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Turn Your Plex Setup Into a Real Movie Theater Experience with NeXroll

Turn Your Plex Setup Into a Real Movie Theater Experience with NeXroll

Turn Your Plex Setup Into a Real Movie Theater Experience with NeXroll

Remember the last time you went to a movie theater? The lights dim, the trailers start rolling, and anticipation builds before the feature presentation begins. There is something magical about that experience that streaming at home just cannot replicate. Or can it?

Meet NeXroll, a free tool that brings the complete cinema experience to your Plex home theater. Trailers for upcoming movies, seasonal intros, “Feature Presentation” bumpers - all automated and customized to your preferences.

In this guide, I will walk you through setting up NeXroll from scratch and show you how to unlock its most powerful features.

What is NeXroll?

NeXroll is a preroll management system designed specifically for Plex. If you are unfamiliar with prerolls, they are the videos that play before your movie starts - think of them as your personal “pre-show.”

With NeXroll, you can:

  • Automatically rotate through custom intro videos
  • Play trailers for movies coming soon to your server (pulled from Radarr)
  • Schedule seasonal content for holidays
  • Generate professional-looking “Coming Soon” and “Feature Presentation” videos
  • Mix and match content with customizable sequences

The best part? Once configured, it runs entirely on autopilot.

Getting Started: Installation

NeXroll runs on Windows or Docker. Choose whichever fits your setup best.

Download NeXroll from GitHub →

Windows Installation

Download the latest installer from the NeXroll releases page. The installation process is straightforward:

  1. Run the installer as administrator
  2. Choose your installation directory
  3. Select a folder for preroll storage (this is where your intro videos will live)
  4. Optionally install FFmpeg (needed for generating dynamic prerolls)
  5. Complete the setup wizard

Once installed, open your browser and navigate to http://localhost:9393 to access the NeXroll interface.

Docker Installation

For those running Docker, here is a simple compose file to get started:

version: '3.8'
services:
  nexroll:
    image: jflxcloud/nexroll:latest
    container_name: nexroll
    ports:
      - "9393:9393"
    volumes:
      - ./nexroll_data:/app/data
      - /path/to/your/prerolls:/prerolls
    environment:
      - TZ=America/New_York
    restart: unless-stopped

Replace /path/to/your/prerolls with your actual preroll storage location. This path needs to be accessible by both NeXroll and your Plex server.

Run docker-compose up -d and you are ready to go.

Connecting to Plex

Before NeXroll can manage your prerolls, it needs to connect to your Plex server. Head to Settings and you will find the Plex configuration section.

The easiest method is using the built-in token helper. Click “Get Plex Token,” enter your Plex credentials, and select your server from the list. NeXroll handles the rest.

If you prefer manual configuration, you will need your Plex server URL (something like http://192.168.1.100:32400) and your Plex token. You can find your token by opening any media item in Plex, clicking “Get Info,” then “View XML” - look for X-Plex-Token in the URL.

Setting Up Your First Prerolls

With Plex connected, it is time to add some content. Start by configuring your preroll storage path in Settings. This tells NeXroll where to look for your intro videos.

NeXroll automatically scans this directory for video files. Any MP4, MKV, or other Plex-compatible video format will work, though MP4 with H.264 encoding offers the best compatibility.

Organizing with Categories

As your preroll collection grows, categories become essential. Create categories like “Trailers,” “Holiday,” “General,” or whatever makes sense for your library. This organization pays off when building sequences.

Building Sequences: The Heart of NeXroll

Sequences define what plays before your movies and in what order. Think of them as playlists with smart logic built in.

A typical sequence might look like this:

  1. A branded theater intro (your custom logo or welcome video)
  2. Two random trailers from your “Coming Soon” category
  3. A “Feature Presentation” bumper

Each item in a sequence is called a “block.” Blocks can be:

  • Specific: Always plays the same video
  • Random from Category: Picks randomly from a category you specify
  • Weighted Random: Random selection where some videos play more often than others
  • NeX-Up Trailer: Automatically pulls trailers from your Radarr queue

The magic happens when you combine these. Your sequence could play a consistent intro, followed by randomized trailers that change every viewing, topped off with a classic theater bumper.

Scheduling: Seasonal Content Made Easy

Here is where NeXroll really shines. The scheduling system lets you automatically swap prerolls based on dates, days of the week, or times of day.

Holiday Automation

Want Christmas-themed intros during December? Halloween content in October? Create schedules tied to date ranges:

  • Christmas Season: December 1-25, use the “Holiday - Christmas” sequence
  • Halloween Week: October 24-31, use the “Spooky” sequence
  • Summer Blockbusters: June 1 - August 31, use the “Action Trailers” sequence

NeXroll includes a holiday browser with pre-configured dates for major holidays across different countries. Select the holidays you celebrate, and NeXroll creates the schedules automatically.

