Getting Started

Once you have installed MCEBuddy, start the configuration tool from Start-All Programs-Tyrell-MCEBuddy-MCEBuddy Taskbar Monitor

The monitor should appear in your taskbar:

MCEBuddy runs as a system service, so this monitor does not need to be running in order for conversions to take place.  It simply lets you configure MCEBuddy and monitor its progress.

Double-clicking on the icon brings up the configuration window.  Initially the conversion service is not started (it will start automatically each time the system starts).  First thing you should do is configure MCEbuddy to perform the conversions you want the way you want them to occur.  Then you start the service.  Stopping the service allows you to change MCEBudddy's behaviour and also cancels any conversion currently in progress.

Default Behaviour

MCEBuddy works without configuration, however you can configure its behaviour.  There are two configuration modes, Basic and Advanced.

MCEBuddy Basic Configuration Panel with Default Options

By default MCBuddy:

• Converts the recording to WMV
• Uses the standard Media Center recorded television paths and video library paths
• Will not remove ads
• Will not delete the original recording once it has been converted
• Will categorise the destination by directory

Configuration Options

With advanced mode, all MCBuddy configuration options are available.

MCEBuddy Advanced Configuration Panel

MCEBuddy can perform two different conversions of Media Center recordings .  For example one conversion may be to H.264 for high quality playback on the local Media Center PC and one could be for playback on an iPod video player.  The most common formats and media players are provided for. 

• The first Convert To list box determines what format the first conversion will be to. 
• With Delete Original checked, the original recording will be deleted once a successful conversion has been performed
• Commercial Skipping turns on the commercial removal feature.
• Sort by Series sorts the converted recordings into different folders in the destination video folder based upon the series name (extracted from the file name in 1.0.6)

Advanced options control how and when a conversion will take place.

• Convert Between allows control of when the conversion occurs.  MCEBuddy will start conversions between the times specified if this option is chosen.  Once a conversion has started it will continue until completed or cancelled.  If your system has a low specification or you are performing H.264 conversions it is strongly recommended you schedule your conversions for when you are not using your Media Center PC.
  
• The Video Age defines how old a recording needs to be (in days) before it is converted.
• The file mask specified in File Selection allows for files with extensions other than the default .dvr-ms to be converted. 

The default video paths for picking up the recording and where the converted file is placed can be overridden.

• Source specifies where MCEBuddy should pick up video recordings from.
• Destination specifies where the converted files for the first conversion are placed

Second conversion allows a second conversion to be made of the original recording.

• The first Convert To list box determines what format the second conversion will be to. 
• Destination specifies where the converted files for the second conversion are placed

Conversion Format Options

MCEBuddy supports three video formats: WMV, DivX and H.264.

• WMV provides the best Microsoft compatibility and is useful if you don't want to install a codec pack or want playback on an XBox 360.  It's the best Microsoft-centric option and works with Media Center and MCEBuddy out of the box.  MCEbuddy converts to the WMV2 format and not WMV9.  You can fast forward, rewind and skip using this format under Media Center.
  
• DivX is the most universal format provided as so many devices support it ranging from most PCs with DivX installed, a lot of home theatre equipment and most portable video player devices.  The files produced are small and the quality fairly good.  It's the best overall, general purpose encode, especially if you want to share your recording with others.  If you don't mind almost doubling the conversion time, then the 2 pass conversion ("Slow Conversion" option) is the way to go as the quality is better.  You can skip forward and back but not fast forward with this format under Media Center using ffdshow.
  
• H.264.  The quality of conversion with H.264 under MCEBuddy is excellent.  Almost no visible difference from the source recording.  If you are intending to play back only on the Media Center PC, another PC or an Apple device this is definitely the way to go.  The catch is this is a relatively new codec and as such has not matured as much as the others.  This means playback under other codec packs and on other devices can be a little hit and miss.  You can skip forward and back but not fast forward with this format under Media Center using ffdshow.  This is my favourite encode, I love it.

Conversion speed and CPU usage:

• WMV uses a moderate amount of CPU, takes the shortest time to convert and scales adequately to 2 CPUs/cores but tapers off after that.
  
