MPLS #'s vs. Title #'s
DVD's use Title #'s and Chapter #'s to control direct access for playback. For example, Title # 12 might be Episode 3 on a DVD.
Blu-rays uses MPLS files, which are playlist files. Each MPLS file internally lists all video streams that are to be played back as part of that playlist.
It is the MPLS # (which is the name of the MPLS file) that controls direct access for playback. For example, MPLS # 00059, which is stored as 00059.mpls on the Blu-ray disc, might be Episode 3 on a Blu-ray.
Thus, for Blu-rays, you must have the MPLS # in order to have direct Blu-ray episode access.
Assigning MPLS #'s in My Movies Collection Management
You should think of MPLS #'s as equivalent to Title #'s: You don't assign MPLS #'s, but rather you assign Season #'s and Episode #'s to MPLS #'s.
The process of assigning Seasons and Episodes is identical to DVD's: Use the runtime and the green Play button to make sure that the Title/MPLS is the correct choice for the episode you are assigning.
My Movies automatically shows the MPLS #'s next to the Title #'s.
Unfortunately, sometimes these #'s are missing!
My Movies doesn't give you an easy way to edit or add the missing MPLS #'s. Neither does My Moves seem to fix itself if you change the disc ID directly.
Since having the MPLS #'s are required for Blu-ray Episode direct-access, we must fix these missing #'s. Follow these steps:
1) From the 'Assign Discs' panel, select the disc missing the MPLS #'s, and click the red X to delete it.
2) Either mount the disc's ISO with Virtual CloneDrive, or insert the disc into your drive.
3) Re-add the disc you just deleted.
a) Click the Add Disc button (lower left)
b) Set the Name to be a nice descriptive name for the disc (note: MM Browser sorts these alphabetically)
c) Set the Location Type to Online Folder (for Blu-ray Folders) or Online File (for Blu-ray ISO's)
d) Set the Location to the Folder or ISO File for this disc
e) Click the button to set the Disc ID
f) Select the drive from which to read the Disc ID (you inserted the disc or mounted the ISO, right?)
g) Select 'Yes' to the 'Is the disc you have inserted an original disc...' prompt:
4) Now click 'Edit Chapters or Episodes'. Note, you'll have to repeat steps 3f and 3g once or twice, but eventually the 'Edit disc episodes' panel will open and you should have MPLS #'s:
You can now assign the Season and Episode #'s same as you did for DVD's.
Once that is done, the rest of the process is identical to DVD's:
- Save Titles
- Allow My Movies to update Meta-Data files
- Run a Sync in MM Browser to generate e##.txt files
- Assign e##.txt files in My Movies to individual episodes
- Save Episodes and allow My Movies to create Episode Meta-Data files
- Run a Sync in MM Browser to import Episode Meta-Data