Downloaded VOD cannot skip ahead/FF/RW/RESUME

[SysAdminZ]

The 4K example is a bad choice. Most are 1080P x265 so they too are being transcoded. I really would not mind the transcoding so long as the result was able to FF/RW/SKIP FORWARD/RESUME. Without these features you are forced to watch something start to finish or restart from the beginning.

Avoiding transcode seemed like the logical solution, but if this is painful to make flexible for one reason or another, are there any suggestions of a workaround or another tweak?

[mvallevand]

OK I faked a VOD file and you are right the VOD won't work with Kodi. If you run

http://localhost:8866/service?method=rec...filter=all

I expect you will see the duration is probably 0 on VOD. Kodi needs a valid duration in PVR tor recordings work.

I can update NextTool to fix that if you'd like.

Martin

[SysAdminZ]

Anything that can help, yes please. It is not just the Kodi NextPVR client affected. The other NextPVR client I tested (native Android client on Play Store) is also affected. Without correct indexing like duration or start/stop time many players should have a hard time fast forwarding, skipping ahead, rewinding, resuming.

Resolving the issue so it does not require post processing before recordings have these functions when played right after downloading (or transcoded..) would be ideal. Perhaps this issue will be resolved in a later build. An option to avoid transcoding altogether, even if not compatible with playback in webserver player, would be optimal.

I do really enjoy the product as is. This is coming from a TVHeadend user of over a decade.. I appreciate the quick feedback and support. You will be getting a donation from me!

[mvallevand]

First I think the duration issue could be a bug since 4 years ago I found a post of mine to sub where I wrote "For Kodi it will be important to have a correct duration so MediaInfo will probably be required and the end time will have to be in the past once it is recorded" I think I tested it after that but I can't be sure.

The main issue going forward is NextPVR is not an IPTV player, it is a PVR. The distinction is that IPTV player can play these URL because they are complete files. A URL from NextPVR while "recording" has to be MPEG-TS to allow in-progress viewing. NextPVR internals are all based on MPEG-TS containers and sub has standardized on web format to make it easier for all clients.

My design for Kodi was to pass the original URL to Kodi and let it be the player. The downside to this is not all clients can be players, maybe not expecting MKV or MP4. As well some people like having the VPN on NextPVR so the clients don't need it.

There shouldn't be a reason sub's Android Player has any more trouble with VOD MPEG-TS and MPEG-TS from other source. Where the problems while download perhaps?

Finally If sub doesn't allow a stream to get the better quality source files, I will update NextTool to get them in PostVODProcessing.

Martin

[SysAdminZ]

Thank you Martin.
I am exploring the possibility that the transcoding is not working correctly with indexing of duration from the build of FFmpeg I am using on my NextPVR host. During my previous testing I was using 7.1.1-0 and there appears to have been a dependency not met with library "libplacebo349" which has now been corrected. Testing a new build of FFmpeg as well.

[mvallevand]

Hard to say if your source really needs libplacebo for HDR and or Dolby Vision transcoding is pushing the limits of what is feasible today.

Even direct play is an issue depending on the client.

If you are using Kodi until sub checks if libmediainfo is enabled for vod duration. NextPVR is using not ffmpeg for that. In v7 things did change which might be why it is failing now.

Martin

[SysAdminZ]

Issue remains. I will keep my eye out for an update. Thanks again.

[mvallevand]

I have updated my NextTool utility to fix what I perceive is the problem with the current implementation. If you are willing to test it let me know. It tidies up VOD movies too so they look better in Kodi.

Martin

[SysAdminZ]

Yes, I can test the updated version and confirm it works.

[mvallevand]

Ok thanks (backup npvr.db3 just in case) and then follow the wiki on  installing on Linux.

Assuming you used the deb installer

cd /opt/nextpvr/system
sudo -u nextpvr /opt/dotnet/dotnet NextTool.dll --vod  tsfilewithpath

- As part of the cleanup, the year is moved from the title into the year field so it is skinned properly.
- I grab the description for the catalog file that is downloaded with the metadata.

I haven't added much logging yet, just want to confirm the issue.

This will take a bit of time because in theory it will download the file mp4 or mkv file which you can test for comparison afterwards. It is easy to test if you rename the source ts file.

If this works it can automated with PostVOD processing.

Martin