MCEBuddy

I use Media Portal to record to .ts files and MCE buddy does analize and compress these files but I have a couple of issues in my tests...

 
Media Portal can analize the shows while they are being recorded and create the comskip files. I would like to just be able to use these in MCE buddy but it seems that MCEbuddy does not look for already created files.

 
The second issue is that even if I use the exact same .ini file from the comskip install that works great for me, MCEbuddy does not work the same when it analizes a file. I used the exact same .ini and comskip file version for MCEbuddy and although it re-created the skip files, they did not work in Media Portal

 

The third issue is that the ads do not get cut at all. With Media Portal (used in Australia) I get about a 90% detection success rate so I know that comskip works great for me. Just not when used with MCEBuddy for some reason...

 
Would there be any way to have MCEbuddy check for comskip files before analizing the files? This could speed up the process and make it easier for those that have other processes that scan the files.

Cheers
 

If you create the skip files with comskip then MCEBuddy will use them *if you have "skip commercials OFF".  Sounds counter-initutive but normally MCEBuddy creates them itself.  HOWEVER you need to ensure comskip produces EDL files NOT JUST the MediaPortal output.  in MCEBuddy 2.0 this won't work but I'm starting to think I might put the function in to look to see if there is an EDL file already there and use it if it is.

Derek 

Thanks for the reply, I'll have to carry out some more tests...

 Definatelly keep the code in there to look for the already created files, many people already use scripts and other means to create the comskip files for viewing in Zoom Player and Media Portal. Because MCEBuddy is useful to others that don't use MCE, it would be very nice to simply have MCEBuddy just compress the files without the need to re-analize the file.

No, Comskip seems not to work for me here in Bendigo, Victoria.. I have 2 machines here with totally different configs. One Vista ult and one XP, and the lappie doesn't count except for video streaming from the quad core server :). I agree with the appliance theory. If a computer was supposed to be a TV multimedia device and failed as often as these softwares do, then the manufacturer would be hung and bankrupt shortly after. :) Back to reality now. My excuse is I am new to this, and live in a regional area. How the hell can this wonderful stuff become mainstream when it's so dicky and flaky? For crying out loud. The best EVER comskip is VideoRedo now seemingly defunct mpeg advert editor called ad detective. You can't tell me the code is that secret that no-one can re-produce our right to cut out the advertising? What exactly is the point here? To be very clever scripting out commercial breaks for our own edification and to prove what good coders we are, which amounts to zero in the real world, or to produce an application that can interest the average PC user who wants to use his 'Harvey Norman' home cinema setup to it's potential? Tamxir

 I live in Adelaide, Australia and I use Media Portal for my TV viewing and recording needs and Meedio for the rest of my media needs (NOT MCE)...

 Media Portal has the ability to run comskip on files and skip ads on playback automatically, but does not compress or cut the ads from the recorded file, just produce a chapter file. I have found this to work for me about 90% effective. Comskip works brilliantly, but I don't think MCE is capable of auto-skipping ads like Media Portal. Have you even tried downloading Comskip itself, configuring and running it against one of your recordings? There is also a brother to comskip called comclean that can take a processed comskip file and cut the ads out just like MCEBuddy tries to do.

For editing out commercials the manual way, VirtuaDub is one of the FREE and best ways of doing so. You can easily seek through to find the scene changes and then just add marks to cut out sections and then output the final product with your choosing of audio and video encoders (that you have installed).

I have a lot of respect for the guys who create these applications, bugs or not. Though it may not actually work for me, the fact is that they offer it FREE and if it doesn't work for me all I have lost is a bit of time. Anyone who recons that they can create something better is welcome to forward their efforts to the HTPC community.

Not quite sure where you were headed with your post there tamxir. I have been quite a hardcore HTPC enthusiest for the past 2 years. I have a dedicated HTPC with touchscreen, run a large amount of applications and scripting on my XP HTPC machine and have a central media server for my media. I have never had a performance issue, crasy, lockup... anything except what I built the machine for. It has been rock solid and there have only been a couple of things that don't work, such as MCEBuddy not actually cutting my ads. It does compress my files so it still saves me disk space and I can edit the ads out myself after if I want in 5 minutes.

 

 

There's an issue with the mencoder build in 1.0.8 that sometimes does not read the EDL from comskip correctly or at all.  All I can say is that this behaviour is not re-occuring in MCEBuddy 2.0 to date, though it's still in beta.

I have the same issue with recorded movies from either MP of MCE. I have found that as I had DVRMS Toolbox installed, it had also installed SHOWANALYZER. MCEBuddy was always using Showanalyzer rather than Comskip... Once I had removed ShowAnalyzer, MCEBuddy is using comskip...

 I am testing for now but will update you guys on my finding!

 Martin

mmg3k:

I have the same issue with recorded movies from either MP of MCE. I have found that as I had DVRMS Toolbox installed, it had also installed SHOWANALYZER. MCEBuddy was always using Showanalyzer rather than Comskip... Once I had removed ShowAnalyzer, MCEBuddy is using comskip...

 I am testing for now but will update you guys on my finding!

 Martin

 

That would be it.  If Showanalyzer is installed, 1.0.8 assumes you want to use it and will do so over comskip

Confirmed, it works now!

 Martin!