the script to write to the Media folder in the Plex appdata directory, you may need to adjust the permissions.
   • I used the following command in the Unraid console:

     chmod -R 777 /mnt/cache/appdata/plex/Library/Application\ Support/Plex\ Media\ Server/Media/

5. Run the Script:

   • After running the script, your GPU should begin working.
   • Note: The script may appear to be frozen on 0 files, but you can still see thumbnails being created in the temporary folder you specified, and it should eventually start to update in your terminal.

FAQ, Support and Questions

If you have any questions or need support, please create a GitHub issue in this repository

Feel free to contribute to this project by submitting pull requests or reporting issues.

Skipping as file not found?

If you are getting this error it could be:

1. If you're using docker, you haven't mapped the folder into docker correctly. Please check before opening an issue.
2. If you are running on Windows and using a mapped drive, this can cause issues with python, please use UNC \\your\media\path instead (see #52)