Time-Based Scheduling

Running a family movie night? Create a schedule that activates family-friendly content on weekend evenings. Late-night viewing can switch to a different selection entirely.

NeX-Up: Your Personal “Coming Attractions”

This feature alone makes NeXroll worth installing. NeX-Up connects to Radarr (and optionally Sonarr) to automatically download trailers for movies coming to your server.

Think about it: you add a movie to Radarr that releases in two months. NeX-Up automatically finds and downloads the trailer. Now, every time you watch something on Plex, you might see a trailer for that upcoming film - just like at the theater, except these are movies actually coming to your library.

Setting Up NeX-Up

Navigate to the NeX-Up tab and connect your Radarr instance:

  1. Enter your Radarr URL (usually http://localhost:7878)
  2. Paste your Radarr API key (found in Radarr under Settings, General, Security)
  3. Click Connect

Repeat for Sonarr if you want TV show trailers as well.

YouTube Authentication

Trailers come from YouTube, which means you need to authenticate to avoid download restrictions. NeXroll makes this painless:

  1. Sign into YouTube in your web browser
  2. Close the browser completely
  3. In NeXroll, click “Setup YouTube” and choose “Extract Browser Cookies”

That is it. NeXroll will use these credentials to download trailers without hitting rate limits.

Managing Your Trailer Library

Configure how many trailers to keep and how much storage to allocate. I recommend starting with 10-20 trailers and 5-10 GB of storage. NeXroll automatically removes old trailers as new ones come in, keeping your collection fresh and relevant.

The “Days Ahead” setting controls how far into the future NeXroll looks. Set it to 90 days to get trailers for movies releasing in the next three months.

Dynamic Preroll Generator

Do you not have a “Feature Presentation” video? No problem. NeXroll can generate professional-looking bumpers using FFmpeg.

Choose from several templates:

  • Coming Soon - Cinematic: Epic blue and purple with particle effects
  • Coming Soon - Neon Glow: Vibrant pink and cyan with pulsing neon
  • Coming Soon - Elegant Minimal: Clean white fade with subtle motion
  • Feature Presentation - Classic: Traditional gold theater styling
  • Feature Presentation - Modern: Sleek gradient sweep
  • Now Showing - Retro: Vintage sepia with film grain

Select a template, optionally add your server name for personalization, and click Generate. The resulting video lands directly in your preroll storage, ready to use.

Docker-Specific: Path Mappings

If you are running NeXroll in Docker, you might encounter a common issue: NeXroll and Plex see files at different paths.

For example:

  • NeXroll sees /prerolls/intro.mp4
  • Plex sees /media/prerolls/intro.mp4

The path mapping feature solves this. In Settings, add a mapping from the NeXroll path to the Plex path. NeXroll will translate paths automatically when communicating with Plex.

Tips for the Best Experience

After setting up dozens of Plex servers with NeXroll, here are my recommendations:

Start Simple: Begin with a basic sequence - one intro, one random trailer, one bumper. Get comfortable before adding complexity.

Curate Your Trailers: Not every trailer is worth showing. Use categories to separate “must-show” trailers from the general rotation.

Match Your Content: Action movie trailers before an action film feel natural. Consider creating genre-specific sequences if you want that extra polish.

Keep Prerolls Short: The ideal preroll sequence runs 2-3 minutes total. Longer than that and anticipation turns to impatience.

Test Your Setup: Watch a movie after configuring NeXroll. Make sure everything plays correctly and the experience feels right.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Prerolls not playing in Plex: Verify your preroll path in Plex settings (Settings, Server, Extras). The path must match what NeXroll configures.

Trailer downloads failing: Re-run YouTube authentication. Browser cookies expire, so you may need to refresh them periodically.

Docker container issues: Check your volume mappings and ensure the container has permission to write to the data directory.

Plex connection problems: Verify your Plex server is running and accessible. Test the URL directly in your browser before troubleshooting NeXroll.

Wrapping Up

NeXroll transforms Plex from a streaming service into a genuine home theater experience. The trailers build anticipation, the bumpers set the mood, and the automation means you never have to think about it.

Whether you want a simple “Feature Presentation” intro or a full cinema experience with seasonal content and upcoming movie trailers, NeXroll makes it possible - and surprisingly easy to set up.

Download NeXroll, spend 15 minutes on initial configuration, and your next movie night will feel like a trip to the theater. Popcorn not included.

NeXroll is free and open source. Find it on GitHub or join the Discord community for support and to share your custom preroll sequences.