• DivX uses a moderate amount of CPU, takes the longest time to convert and scales adequately to 2 CPUs/cores but tapers off after that.
• H.264 uses a heavy amount of CPU, takes an average time to convert and scales well to the number of CPUs/cores available

The following table provides an indication of expected conversion times.

• Figures are on conversion time minutes relative to original recording time.  eg. a 30 minute recording converted to H.264 on a dual core system should take around 45 minutes to convert.
• System testing utilised a quad core Opteron server, which performs particularly well in the number crunching role, desktop processors may not perform as well.
• The test recording was at standard television dimensions (720 wide).  For conversions to (not from) 720HDTV resolution multiply conversion times by 1.8.  For conversions to 1080HDTV resolution multiply conversion times by up to 4 times.
• The type of show also affects conversion time.  Rapidly changing scenes and quick movement such as sports and action shows will often increase conversion time.
  

Size:

On average, a converted file will be 20% of the size of the original recording without ad removal.  Obviously ad removal and the type of program will have a significant effect on these results.

2-Pass: For the transcoding people amongst us, the "Slow Conversion" options provided are the higher quality 2-pass transcodes.

Power Management

MCEBuddy will respond to power management events such as suspend/resume.  This will cancel the current video conversion and leave the conversion at the state it was up to at the time of suspension.  It will not continue where it left off before being suspended.

Copy Protection

Some broadcasts use copy protection with CGMS-A or D (eg. HBO, AMC and MoviePlex).  MCEBuddy does not strip copy protection and these conversions will produce junk vdeo, often taking a long time to convert.

Configuration:

MCEBuddy works without configuration, however you can configure its behaviour.

Source Path

The location of MCE recorded video.  Defaults to the MCE location.  if you perform encoding on another system set this path to the source location, otherwise leave it as is.

Destination Path

The destination path is the location for converted video.  The default is the location for the video library for MCE XP or Vista depending on platform.

This path can be a network location.  If this is the case you will need to ensure the service can access that location.  If the network location has public access (ie. there is no username/password required to access that location) then you need to make no changes.  If the destination requires a logon there are two options:

1. If the MCE system is part of a domain, you need to create a domain account which has Administrative permissions on the local MCE system and full control to the destination path. Then you need to change the service account using the Administrative Tools-Services MMC.  A screenshot is here.  If you install a new version of MCEBuddy you'll need to set the service account again.
2. If not part of a domain you need to create a local user account for MCEBuddy with the same username and password that is required to connect to the network location.  Then you need to change the service account using the Administrative Tools-Services MMC.  A screenshot is here.  If you install a new version of MCEBuddy you'll need to set the service account again.

 Video Format

MCEBuddy supports three video formats: H.264, WMV and XVid.

• WMV is an OK format and Media Center can play it without requiring additional codecs such as FFDSHow. However it is not nearly as good as Xvid or H.264 and produces much larger files. 
• Xvid has wide support and is good across platforms.
• H.264 is the best format of the three for picture quality and size (you lose FWD,RWD under MCE, skip still works)

Recommendation: Use H.264

If you are technically minded and you really want fast forward and rewind not just skip forward and rewind, have a look at the Media Control Plugin for Windows Vista Media Center.

Display Format

Ensure you select the correct display format for your location.  If you live in the following countries you probably use NTSC:

Antigua El Salvador Philippines Bahamas Ecuador Puerto Rico Barbados Guam Saipan Barbuda Guatemala Samoa Belize Haiti South Korea Bermuda Honduras Saint Kitts Bolivia Jamaica Saint Lucia Burma Japan Saint Vincent Cambodia Mexico Surinam Canada Midway Islands Taiwan Cayman Islands Netherland Antilles Tobago Chile Nicaragua Trinidad Colombia North Mariana Island United States Costa Rica Panama Venezuela Cuba Peru Virgin Islands.

