Friends Blu Ray Collection

[jeremybrice]

I took the work from a lot of the previous posters and created a python script to automate the renaming process. I created two files: one that contains a dictionary for the renaming, and one that is the python script itself. The script renames the episodes according to the Plex file naming syntax, but it could be easily adapted for other formats as well.

it looks like each disk episodes are 0071-0082 corresponding to to how many episodes are on the disk

I found that to be true, except for a few disks when I needed to grab 0083 as well. I think it was from the seasons that have 25 episodes instead of 24.

just in case someone still finds this thread - that's what I came up with:

S01E01-Friends_Season_1_Disc_1_t04.mkv 2.879.720.178
S01E02-Friends_Season_1_Disc_1_t03.mkv 2.878.105.524
S01E03-Friends_Season_1_Disc_1_t02.mkv 2.876.395.858
....

This was a huge help in creating my script!! Thanks! I had a few small differences from this, all from one disk (I believe it was in season 2 disc 2).

Anyways... here are the two files: dictionary.txt and rename.py. Just drop these two files in the same folder as all the episodes and it will rename them. If you see any errors/mistakes let me know and I will make sure to update!

Thank you so much. You and wurlz saved me a ton of time!

[kingfeanor]

I bought the blueray set recently and had a different ordering of the files. I've updated the dictionary.txt and I also updated the rename.py script to perform validation (to make sure the files you have are the same as the dictionary expects).

[yanksno1]

just in case someone still finds this thread - that's what I came up with:

I found this thread too! Thank you sir for your hard work, you saved me weeks of trying to figure out which episode was which (I usually match it up to playing on the disc on my iMac). Unfortunately I’m an idiot and couldn’t figure out how to get H0lyH4ndGr3nade’s script working on my Unraid server, so I went one by one and think I got them all. I’m still running them through Handbreak, but at least the hard part is over and it only took a 2.5 days to rip and name them.

[Stryker412]

I'm a python newbie here but I couldn't get it to work. I don't get any errors but after I enter the command to run (and it does) nothing is changed. I did match exactly the filenames I have in the dictionary.txt

Edit: Looks like the dictionary.txt might be for a different BD set. My Season 2 Disc 2 for instance, stops at t21 but the list shows:
S02e19|Friends Season 2 Disc 2_t24.mkv
S02e20|Friends Season 2 Disc 2_t23.mkv
S02e21|Friends Season 2 Disc 2_t22.mkv

[jhenry6]

I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to provide my update. I found that the "Complete Series Friends" bluray doesn't match the information I read here. I went through the first season and some of the Txx track numbers are not large enough to be correct.

What I did was to use the MPLS numbers in MakeMKV by looking at each track on the disk. They seem to be correct. I added the MPLS number to the file name for each one. Then they came out in the right sequence. I've only got Season one done so far, but to seems to be correct. I'm not sure how to set it up yet to automatically ass the MPLS number to the file name, but I'll look at that next. It seems to work for other series also.

[d00zah]

Common knowledge... always look to MPLS numbers, as title numbers are variable, dependent on what a user sets 'Minimum title length (seconds)' to on the Preferences > Video tab. However, even MPLS sequences can vary depending on retail/rental/regional versions of a release.

[philb1701]

From the "for what it's worth" department...

The Friends blu-ray collection is the SYNDICATED versions of the episodes. Which means they were reframed and upscaled for better quality. It also means they were edited for time to allow stations to run more commercials. Plus not all episodes are in current syndication rotation, so you might be missing some watching them on TBS or Nick at Night.
The Friends standard DVD collection is the ORIGINAL broadcast versions. No widescreen, a bit fuzzy at times.

However, that being said....
There are significant differences in a lot of episodes. The episode "The One with the Embryos", (season 4, episode 12) is a perfect example. The broadcast version runs 24 minutes, the syndicated version runs 23. The DVD versions are not reframed for widescreen and haven't been upscaled for better quality, but you get to see a lot of "framing errors" like mics in the shots, as well as original versions of specific scenes in them. If you are a Friends fan, you will notice what was taken out for syndication when you watch the original versions. I personally have both the DVD and the blu-rays.

If you include a few random commentary episodes, Friends takes up about 423Gigs of space on my server. Let this guide you as to what to choose.

[cwalkatron]

I MADE AN ACCOUNT just to say thanks to wurzl. Thanks so much!

[vseven]

Stumbled on this after buying my wife this set for Christmas. Didn't want to install Python so made a short PowerShell script to do the same thing. Do a search for PowerShell on your Win 10/11 machine then run the "Windows PowerShell ISE" as a administrator. Copy/paste the following in:

Code: Select all

$BaseDir = "C:\Friends"
$DictionaryFile = "C:\Friends\dictionary.txt"
CLS
$Renames = Import-CSV $DictionaryFile –Delimiter "|" -Header "SeasonNumber","OriginalFileName"
foreach($File in $Renames) {
    $OldName = $BaseDir + "\" + $File.OriginalFileName
    $NewName = "Friends - " + $File.SeasonNumber + ".mkv"
    Try {
        Rename-Item $OldName $NewName -ErrorAction 'Stop'
        Write-Host "Renamed $OldName to $NewName"
    } Catch {
        Write-Host "Either couldn't find or rename $OldName"
    }
}

I put all the files into C:\Friends and also put the dictionary file in there. If you use anything else change the first two lines. Then click the Play button. If you are like me and the tracks don't have a underscore just do a find/replace on the dictionary file for "_" and replace with " " then do another and find " t" and replace with "_t". I was going to add a part to look at the s?? and auto move the files to sub directories but this should be good enough.

I used this dictionary file from @paddyo as my season 2 disc 2 tracks were a little different. And it has the episode titles:

Just remove the _r1 before use. dictionary_r1.txt

FYI re Season 2 Disc 2: wurzl's was the correct listing for me, so those changes are also reflected in the file.

And the original list it's based on from @wurzl

just in case someone still finds this thread - that's what I came up with:

Thanks to both of them for doing the hard parts.

[vseven]

I'm a python newbie here but I couldn't get it to work. I don't get any errors but after I enter the command to run (and it does) nothing is changed. I did match exactly the filenames I have in the dictionary.txt

Edit: Looks like the dictionary.txt might be for a different BD set. My Season 2 Disc 2 for instance, stops at t21 but the list shows:
S02e19|Friends Season 2 Disc 2_t24.mkv
S02e20|Friends Season 2 Disc 2_t23.mkv
S02e21|Friends Season 2 Disc 2_t22.mkv

Same issue here. Some on the newer sets don't match up. Use the list from this post:

Just remove the _r1 before use. dictionary_r1.txt

FYI re Season 2 Disc 2: wurzl's was the correct listing for me, so those changes are also reflected in the file.

[Woodstock]

The "_tNN" is filled in by counting the file names based on the minimum size. Setting the minimum file size to, say, 1000 seconds will get you different "_tNN" numbers than 120 seconds for most disks.