How to transcode some recordings, but not others?

[DronnyBoyd]

The title says it all, and I have looked on the forums but can't find anything that meets my needs precisely. Currently I have GBPVR set up to transcode recordings to XViD overnight (using ffmpeg), which all works sweetly.

What I *want* to do is only transcode certain recordings (in the same overnight automatic way) because those are destined for a xvid-capable DVD player that me and the mrs watch while we trundle away on our cross-trainer in the garage. I just copy 4 or 5 onto a DVD-RW and stick it in the old player. All other recordings I'd like to keep around on the PVR system in MPEG2 with their original quality. We don't tend to keep recordings around for long, so space isn't really an issue.

I can see two options - one is to disable automatic transcoding, and manually transcode the required files (can I do this through GBPVR and/or 'My Music' plugin?); the other is to run some command during transcoding and allow/disallow it to happen, based on the program name. Is there another option?

thanks

Dave.

[Ted the Penguin]

you can do it using the postprocessing.bat file, since its a batch file you can do all of the filename manipulation and comparison you want. but it would process right after the show, I think, maybe you can delay those as well.

I have a better solution for you, media MVP

[-Oz-]

you could use postprocessing,bat to write a file with each program that has a simple yes or no in it. Then you could use dirmon to run another bat file (or just read the file), and determine if it needs to be transcoded and then do so.

[wtg]

... and you can manually transcode in the Video Library plugin. I added my Recordings directory to it's directory list so I can transcode recent recordings on demand.

[zehd]

You can have the postprocessing.bat compare the shows title to a list of shows you want transcoded or not. Then rather than trancode right there and then, use one of a couple ways to add the files to a transcode queue.

I wrote the http://gbpvr.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Tips/Post3 wiki entry(borrowing on ther's stuff). I don't use this technique any more, but it could help you when you write your postprocessing.bat.

In the comskip zip file, there is a sample postprocessing.bat that will teach you how to filter certain TV shows. Something like: if %1 == "whatever show" then goto add2q ...

And finally, I use ZProcess to handle my transcode queue now. But for what you want, I would still need to write that if %1== etc code into the postprocessing.bat

I hope I didn't confuse you too much

[DronnyBoyd]

Thanks for all the replies, it looks like doing something in postprocessing.bat is the way to go, as I don't want to disturb my nice working setup too much.

Having said that, the idea of adding the Recordings folder to the video-library and doing manual transcodes would also work, but I prefer the idea of it happening overnight without human intervention

I'll look into postprocessing.bat idea, I think.

Thanks again for everyone's suggestions.

Dave.