If you live in the following countries you probably use PAL:

Afghanistan Holland Portugal Albania Hong Kong Qutar Algeria Iceland Romania Angola India Singapore Argentina  Indonesia Somalia Australia Ireland South Africa Austria Israel S.W. Africa Azores Italy Spain Baharain Jordan Sri Lanka Bangladesh Kenya Sudan Belgium Kuwait Swaziland Botswana Laos Sweden Brazil  Liberia Switzerland Brunei Madeire Tanzania Cameroon Malaysia Thailand Canary Islands Malta Turkey Cyprus Mozambique Uganda Denmark Nepal United Arab Emirates Dubai New Guinea United Kingdom England New Zealand Uruguay  Ethiopia Nigeria West Germany Faeroe Islands North Korea Yemen Finland Norway Yugoslavia Ghana Oman Zambia Gibraltar Pakistan Zimbabwe Guinea Paraguay

If you're not sure and you are not an American, choose PAL.  I haven't done anything for SECAM.  If its needed, drop me a lineski.

Video Quality

In reality, this sets the size of the converted video.  Lower quality = smaller resolution = smaller file size.

Very high provides 1920 wide (HDTV 1080)
High provides 1280 wide (HDTV 720)
Normal provides 720 wide (DVD - default)
Low provides 640 wide (Default analogue TV)
Very low provides 320 wide
iPod/Zune provides 320x240 cropped - NOTE: iPod, PSP and Zune support are greatly improved in version 1.0.6 (currently in beta).

Only use High or Very High if you are already recording in High Definition Television and you want to retain this resolution and quality as the files can get pretty big (by comparison).

Recommendation: If unsure, use Normal.

Conversion Hours Restriction

MCEBuddy by default will automatically convert a TV recording file a little while after it is has been recorded.  If you wish to restrict when this can happen (eg. overnight) then select the valid hours of operation.

It is worth noting that the conversion threads operate at a very low priority, and as such can operate in conjunction with Media Center operation (including recordings) on reasonably equipped systems.  If you're not sure, try it at the same time and if there is choppiness in the display or recording or response issues with Media Center itself, then schedule the operation.  Vista Media Center has been found to be better in this regard than the XP version.

Also note the hours of operation are for the start of the conversion process.  The conversion of a recording will not stop or pause if it was initiated during these hours and the time exceeds the operating time.  Any subsequent files will be delayed until the next operating period.

General Configuration

Delete original video file selects whether the original file (pre-conversion DVR-MS file) should be deleted.  Once you are comfortable conversion is occurring reliably, this should be set unless you have a ton of disk space or want to keep the original for some other reason.

Commercial skipping turns on or off the commercial skipper.  The commercial skipper will remove identified commercials during the conversion process. Commercial skipping is not 100% and some commercials will not get picked up.  Comskip gets a lot of them, ShowAnalyzer gets even more. 

ShowAnalyzer notes: If you have ShowAnalyzer installed and commercial skipping enabled ShowAnalyzer will be used automatically instead of Comskip. NOTE! ShowAnalyzer will now be configured for MCEBuddy use by default.  Specifically, the status window will be invisible and EDL output enabled.  ShowAnalyzer has two modes, normal and free.  If you are using it as a trial it will work in normal mode for 14 days and revert to free mode after that period.  The free version will not process DVR-MS files and as such will not strip ads.  The net result is if you want the more effective ad removal, you'll need to buy a copy ($10).

Sort by series groups recordings of a series (eg. AFL Season 2007 Football) into separate directories under the destination directory instead of putting the converted files all into one single directory.

Video age before conversion allows you to specify how many days old a recording needs to be before it is converted.

Debugging/Troubleshooting

If you have issues, first check the Windows Event Log, where most MCEBuddy problems are logged.

If you find a bug, drop me a line at mcebuddy@tyrell.com.au.

Background

MCE storing recorded video in DVR-MS format in 2007 is, in my and many other opinions a design flaw.  There should have at least been the option to use another more efficient codec for systems capable of performing the task (probably H.264).  As DVR-MS is still used in MCE Vista, this isn't going to change in a real hurry, so the community members needed to come up with something themselves.

After using some good existing tools (notably DVRMSToolbox and Crunchie) I found they were quite capable for my own use, but did require some technical savvy.  As such, they were not install and you're away applications for the average user.  In addition the black art of video conversion is well beyond most  people.  So I thought I should put something back into the community and build an install-and-it-works application that was as bulletproof as I could make it then distribute it free under GPL.

As its a multi-threaded service later I'll start to add features to cover some other MCE annoyances I've found, or others have sent in.

I hope this helps the more tech or time challenged amongst us.  If there are enhancements you can recommend, email them to be at  mcebuddy@tyrell.com.au.